LARGE SUPER-FAST ROTATOR HUNTING USING THE INTERMEDIATE PALOMAR TRANSIENT FACTORY
- Institute of Astronomy, National Central University, Jhongli, Taiwan (China)
- Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
- Spitzer Science Center, California Institute of Technology, M/S 314-6, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
In order to look for large super-fast rotators, in late 2014 and early 2015, five dedicated surveys covering ∼188 deg{sup 2} in the ecliptic plane have been carried out in the R -band, with ∼10 minute cadence using the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory. Among 1029 reliable rotation periods obtained from the surveys, we discovered 1 new large super-fast rotator, (40511) 1999 RE88, and 18 other candidates. (40511) 1999 RE88 is an S-type inner main-belt asteroid with a diameter of D = 1.9 ± 0.3 km, a rotation period of P = 1.96 ± 0.01 hr, and a light curve amplitude of Δ m ∼ 1.0 mag. To maintain such fast rotation, an internal cohesive strength of ∼780 Pa is required. Combining all known large super-fast rotators, their cohesive strengths all fall in the range of 100–1000 Pa of lunar regolith. However, the number of large super-fast rotators seems to be far less than the whole asteroid population. This might indicate a peculiar asteroid group for them. Although the detection efficiency for a long rotation period is greatly reduced due to our two-day observation time span, the spin-rate distributions of this work show consistent results with Chang et al. (2015), after considering the possible observational bias in our surveys. It shows a number decrease with an increase of spin rate for asteroids with a diameter of 3 ⩽ D ⩽ 15 km, and a number drop at a spin rate of f = 5 rev day{sup −1} for asteroids with D ⩽ 3 km.
- OSTI ID:
- 22660956
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series, Vol. 227, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0067-0049
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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