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http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/34421
Title: | Spinning and colour properties of the active asteroid (6478) Gault | Authors: | CARBOGNANI, Albino BUZZONI, Alberto |
Issue Date: | 2020 | Journal: | MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY | Number: | 493 | Issue: | 1 | First Page: | 70 | Abstract: | We report on accurate BVR<SUB>c</SUB> observations of (6478) Gault, a 5-6 km diameter inner main-belt asteroid in the Phocaea family, notable for its sporadic, comet-like ejection of dust. This curious behaviour has been mainly interpreted as reconfigurations after YORP spin-up, although merging of a contact binary system cannot be fully excluded. We collected optical observations along the 2019 March-April period, at orbital phase angles between 12° and 21°, to search for direct evidence of asteroid quick spinning rotation. A prevailing period value of 3.34 ± 0.02 h is supported by our and other photometric observations. In the YORP spin-up hypothesis, this period points to a bulk density ρ ≈ 1 g cm^{-3}. The mean colours are B - V = +0.82<SUB>±0.3</SUB>, V - R<SUB>c</SUB> = +0.28<SUB>±0.06</SUB>, and B - R<SUB>c</SUB> = +1.11<SUB>±0.4</SUB>, but we have observed a trend towards bluer colour during the April session, with about Δ(B - V) ∼ 0.35 ± 0.09 mag. This colour change can be due to asteroid rotation and support the hypothesis that there is a bluer surface under the Gault's dust. | URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/34421 | URL: | https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/493/1/70/5715467 http://arxiv.org/abs/2001.05748v1 |
ISSN: | 0035-8711 | DOI: | 10.1093/mnras/staa208 | Bibcode ADS: | 2020MNRAS.493...70C | Fulltext: | open |
Appears in Collections: | 1.01 Articoli in rivista |
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staa208.pdf | PDF editoriale | 2.79 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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