THE

BULLETIN OF THE MINOR PLANETS SECTION OF THE BULLETIN ASSOCIATION OF LUNAR AND PLANETARY OBSERVERS

VOLUME 35, NUMBER 1, A.D. 2008 JANUARY-MARCH 1.

ASTEROID LIGHTCURVE ANALYSIS AT THE OAKLEY a V filter at a scale pixel of 2.32 arcseconds per pixel. On one OBSERVATORY – MAY 2007 night, an additional 14-inch Celestron telescope with an Apogee AP-8p camera, operating unfiltered at a pixel scale of 2.00 Scot Hawkins, Richard Ditteon arcseconds per pixel, was used. Four-minute exposures were used Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology CM 171 for most of the data frames. Master flat and dark frames were 5500 Wabash Avenue generated in MaxImDL, and then used in CCDSoft to calibrate the Terre Haute, IN 47803 images. The magnitudes were measured using MPO Canopus. Due [email protected] to the long exposures, the subtraction option on MPO Canopus was often necessary. (Received: 15 June Revised: 14 October) were selected based on their position in the sky one after sunset. Priority was given to asteroids without previously Photometric data for 16 asteroids were obtained at the published lightcurves, but asteroids with well-known periods were Oakley Observatory May 19-22, 2007: , 313 also targeted with the hope that the new data would help with Chaldaea, , 458 Hercynia, 479 Caprera, 489 shape modeling and determining pole orientation. Comacina, 1384 Kniertje, 1428 Mombasa, 1558 Jarnefelt, 1910 Mikhailov, 2425 Shenzhen, 3165 To our knowledge, these are the first reported rotational periods Mikawa, 5560 Amytis, (5854) 1992 UP, and (15317) for the following asteroids: 1558 Jarnefelt, 1910 Mikhailov, 2425 1993 HW 1. Shenzhen, 5560 Amytis, and (5854) 1992 UP. The results are summarized in the table below with individual lightcurve plots Data were collected on a total of 16 main-belt asteroids over four after the table. The results and lightcurves are presented without nights in May 2007 from the Oakley Observatory on the campus comment except when necessary. of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana. The data gave useful lightcurves and rotational periods for 15 205 Martha. Our results are consistent with the period of 9.637 h asteroids. Of these 15 periods, eight confirm previously reported given by Harris and Warner (2007), but the 11.90 h period given results, two periods disagreed or removed ambiguity from by Behrend (2007) can’t be ruled out. previously published periods, and five were completely new . The data are consistent with the period of 8.392 h results. Three telescopes were used on all nights. Each telescope was a 14-inch Celestron optical tube assembly mounted on a given by Hainaut-Rouelle (1995) and Behrend (2007). However, due to hardware problems on two nights, we had insufficient data Paramount ME. Each camera was a SBIG STL-1001E which used

Period Amp Dates Exposure Data Period Amp Number Name Error Error May 2007 (s) Points (h) (mag) (h) (mag) 205 Martha 19, 22 120 68 9.74 0.03 0.10 0.01 313 Chaldaea 19, 22 120 72 8.38 0.01 0.10 0.02 314 Rosalia 19-22 240 98 20.369 0.001 0.40 0.05 458 Hercynia 19-22 240 85 15.33 0.04 0.35 0.02 479 Caprera 19-21 240 66 9.376 0.001 0.15 0.01 19-21 240 65 9.00 0.02 0.22 0.02 1032 Pafuri 19, 22 120 66 >13h >0.30 1384 Kniertje 19-21 240 59 9.824 0.001 0.20 0.04 1428 Mombasa 19-22 240 96 17.12 0.01 0.25 0.02 1558 Jarnefelt 19-22 240 90 18.22 0.06 0.40 0.02 1910 Mikhailov 19-22 240 81 8.88 0.03 0.25 0.03 2425 Shenzhen 19-22 240 131 14.715 0.012 0.80 0.02 3165 Mikawa 19-22 240 69 5.100 0.001 0.25 0.05 5560 Amytis 19-22 240 77 7.728 0.001 0.50 0.03 5854 1992 UP 19-22 240 145 14.269 0.001 1.00 0.05 15317 1993 HW1 19-22 240 83 2.660 0.002 0.20 0.05 Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) Available on line http://www.minorplanetobserver.com/mpb/default.htm 2 to rule out the period of 10.08 h found by Debehgne, et al. (1982). Harris, A.W. and B. D. Warner (2007). http://www.minorplanetobserver.com/astlc/LCLIST_PUB.ZIP 314 Rosalia. Our results are incompatible with Behrend’s (2007) period of 15.84 h, but are in reasonable agreement with the period Higgins, D. J. (2005). “Lightcurve and period determination for of 20.43 h given by Warner (2006). 479 Caprera, 2351 O’Higgins, (36378) 2000 OL19, (52750) 1998 KK17, (87648) 2000 SY2.” Minor Planet Bul. 32, 36-38. 458 Hercynia. Binzel (1987) found the period to be either 14.9 or 22.3 h. While he preferred the latter period, our result is closer to Pravec, P., M. Wolf, L. Sarounova. (2007). the former. Our data are incompatible with Behrend’s (2007) http://www.asu.cas.cz/~ppravec/newres.txt period of 10.924 h. Stephens, R. D.,Brincat, S. M., and Doff, R. A. (2001). 479 Caprera. Our period disagrees with Behrend’s (2007) 5.324 h “Collaborative of 489 Comacina, March through May period but is similar to the 9.4277 h period found by Higgins 2001.” Minor Planet Bul. 28, 73. (2005). Warner, B. D. (2006). “ Lightcurve Analysis at the 489 Comacina. Our period is in good agreement with Stephens’ Palmer Divide Observatory – March-June 2006.” Minor Planet (2001) period of 9.02 h, but our data can not be fit to the 7.3509 h Bul. 33, 85-88. period given by Behrend (2007).

1032 Pafuri. With only two nights of data, no lightcurve was found, although the data rule out any period shorter than 13 h.

1384 Kniertje. Warner (2006) reported that the period is ambiguous, with a preferred value of 12.255 h. His other period of 9.816 h is close to that reported by Behrend (2007). While our data are consistent with either of these values, the later value has a 4% smaller RMS error.

1428 Mombasa. Our data are inconsistent with the period of 17.6h given by Behrend (2007).

2425 Shenzhen and (5854) 1992 UP. These asteroids were independently targeted. However, since they were between 13 and 25 arcminutes apart over the four nights, they appeared together in almost every frame and were measured in both.

3165 Mikawa. This was a target of opportunity, appearing in the data frames with 5560 Amytis. Our results were consistent with previous results by Ellsworth (2002).

(15317) 1993 HW1. Our result agrees very well with the period of 2.6580 h found by Pravec (2007).

Acknowledgement

This research was supported in part by NASA through the American Astronomical Society's Small Research Grant Program.

References

Behrend, R. (2007). Observatoire de Geneve web site, http://obswww.unige.ch/~behrend/page_cou.html .

Binzel, R. P. (1987). “A Photoelectric Survey of 130 Asteroids.” Icarus 72 135-208.

Debehogne, H., G. De Sanctis, and V. Zappala (1982). “Photoelectric Photometry of Three Dark Asteroids.” Astron. Astrophys. 108, 197-200.

Ellsworth, N., S. Hughes, R. Ditteon. (2002). “Photometry of Asteroids 2962 Otto and 3165 Mikawa.” Minor Planet Bul. 29, 68.

Hainaut-Rouelle, M. C., Hainaut, O. R., and Detal A. (1995). “Lightcurves of selected minor planets.” Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 112, 125-142. Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 3

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 4

PERIOD DETERMINATION FOR 1704 WACHMANN

William M. Julian II Sandia View Observatory 4597 Rockaway Loop Rio Rancho, NM 87124 [email protected]

(Received: 22 August )

Asteroid 1704 Wachmann was observered on 2 nights in April 2007. The lightcurve period was found to be 3.314 ± 0.001h with an amplitude of 0.20 ± 0.05m.

Observations of 1704 Wachmann were carried out at Sandia View Observatory (MPC code H03). SVO contains a permanently mounted 0.30m f/10 Meade SCT OTA and SBIG ST-10XME CCD camera mounted on a Bisque Paramount ME. Telescope control was handled thru Astronomers Control Panel (ACP) software which handled automatic meridian flips and multiple target asteroids throughout the all night imaging sessions. The CCD was controlled via MaxIm/DL thru ACP. Imaging was done unfiltered to maximize signal to noise, with exposures of 120 seconds at bin 2 for an image scale of 0.95 arc seconds per pixel. Automatic bias, dark and flat reductions were handled thru ACP and MaxIm/DL using master reduction files. Photometric measurements and lightcurves were prepared with MPO Canopus.

Asteroid 1704 Wachmann was selected from the CALL website “List of Potential Targets” (Warner 2006). This asteroid was then checked with the list of known asteroid lightcurves parameters maintained by Alan Harris (Harris 2006) to observe an asteroid that had no known period. The asteroid showed a well fitting bimodal curve after only two nights of observations. A total of 294 observations were gathered over two nights in April to derive a period of 3.314 h ±0.001h and amplitude of 0.20m ±0.05. Further observations were unsuccessful due to early monsoonal weather.

References

Harris, A. W., Warner, B. D. Minor Planet Lightcurve Parameters. 2006 March 14. http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/lists/LightcurveDat.html

CALL website supported by Brian D. Warner. http://www.minorplanetobserver.com/astlc/default.htm

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 5

LIGHTCURVES OF MINOR PLANETS Montigiani, N., Mannucci, M., Benedetti, W., and Riccetti, S. 4853 MARIELUKAC AND 7304 NAMIKI (2007). “Lightcurve of Minor Planet 7304 Namiki”, Minor Planet Bulletin 34-4, 108. Gary A. Vander Haagen Stonegate Observatory, 825 Stonegate Road Wagner, R. (2007). “Lightcurve of 7304 Namiki”, Minor Planet Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Bulletin 34-4, 112. [email protected] Warner, B. D. (2006). MPO Software, Canopus version 9.2.0.0, (Received: 25 July Revised: 24 September) Bdw Publishing, http://minorplanetobserver.com/

Warner, B. D. et al. (2007). Lightcurve Photometry Opportunities Lightcurves of 4853 Marielukac produced two equally January-March 2007, http://minorplanetobserver.com/ probable rotation periods: 9.5232 ± 0.0011 hr, amplitude 0.25 ± 0.05 mag; and 9.6005 ± 0.0009, amplitude 0.28 ± 0.05 mag. Lightcurves of 7304 Namiki produced a of 8.8697 ± 0.0002 hr with an amplitude of 0.95 ± 0.05 mag.

Photometric data were collected using a 36 cm Celestron C-14, a SBIG ST-10XME camera, and clear filter at Stonegate Observatory. The camera was binned 2x2 with a resultant image scale of 1.3 arc-seconds per pixel. The camera was held at –15C for all measurements. All image exposures were 60 seconds and unguided.

Both 4853 Marielukac and 7304 Namiki were chosen as favorable opposition targets with unreported photometric data (Warner et al., 2007). Data for 4853 were collected from May 18 through June 14, 2007, resulting in eight data sets and 391 data points. The photometric data were obtained and analyzed using MPO Canopus (Warner 2006). Two high probability solutions were obtained: 9.5232 ± 0.0011 and 9.6005 ± 0.0009 hours. With the period close to a half-integral multiple of the sampling rate, the solution was indeterminate with the span of data available. Additional data could not be collected since 4853 fell below the local horizon. There are no previously reported data on 4853.

Data for 7304 Namiki were collected from May 18 through June 14, 2007, resulting in seven data sets and 380 data points. The photometric data were also obtained and analyzed using MPO Canopus (Warner 2006). A period of 8.8697 ± 0.0002 hours was determined. The period closely agrees with previous results of 8.90 ± 0.02 hr (Brinsfield 2007), 8.8586 ± 0.0006 hr (Montigiani 2007), and 8.8712 ± 0.0014 hr (Wagner 2007).

Acknowledgments

The author appreciates the help from Brian Warner in better understanding the process of period analysis and what “crafty critters” we are studying.

References

Brinsfield, J. W. (2007). “The Rotation Periods of 872 Holda, 3028 Zhangguoxi, 3497 Innanen, 5484 Inoda, 5654 Terni, and 7304 Namiki”, Minor Planet Bulletin 34-4, 108-109.

Harris, A. W., Young, J. W., Bowell, E., Martin, L. J., Millis, R. L., Poutanen, M., Scaltriti, F., Zappala, V., Schober, H. J., Debehogne, H., and Zeigler, K. W., (1989). “Photoelectric Observations of Asteroids 3, 24, 60, 261, and 863.” Icarus 77, 171-186.

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 6

will be 12.3 on Sept. 14 and at minimum distance 0.135 AU Sept. 12. This is its brightest since 1967 or until the year 2060. (11398) 1998 YP11 will achieve brightest magnitude 14.5 March 3 and minimum distance 0.203 AU March 17. This is brighter and closer than at any other time in the years 1950-2060 included in this study. Mercury-crossing planet (16960) 1998 QS52 reaches magnitude 14.1 Oct. 17 and minimum distance 0.257 AU Oct. 25. This is brighter than at any time since June, 1989, at magnitude 9.5, or until June, 2038, when it will achieve magnitude 11.2. This event occurs at far northerly declinations and will be accessible only to northern hemisphere observers. (137032) 1998 UO1 has a series of close approaches approximately every two years, of which the one on 2008 Sept. 26 at 0.063 AU is closest. Thereafter approaches become progressively more distant, and the next series will not occur until the mid 22nd century. (153591) 2001 SN263 approaches to 0.066 AU on 2008 Feb. 20. This object is observable from both hemispheres during the evening hours, moving from declination +45° and magnitude 13.5 on Feb. 1 to declination +7° and brightest magnitude 12.0 on Feb. 23 to declination -24° and magnitude 13.8 on March 20. The next moderately close approach to 0.101 AU occurs 2022 Feb. 28,

