Aperture photometry on asteroid trails: detection of the fastest rotating near-Earth object
arxiv(2024)
摘要
Context. Near-Earth objects (NEOs) on an impact course with Earth can move at
high angular speed. Understanding their properties, including rotation state,
is crucial for assessing impact risks and mitigation strategies. Traditional
photometric methods face challenges in collecting data on fast-moving NEOs
accurately. Aims. This study introduces an innovative approach to aperture
photometry tailored to analyzing trailed images of fast-moving NEOs. Our
primary aim is to extract rotation state information from these observations,
particularly focusing on the efficacy of this technique for fast rotators.
Methods. We applied our approach to analyze the trailed images of three
asteroids: 2023 CX1, 2024 BX1, and 2024 EF, which were either on a collision
courses or performing a close fly-by with Earth. By adjusting aperture sizes,
we controlled the effective exposure times to increase the sampling rates of
the photometric variations. This enabled us to detect short rotation periods
that would be challenging with conventional methods. Results. Our analysis
revealed that trailed photometry significantly reduces overhead time associated
with CCD read-out, enhancing the sampling rate of the photometric variations.
We demonstrated that this technique is particularly effective for fast-moving
objects, providing reliable photometric data when the object is at its
brightest and closest to Earth. For asteroid 2024 BX1, we detected a rotation
period as short as 2.5888 +- 0.0002 seconds, the fastest ever recorded. Our
findings underscore the efficacy of trailed observations coupled with aperture
photometry for studying the rotation characteristics of small NEOs, offering
crucial insights for impact risk assessment and mitigation strategies.
更多查看译文
AI 理解论文
溯源树
样例
生成溯源树,研究论文发展脉络
Chat Paper
正在生成论文摘要