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Mutual Orbits and Masses of Six Transneptunian Binaries

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arxiv 0812.3126 v2 pith:WC2YIT4Y submitted 2008-12-16 astro-ph

Mutual Orbits and Masses of Six Transneptunian Binaries

classification astro-ph
keywords rangingalbedosmassesorbitsdynamicallymutualsystemstransneptunian
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal T4 reserved
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We present Hubble Space Telescope observations of six binary transneptunian systems: 2000 QL251, 2003 TJ58, 2001 XR254, 1999 OJ4, (134860) 2000 OJ67, and 2004 PB108. The mutual orbits of these systems are found to have periods ranging from 22 to 137 days, semimajor axes ranging from 2360 to 10500 km, and eccentricities ranging from 0.09 to 0.55. These orbital parameters enable estimation of system masses ranging from 0.2 to 9.7 x 10+18 kg. For reasonable assumptions of bulk density (0.5 to 2.0 g cm-3), the masses can be combined with visible photometry to constrain sizes and albedos. The resulting albedos are consistent with an emerging picture of the dynamically "Cold" Classical subpopulation having relatively high albedos, compared with comparablysized objects on more dynamically excited orbits.

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  1. Rotation and Mutual Eclipse Events Season in the Kuiper Belt: (524366) 2001 XR$_{254}$

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