MINOR PLANETS AT UNUSUALLY FAVORABLE These lists have been prepared by an examination of the maximum ELONGATIONS IN 2008 elongation circumstances of minor planets computed by the author for all years through 2060 with a full perturbation program written Frederick Pilcher by Dr. John Reed, and to whom he expresses his thanks. Elements Illinois College are from EMP 1992, except that for all objects for which new or Jacksonville, IL 62650 USA improved elements have been published subsequently in the Minor Planet Circulars or in electronic form, the newer elements have (Received: 19 September) been used. Planetary positions are from the JPL DE-200 ephemeris, courtesy of Dr. E. Myles Standish. Dr. Reed's ephemeris generating program, a list of minor planet elements, and A list is presented of minor planets which are much the JPL planetary ephemeris are freeware which may be obtained brighter than usual at their 2008 apparitions. There will from the author by sending a 100 Megabyte zip disk and stamped, be very close approaches by 4450 , (137032) 1998 addressed return mailer. They cannot be downloaded directly over UO1, and (153591) 2001 SN263, and moderately close the Internet. approaches by Apollo-type asteroids 1620 Geographos, and (16960) 1998 QS52, and Amor-type asteroids Any objects whose brightest magnitudes near the time of 3691 Bede, (8567) 1996 HW1, and (11398) 1998 YP11. maximum elongation vary by at least 2.0 in this interval and in 2008 will be within 0.3 of the brightest occurring, or vary by at least 3.0 and in 2008 will be within 0.5 of the brightest occurring; The minor planets in the lists that follow will be much brighter at and which are visual magnitude 14.5 or brighter, are included. For their 2008 apparitions than at their average distances at maximum objects brighter than visual magnitude 13.5, which are within the elongation. Many years may pass before these minor planets will range of a large number of observers, these standards have been be again as bright as in 2008. Observers are encouraged to give relaxed somewhat to include a larger number of objects. special attention to those that lie near the limit of their equipment. Magnitudes have been computed from the updated magnitude parameters published in MPC28104-28116, on 1996 Nov. 25, or Three Apollo-type and three Amor-type minor planets will make more recently in the Minor Planet Circulars. moderately to extremely close approaches to Earth in calendar 2008 and are especially worthy of observational scrutiny. The Oppositions may be in right ascension or in celestial longitude. closest approach of the year 2008 among numbered minor planets Here we use still a third representation, maximum elongation from is 4450 Pan, minimum distance 0.041 AU on Feb. 19 and brightest the , instead of opposition. Though unconventional, it has the magnitude 12.5 on Feb. 17. This is much brighter than in any year advantage that many close approaches do not involve actual since 1963, when it was not observed, or until the year 2060. opposition to the Sun near the time of minimum distance and Minor planet 1620 Geographos achieves brightest magnitude 12.8 greatest brightness and are missed by an opposition-based on Feb. 29 and will not be as bright again until 2051 Aug. 27, program. Other data are also provided according to the following when it will reach magnitude 11.0. Asteroid 3691 Bede achieves tabular listings: Minor planet number, date of maximum brightest magnitude 14.5 on March 28 and minimum distance elongation from the Sun in format yyyy/mm/dd, maximum 0.361 AU on April 3. It is much brighter at this apparition than at elongation in degrees, right ascension on date of maximum any time until 2034, at which an opposition under almost identical elongation, declination on date of maximum elongation, both in circumstances will occur. This event will be principally J2000 coordinates, date of minimum or brightest magnitude in observable from the southern hemisphere, as Bede is at -32 format yyyy/mm/dd, minimum magnitude, date of minimum degrees declination at maximum elongation March 20 and distance in format yyyy/mm/dd, and minimum distance in AU. thereafter continues rapid southward motion. (8567) 1996 HW1

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 7

Minor Users should note that when the maximum elongation is about Planet Max Elon D Max E RA Dec Min Mag D Mag Min Dist D Min Dist

177° or greater, the minimum magnitude is sharply peaked due to 1655 2008/12/18 172.6° 5h46m +16° 2008/12/18 13.3 2008/12/16 1.156 enhanced brightening near zero phase angle. Even as near as 10 1672 2008/11/08 178.6° 2h59m +15° 2008/11/09 13.8 2008/11/13 1.388 1707 2008/09/23 179.2° 0h 3m - 0° 2008/09/23 13.9 2008/09/28 0.930 days before or after minimum magnitude the magnitude is 1710 2008/09/18 179.5° 23h44m - 2° 2008/09/18 13.9 2008/09/11 0.718 1727 2008/01/29 174.7° 8h32m +13° 2008/01/29 13.5 2008/01/26 0.720 generally about 0.4 greater. This effect takes place in greater time 1836 2008/07/08 177.0° 19h10m -19° 2008/07/08 13.7 2008/07/08 1.223 interval for smaller maximum elongations. There is some interest 1843 2008/06/10 178.0° 17h14m -25° 2008/06/10 14.0 2008/06/15 1.251 1914 2008/06/28 175.4° 18h28m -18° 2008/06/28 14.3 2008/06/28 1.034 in very small minimum phase angles. For maximum elongations 2001 2008/03/08 170.8° 11h24m +13° 2008/03/09 14.2 2008/03/13 0.807 E near 180° at Earth distance ∆, an approximate formula for the 2065 2008/10/06 171.2° 0h36m +13° 2008/10/06 14.4 2008/10/08 1.104 minimum phase angle φ is φ=(180°-E)/(∆+1). 2253 2008/08/26 178.4° 22h22m -11° 2008/08/26 13.2 2008/08/20 0.647 2397 2008/01/16 171.4° 7h40m +12° 2008/01/15 14.3 2008/01/13 1.608 2399 2008/07/26 175.5° 20h16m -15° 2008/07/26 14.5 2008/07/26 0.847 2431 2008/07/27 177.3° 20h29m -21° 2008/07/27 14.1 2008/07/27 0.878 Table I. Numerical Sequence of Favorable Elongations 2509 2008/09/18 178.7° 23h44m - 0° 2008/09/18 14.2 2008/09/13 1.003

2543 2008/10/04 166.5° 0h58m - 8° 2008/10/02 13.9 2008/09/25 1.337 Minor 2763 2008/07/26 179.2° 20h26m -19° 2008/07/26 14.0 2008/08/02 0.936 Planet Max Elon D Max E RA Dec Min Mag D Mag Min Dist D Min Dist 3014 2008/09/11 179.0° 23h21m - 5° 2008/09/11 14.1 2008/09/04 0.856 3116 2008/11/13 174.6° 3h21m +12° 2008/11/12 14.1 2008/11/04 0.947 9 2008/11/04 175.3° 2h46m +11° 2008/11/05 8.5 2008/11/06 1.142 3224 2008/04/04 176.0° 12h48m - 9° 2008/04/04 14.3 2008/04/09 1.397 11 2008/08/06 178.7° 21h 9m -17° 2008/08/06 8.8 2008/08/06 1.195 17 2008/07/15 177.8° 19h39m -19° 2008/07/15 9.9 2008/07/12 1.159 3401 2008/02/17 174.5° 9h59m + 6° 2008/02/16 14.2 2008/02/02 0.904 24 2008/01/23 178.7° 8h23m +20° 2008/01/23 10.6 2008/01/25 1.754 3691 2008/03/20 144.8° 13h 1m -32° 2008/03/28 14.5 2008/04/03 0.361 41 2008/04/09 167.8° 13h37m + 2° 2008/04/10 9.3 2008/04/15 1.054 3761 2008/07/18 151.1° 19h29m + 7° 2008/07/17 14.2 2008/07/16 1.292 3831 2008/07/21 174.1° 19h57m -14° 2008/07/21 14.4 2008/07/21 0.729 47 2008/07/10 172.0° 19h25m -30° 2008/07/10 11.1 2008/07/13 1.517 3861 2008/03/01 173.5° 10h40m + 1° 2008/03/02 14.5 2008/03/05 1.104 50 2008/09/30 178.5° 0h31m + 1° 2008/09/30 10.5 2008/09/30 0.900 82 2008/03/18 177.6° 11h56m + 2° 2008/03/18 10.8 2008/03/13 1.248 3928 2008/08/22 175.2° 22h 2m - 6° 2008/08/22 14.4 2008/08/20 0.813 86 2008/12/15 179.5° 5h34m +22° 2008/12/15 11.8 2008/12/09 1.635 3982 2008/06/09 178.6° 17h10m -21° 2008/06/09 14.3 2008/06/17 0.835 93 2008/05/30 166.5° 16h24m -35° 2008/05/31 10.8 2008/06/03 1.404 4135 2008/09/17 173.6° 23h28m + 3° 2008/09/17 14.4 2008/09/19 1.174 4450 2008/02/07 174.8° 9h22m +10° 2008/02/17 12.5 2008/02/19 0.041 130 2008/09/01 169.8° 23h 4m -16° 2008/09/02 10.5 2008/09/05 1.568 4512 2008/01/07 175.4° 7h 4m +18° 2008/01/07 14.3 2008/01/08 1.216 141 2008/10/26 158.7° 1h31m +32° 2008/10/24 10.8 2008/10/22 1.157 145 2008/12/05 178.3° 4h47m +20° 2008/12/05 10.9 2008/12/08 1.403 4520 2008/10/21 171.5° 1h56m + 2° 2008/10/20 14.3 2008/10/13 0.838 155 2008/11/30 169.5° 4h22m +32° 2008/11/30 13.4 2008/12/03 1.036 4711 2008/10/21 158.0° 2h14m - 9° 2008/10/18 13.9 2008/10/12 0.855 182 2008/11/26 177.3° 4h11m +18° 2008/11/26 10.7 2008/11/24 0.984 4797 2008/12/09 176.8° 5h 6m +26° 2008/12/09 14.4 2008/12/04 1.053 5002 2008/06/14 178.6° 17h32m -21° 2008/06/14 14.5 2008/06/18 0.843 229 2008/08/11 177.0° 21h27m -18° 2008/08/11 13.1 2008/08/12 1.946 5133 2008/11/24 170.8° 4h 7m +11° 2008/11/23 14.2 2008/11/16 1.295 264 2008/11/23 176.3° 3h56m +24° 2008/11/23 11.4 2008/11/20 1.479 275 2008/03/31 173.0° 12h52m + 1° 2008/03/31 11.7 2008/03/30 1.351 5518 2008/06/21 170.3° 18h 0m -13° 2008/06/21 14.2 2008/06/21 0.843 306 2008/09/03 175.2° 22h59m -11° 2008/09/03 10.9 2008/08/29 1.035 5622 2008/06/16 177.2° 17h41m -26° 2008/06/17 14.4 2008/06/23 1.503 333 2008/09/10 179.3° 23h18m - 5° 2008/09/10 12.7 2008/09/12 1.647 5661 2008/07/24 174.5° 20h19m -25° 2008/07/24 14.3 2008/07/26 2.044 5855 2008/09/16 166.2° 23h52m -15° 2008/09/16 14.3 2008/09/14 1.174 343 2008/10/26 179.3° 2h 4m +11° 2008/10/26 12.7 2008/10/28 0.879 5985 2008/09/13 167.1° 23h 9m + 8° 2008/09/13 14.1 2008/09/10 0.713 347 2008/04/10 160.9° 13h44m + 9° 2008/04/09 11.8 2008/04/08 1.253 358 2008/10/10 177.5° 1h 8m + 4° 2008/10/10 12.3 2008/10/13 1.558 6000 2008/10/30 172.8° 2h26m + 6° 2008/10/30 13.8 2008/10/25 1.171 361 2008/11/13 169.9° 3h 7m +27° 2008/11/14 12.8 2008/11/16 2.234 6146 2008/07/23 171.8° 20h19m -28° 2008/07/23 13.8 2008/07/21 0.693 365 2008/11/02 167.0° 2h52m + 2° 2008/11/02 12.2 2008/11/01 1.392 6422 2008/07/27 179.1° 20h28m -18° 2008/07/27 13.9 2008/07/26 1.211 6670 2008/07/18 173.9° 19h39m -15° 2008/07/18 13.7 2008/07/24 0.959 416 2008/06/01 174.4° 16h37m -27° 2008/06/01 10.2 2008/06/02 1.170 7043 2008/09/05 179.9° 22h57m - 6° 2008/09/05 14.1 2008/08/28 0.920 417 2008/03/01 173.1° 10h41m + 0° 2008/03/02 12.4 2008/03/04 1.469 469 2008/02/21 179.2° 10h16m +11° 2008/02/21 12.0 2008/02/24 1.692 7267 2008/03/12 170.7° 11h34m +12° 2008/03/11 14.2 2008/03/03 0.662 542 2008/09/12 174.1° 23h32m - 9° 2008/09/12 12.5 2008/09/12 1.514 7824 2008/10/03 172.3° 0h53m - 2° 2008/10/02 14.5 2008/09/29 0.801 576 2008/08/04 176.2° 20h54m -13° 2008/08/04 12.2 2008/08/05 1.392 7851 2008/07/18 179.8° 19h52m -21° 2008/07/18 14.1 2008/07/17 0.830 7965 2008/07/12 157.6° 19h11m -43° 2008/07/07 13.9 2008/06/30 0.915 667 2008/02/12 171.4° 9h24m + 6° 2008/02/11 12.5 2008/02/08 1.694 8356 2008/10/22 144.9° 1h32m +46° 2008/10/22 14.5 2008/10/22 0.805 687 2008/10/09 159.3° 0h38m +26° 2008/10/10 13.9 2008/10/10 1.026 709 2008/09/11 168.4° 23h 5m + 6° 2008/09/11 12.5 2008/09/09 1.591 8567 2008/10/29 153.3° 2h58m -10° 2008/09/14 12.3 2008/09/12 0.135 739 2008/02/03 178.1° 9h 2m +14° 2008/02/03 11.4 2008/02/07 1.454 9117 2008/01/15 171.8° 7h57m +28° 2008/01/16 14.4 2008/01/18 1.056 746 2008/08/10 158.2° 21h46m -36° 2008/08/10 13.2 2008/08/09 1.387 11398 2008/02/21 158.4° 11h42m +16° 2008/03/04 14.5 2008/03/17 0.203 15012 2008/08/09 169.3° 21h37m -25° 2008/08/10 14.4 2008/08/14 0.793 768 2008/11/20 170.4° 3h41m +29° 2008/11/20 13.4 2008/11/19 1.515 16960 2008/09/21 126.9° 0h35m +51° 2008/10/17 14.1 2008/10/25 0.257 771 2008/11/24 167.3° 4h18m + 8° 2008/11/25 12.6 2008/11/27 1.047 776 2008/12/24 172.9° 6h18m +30° 2008/12/24 11.2 2008/12/19 1.709 18070 2008/10/11 160.2° 1h14m -12° 2008/10/08 14.4 2008/10/02 0.795 787 2008/09/24 178.9° 0h 4m + 1° 2008/09/24 12.4 2008/09/19 1.307 137072 2008/10/13 136.0° 22h33m +30° 2008/09/29 13.7 2008/09/26 0.063 788 2008/04/29 164.8° 14h50m - 0° 2008/04/29 12.2 2008/04/30 1.759 153591 2008/03/01 151.9° 9h15m - 7° 2008/02/23 12.0 2008/02/20 0.066

790 2008/06/16 172.2° 17h43m -15° 2008/06/16 12.0 2008/06/18 1.922 791 2008/07/22 174.9° 20h 1m -15° 2008/07/22 12.5 2008/07/26 1.550 796 2008/10/06 163.5° 1h 0m -10° 2008/10/05 10.6 2008/10/03 0.819 819 2008/07/26 174.8° 20h27m -24° 2008/07/25 13.3 2008/07/22 0.891 Table II. Temporal Sequence of Favorable Elongations 848 2008/09/03 178.7° 22h48m - 6° 2008/09/03 14.0 2008/09/01 1.572

