ASTEROID SIZING BY RADIOGALAXY OCCULTATION AT 5 GHZ
- Finnish Geospatial Research Institute FGI, Geodeetinrinne 2, FI-02430 Masala (Finland)
- Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Radioobservatorium Effelsberg, Max-Planck-Str. 28, D-53902 Bad Münstereifel-Effelsberg (Germany)
Stellar occultations by asteroids observed at visual wavelengths have been an important tool for studying the size and shape of asteroids and for revising the orbital parameters of asteroids. At radio frequencies, a shadow of an asteroid on the Earth is dominated by diffraction effects. Here, we show, for the first time, that a single observation of an occultation of a compact radio source at a frequency of 5 GHz can be used to derive the effective size of the occulting object and to derive the distance between the observer and the center of the occultation path on the Earth. The derived diameter of the occulting object, asteroid (115) Thyra, is 75 ± 6 km. The observed occultation profile shows features that cannot be explained by diffraction of a single asteroid.
- OSTI ID:
- 22654336
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Letters Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 822; ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
A FOURIER OPTICS METHOD FOR CALCULATING STELLAR OCCULTATION LIGHT CURVES BY OBJECTS WITH THIN ATMOSPHERES
KUIPER BELT OBJECT OCCULTATIONS: EXPECTED RATES, FALSE POSITIVES, AND SURVEY DESIGN