The upcoming mutual event season for the Patroclus–Menoetius Trojan binary

Grundy, W. M.; Noll, K. S.; Levison, Harold F.

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2018.01.009

Cited by 13 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…We use an eclipse lightcurve model to fit for a precise mid-eclipse time and estimate the minimum separation of the two eclipsing components during the event. Our best-fit mid-eclipse time of 2458217.80943 +0.00057 −0.00050 is 19 minutes later than the prediction of Grundy et al (2018); the minimum separation between the center of Menoetius' shadow and the center of Patroclus is 72.5 ± 0.7 km -slightly larger than the predicted 69.5 km. Using the derived lightcurves, we find no evidence for significant albedo variations or large-scale topographic features on the Earth-facing hemisphere and limb of Patroclus.…”

contrasting

confidence: 53%

“…which corresponds to UT 2018 April 9 7:25:35 with an uncertainty of 46s. This is 19 minutes later than the predicted center of eclipse in Grundy et al (2018). Meanwhile, we obtain a precise relative inclination estimate of i = 83.95 ± 0.06 deg.…”

Section: Eclipse Lightcurve Fitmentioning

confidence: 48%

“…The discovery of Menoetius, the nearly equal-size binary companion of Patroclus (Merline et al 2001), established the first multiple system in the Trojan population and provided the first estimate of a Trojan's bulk density. Subsequent analyses using resolved imaging (Marchis et al 2006;Grundy et al 2018), thermal spectroscopy during mutual events (Mueller et al 2010), and stellar occultations (Buie et al 2015) have refined the density estimate to the current value of 1.08±0.33 g/cm 3 . This low density indicates that Patroclus-Menoetius's bulk composition is dominated by ices, with significant porosity, similar to density measurements of cometary nuclei.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…The mutual orbit of the binary system is consistent with circular, so we fix the eccentricity to zero. We fix the orbital period and semimajor axis to the values reported and assumed in the mutual event predictions of Grundy et al (2018): P = 4.282680 days, a = 688.5 km. Both components are significantly non-spherical, and modeling from occultation and rotational phase curves yields a triaxial radius ratio of α : β : γ = 1.3 : 1.21 : 1; the long dimension of each object lies along the line connecting the two objects, while the shortest dimension is aligned with the angular momentum vector of the binary system (Buie et al 2015).…”

Section: Eclipse Lightcurve Fitmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(2) Grundy et al (2018) reported a predicted minimum separation between the centers of the two eclipsing bodies of 69.5 km. The greater separation derived from our fit indicates a more grazing shadowing event than predicted and points toward a slight inaccuracy in the orbital pole obliquity calculated in Grundy et al (2018). We remind the reader that during this event, it is the shadow of Menoetius that occults Patroclus.…”

Section: Eclipse Lightcurve Fitmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multiband Photometry of a Patroclus–Menoetius Mutual Event: Constraints on Surface Heterogeneity

Wong

Brown

2019

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We present the first complete multiband observations of a binary asteroid mutual event. We obtained high-cadence, high-signal-to-noise photometry of the UT 2018 April 9 inferior shadowing event in the Jupiter Trojan binary system Patroclus-Menoetius in four Sloan bands -g , r , i , and z . We use an eclipse lightcurve model to fit for a precise mid-eclipse time and estimate the minimum separation of the two eclipsing components during the event. Our best-fit mid-eclipse time of 2458217.80943 +0.00057 −0.00050 is 19 minutes later than the prediction of Grundy et al. (2018); the minimum separation between the center of Menoetius' shadow and the center of Patroclus is 72.5 ± 0.7 km -slightly larger than the predicted 69.5 km. Using the derived lightcurves, we find no evidence for significant albedo variations or large-scale topographic features on the Earth-facing hemisphere and limb of Patroclus. We also apply the technique of eclipse mapping to place an upper bound of ∼0.15 mag on wide-scale surface color variability across Patroclus.

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contrasting

confidence: 53%

Section: Eclipse Lightcurve Fitmentioning

confidence: 48%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Eclipse Lightcurve Fitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Eclipse Lightcurve Fitmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multiband Photometry of a Patroclus–Menoetius Mutual Event: Constraints on Surface Heterogeneity

Wong

Brown

2019

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Trojan Asteroid Satellites, Rings, and Activity

Noll,

Brown,

Buie

et al. 2023

Space Sci Rev

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The Lucy mission will encounter five Jupiter Trojans during its mission with three of the five already known to be multiple systems. These include a near-equal-mass binary, a small and widely separated satellite, and one intermediate-size satellite system. This chapter reviews the current state of knowledge of Trojan asteroid satellites in the context of similar satellite systems in other small body populations. The prospects for the detection of additional satellites as well as other near-body phenomena are considered. The scientific utility of satellites makes their observation with Lucy an important scientific priority for the mission.

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Shapes, Rotations, Photometric and Internal Properties of Jupiter Trojans

Mottola,

Britt,

Brown

et al. 2024

Space Sci Rev

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The Jupiter Trojans, being trapped around the stable L4 and L5 Jupiter Lagrangian points, are thought to be more primitive than the Main Belt asteroids. They are believed to have originated from a range of heliocentric distances in the trans-Neptunian region, to have subsequently been scattered inwards, and finally captured in their current location during the phase of Giant Planet migration. As a consequence, their bulk composition is expected to reflect that of the protoplanetary disk at the time and location of their formation. The photometric properties of Trojans appear to have a bi-modal distribution. A few Trojans have been discovered to be binary systems, suspected contact binaries, or to possess moonlets, which has revealed consistently low bulk densities (around $1\times 10^{3}$ 1 × 10 3 kg $\mathrm {m}^{-3}$ m − 3 ) for those systems. Those estimates, together with the presence of a spin barrier between 4 and 4.8 h rotation period, suggest that low densities are a general property of the population, similar to that of cometary nuclei.Current Trojan physical properties provide clues that relate to their formation that can, in turn, be traced back to the origin of the solar system. We review here our current knowledge on the physical properties of Trojans and the methods used for their determinations. Most of these methods are based on Earth-bound observations, and are limited by the large distance to these objects. The next breakthrough will be made possible by the Lucy mission, which, by visiting several Trojans during a tour through both clouds, will address many open questions and probably raise new ones. The combination of the ground truth for select objects provided by Lucy with the context view given by the Earth-bound observations will result in powerful synergy.

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The upcoming mutual event season for the Patroclus–Menoetius Trojan binary

Cited by 13 publications

References 9 publications

Multiband Photometry of a Patroclus–Menoetius Mutual Event: Constraints on Surface Heterogeneity

Multiband Photometry of a Patroclus–Menoetius Mutual Event: Constraints on Surface Heterogeneity

Trojan Asteroid Satellites, Rings, and Activity

Shapes, Rotations, Photometric and Internal Properties of Jupiter Trojans

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