889 2008/09/18 169.3° 0h 4m -11° 2008/09/19 13.3 2008/09/25 1.096 Minor 898 2008/05/20 179.0° 15h47m -20° 2008/05/20 13.2 2008/06/05 0.863 Planet Max Elon D Max E RA Dec Min Mag D Mag Min Dist D Min Dist 899 2008/12/02 179.2° 4h35m +22° 2008/12/02 13.1 2008/11/26 1.496 923 2008/11/04 168.1° 2h59m + 4° 2008/11/04 13.8 2008/11/02 1.124 4512 2008/01/07 175.4° 7h 4m +18° 2008/01/07 14.3 2008/01/08 1.216 956 2008/08/01 168.0° 20h31m - 6° 2008/08/01 14.0 2008/08/02 0.828 1284 2008/01/09 175.2° 7h23m +26° 2008/01/09 12.9 2008/01/04 1.332 9117 2008/01/15 171.8° 7h57m +28° 2008/01/16 14.4 2008/01/18 1.056 995 2008/08/26 157.7° 21h47m +10° 2008/08/27 13.1 2008/08/27 1.215 2397 2008/01/16 171.4° 7h40m +12° 2008/01/15 14.3 2008/01/13 1.608 1000 2008/06/30 154.3° 18h33m -48° 2008/06/28 13.0 2008/06/25 1.473 24 2008/01/23 178.7° 8h23m +20° 2008/01/23 10.6 2008/01/25 1.754 1013 2008/04/01 174.3° 12h51m + 0° 2008/03/31 12.9 2008/03/25 1.346 1727 2008/01/29 174.7° 8h32m +13° 2008/01/29 13.5 2008/01/26 0.720 1021 2008/09/18 153.4° 0h41m -24° 2008/09/23 11.6 2008/09/28 1.136 1047 2008/12/06 179.0° 4h51m +21° 2008/12/05 13.3 2008/11/27 0.955 1479 2008/02/01 168.0° 9h10m +28° 2008/01/31 14.0 2008/01/28 1.239 739 2008/02/03 178.1° 9h 2m +14° 2008/02/03 11.4 2008/02/07 1.454 1048 2008/06/14 164.7° 17h37m -38° 2008/06/13 12.6 2008/06/11 1.285 4450 2008/02/07 174.8° 9h22m +10° 2008/02/17 12.5 2008/02/19 0.041 1066 2008/09/30 176.1° 0h21m + 6° 2008/09/30 13.9 2008/09/28 0.902 667 2008/02/12 171.4° 9h24m + 6° 2008/02/11 12.5 2008/02/08 1.694 1096 2008/09/16 162.3° 0h 7m -18° 2008/09/15 12.8 2008/09/11 1.152 3401 2008/02/17 174.5° 9h59m + 6° 2008/02/16 14.2 2008/02/02 0.904 1117 2008/06/25 172.2° 18h16m -15° 2008/06/26 13.2 2008/06/30 0.815 1126 2008/02/18 172.9° 10h12m +18° 2008/02/18 13.8 2008/02/17 0.959 1122 2008/10/04 172.4° 0h52m - 2° 2008/10/04 12.9 2008/10/07 0.969 469 2008/02/21 179.2° 10h16m +11° 2008/02/21 12.0 2008/02/24 1.692 11398 2008/02/21 158.4° 11h42m +16° 2008/03/04 14.5 2008/03/17 0.203 1126 2008/02/18 172.9° 10h12m +18° 2008/02/18 13.8 2008/02/17 0.959 1620 2008/02/22 172.8° 10h19m +17° 2008/02/29 12.8 2008/03/17 0.125 1132 2008/07/03 165.7° 19h 2m -36° 2008/07/05 12.5 2008/07/08 0.949 1165 2008/06/22 160.2° 18h 8m - 3° 2008/06/24 13.8 2008/06/27 1.527 417 2008/03/01 173.1° 10h41m + 0° 2008/03/02 12.4 2008/03/04 1.469 1170 2008/09/15 172.0° 23h38m -10° 2008/09/16 14.0 2008/09/27 0.895 3861 2008/03/01 173.5° 10h40m + 1° 2008/03/02 14.5 2008/03/05 1.104 1267 2008/08/06 171.0° 21h15m -25° 2008/08/05 14.1 2008/08/02 1.036 153591 2008/03/01 151.9° 9h15m - 7° 2008/02/23 12.0 2008/02/20 0.066 2001 2008/03/08 170.8° 11h24m +13° 2008/03/09 14.2 2008/03/13 0.807 1284 2008/01/09 175.2° 7h23m +26° 2008/01/09 12.9 2008/01/04 1.332 7267 2008/03/12 170.7° 11h34m +12° 2008/03/11 14.2 2008/03/03 0.662 1294 2008/11/28 175.8° 4h20m +17° 2008/11/28 12.3 2008/11/22 1.133 82 2008/03/18 177.6° 11h56m + 2° 2008/03/18 10.8 2008/03/13 1.248 1299 2008/12/30 167.5° 6h34m +10° 2008/12/29 14.3 2008/12/26 1.359 3691 2008/03/20 144.8° 13h 1m -32° 2008/03/28 14.5 2008/04/03 0.361 1323 2008/04/12 168.0° 13h39m + 2° 2008/04/12 13.7 2008/04/11 1.775 275 2008/03/31 173.0° 12h52m + 1° 2008/03/31 11.7 2008/03/30 1.351 1346 2008/10/14 164.9° 1h48m - 4° 2008/10/15 13.9 2008/10/18 1.237 1013 2008/04/01 174.3° 12h51m + 0° 2008/03/31 12.9 2008/03/25 1.346 1376 2008/09/26 177.3° 0h15m - 1° 2008/09/25 13.3 2008/09/16 0.827 3224 2008/04/04 176.0° 12h48m - 9° 2008/04/04 14.3 2008/04/09 1.397 1401 2008/10/04 164.3° 0h16m +18° 2008/10/03 13.9 2008/09/29 0.864 41 2008/04/09 167.8° 13h37m + 2° 2008/04/10 9.3 2008/04/15 1.054 1403 2008/10/29 163.4° 2h40m - 1° 2008/10/26 13.5 2008/10/18 1.100 347 2008/04/10 160.9° 13h44m + 9° 2008/04/09 11.8 2008/04/08 1.253 1472 2008/10/08 174.9° 1h 4m + 1° 2008/10/08 13.8 2008/10/05 0.798 1323 2008/04/12 168.0° 13h39m + 2° 2008/04/12 13.7 2008/04/11 1.775 1473 2008/09/25 163.9° 23h35m +14° 2008/09/24 13.8 2008/09/21 0.996 788 2008/04/29 164.8° 14h50m - 0° 2008/04/29 12.2 2008/04/30 1.759

1479 2008/02/01 168.0° 9h10m +28° 2008/01/31 14.0 2008/01/28 1.239 898 2008/05/20 179.0° 15h47m -20° 2008/05/20 13.2 2008/06/05 0.863 1554 2008/10/27 178.8° 2h 6m +14° 2008/10/27 14.1 2008/10/20 1.207 93 2008/05/30 166.5° 16h24m -35° 2008/05/31 10.8 2008/06/03 1.404 1560 2008/11/28 172.3° 4h12m +28° 2008/11/28 14.0 2008/11/22 1.230 1620 2008/02/22 172.8° 10h19m +17° 2008/02/29 12.8 2008/03/17 0.125 1638 2008/06/03 179.5° 16h46m -21° 2008/06/03 13.9 2008/06/08 1.269 Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 8

Minor Planet Max Elon D Max E RA Dec Min Mag D Mag Min Dist D Min Dist LIGHTCURVE ANALYSIS OF 12008 KANDRUP

416 2008/06/01 174.4° 16h37m -27° 2008/06/01 10.2 2008/06/02 1.170 1638 2008/06/03 179.5° 16h46m -21° 2008/06/03 13.9 2008/06/08 1.269 Robert D. Stephens 3982 2008/06/09 178.6° 17h10m -21° 2008/06/09 14.3 2008/06/17 0.835 1843 2008/06/10 178.0° 17h14m -25° 2008/06/10 14.0 2008/06/15 1.251 Goat Mountain Astronomical Research Station (GMARS) 1048 2008/06/14 164.7° 17h37m -38° 2008/06/13 12.6 2008/06/11 1.285 5002 2008/06/14 178.6° 17h32m -21° 2008/06/14 14.5 2008/06/18 0.843 Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91737 USA 790 2008/06/16 172.2° 17h43m -15° 2008/06/16 12.0 2008/06/18 1.922 5622 2008/06/16 177.2° 17h41m -26° 2008/06/17 14.4 2008/06/23 1.503 [email protected] 5518 2008/06/21 170.3° 18h 0m -13° 2008/06/21 14.2 2008/06/21 0.843 1165 2008/06/22 160.2° 18h 8m - 3° 2008/06/24 13.8 2008/06/27 1.527 1117 2008/06/25 172.2° 18h16m -15° 2008/06/26 13.2 2008/06/30 0.815 Brian D. Warner 1914 2008/06/28 175.4° 18h28m -18° 2008/06/28 14.3 2008/06/28 1.034 1000 2008/06/30 154.3° 18h33m -48° 2008/06/28 13.0 2008/06/25 1.473 Palmer Divide Observatory/Space Science Institute

1132 2008/07/03 165.7° 19h 2m -36° 2008/07/05 12.5 2008/07/08 0.949 17995 Bakers Farm Rd., Colorado Springs, CO 80908 1836 2008/07/08 177.0° 19h10m -19° 2008/07/08 13.7 2008/07/08 1.223 47 2008/07/10 172.0° 19h25m -30° 2008/07/10 11.1 2008/07/13 1.517 7965 2008/07/12 157.6° 19h11m -43° 2008/07/07 13.9 2008/06/30 0.915 (Received: 20 September) 17 2008/07/15 177.8° 19h39m -19° 2008/07/15 9.9 2008/07/12 1.159 3761 2008/07/18 151.1° 19h29m + 7° 2008/07/17 14.2 2008/07/16 1.292 6670 2008/07/18 173.9° 19h39m -15° 2008/07/18 13.7 2008/07/24 0.959 7851 2008/07/18 179.8° 19h52m -21° 2008/07/18 14.1 2008/07/17 0.830 The deep Mars-crossing asteroid 12008 Kandrup was 3831 2008/07/21 174.1° 19h57m -14° 2008/07/21 14.4 2008/07/21 0.729 791 2008/07/22 174.9° 20h 1m -15° 2008/07/22 12.5 2008/07/26 1.550 observed from GMARS and Palmer Divide 6146 2008/07/23 171.8° 20h19m -28° 2008/07/23 13.8 2008/07/21 0.693 Observatories in July and August 2008. The synodic 5661 2008/07/24 174.5° 20h19m -25° 2008/07/24 14.3 2008/07/26 2.044 819 2008/07/26 174.8° 20h27m -24° 2008/07/25 13.3 2008/07/22 0.891 period was found to be 32.84 ± 0.01 hr with the 2399 2008/07/26 175.5° 20h16m -15° 2008/07/26 14.5 2008/07/26 0.847 2763 2008/07/26 179.2° 20h26m -19° 2008/07/26 14.0 2008/08/02 0.936 lightcurve having an amplitude of 0.70 ± 0.03 mag. 2431 2008/07/27 177.3° 20h29m -21° 2008/07/27 14.1 2008/07/27 0.878 6422 2008/07/27 179.1° 20h28m -18° 2008/07/27 13.9 2008/07/26 1.211 In July 2007, observations were made by the group lead by 956 2008/08/01 168.0° 20h31m - 6° 2008/08/01 14.0 2008/08/02 0.828 576 2008/08/04 176.2° 20h54m -13° 2008/08/04 12.2 2008/08/05 1.392 Behrend (2007). Initial data indicated the possibility that the 11 2008/08/06 178.7° 21h 9m -17° 2008/08/06 8.8 2008/08/06 1.195 1267 2008/08/06 171.0° 21h15m -25° 2008/08/05 14.1 2008/08/02 1.036 asteroid might be a contact synchronous . We 15012 2008/08/09 169.3° 21h37m -25° 2008/08/10 14.4 2008/08/14 0.793 746 2008/08/10 158.2° 21h46m -36° 2008/08/10 13.2 2008/08/09 1.387 began observations in order to confirm that possibility, obtaining 229 2008/08/11 177.0° 21h27m -18° 2008/08/11 13.1 2008/08/12 1.946 3928 2008/08/22 175.2° 22h 2m - 6° 2008/08/22 14.4 2008/08/20 0.813 more than 500 data points. After careful analysis, we are not 995 2008/08/26 157.7° 21h47m +10° 2008/08/27 13.1 2008/08/27 1.215 2253 2008/08/26 178.4° 22h22m -11° 2008/08/26 13.2 2008/08/20 0.647 convinced that the asteroid is binary, specifically because the shape of the curve lacks distinctive tell-tale "shoulders" seen in 130 2008/09/01 169.8° 23h 4m -16° 2008/09/02 10.5 2008/09/05 1.568 306 2008/09/03 175.2° 22h59m -11° 2008/09/03 10.9 2008/08/29 1.035 close or contact binaries. The sharp minima, often seen in contact 848 2008/09/03 178.7° 22h48m - 6° 2008/09/03 14.0 2008/09/01 1.572 7043 2008/09/05 179.9° 22h57m - 6° 2008/09/05 14.1 2008/08/28 0.920 binaries, can also be attributed to a single highly-elongated body. 333 2008/09/10 179.3° 23h18m - 5° 2008/09/10 12.7 2008/09/12 1.647 709 2008/09/11 168.4° 23h 5m + 6° 2008/09/11 12.5 2008/09/09 1.591 Observations at future apparitions may show a different shape of 3014 2008/09/11 179.0° 23h21m - 5° 2008/09/11 14.1 2008/09/04 0.856 542 2008/09/12 174.1° 23h32m - 9° 2008/09/12 12.5 2008/09/12 1.514 the curve and so provide the convincing evidence one way or the 5985 2008/09/13 167.1° 23h 9m + 8° 2008/09/13 14.1 2008/09/10 0.713 1170 2008/09/15 172.0° 23h38m -10° 2008/09/16 14.0 2008/09/27 0.895 other. 1096 2008/09/16 162.3° 0h 7m -18° 2008/09/15 12.8 2008/09/11 1.152 5855 2008/09/16 166.2° 23h52m -15° 2008/09/16 14.3 2008/09/14 1.174 4135 2008/09/17 173.6° 23h28m + 3° 2008/09/17 14.4 2008/09/19 1.174 The Stephens-Warner data set is not as complete as the one 889 2008/09/18 169.3° 0h 4m -11° 2008/09/19 13.3 2008/09/25 1.096 1021 2008/09/18 153.4° 0h41m -24° 2008/09/23 11.6 2008/09/28 1.136 obtained by the Behrend group and found a period of 32.84 ± 0.01 1710 2008/09/18 179.5° 23h44m - 2° 2008/09/18 13.9 2008/09/11 0.718 2509 2008/09/18 178.7° 23h44m - 0° 2008/09/18 14.2 2008/09/13 1.003 hr. This is in good agreement with Behrend et al, who found a 16960 2008/09/21 126.9° 0h35m +51° 2008/10/17 14.1 2008/10/25 0.257 1707 2008/09/23 179.2° 0h 3m - 0° 2008/09/23 13.9 2008/09/28 0.930 more precise period of 32.89272 ± 0.00168 hr. 787 2008/09/24 178.9° 0h 4m + 1° 2008/09/24 12.4 2008/09/19 1.307 1473 2008/09/25 163.9° 23h35m +14° 2008/09/24 13.8 2008/09/21 0.996 1376 2008/09/26 177.3° 0h15m - 1° 2008/09/25 13.3 2008/09/16 0.827 Acknowledgements 50 2008/09/30 178.5° 0h31m + 1° 2008/09/30 10.5 2008/09/30 0.900 1066 2008/09/30 176.1° 0h21m + 6° 2008/09/30 13.9 2008/09/28 0.902

