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Updated: Dec 20, 2025

Scattering And Absorption of Light in Planetary Regoliths
Published on: July 1, 2019
A TRIO OF BINARY ASTEROIDS
Brian D Warner1, Robert D Stephens2, Alan W Harris3
1Center for Solar System Studies - Palmer Divide Station, 446 Sycamore Ave., Eaton, CO 80615 USA.
Abstract:
CCD observations of three asteroids were made at the Center for Solar System Studies in mid-2014. The Hungaria member 1727 Mette is a known binary system. We saw no evidence of the satellite in 2014, which - assuming the satellite's orbit is nearly in the primary's equatorial rotational plane - leads to an estimate for the primary's spin axis orientation. The near-Earth asteroid (NEA) (68063) 2000 YJ66 has a primary spin period just at the spin barrier of 2.2 hours. Another NEA, 2014 PL51, looks to be one of a small number of wide binary candidates, which are characterized by a large amplitude lightcurve with a period of hundreds of hours superimposed by a short period, low amplitude lightcurve.
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