7824 2008/10/03 172.3° 0h53m - 2° 2008/10/02 14.5 2008/09/29 0.801 Funding for observations at the Palmer Divide Observatory is 1122 2008/10/04 172.4° 0h52m - 2° 2008/10/04 12.9 2008/10/07 0.969 1401 2008/10/04 164.3° 0h16m +18° 2008/10/03 13.9 2008/09/29 0.864 provided by NASA grant NNG06GI32G, National Science 2543 2008/10/04 166.5° 0h58m - 8° 2008/10/02 13.9 2008/09/25 1.337 Foundation grant AST-0607505, and by a Gene Shoemaker NEO 796 2008/10/06 163.5° 1h 0m -10° 2008/10/05 10.6 2008/10/03 0.819 2065 2008/10/06 171.2° 0h36m +13° 2008/10/06 14.4 2008/10/08 1.104 Grant from the Planetary Society. 1472 2008/10/08 174.9° 1h 4m + 1° 2008/10/08 13.8 2008/10/05 0.798 687 2008/10/09 159.3° 0h38m +26° 2008/10/10 13.9 2008/10/10 1.026 358 2008/10/10 177.5° 1h 8m + 4° 2008/10/10 12.3 2008/10/13 1.558 18070 2008/10/11 160.2° 1h14m -12° 2008/10/08 14.4 2008/10/02 0.795 References 137032 2008/10/13 136.0° 22h33m +30° 2008/09/29 13.7 2008/09/26 0.063 1346 2008/10/14 164.9° 1h48m - 4° 2008/10/15 13.9 2008/10/18 1.237 4520 2008/10/21 171.5° 1h56m + 2° 2008/10/20 14.3 2008/10/13 0.838 Behrend, R. (2007) Observatoire de Geneve web site, 4711 2008/10/21 158.0° 2h14m - 9° 2008/10/18 13.9 2008/10/12 0.855 8356 2008/10/22 144.9° 1h32m +46° 2008/10/22 14.5 2008/10/22 0.805 http://obswww.unige.ch/~behrend/page_cou.html 141 2008/10/26 158.7° 1h31m +32° 2008/10/24 10.8 2008/10/22 1.157 343 2008/10/26 179.3° 2h 4m +11° 2008/10/26 12.7 2008/10/28 0.879 1554 2008/10/27 178.8° 2h 6m +14° 2008/10/27 14.1 2008/10/20 1.207 1403 2008/10/29 163.4° 2h40m - 1° 2008/10/26 13.5 2008/10/18 1.100 8567 2008/10/29 153.3° 2h58m -10° 2008/09/14 12.3 2008/09/12 0.135 6000 2008/10/30 172.8° 2h26m + 6° 2008/10/30 13.8 2008/10/25 1.171

365 2008/11/02 167.0° 2h52m + 2° 2008/11/02 12.2 2008/11/01 1.392 9 2008/11/04 175.3° 2h46m +11° 2008/11/05 8.5 2008/11/06 1.142 923 2008/11/04 168.1° 2h59m + 4° 2008/11/04 13.8 2008/11/02 1.124 1672 2008/11/08 178.6° 2h59m +15° 2008/11/09 13.8 2008/11/13 1.388 361 2008/11/13 169.9° 3h 7m +27° 2008/11/14 12.8 2008/11/16 2.234 3116 2008/11/13 174.6° 3h21m +12° 2008/11/12 14.1 2008/11/04 0.947 768 2008/11/20 170.4° 3h41m +29° 2008/11/20 13.4 2008/11/19 1.515 264 2008/11/23 176.3° 3h56m +24° 2008/11/23 11.4 2008/11/20 1.479 771 2008/11/24 167.3° 4h18m + 8° 2008/11/25 12.6 2008/11/27 1.047 5133 2008/11/24 170.8° 4h 7m +11° 2008/11/23 14.2 2008/11/16 1.295 182 2008/11/26 177.3° 4h11m +18° 2008/11/26 10.7 2008/11/24 0.984 1294 2008/11/28 175.8° 4h20m +17° 2008/11/28 12.3 2008/11/22 1.133 1560 2008/11/28 172.3° 4h12m +28° 2008/11/28 14.0 2008/11/22 1.230 155 2008/11/30 169.5° 4h22m +32° 2008/11/30 13.4 2008/12/03 1.036

899 2008/12/02 179.2° 4h35m +22° 2008/12/02 13.1 2008/11/26 1.496 145 2008/12/05 178.3° 4h47m +20° 2008/12/05 10.9 2008/12/08 1.403 1047 2008/12/06 179.0° 4h51m +21° 2008/12/05 13.3 2008/11/27 0.955 4797 2008/12/09 176.8° 5h 6m +26° 2008/12/09 14.4 2008/12/04 1.053 86 2008/12/15 179.5° 5h34m +22° 2008/12/15 11.8 2008/12/09 1.635 1655 2008/12/18 172.6° 5h46m +16° 2008/12/18 13.3 2008/12/16 1.156 776 2008/12/24 172.9° 6h18m +30° 2008/12/24 11.2 2008/12/19 1.709 1299 2008/12/30 167.5° 6h34m +10° 2008/12/29 14.3 2008/12/26 1.359

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 9

LIGHTCURVE ANALYSIS OF A MAGNITUDE LIMITED Differential aperture photometry was done both with Canopus ASTEROID SAMPLE 9.3.1.0 (BDW Publishing 2007) and MaxIm DL. Period analysis was done with Canopus 9.3.1.0 and Peranso 2.20 (Vanmunster Lawrence A. Molnar, Melissa J. Haegert, Christopher N. 2006), using the Fourier algorithm (FALC) developed by Harris et Beaumont, Marjorie J. Block, Timothy H. Brom, Andrew R. al. (1989). All times were corrected for light travel. Magnitude Butler, Peter L. Cook, Allyson G. Green, Joshua P. Holtrop, scales on adjoining nights are tied together via common reference Kathleen M. Hoogeboom, Jason J. Kulisek, Jonathan S. Lovelace, for all asteroids except (119245) 2001 QD293, for which Jeffery S. Olivero, Achyut Shrestha, Jessie F. Taylor, Kenneth D. there was insufficient overlap. Todd, John D. Vander Heide, and Samuel O. Van Scoter Calvin College Of the twelve objects, previously published lightcurves exist only 1734 Knollcrest Circle SE for 939 Isberga and 1613 Smiley (cf. the catalog of Harris et al. Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4403 2007). Our results are summarized in the figures and table below, [email protected] along with additional comments on individual objects as needed.

(Received: 20 August Revised: 16 October) 285 Regina This asteroid had the smallest amount of variation in our sample. The period used in the figure (and given in the table) represents the most likely fit to our data. However, despite Synodic rotation periods and amplitudes for twelve complete phase coverage from eight nights of data, the amplitude main-belt asteroids observed at the Calvin-Rehoboth of the fit is not sufficiently greater than the data uncertainties for Observatory are reported: 285 Regina, 939 Isberga, this to be considered a certain result. The amplitude of the fit may 1104 Syringa, 1206 Numerowia, 1613 Smiley, be considered a secure upper limit for any reasonable period. 1623 Vivian, 1835 Gajdariya, 3013 Dobrovoleva, 3170 Dzhanibekov, 4411 Kochibunkyo, (5854) 1992UP, 939 Isberga A short period (2.9 h), moderate amplitude (0.25 mag) and (119245) 2001 QD293. The asteroid 939 Isberga is cycle was easily observed on each of the six nights we observed a binary with 26.8 ± 0.1 h. Together with 939 Isberga. This period is inconsistent with Tedesco (1979), five asteroids previously measured these constitute a which reports a lower limit of 20 h for the period and a lower limit complete magnitude limited sample which can be used of 0.2 magnitudes for the amplitude. However, Harris et al. (2007) to test for bias in the larger catalog of rotation periods. assign a quality code of “1” to this estimate.

During portions of four of the nights, 939 Isberga was fainter than The goal of this project was to study a complete, magnitude limited sample of main-belt asteroids. The sample was defined as expected. We determined the lightcurve shape and period omitting all asteroids with V brighter than 15.8 (as computed by the Minor these data and then used the results to obtain residuals of all of the data with respect to that fit. We then analyzed the residuals and Planet Center) and located within 250 arcminutes of (RA = 9h, found in them a period of 26.8 ± 0.1 h, which we interpret to be Dec = +20°) at 7 UT on 2 February 2006. Seventeen asteroids met the orbital period of a companion. Plotting the residuals folded on these criteria, of which five had periods listed in the catalog of this period shows the observations of February 26 and 27 include Harris (2006) with quality code of “2” or better (135 Hertha, 534 primary eclipses approximately 0.15 mag in depth, while the Nassovia, 760 Massinga, 2415 Ganesa, and 7895 Kaseda). This observations of March 3 and 4 include portions of secondary paper presents new data on the remaining twelve asteroids, eclipses. To establish the statistical significance of these dips, we establishing secure periods for eleven of them (and a tentative note that three other asteroids were observed during three of the period for 285 Regina). A brief comparison is also made between nights 939 Isberga was observed. Plots of their residuals folded on the sample and the larger catalog of main belt rotation periods. the same period show no systematic trends greater than 0.05 mag. We conclude the evidence for the companion is strong. Calvin College operates a robotic observatory located in Rehoboth, NM, at an elevation of 2024 m. Data were taken using a We note that there is one other period, 17.2 h, which can 0.4 m OGS Ritchey-Chretien telescope and an SBIG ST-10XE adequately describe the residual data. This is not a physically camera. All images were taken with an R filter at a pixel scale of plausible value, however, as requiring a binary separation greater 1.97 arcseconds per pixel. Exposure times ranged from 120 to than the Roche limit would imply a lower limit to the mean 240 s. Standard image calibration was done with MaxIm DL. density of 4.2 gm/cm3 (assuming two equal density objects). For

Est. Date range (2006) Data Period P. error V # Name amp. min (mm/dd) pts (h) (h) (mag) (mag) 285 Regina 02/01-02/26 190 31.64 0.05 0.15 13.21 939 Isberga 02/24-03/04 188 2.9173 0.0003 0.25 13.10 1104 Syringa 02/01-02/06 108 5.1547 0.0012 0.27 12.92 1206 Numerowia 02/07-02/09 92 4.7743 0.0013 0.68 15.08 1613 Smiley 01/14-02/28 576 80.61 0.05 0.28 12.99 1623 Vivian 02/01-04/19 335 20.5209 0.0007 0.88 14.18 1835 Gajdariya 02/07-02/09 89 6.3276 0.0035 0.50 14.54 3013 Dobrovoleva 02/01-02/03 117 8.3025 0.0021 0.41 14.90 3170 Dzhanibekov 02/01-02/03 91 6.0724 0.0031 0.64 15.30 4411 Kochibunkyo 02/01-02/03 93 2.6958 0.0018 0.20 15.32 5854 1992 UP 02/01-02/20 301 7.1296 0.0008 0.33 14.66 119245 2001 QD293 02/01-02/04 108 4.8249 0.0021 0.27 14.87

Vmin is the approximate opposition magnitude of the asteroid at perihelion distance, q, and is given by Vmin =H + 5 log[q(q-1)]. Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 10 the longer period, the lower limit is 1.7 gm/cm3. Well-measured Harris, A. W. (2006). “Asteroid Lightcurve Data File”, 2 January values range from 0.89 gm/cm3 (for 854 Frostia, Behrend et al. 2006 update. From the CALL homepage. 2006) to 3.4 gm/cm3 (for 4 , Britt et al. 2002). http://minorplanetobserver.com/astlc/

1613 Smiley The slow rotation of this object makes the three full Harris, A. W., Warner, B. D. and Pravec, P. (2007). “Asteroid nights we observed in late February of 2006 inadequate by Lightcurve Data Files.” From the CALL homepage, last updated themselves to determine the period. Warner (2006) reported a May 12, 2007. http://minorplanetobserver.com/astlc/ period of 81.0 ± 0.1 h based on data from late January 2006, although those data also had significant gaps. We combined the Harris, A. W., Young, J. W., Bowell, E., Martin, L. J., Millis, R. data sets, filling all but one gap and improving the period L., Poutanen, M., Scaltriti, F., Zappala, V., Schober, H. J., determination: 80.61 ± 0.05 h. The uncertainty is still dominated Debehogne, H, and Zeigler, K. (1989). “Photoelectric by the systematic error introduced by the remaining gap; we Observations of Asteroids 3, 24, 60, 261, and 863.” Icarus, 77, estimated it by evaluation of how the best fit period depends on 171-186. the order of the solution used. (2007). “MPC Orbit Database.” From the 1623 Vivian Data were taken on this object for eight nights in MPC website, updated 6 August, 2007. February of 2006. Although a bimodal fit was preferred, the http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/MPCORB.html lightcurve was nearly symmetric, so observations were made on four additional nights in April in order to resolve any ambiguities. Pravec, P., Harris, A. W., and Michalowski, T. (2002). “Asteroid These later data show a slightly different lightcurve shape (a Rotations.” Asteroids III, W.F. Bottke Jr., A. Cellino, P. Paolicchi, greater amplitude), as might be expected due to the changing R.P. Binzel (eds.), University of Arizona Press, Tucson, p. 113- aspect. Our final period determination was based on a fit to all of 122. the data. Tedesco, E. F. (1979). Ph.D. Dissertation, New Mexico State (119245) 2001 QD293 Within our uncertainties, these data could Univ. 280 pp. be fit either by one or two peaks per cycle. Since the amplitude is 0.25 mag (larger than expected from a pole-on perspective), we Vanmunster, T. (2006). Peranso Period Analysis Software, consider the bimodal fit more likely. Peranso version 2.20, CBA Belgium Observatory.

It is interesting to compare our magnitude limited sample with the Warner, B. D. (2006). “Asteroid lightcurve analysis at the Palmer catalog of known rotation periods (Harris et al. 2007), which Divide Observatory – late 2005 and early 2006.” Minor Planet contains 1815 well observed main belt asteroids (objects with Bulletin. 33, 58-62. orbits between Mars and Jupiter, excluding Mars crossing objects, with quality code “2” or better). This is only 10% of the known Warner, B. D. (2007). MPO Software, Canopus version 9.3.1.0. main belt objects (Minor Planet Center 2007) with a minimum Bdw Publishing, Colorado Springs, CO. opposition magnitude, Vmin, less than our survey limit, leaving the possibility for significant observational bias against longer (difficult to determine) periods. In particular, we restrict our comparison to asteroids between 5 and 20 km in diameter (636 catalog objects). This is the upper end of the range of small asteroids, for which Pravec et al. (2002) find weak dependence of spin on asteroid size, and it includes the bulk of our sample: 11 of 17 objects (assuming a typical of 0.16). Our sample has a median spin period of 6.07 hours, statistically indistinguishable from the 5.99 hour median of the catalog. We conclude there is no evidence for observational bias in the known spin periods of small asteroids.

Acknowledgements

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0126841. We thank the Rehoboth Christian School for the use of their campus as a location for the Calvin-Rehoboth Robotic Observatory. We thank Brian Warner for providing us his data on 1613 Smiley.

References

Behrend, R., et al. (2006). “Four new binary minor planets: (854) Frostia, (1089) Tama, (1313) Berna, (4492) Debussy.” Astronomy & Astrophysics, 446, 1177-1184.

Britt, D.T., Yeomans, D., Housen, K., and Consolmagno, G. (2002). “Asteroid Density, Porosity, and Structure.” Asteroids III, W.F. Bottke Jr., A. Cellino, P. Paolicchi, R.P. Binzel (eds.), University of Arizona Press, Tucson, p. 485-500. Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 11

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 12

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 13

A SHAPE AND SPIN AXIS MODEL 1600 Vyssotsky is a member of the Hungaria family/group, FOR 1600 VYSSOTSKY meaning it resides in the inner main belt with a high . This allows some changes in the viewing aspects from Brian D. Warner one apparition to the next, but nothing as dramatic as those for an Palmer Divide Observatory/Space Science Institute NEA. With only data form only four apparitions, we could expect 17995 Bakers Farm Rd., Colorado Springs, CO 80908 results that were only approximately correct but not firmly [email protected] conclusive.

David Higgins The previous results from the authors (Warner 1999, Warner 2005, Hunters Hill Observatory, Ngunnawal, Canberra 2913 Higgins 2007) show that Vyssotsky has a synodic period of AUSTRALIA approximately 3.2 hours. This makes it relatively easy to get good coverage in a single night and so have dense data sets for analysis. Donald P. Pray This was the case for 2005 and 2007. The data sets from the 1999 Carbuncle Hill Observatory and 2004 apparition were not as good, having less dense coverage Coventry, RI 02816 USA and, particularly in 2004, higher noise levels.

Ron Dyvig Warner developed a Windows-based program, MPO LCInvert, Badlands Observatory, Quinn, SD 57775 USA using Durech’s C code translation of the original inversion code by Kaasalainen (2001a; 2001b). All the observers (all authors Vishnu Reddy except Durech), measured their images using Warner’s MPO Dept. of Space Studies, University of North Dakota Canopus and exported the data for use in LCInvert. Table I lists Grand Forks, ND 58203 USA the approximate observing circumstances for the four apparitions. Josef Durech Dates Obs Phase PAB PAB Astronomical Institute, Charles University in Prague L B 1999 May BDW 19.8 204.3 15.2 Prague, CZECH REPUBLIC 2004 April RD, VR 17.7 196.8 20.5 2005 Nov BDW, DP 2.6 60.2 0.5 (Received: 2 October) 2007 May/June DH 27.4 293.0 -18.0 Table I. Observing circumstances for 1600 Vyssotsky, 1999-2007. The authors made lightcurve observations of the The 1999 and 2004 apparitions had very similar viewing Hungaria asteroid, 1600 Vyssotsky, during apparitions circumstances while 2005 and 2007 differed sufficiently to in 1999, 2004, 2005, and 2007. The synodic rotation provide extra modeling information. rates were determined and previously reported (Warner 1999, 2005; Higgins 2007). In this paper, we used Data Analysis lightcurve inversion on data from those apparitions to determine the spin axis and shape of the asteroid. The Data from 26 lightcurves were imported into MPO LCInvert, results included two possible solutions: l=356°, b=7° which converted the magnitudes into normalized flux values and l=219°, b=54°. For both solutions, the sidereal within each curve. In addition, the asteroidcentric period was 3.201264 hr. rectangular coordinates for the Sun and Earth were computed. The data were corrected for light-time but were not reduced to unity distance, thus making them all relative instead of absolute data. The methods for inverting lightcurve data into a shape and spin axis model for an asteroid have developed rapidly in recent years Analysis began by doing a period search centered on the average (see the several Kaasalainen et al. references). As an historical of the synodic periods found in the previous works. It is very aside, Henry Norris Russell (1906) claimed that unique solutions critical that a period of high precision and accuracy be found for lightcurve inversion was not possible because one could before proceeding to the actual modeling step. This is because any “paint” an asteroid (with albedo variations) such that the errors in the period show up as a phase shift between the model lightcurve was independent of the actual shape. Fortunately, data and actual lightcurves. Over a period of many years, the shift may show asteroids are, for the most part, uniformly grey and so the be large enough such that the modeling algorithm finds the wrong variations we see in asteroids over time are due mostly to their pole solution, if any at all. shape and the viewing aspects involved. Once a period with a precision of at least 10-6 hr was found, that The best chances for successful inversion of lightcurve data are period was used in a model search that used nine initial starting when there is sufficient data from a number of apparitions with points ( = 0°, 120°, 240°; = –30°, 0°, +30°). The period and changing viewing aspects as well as coverage over a large range of λ β phase angles within a given apparition. Of particular use are pole solutions were allowed to “float”. The search was run three observations with higher phase angles since these tend to amplify times, giving different weighting to the so-called “dark facet”, a small section of the initial shape that forces the final shape to be shadowing effects and so reveal the shape of the asteroid more readily. For main-belt asteroids, it can take many years to build a convex but has no photometric effect. The net result was a sufficient data set. In rare cases with near-Earth asteroids, it may grouping of solutions centered approximately on λ = 231°, β = 57° be possible to get sufficient data in a single apparition since the and λ = 357°, β = 5°. For both solutions, P(sidereal) = 3.201264 asteroid often presents itself over a large range of phase angles and hr. These values were then used in a final scan, where the pole and phase angle bisectors. period were again allowed to float. The final results appear in Table II.

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 14

Solution L B P RMS #1 356° 7° 3.201264 0.016 #2 219° 54° 0.016 Table II. Pole solutions for 1600 Vyssotsky. The sidereal periods for the solutions were the same to the given precision.

The λ, β positions are the ecliptic coordinates of the north pole. The period is the sidereal period in hours with the error approximately one unit of the last decimal place. The pole solutions have an error circle about 10° in diameter, which is more the result of the inversion process than the data itself. Both solutions have prograde motion. Solution #2 is the less likely of the two since it has the spin-axis about the wrong moment of Figure 2. Shape model for 1600 Vyssotsky. The left-hand model is inertia. Z = 0°; the right-hand is Z = +90°.

One thing to note is that the range of solutions did not include The lightcurve and model data are available on Durech’s web site, ambiguous pairs where the main difference was 180° in ecliptic http://astro.troja.mff.cuni.cz/projects/asteroids3D. longitude. This ambiguity is the result of viewing the asteroid when it’s near the ecliptic plane. Since the Acknowledgements have high inclinations, 18° < i < 32°, they can often be observed well off the ecliptic and so this ambiguity can be avoided. We offer our thanks to Mikko Kaasalainen for his invaluable insights and help. The observers also thank Josef Durech for his One test of the validity of the final result is that the chi-square willingness to work with us in order to learn the process of value be >10% lower than other solutions. This was not the case lightcurve inversion and for providing his source code. Funding for either of the above solutions, though solution #1 was close to for observations at the Palmer Divide Observatory is provided by this standard. Another test is to compare the theoretical lightcurve NASA grant NNG06GI32G, by National Science Foundation from the model against the actual data. Such a comparison from grant AST-0607505, and by a 2007 Shoemaker NEO Grant from MPO LCInvert is shown in Figure 1. Figure 2 shows the shape the Planetary Society. The SBIG ST-8E used by Hunters Hill was model for Solution #1. As can be seen in Figure 1, there is good funded by The Planetary Society under the 2005 Gene Shoemaker agreement between the theoretical and actual data. There is similar NEO Grants program. agreement with the data from other apparitions. References

Higgins, D. (2007). “Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at Hunters Hill Observatory and Collaborating Stations: April – June 2007.” Minor Planet Bul., this issue.

Kaasalainen, J. and Torppa, J. (2001a) “Optimization Methods for Asteroid Lightcurve Inversion: I. Shape Determination”. Icarus 153, 24–36.

Kaasalainen, J., Torppa, J., and Muinonen, K. (2001b) “Optimization Methods for Asteroid Lightcurve Inversion: II. The Complete Inverse Problem.”. Icarus 153, 37–51.

Kaasalainen, M., Mottola, S. and Fulchignoni, M. (2002) “Asteroid Models from Disk-integrated Data”. in Asteroids III, 139–150.

Kaasalainen, M., Durech, J., “Inverse Problems of NEO Photometry: Imaging the NEO Population” (2007). in Near Earth Figure 1. Comparison of model lightcurve (black/dark) versus data Objects, our Celestial Neighbors: Opportunity and Risk, from 2007 (Higgins, red/light). Proceedings if IAU Symposium 236. Edited by G.B. Valsecchi and D. Vokrouhlick. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, While the results showed a good (low) value for chi-square and 151–166. the model curves fit the actual data very well, the solution for this asteroid is far from definitive. Additional data are need from Kaasalainen, M. (2007). http://www.rni.helsinki.fi/~mjk/ future apparitions in order to remove any ambiguities and refine asteroids.html (see the FAQ and the numerous references) the period solution. However, this analysis shows that spin axis and shape modeling is no longer restricted to the professional Russell, H. N. (1906). “On the Light-variations of Asteroids and community and that careful work by “amateurs” can produce Satellites.” Astronomy and Astrophysics 149, 186-194. important and useful results. Warner, B. D. (1999). Minor Planet Bul. 26, 31-33.

Warner, B. D., Pray, D.P., Dyvig, R., and Reddy, V. (2006). Minor Planet Bul. 33, 45-46. Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 15

LIGHTCURVE ANALYSIS OF 8256 SHENZHOU

Greg Crawford Bagnall Beach Observatory 172 Salamander Way Salamander Bay NSW Australia [email protected]

(Received: 6 October)

8256 Shenzhou was observed over three nights in September-October 2007. The synodic period was determined as 3.395 ± 0.001 hr. The peak-to-peak amplitude was approximately 0.3 mag.

Minor planet 8256 Shenzhou was discovered at Purple Mountain Observatory, Nanking, China on 25th October, 1981. It is classified as a Mars-crossing asteroid (JPL 2007). At the time of the author’s observations, the online list of potential lightcurve targets (Warner et al. 2007) showed no data available on the rotational period of PHOTOMETRIC OBSERVATIONS OF 2006 VV2 this asteroid. IN THE STATE OF BAHIA-BRAZIL

Bagnall Beach Observatory is located on the east coast of Alberto Silva Betzler Australia. Photometric data were collected by the author on three Diogo Henrique Ferreira nights over an interval of six days using a 0.28m SCT / ST9E Tárcio Henrique Ribeiro dos Santos CCD with 120-second exposures at 1.29 arc seconds/pixel image Alberto Brum Novaes scale. The images were measured and analyzed using MPO Canopus (Warner 2006) which incorporates the Fourier analysis Projeto “Descobrindo o Céu” algorithm (FALC) developed by Harris (1989). Use was also made (“Discovering the Sky” Project) of the StarBGone technique within MPO Canopus to eliminate the Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA/IF), interference caused by faint stars close to the path of the target. Salvador, Estado da Bahia, Brasil [email protected] A period of 3.395 ± 0.001 hr was determined assuming a bimodal curve. The full period was covered on every night of observations. (Received: 29 September) The accompanying plot shows data from the three nights. These initial observations of 8256 Shenzhou suggest it is a fast rotator. The near-Earth asteroid 2006 VV2 was observed on April 1, 2, and 9, 2007, UT. A synodic period of 2.359 Acknowledgements ± 0.002 h and lightcurve amplitude of 0.34 ± 0.02 mag were determined, with a V-R color index 0.64 ± 0.07. Thanks are given to Brian D. Warner for the insights offered in his text on lightcurve analysis (Warner, 2006), his software MPO Canopus, and his tutoring of amateurs. The minor planet 2006 VV2, a near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) that belongs to the Apollo group, was discovered on 1 November 2006 References by the LINEAR asteroid survey. Further astrometric observations showed that 2006 VV2 would have a close encounter with the Harris, A. W., Young, J. W., Bowell, E., Martin, L. J., Millis, R. Earth on 31 March 2007 at a minimum distance of 0.023 AU. L., Poutanen, M., Scaltriti, F., Zappala, V., Schober, H. J., Between 27 March and 3 April 2007, the stations of Goldstone Debehogne, H, and Zeigler, K. (1989). “Photoelectric and Arecibo obtained radar images, revealing evidence of a binary Observations of Asteroids 3, 24, 60, 261, and 863.” Icarus 77, (Benner et al., 2007a). The asteroid has a diameter of 1.8 ± 0.3 km 171-186. and a slightly irregular and asymmetric surface which presented several small concavities and structures that might be blocks, as JPL Small Body Database Browser (2007), http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/ seen in the images of the asteroid 25143 Itokawa obtained by the spacecraft Hayabusa. The secondary body, shown in the radar Warner, B. D. (2006) MPO Software, Canopus version 9.4.0.0. images, has an approximate diameter of 0.5 km and the upper limit Bdw Publishing, http://mimorplanetobserver.com/ of its orbital period is ~ 32h (Benner et al., 2007b). Warner, B. D. (2006). A Practical Guide to Lightcurve The group “Descobrindo o Céu” carried out photometric Photometry and Analysis.2nd edition. Springer, New York. observations of 2006 VV2 with a 0.3 m f/3.3 Meade LX200GPS combined with a CCD SBIG ST7-XME detector and V and R Warner, B. D., et al (2007) “Potential Lightcurve Targets 2007 October-December” http://www.minorplanetobserver.com/ Bessell filters. Our observations aimed to determine the V-R color index, rotation period of the primary body, and amplitude variation of the lightcurve at different ecliptic longitudes. CCD images were taken continuously during each of the sessions on 1 Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 16 and 2 April. Exposures were 10s, which gave a SNR of about References ~300 in the R and V filters. In the 9 April session, exposures were separated by one-minute intervals and were 20s. Bias, dark and Benner, L. A. M. et al. (2007a). I.A.U.C. 8826. flat-field corrections of the images, as well as the photometric reduction, were performed using MPO Canopus program version Benner, L. A. M., Busch, M. W., Nolan, M. C., Ostro, S. J., 9.1.0.2. Due to the rapid motion of the asteroid during the first two Giorgini, J. D., Rose, R., Jao, J. S. , Black, G. J., Carter, L. M., nights, a number of different sets of comparison stars were Slade, M. A., Jurgens, R. F., and Hine, A. A. (2007b). “Radar required. Each set of comparisons comprised a “session” in MPO Images of Binary Near-Earth Asteroid 2006 VV2.” Seventh Canopus. Asteroid images with the V filter were taken at the Catastrophic Disruptions Workshop, Alicante, Alicante province, beginning and end of each of the three sessions, each of which was Spain, June 26-29 2007. generally 2.0 h long. After gathering those images, a sequence of R filter images were obtained, aiming to get the lightcurve of the Benishek, V. (2007). “Photometry of Asteroids at Belgrade object. The first ten images from this sequence were used to find Astronomical Observatory.” http://beoastrophot.freehostia.com/ the V-R color index. Gary, B. L. (2002). “CCD Transformations Equations for Use Since the number of Tycho-2 stars in a typical CCD field of view With Single Image (Differential) Photometry”. of 5’x5’ is just 0.43 (Vaduvescu, 2004), only two stars from this http://reductionism.net.seanic.net/CCD_TE/cte.html catalogue were detected (TYC-ID 0259-00151-1 and 0259-00049- 1) in the observations of 1 April 2007. The magnitudes of these Gary, B. L. (2005a). “Photometry for Dummies: Method #1”. stars were converted to Johnson-Cousins system (Gary, 2005a, http://brucegary.net/dummies/method1.htm Gary, 2005b) and the V-R color index of the asteroid was obtained by differential photometry, according to the definition of Gary Gary, B. L. (2005b). “Photometry for Dummies: Method #4”. (2002). Based on these two stars, the asteroid’s color index was V- http://brucegary.net/dummies/method4.html. R = 0.64 ± 0.07. From this value, it is possible to suggest that 2006 VV2 is of a taxonomic S class (see Gladman et al., 2005). Gladman, B., Davis, D., Neese, C., Jedicke, R., Williams, G., Kavelaars, J., Holman, M., and Scholl, H. (2005). “The SKADS No significant variation of the amplitude of the magnitude versus project: survey definitions and detections”. ecliptic longitude was found in these observations, possibly http://www.on.br/acm2005/presentation/O12.2.pdf because the individual lightcurves did not cover a complete cycle. In the session of 1 April, we obtained 0.34 ± 0.02 mag. Other Klotz, A., Behrend, R. (2007). values of this parameter already published are shown in Table I. http://obswww.unige.ch/~behrend/page5cou.html#06v02v

Amplitude JD (days) Observer Mase, G. (2007). “2006 VV2 March 2007 close approach”. 0.57 ± 0.02 2454185.50000* Benishek(2007) http://virtualtelescope.bellatrixobservatory.org/2006vv2.html 0.522 245185.55216 Mase (2007) 0.24 ± 0.03 2454195.096629 Oey (2007) Oey, J. (2007). “Lightcurves 2007.” Table I. Amplitude versus JD, corrected for light time to the phase http://minorplanet.haoeydental.com.au/light_curves_2007.htm 0% of the presented lightcurve. In Benishek (2007), it was assumed that the beginning of the session was at 0h UT, 26 March Vaduvescu, O. (2004). “Observing Near Earth Asteroids with 2007. Small Telescope.” http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0504231

Combining the 671 observations obtained on 1 and 2 April, the synodic period of the 2006 VV2 was estimated at 2.359 ± 0.002h, using 12 harmonics in the Fourier series. The RMS fit was 0.02 mag. Estimates from other authors are shown in Table II. The average synodic period based on those periods and our finding is 2.42 ± 0.03h. We assumed that the variation of the period is a random Gaussian distribution and the error is the one-sigma value.

Period (h) Observer (s) 2.410±0.005 Benishek (2007) 2.454±0.002 Klotz & Behrend (2007) 2.4302 Mase (2007) 2.430±0.003 Oey (2007) Table II. Other synodic periods found for 2006 VV2.

The combination of the several existing data sets may allow finding the orbital period of the satellite and, consequently, the reduced of the system. Fig. 1. Differential lightcurve of 2006 VV2. 0% phase corresponds Acknowledgements to JD 2454191.62287 ± 0.00002 corrected for light time. Thanks to The Vitae Foundation, the Bahia State Research Support Foundation (FAPESB), MCT (Ministry of Science and Technology) and the Institute of Physics of UFBA (UFBA/IF) for supporting the “Discovering the Sky” Project.

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 17

SEVERAL BYPRODUCT TARGETS OF PHOTOMETRIC rotation period of 4.08 h and amplitude 0.43 mag was securely OBSERVATIONS AT MODRA determined previously (Wisniewski 1997). New observations are in agreement with that result. Despite the fact that the new data do Adrián Galád not cover the whole composite lightcurve, the rotation period was Modra Observatory, determined by precise alignment of two rising parts of the Department of Astronomy, Physics of the Earth, and Meteorology, lightcurve after one cycle. FMFI UK, 842 48 Bratislava, Slovakia Astronomical Institute AS CR, 251 65 Ondřejov, Czech Republic 811 Nauheima, as a member of the Koronis family, was studied by [email protected] Binzel (1987). A rotation period of 5.58 h with amplitude 0.20 mag derived from three consecutive nights was stated as a secure (Received: October 14 Revised: November 12) result. However, the new observations prefer several other solutions as much more probable. According to repeating features on the lightcurve, it seems that the asteroid rotates exactly 4, 5, 6, Along with regular photometric observations of near- or 7 times faster than Earth. This ambiguity could be removed in Earth and main belt asteroids at Modra, several other the future easily since it is about a 15 mag object at oppositions targets were recorded in the same fields of view. A first that repeat every 1.25 years. Longer sessions or collaboration of collection of such secondary targets is reported with observers at different longitudes are recommended. The longest their lightcurves, namely 782 Montefiore, 811 session presented here lasted only 3.9 h. One of several possible Nauheima, 1596 Itzigsohn, 2037 Tripaxeptalis, 2948 solutions, that for 4.0011 +/- 0.0004 hr is presented in the figure. Amosov, 10227 Izanami, (14431) 1992 DX8, (14728) This value is in agreement with a new determination by Slivan et 2000 DY14, (15424) 1998 QE100, (18486) 1996 AS2, al. (2007). (19672) 1999 RP155, (30613) 2678 P-L, (36379) 2000 OA24, (48436) 1989 VK, (63508) 2001 OQ81, 1596 Itzigsohn. Four mutually linked sessions were joined with (160264) 2002 RF64, and P/2006 HR30 (Siding Spring). another six linked sessions, and then with last two linked sessions.

The Astronomical Observatory at Modra is equipped with a 0.60- 2037 Tripaxeptalis. Two sessions were linked but they were of m, f/5.5 reflector and AP8p CCD-camera. The field of view is short duration. This, coupled with low amplitude and large errors, about 25 x 25 arcminutes (1.5 arcseconds per pixel). The typical produced some ambiguity in the rotation period derived. In exposure lengths are short, usually 30 s, due to poor guiding. addition to the period of 2.33 h (in the figure), another solution of Without any filter, photometric observations of 16 mag objects 2.23 h is also plausible. Other periods are less probable. with errors smaller than 0.03 mag are obtained. Two or even three adjacent images can be combined, if needed, to lower errors or to 2948 Amosov. Faintness and very large errors were compensated for by large amplitude of the lightcurve, so it was possible to study fainter objects. Longer exposures up to 60 s could also be derive a rotation period. Three linked sessions were joined with chosen under special circumstances, e.g., for objects with long rotation period with no need to cover the lightcurve densely. another six linked sessions. The lightcurve was not densely covered in some parts, so less probable periods (6.4106 h and All images were processed via bias, dark, and flat field frames 8.754 h) could not be ruled out. using MaxIm DL. The radius of aperture was 3 or 4 pixels, which 10227 Izanami was observed along with (2948) Amosov during 6 depended on seeing and background stars. The gap width and annulus thickness were usually both 4 pixels, respectively. sessions. Despite the fact that it was slightly brighter on average, Lightcurve analysis was carried out using ALC software and sessions were linked, the small amplitude of its lightcurve prevented unambiguous derivation of the period. The most developed by P. Pravec. Observations were relative, but several sessions, especially consecutive ones, were linked to the same probable periods are 2.920 h and 7.422 h, but several inter-mediate instrumental magnitude scale using in-field comparison stars. values are also plausible, e.g., 3.327 h, 3.836 h, or 5.663 h.

Unlike more typical articles containing unambiguously determined (14431) 1992 DX8 was one of the three other objects observed along with (15424) 1998 QE100. Just two long sessions were rotation periods, this report presents lightcurves of several obtained, which were separated by two weeks. This was not asteroids (as faint as V~18) that were coincidently in the vicinity of other studied targets. The aim is to enhance the database of enough coverage to make an unambiguous period determination. Formally, the best fit is for 9.222 h, but 6.589 h, 7.636 h, 7.726 h, asteroids with known rotation periods (Harris et al. 2007). A and 8.736 h are other good candidates. secure result can hardly be achieved with the large errors encountered, but a hint about possible rotation period and (14728) 2000 DY14. As a large amplitude target (though too faint) amplitude may also help in choosing a convenient strategy in the few short sessions available quickly reduced the number of future observations. This would improve period determination, possible periods. Two linked sessions were joined with three other and reduce bias in the database, where asteroids that are faint, or linked sessions. Except for the best fit that is in the figure, several have such characteristics as slow rotation, low lightcurve other possible periods were found, especially between 5.4 and 5.8 amplitude, or complex lightcurves (two or three periods present) h. Unfortunately, it is not clear if the minima observed were the are underrepresented. same or different. At least one long session (preferably with small errors) would help to clarify this. The results of observed asteroids are summarized in Table I and appropriate lightcurves are in figures, in which correction for (15424) 1998 QE100. An unambiguous result with low errors was light-travel time was applied. achieved. 782 Montefiore can be observed repeatedly as a 14 mag object every 1.45 years (it is in a low-eccentricity orbit). Its synodic Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 18

Name Dates Phase LPAB BPAB P [h] A [mag] 782 Montefiore 07/02/10 8.5 128 5.8 4.07 ± 0.01 > 0.31 811 Nauheima 07/05/02-13 15.7-17.6 175 2.9 4.0011 ± 0.0004 0.13 1596 Itzigsohn 07/06/28-08/24 7.7-16.4 320 14.5 39.722 ± 0.004 0.41 2037 Tripaxeptalis 06/01/09-10 9.1-9.5 128 5.1 2.33 ± 0.01 0.10 2948 Amosov 07/06/28-07/17 11.0-15.2 320 14.2 7.3996 ± 0.0007 1.2 10227 Izanami 07/07/11-17 10.9-12.3 320 14.4 2.920 ± 0.002 0.16 14431 1992 DX8 06/12/14-30 8.6-15.9 113 2.5 9.222 ± 0.002 0.26 14728 2000 DY14 07/06/01-06/18 17.4-23.0 219 5.9 4.636 ± 0.001 0.9 15424 1998 QE100 06/12/13-30 9.6-18.3 112 2.5 10.9000 ± 0.0005 0.42 18486 1996 AS2 06/12/13-15 13.3-14.0 113 2.3 3.89 ± 0.01 0.2 19672 1999 RP155 06/09/12-15 5.7-7.0 0 6.7 5.470 ± 0.002 0.8 30613 2678 P-L 07/04/10-19 14.0-17.8 176 2.7 10.13 ± 0.01 0.4 36379 2000 OA24 06/12/13-14 14.3-14.7 113 2.5 3.21 ± 0.01 0.15 48436 1989 VK 06/12/28-30 21.4-22.1 62 1.0 5.45 ± 0.01 0.31 63508 2001 OQ81 06/10/17-18 12.5-12.8 358 10.3 3.63 ± 0.02 0.2 160264 2002 RF64 07/07/11-17 13.7-15.5 319 13.7 11.45 ± 0.03 0.8 P/2006 HR30 06/07/29-09/11 16.8-18.6 340 16-28 70.7 ± 0.1 0.3 Table I. Asteroids with observation dates (YY/MM/DD), solar phase angles (deg), phase angle bisector values (deg), derived synodic rotation periods and uncertainties, and lightcurve amplitudes. One is added in the last row.

(18486) 1996 AS2. It seems that only two periods are possible – P. Pray, Carbuncle Hill Observatory, for his kind help with 3.59 h or 3.89 h, which can’t be resolved from three consecutive language corrections. The work was supported by the Slovak nights. It was an extremely faint object in the same field of view Grant Agency for Science VEGA, Grant 1/3074/06 and the Grant as (15424) 1998 QE100. Agency of the Czech Republic, Grant 205/05/0604.

(19672) 1999 RP155. An unexpected secure result was obtained References for such a faint object due to the large amplitude of the lightcurve and long sessions. Binzel, R. P. (1987). “A photoelectric survey of 130 asteroids.” Icarus 72, 135-208. (30613) 2678 P-L was an extremely faint object. The most probable rotation periods are 10.13 h and 10.66 h, respectively. Harris, A. W., Warner, B. D., and Pravec, P. (2007). LCLIST_PUB.zip, (36379) 2000 OA24 was also observed along with (15424) 1998 http://www.minorplanetobserver.com/astlc/default.htm. QE100, but just on two nights. Except for 3.21 h, other close periods, 3.01 h and 3.44 h, cannot be ruled out. In addition to Slivan, S. M., Binzel, R. P., Boroumand, S. C., Pan, M. W., these, even longer periods are possible if more than two minima Simpson, C. M., Tanabe, J. T., Villastrigo, R. M., Yen, L. L., and maxima occur as in some other asteroids with low amplitude Ditteon, R. P., Pray, D. P., and Stephens, R. D. (2007). “Rotation of their lightcurves Rates In the Koronis Family, Complete To H ~11.2.” Icarus, in press. (48436) 1989 VK. Rotation period of 5.45 h is ambiguously determined due to an unknown number of asteroid rotations Wisniewski, W. Z., Michalowski, T. M., Harris, A. W., and between two sessions. Other possible rotation periods, though less McMillan, R. S. (1997). “Photometric Observations of 125 probable, are 4.91 h and 6.12 h. Asteroids.” Icarus 126, 395-449.

(63508) 2001 OQ81 is another extremely faint object. In addition to 3.63 h, other periods, e.g., 4.35 h, cannot be ruled out due to low amplitude of the lightcurve, but seem to be less probable.

(160264) 2002 RF64 was projected several nights near (2948) Amosov and (10227) Izanami. This was just a daring attempt to study an object far beyond the reasonable limit of accuracy, where errors exceeded 0.1 mag. As expected, only an ambiguous result was achieved. A second possible solution with comparable fit is 16.83 h.

P/2006 HR30 (Siding Spring) is a bonus to photometric observations. The period of this near-Earth comet with low activity seems to be around 70 h according to six linked sessions. The most probable values are around 68 h, 70.7 h, and 73 h after two other linked sessions were joined that were obtained five weeks earlier.

Acknowledgements

I am indebted to P. Pravec, Ondřejov Observatory, for his ALC software that speeded up data processing. I am also grateful to D.

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 19

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 20

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 21

raw data. Period analysis was done using Canopus, which incorporates the Fourier analysis algorithm (FALC) developed by Harris (1989). Both targets had reported ambiguous long periods based upon previous observations. For that reason, a new method developed by Warner (2007) included in the latest release of Canopus was used to calibrate each session to an internal standard. Since long period asteroids often have large amplitudes, it can be critical to tie the resulting observations together using a standard or internal system. It can be even more critical if a long period asteroid has a very small amplitude such as when it is being observing pole on.

The new calibration method converts instrumental magnitudes to B, V or R using a modification of a method described by Binzel (2005). Since one can seldom use the same comparison stars for more than a couple of consecutive nights, the magnitudes of up to five comparison stars are compared to their computed standard magnitudes. These observations are either taken through photometric filters or shot unfiltered and compared to the magnitude band that most closely matches the telescope/camera system.

Since there are few, if any well-calibrated stars in any random field, the JHK magnitudes of selected stars in the 2MASS catalog have been calibrated against Landolt field stars existing in the same catalog. In order to reduce internal errors in the catalog, stars with flags indicating problems with the J or K magnitudes, stars with close companions, and stars with J-K values outside a range of –0.1 to 1.0 have been rejected. The result is a table of 2MASS stars and set of conversion formulae applied to the UCAC2 J-K magnitudes within Canopus. One or the other catalog typically contains several comparison stars available for use in each field.

In order to provide for additional consistency, when possible, the same comparison stars were used two nights in a row and, in a few cases, three nights in a row. New comparison stars favored the west side of the field – the direction of motion of the asteroid. In addition, comparison stars were usually limited to a color range 0.3 < V-R < 0.7 to match the color range of most asteroids. LONG PERIOD ASTEROIDS OBSERVED FROM GMARS Experience shows that with this methodology and AND SANTANA OBSERVATORIES telescope/camera system, errors in matching to an internally calibrated system average 0.02 to 0.03 when using a photometric Robert D. Stephens filter and 0.03 to 0.05 when shooting unfiltered. When Goat Mountain Astronomical Research Station (GMARS) measurements outside of those errors occurred, it was often found 11355 Mount Johnson Court, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91737 that removing a single comparison star would produce a better fit [email protected] to the Fourier curve. On rare instances, the images were remeasured using an entirely different set of comparison stars to (Received: 1 October) see if that would improve the fit. The plots in this article contain only adjustments calculated using this calibration method and Lightcurve period and amplitude results for 181 those to correct for changing phase angle and distance, i.e., there Eucharis and were obtained at Santana and were no arbitrary changes made to force a better fit. GMARS Observatories June through September 2007. 181 Eucharis. Eucharis was reported to have a period exceeding 24 hours (Harris 2007). Schober (1994) observed it over seven The author operates telescopes at two observatories. Santana nights in 1983 but did not report a period. The resultant Observatory (MPC Code 646) is located in Rancho Cucamonga, lightcurves showed a gradually increasing trend or a flat curve for California and GMARS (Goat Mountain Astronomical Research the night. Riccioli (2001) and di Martino (1984) also did not report Station, MPC G79) located at the Riverside Astronomical a period. Since this was a favorable opposition for Eucharis, it was Society’s observing site. Details appear in Stephens (2006). relatively bright and all observations were shot through a Johnson- Cousins R filter. This turned out to be advantageous when The targets were chosen from the list of asteroid photometry observing the asteroid close to the Moon and because it reduced opportunities published by Brian Warner and Alan Harris on the the scatter when fitting the observations together. Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) website (Harris 2007). The author measured the images using MPO Canopus, Eucharis was observed during short summer nights when the which employs differential aperture photometry to produce the typical run was only five to six hours long. All observations were

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 22 obtained with the Santana 0.30m SCT using a SBIG ST1001e Harris, A. W., Young, J. W., Bowell, E., Martin, L. J., Millis, R. CCD Camera. The resulting lightcurve shows each observational L., Poutanen, M., Scaltriti, F., Zappala, V., Schober, H. J., run covered less than 10 percent of the period with each session Debehogne, H., and Zeigler, K. W., (1989). “Photoelectric showing a slight rise or decline. Observations of Asteroids 3, 24, 60, 261, and 863.” Icarus 77, 171-186. Eucharis was found to have a period of 52.23 ± 0.05 hours with an amplitude of 0.05 ± 0.02 magnitudes. Twenty-one sessions were Riccioli, D., Blanco, C., and Cigna, M. (2001). “Rotational used between June 27 and July 20, 2007. The phase angle changed periods of asteroids II.” Planetary and Space Science 49, 657-671. from 5.7 to 9.3 degrees. The Phase Angle Bisector (PAB) longitude and latitude changed from 269.7 to 269.1 and from 17.9 Schober, H. J., Erikson, A., Hahn, G. Lagerkvist, C.-I., Albrecht, to 16.9 respectively. R., Ornig, W., Schroll, A., and Stadler, M. (1994) “Physical studies of asteroids. XXVIII. Lightcurves and photoelectric 408 Fama. Fama was reported in 2002 to have a 64.8 hour period photometry of asteroids 2, 14, 51, 105, 181, 238, 258, 369, 377, from observations made by Behrend et al (2007). Observations 416, 487, 626, 679, 1048 and 2183.” Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. obtained on August 11, 12, 13 and 19, 2007, were with the 105, 281-300. GMARS 0.35m SCT/RCX using a SBIG ST9e CCD camera which fit the resulting Fourier curve reasonably well. All other Stephens, R. D. (2006). “Asteroid Lightcurve Photometry From observations were obtained with the Santana 0.30m SCT using a Santana and GMARS Observatories – September to December SBIG ST1001e CCD Camera. 2006”. Minor Planet Bulletin 34, 31-32.

Fama was found to have a period of 202.100 ± 0.011 hours with Warner, B. D. (2007). “Initial Results From a Dedicated H-G an amplitude of 0.61 ± 0.03 magnitudes. Twenty one sessions Project”. Minor Planet Bulletin 34 113-119. were used between August 7 and September 11, 2007. Two sessions were not plotted since the error in their fit to the Fourier curve exceeded 0.05 magnitudes. The phase angle changed from 5.8 down to 2.4 and up to 7.6 degrees. The Phase Angle Bisector (PAB) longitude and latitude changed from 129.3 to 130.3 and from 329.6 to 329.5 respectively. There are indications of non- principal axis rotation, but no secondary period could be found. The lightcurve plot is presented with five observations binned (average) as one in order to reduce the number of data points in the long period lightcurve.

Conclusions

Transforming instrumental magnitudes to the standard system or even an internal system can be critical in deriving a rotational period. It likely would not have been possible to arrive at a period for either 181 Eucharis or 408 Fama unless the magnitudes of each night’s observations were tied together on the same scale. This method takes little additional reduction time and should be routine for all asteroids reduced using Canopus.

Acknowledgements

Thanks are given to Dr. Alan Harris of the Space Science Institute, Boulder, CO, and Dr. of the Astronomical Institute, Czech Republic, for their ongoing support of all amateur asteroid. Also, thanks to Brian Warner for his continuing work and enhancements to the software program “Canopus” which makes it possible for amateur astronomers to analyze and collaborate on asteroid rotational period projects and for maintaining the CALL Web site which helps coordinate collaborative projects between amateur astronomers.

References

Behrend, R. (2007) Observatoire de Geneve web site, http://obswww.unige.ch/~behrend/page_cou.html

Binzel, R. P. (2005). “A Simplified Method for Standard Star Calibration.” Minor Planet Bulletin, 32 93-95. di Martino, M.; and Cacciatori, S. “Photoelectric Photometry of 14 Asteroids.” Icarus 60, 75-82.

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 23

THE ROTATION PERIODS OF results reported here. 1465 AUTONOMA, 1656 SUOMI, 4483 PETOFI, 4853 MARIELUKAC, AND (85275) 1994 LY 4853 Marielukac. Pietschnig (2007) reported a period of 7.946 ± 0.005 hrs with an amplitude of 0.29 ± 0.05 magnitude. James W. Brinsfield Via Capote Observatory (85275) 1994 LY. Although a rotational period was estimated 5180 Via Capote, Thousand Oaks CA 91320 from the observations in this study, the very low amplitude of the [email protected] data does support a reliable determination of the period. There are no published reports of a lightcurve for this object. (Received: 2 October) References

Lightcurves for five asteroids were measured at the Via Angeli, C. A., Barucci, M. A. (1996). Planetary and Space Capote Observatory from May through August 2007. Science, 44, p. 181-186. 1465 Autonoma (4.88 hr), 1656 Suomi (2.59 hr), 4483 Petofi (7.2 hr), 4853 Marielukac (6.82 hr), (85275) 1994 Pietschnig, M. (2007). “Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link LY (2.7 hr). (CALL)”.

Stephens, R. (2004). “Photometry of 1196 Sheba, 1341 Edmee, Observations were made using a Takahashi Cassegrain at prime 1656 Suomi, 2577 Litva, and 2612 Kathryn”, Minor Planet focus resulting in a focal length of 136 inches and a focal ratio of Bulletin 31, 95-97 f/11.5. The CCD imager was an Alta U6 featuring a 1024x1024 array of 24µ pixels. The CCD was operating at a temperature of Warner, B. D. “Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL)”. –30°C. All observations were guided, unfiltered, and made at 1x 2007. binning, which yielded an image scale of 1.43” per pixel. Dark frames and flat fields were applied before measuring. Images Wisniewski, W. Z., Michajowki, T. M., Harris, A. W., and were measured in MPO Canopus (Bdw Publishing) using McMillan, R. S. (1997). “Photometric Observations of 125 differential aperture photometry. Mid-exposure times were light- Asteroids.” Icarus 126, 395-449. time corrected. Period analysis was also done with Canopus. Wisniewski, W. Z., Michajowki, T. M., Harris, A. W., and The results are summarized in the table below and include average McMillan, R. S (1995). Abstracts of the Lunar and Planetary phase angle information across the observational period. Science Conference 26, page 1511. Individual lightcurve plots along with additional comments as required are also presented.

1465 Autonoma. The observations were 180 second integrations. The data spanned about 96 hours or approximately 20 rotational cycles. Aliasing of the 4.88 hour rotational period along with the limited available dark time for each session resulted in a sparsely populated lightcurve. There are no published reports of a lightcurve for this object.

1656 Suomi. The observations were 240 second integrations made spanning approximately 168 hours, or 65 rotational cycles. Moon light reduced the SNR of the data on August 25. Suomi was originally reported to have a rotational period of 2.42 hours by Wisniewski et al. (1997). Stephens (2004) reported a 2.59 hr period matching the one reported here. Stephens reported an amplitude of 0.50 mag, which is considerably larger than the 0.12 mag measured at this apparition.

4483 Petofi. The observations spanned about 48 hours, or approximately 11 rotational cycles. Wisniewski et al. (1995) reported a period of 4.24 ± 0.07 hrs. Angeli and Barucci (1996) reported a period of 4.48 ± 0.013 hrs. Nearly concurrent observations reported by Warner (2007) agree very well with the

Date Range Data # Name Phase L B Per(h) PE Amp(m) AE (mm/dd) 2007 Points PAB PAB

1465 Autonoma 06/09-06/13 86 16.6 224.9 11.4 4.88 0.01 0.13 0.03 1656 Suomi 08/18-08/25 109 20.5 301.5 25.4 2.59 0.01 0.12 0.03 4483 Petofi 07/16-07/17 50 16.5 260.5 36.5 4.33 0.01 0.97 0.05 4853 Marielukac 05/15-06/13 145 17.0 221.8 11.5 6.82 0.01 0.28 0.05 85275 1994 LY 06/21-07/17 339 36.8 273.1 29.4 2.70 0.01 0.07 0.05

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 24

PERIOD DETERMINATION FOR 294 FELICIA will be adequate time to request supporting observations from widely different longitudes to fill the gaps in the lightcurve Frederick Pilcher unavoidable at any one location. A careful search for alias periods 4438 Organ Mesa Loop will be made, and observations will be continued when possible Las Cruces, NM 88011 USA until all alias periods have been eliminated. Observations [email protected] ordinarily will be continued for several weeks following opposition to reduce the ± uncertainty in the period and aid in (Received: 1 October) finding shape/spin models when observations at several different aspects become available. Observations of 294 Felicia spanning July-September 2007 indicate a synodic rotation period of 10.425 ± Objects with well established rotation parameters for which 0.001 hours and amplitude 0.24 ± 0.02 magnitude. observations at different aspects are useful for shape/spin modeling will also be included in the observing program. Usually This paper contains the first research results of the Organ Mesa lightcurves will be obtained only on a small number of nights, and Observatory, longitude 106° 40’ 12” W, latitude 32 degrees 17’ if the resultant period is consistent with that previously obtained 46” N, altitude 1340 meters. Equipment consists of a 14 inch (35 no effort will be made to look for alias periods. cm) Meade LX200 GPS Schmidt-Cassegrain, SBIG SLT-1001E CCD, 1024x1024 24.7 micrometer pixels, field of view about 294 Felicia. Harris et. al. (2007) show no previous lightcurve 25x25 arcminutes, and Optec TCF-S focuser. Image acquisition is observations. In this study a total of 1124 data points, 60 seconds by MPO Connections. Photometric measurement and lightcurve exposure, unguided, with a clear filter, were obtained on 9 nights production is by MPO Canopus. 2007 July 19-Sept. 14. These yield an unambiguous synodic period of 10.425 ± 0.001 hours and amplitude 0.24 ± 0.02 For objects with unknown or poorly constrained lightcurve magnitude. These have been binned 3-fold, maximum time parameters, the usual observing strategy will be to start difference 5 minutes, for a more manageable 413 points on the observations several weeks before opposition. If the period is accompanying lightcurve. The lightcurve is irregular, and the found to be long, or commensurate with the Earth’s period, there Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 25 broad shallow maximum near 0.30 phase changed shape considerably with phase angle during the apparition. This is indicative of a highly irregular shape, and should provide very interesting shape modeling after observations at 3 or 4 more aspects have been obtained.

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank, in alphabetic sequence, Walt Cooney, David Dixon, Don Jardine, Dan Klinglesmith, Robert Koff, and Brian Warner, who collectively taught him everything he needed to know to do asteroid CCD photometry and lightcurve analysis.

References

Harris, A. W., Warner, B. D., Pravec, P., “Asteroid Lightcurve Data Files, Revised 20 April 2007.” http://www.MinorPlanetObserver.com/astlc/default.htm.

LIGHTCURVE ANALYSIS OF 758 MANCUNIA analysis algorithm developed by Harris (1989), Warner combined the sets and found a best fit of 12.7253 ± 0.0006 hr. Brian D. Warner Palmer Divide Observatory/Space Science Institute For confirmation, the data were also used to check the previously 17995 Bakers Farm Rd., Colorado Springs, CO 80908 reported period. This resulted in two monomodal curves [email protected] superimposed on one another, which might be expected due to the asymmetry of the solution at 12.7 hr. Therefore, we believe that Raoul Behrend the new value of 12.7253 hr should be adopted. Observatoire de Genève, CH-1290 Sauverny, Switzerland and Neuchâtel University, Switzerland Acknowledgements

Raymond Poncy Funding for observations at the Palmer Divide Observatory is Rue des Ecoles 2, F-34920 Le Crès, France provided by NASA grant NNG06GI32G and by National Science Foundation grant AST-0607505. Jean-François Coliac Observatorie Farigourette, F-13012 Marseille, France References

(Received: 18 August) Behrend, R. (2007). Observatoire de Geneve web site, http://obswww.unige.ch/~behrend/page_cou.html Analysis of observations made independently by Warner Harris, A. W., Young, J. W., Bowell, E., Martin, L. J., Millis, R. and Behrend/Poncy/Coliac of the main-belt asteroid 758 L., Poutanen, M., Scaltriti, F., Zappala, V., Schober, H. J., Mancunia indicted a period of approximately 12.7 hr. Debehogne, H., and Zeigler, K. W. (1989). “Photoelectric The combined data set allowed refinement of the Observations of Asteroids 3, 24, 60, 261, and 863.” Icarus 77, analysis and revealed a lightcurve with a period of 171-186. 12.7253 ± 0.0006 hr and amplitude of 0.26 ± 0.02 mag. Holliday, B. (1996) Minor Planet Bul. 23, 28. In December 2006, authors Warner, Poncy, and Coliac began independent observations of the main-belt asteroid 758 Mancunia. Warner made his observations at the request of M. Shepard of Bloomsburg University (PA). Shepard had been conducting radar observations of the asteroid using the Arecibo radar telescope and saw indications that the previously reported period of 6.902 hr (Holliday 1996) might be in error (private communications).

Data were obtained at Palmer Divide Observatory on December 24-27 and confirmed that the period was 12.738 ± 0.003 hr. In the meantime, Poncy observed the asteroid on Dec. 21-22, 2006, and Jan. 05, 2007, while Coliac observed on Jan. 3-4, 2007. Poncy and Coliac reported their observations to Behrend who analyzed the data and posted results of 12.723 ± 0.001 hr on his web site (Behrend 2007). Upon learning of the two data sets, Behrend and Warner agreed to merge them in order to obtain a more accurate determination of the synodic period. Using a Fourier period

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 26

LIGHTCURVE AND ROTATION PERIOD OF References 1044 TEUTONIA Behrend, R. (2006). “CdR&CdL”. Posted on Alberto Silva Betzler obswww.unige.ch/~behrend/r001044a.png Diogo Henrique Ferreira Tárcio Henrique Ribeiro dos Santos Craw I. (2003). “Absolute and Relative Error”. Posted on Alberto Brum Novaes www.maths.abdn.ac.uk/~igc/tch/mx3015/notes/node105.htm

Projeto “Descobrindo o Céu” Warner, B. D., Harris, A. W., Pravec, P., Kaasalainen, M., and (“Discovering the Sky” Project) Benner, L. A. M. (2007). “Lightcurve photometry opportunities Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA/IF), April - June 2007”. Minor Planet Bulletin 34, 50. Salvador, Bahia, Brasil [email protected]

(Received: 5 August Revised: 11 October)

The minor planet 1044 Teutonia was observed 2007 June 8-9 UT, during 3.7h, in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The synodic period from the collected data are best fit by a period 2.84 ± 0.04 h and with an amplitude of 0.20 ± 0.03. However, the period of 3.153 ± 0.003 reported by Behrend et al. (2006) cannot be eliminated.

The minor planet 1044 Teutonia (1924 RO) was chosen for observation because it was included in a list of targets appearing in the Minor Planet Bulletin (Warner et al., 2007) and to enable students (Diogo, Tárcio), involved with the project "Discovering the Sky" of the UFBA/IF, to learn about observation and data processing for small bodies of the Solar System. Fig. 1. Lightcurve of 1044 Teutonia fit to a period of 2.84 hours. Zero phase corresponds to HJD 2454260.62701±0.00002 The asteroid was observed 2007 June 8-9 UT, for about four hours using a Schmidt-Cassegrain of 0.30m f/3.3 combined with a CCD camera SBIG ST-7XME and filter Bessell R. Exposure times were 20s and the interval between the images was at least five minutes. A total of 39 images were obtained, but only 24 were used in constructing the lightcurve of the asteroid due to passing clouds or tracking problems. We used a photometric aperture of 27". The SNR of the asteroid and three comparison stars was maximized, typically between 60 and 100 with this aperture.

The attainment of the instrumental magnitudes, construction of the differential lightcurve (Fig.1), and estimation of the synodic period through Fourier series analysis were done using MPO Canopus version 9.1.0.2. The synodic period of the asteroid is best fit by a value of 2.84 ± 0.04 h with an RMS fit of 0.02 mag. The measured amplitude was of 0.20 ± 0.03. R. Roy and R. Behrend (Behrend 2006) previously reported a period of 3.153 ± 0.003 h. The current estimate has a relatively larger uncertainty simply due to the short duration of the observations. Fig.2 Data fit according with the estimated period of 3.153 h by Using the estimate of 2006 as reference, the relative error (Craw, Behrend (2006). This fit results in an RMS of ~3. 2003) is 9.9%. Based in this, it seems that the period established by Roy and Behrend (fig. 2) is more likely correct. However, there is still some ambiguity and additional observations should be made to resolve the issue.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to The Vitae Foundation, the Bahia State Research Support Foundation (FAPESB), MCT (Ministry of Science and Technology) and the Institute of Physics of UFBA (UFBA/IF) for supporting the “Discovering the Sky” Project.

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 27

ASTEROID-DEEPSKY APPULSES IN 2008 Date/Time Universal Date (MM DD) and Time of closest approach Brian D. Warner #/Asteroid The number and name of the asteroid Palmer Divide Observatory 17995 Bakers Farm Rd. RA/Dec The J2000 position of the asteroid Colorado Springs, CO 80908 AM The approximate visual magnitude of the asteroid [email protected] Sep/PA The separation in arcseconds and the position angle from the DSO to the asteroid (Received: 4 October) DSO The DSO name or catalog designation The following list is a small subset of the results of a search for DM The approximate total magnitude of the DSO asteroid-deepsky appulses for 2008, presenting only the highlights DT The type of DSO: OC = Open Cluster; GC = for the year based on close approaches of brighter asteroids to Globular Cluster; G = Galaxy brighter DSOs. The complete set of predictions is available at SE/ME The elongation in degrees from the sun and moon http://www.minorplanetobserver.com/Misc/DSOAppulses.htm respectively For any event not covered, the Minor Planet Center's web site at MP The phase of the moon: 0 = New, 1.0 = Full. http://scully.harvard.edu/~cgi/CheckMP allows you to enter the Positive = waxing; Negative = waning location of a suspected asteroid or supernova and check if there are any known targets in the area. The table gives the following data:

Date UT # Name RA Dec AM Sep PA DSO DM DT SE ME MP ------01 07 19:47 27 Euterpe 22 34.34 -10 22.3 12.1 85 157 NGC 7309 12.5 G 50 57 -0.00 02 09 13:50 20 Massalia 16 53.37 -22 15.1 11.7 245 186 NGC 6235 10.2 GC 66 96 0.07 02 13 02:57 387 Aquitania 14 18.03 + 7 35.3 12.1 95 322 NGC 5546 12.3 G 113 153 0.38 03 08 01:03 221 Eos 12 24.55 + 7 20.9 12.5 71 38 NGC 4365 9.6 G 163 165 0.00 03 07 15:53 109 Felicitas 10 48.51 +12 32.6 12.3 37 10 NGC 3389 11.9 G 170 170 0.00 03 07 22:15 109 Felicitas 10 48.25 +12 33.2 12.3 289 190 NGC 3384 9.9 G 170 166 0.00 03 08 09:19 109 Felicitas 10 47.79 +12 34.3 12.3 41 190 M105 9.3 G 170 160 0.01 03 11 07:47 42 Isis 12 27.66 +11 11.2 11.6 289 30 NGC 4429 10.0 G 163 139 0.17 03 31 18:37 554 Peraga 12 47.16 -10 09.3 12.3 341 202 NGC 4682 12.1 G 174 108 -0.32 04 04 04:05 37 Fides 14 58.82 -19 13.8 11.9 131 9 NGC 5791 11.7 G 147 120 -0.05 04 06 16:07 344 Desiderata 13 23.91 + 9 47.6 11.1 339 1 NGC 5125 12.4 G 163 157 0.01 04 09 01:22 97 Klotho 14 22.48 - 0 22.0 12.2 141 32 NGC 5584 11.4 G 161 148 0.12 04 10 00:09 7 Iris 13 00.98 -14 28.6 9.4 160 27 NGC 4902 10.9 G 173 126 0.20 05 05 17:46 42 Isis 11 45.92 +13 43.2 12.2 196 147 NGC 3872 11.7 G 125 120 0.00 05 06 11:29 12 51.37 +10 50.1 12.2 330 152 NGC 4733 11.9 G 139 124 0.02 05 11 04:48 335 Roberta 15 00.70 - 7 32.4 11.5 277 199 NGC 5812 11.2 G 169 96 0.40 05 29 04:23 41 Daphne 13 23.93 + 9 46.2 10.3 256 7 NGC 5125 12.4 G 126 149 -0.39 06 02 05:34 39 Laetitia 10 46.91 +11 53.9 11.9 309 19 M96 9.3 G 87 109 -0.04 06 10 13:15 9 Metis 1 19.15 + 3 20.0 11.2 126 339 NGC 467 11.9 G 61 149 0.49 06 30 14:08 9 Metis 1 50.46 + 6 09.7 11.1 109 341 NGC 693 12.4 G 71 37 -0.09 07 01 11:33 9 Metis 1 51.81 + 6 16.7 11.1 22 162 NGC 706 12.5 G 72 50 -0.04 07 08 08:09 89 Julia 14 00.89 -33 00.0 11.4 335 310 NGC 5398 12.3 G 112 47 0.32 07 26 09:29 12 49.27 + 3 25.4 12.4 106 36 NGC 4701 12.4 G 67 146 -0.43 08 02 03:35 88 Thisbe 13 19.50 -12 40.0 12.5 1 7 NGC 5077 11.4 G 73 63 0.01 08 02 06:39 88 Thisbe 13 19.65 -12 40.6 12.5 149 17 NGC 5079 12.0 G 73 62 0.01 08 06 20:48 626 Notburga 20 10.35 -48 13.6 12.5 306 40 NGC 6870 12.3 G 146 89 0.31 08 08 03:02 5 Astraea 13 52.03 - 6 01.1 12.0 58 25 NGC 5324 11.7 G 72 14 0.43 08 08 02:21 387 Aquitania 14 20.22 + 3 59.4 12.1 27 37 NGC 5560 12.4 G 76 23 0.43 08 08 06:38 387 Aquitania 14 20.44 + 3 56.8 12.1 62 37 NGC 5566 10.6 G 76 24 0.45 09 22 10:28 141 Lumen 2 00.40 +31 27.1 11.3 200 56 NGC 777 11.4 G 137 54 -0.47 10 27 04:24 532 Herculina 4 19.66 + 2 23.3 10.5 170 162 NGC 1550 12.0 G 146 126 -0.03 11 20 19:27 13 Egeria 10 32.90 +28 30.9 11.4 5 185 NGC 3277 11.7 G 90 23 -0.40 11 23 21:22 349 Dembowska 11 00.07 +14 53.9 11.5 241 16 NGC 3485 11.8 G 82 41 -0.13 11 28 00:47 776 Berbericia 6 43.08 +26 56.4 11.6 136 227 NGC 2266 9.5 OC 146 150 0.00 12 01 05:58 192 Nausikaa 9 32.20 +21 29.4 11.6 25 9 NGC 2903 9.0 G 111 149 0.11 12 01 01:21 14 Irene 12 38.58 + 4 23.8 11.0 237 18 NGC 4586 11.7 G 62 99 0.10 12 02 09:07 1 10 54.51 +17 20.4 8.3 204 4 NGC 3455 12.0 G 92 142 0.18 12 02 18:46 13 Egeria 10 48.17 +28 39.8 11.2 231 353 NGC 3380 12.5 G 98 148 0.21 12 20 20:18 79 Eurynome 22 55.68 - 5 29.3 12.2 44 341 NGC 7416 12.4 G 74 147 -0.36 12 26 18:18 185 Eunike 8 35.60 - 1 50.0 12.0 1 211 NGC 2616 12.5 G 139 130 -0.01 12 31 03:32 1 Ceres 11 16.95 +17 57.1 7.9 268 150 NGC 3605 12.3 G 116 153 0.11 12 31 10:44 1 Ceres 11 17.09 +17 58.2 7.9 331 149 NGC 3607 9.9 G 116 156 0.13

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 28

CCD PHOTOMETRY OF SEVEN ASTEROIDS AT THE 78 Diana. This main-belt asteroid was observed on January 9, 10, BELGRADE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY 12 and 14, 2007. It was selected from the Potential Observational Targets list January-March 2007 on the CALL web-site. A value Vladimir Benishek of rotation period was reported earlier (7.225 h) and was qualified Belgrade Astronomical Observatory as uncertain. From the found bimodal lightcurve we were found a Volgina 7, 11160 Belgrade 74, Serbia period of 7.2991 ± 0.0008 hrs and amplitude of 0.26 ± 0.03 mag. [email protected] 125 Liberatrix. This main-belt asteroid has well-determined Vojislava Protitch-Benishek lightcurve properties. The main reason for observing was that it Belgrade Astronomical Observatory, Belgrade, Serbia was listed on Mikko Kaasalainen’s alert list as a potential shape modeling target. The observations were made 2007 April 13, 14, (Received: 8 October) 17 and 22 and May 13. We found a rotational period of 3.9683 ± 0.0001 hrs, which agrees well with the previously found value of 3.968 ± 0.001 h (Bucheim, 2006). The amplitude of our lightcurve CCD photometry of seven asteroids was performed at was 0.28 ± 0.01 magnitudes. the Belgrade Astronomical Observatory from July 2006 to August 2007: 78 Diana, 125 Liberatrix, 702 Alauda, 702 Alauda. This asteroid was selected from Potential 888 Parysatis, 1095 Tulipa, 1293 Sonja, and 2006 VV2. Observational Targets July-September 2007 list at the CALL web- site. The previously reported, but uncertain, rotation period was In order to examine possibilities for performing CCD photometric 8.36 h. Observing this target was a challenge because of small observations of asteroids and obtaining their lightcurves from our values of its amplitude range (0.07-0.1). Systematical observations Observatory (located practically in the urban area of the city of of the target during eight nights over approximately one month Belgrade) we have started some preliminary test observations with (2007 July 19, 20, 22, 23, 27, 28 and August 15 and 16) allowed new equipment purchased and installed in 2004 – Meade 16” us to get a noisy but still good lightcurve to determine rotation LX200GPS f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and Apogee period with sufficient accuracy. Every particular session is thickly AP47p camera. The detector has dimensions of 1056x1024, 13µm covered with numerous observations (about 100-150 per session) square pixels. The image scale of such telescope and camera and the sessions cover full rotation without even a small gap. Our combination is about 0.66 arcseconds per pixel. The equipment values for period and amplitude respectively are 8.3539 ± 0.0007 initially was used exclusively for astrometric observations of solar hrs and 0.09 ± 0.02 mag. system minor bodies. After short period of tests that gave positive results, the regular photometric observations of selected asteroids 888 Parysatis. This main-belt target was selected from CALL were started in second half of July 2006. The only exception that Potential Observational Targets October-December 2006. An was not observed from Belgrade Observatory is asteroid 1293 uncertain rotation period was known earlier (5.49 h). The Sonja. It was observed in August 2006 by V. Benishek at observations started in November 2006 and lasted over six nights, Bulgarian National Observatory Rozhen together with Bonka 2006 November 15, 16, 17, 24, 26 and 27. Usual exposure times Bilkina from Institute of Astronomy in Sofia, Bulgaria. were 10 or 15 seconds, depending on the session. The lightcurve shows the presence of one very deep minimum without any other As a main source for choosing observational targets we used list of characteristic features. Found parameters are: 5.9314 ± 0.0002 hrs priorities from Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) and 0.22 ± 0.03 mag. web site, except in the case of 1095 Tulipa which was our first observed asteroid target; it was selected to check the signal-to- 1095 Tulipa. This asteroid was observed during five nights, 2006 noise ratio of a fainter target in the conditions of high light July 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22. Its was about 14.9. pollution. All observed targets were main-belt asteroids except the Exposure times were 30 seconds. Despite the asteroid’s relatively near-earth asteroid, 2006 VV2. faint brightness and light-polluted sky at our observing site we reached S/N ratios of about 160-170. Longer exposures were not The application of bias, dark and flat-field frames, as well as possible due to field rotation effect. For rotational period (P) and necessary rotations due to lack of field derotator at our Alt-Az amplitude of the lightcurve (A) we found following values: P = mount were performed in MaxIm DL 3 from Diffraction Limited. 2.7879 ± 0.0004 hrs and A = 0.17 ± 0.03 mag. The same software was used to control the telescope, CCD camera, and Optec TCF-S temperature compensated focuser. 1293 Sonja. This target was selected from CALL list of Potential Differential photometry with five comparison stars and Observational Targets July-September 2006. One of the criteria determination of lightcurve and its parameters (rotation period and for choosing this object was its relatively short rotation period amplitude) were done in MPO Canopus software by BDW (about 2.87 h) known with insufficient accuracy. It was observed Publishing that uses Fourier analysis algorithm developed by Alan during three nights – 2006 August 18, 19 and 23 at the Bulgarian Harris (1989). The amplitude for each lightcurve was estimated as National Observatory using Schmidt telescope with 50 cm the difference between the greatest minimum and maximum by so- Schmidt plate, 70 cm mirror, and 172 cm focal length equipped called “spreadsheet” method described by Brian D. Warner in his with SBIG ST-8 CCD camera and R-band filter. Usual exposure book A Practical Guide to Lightcurve Photometry and Analysis. times were 90 seconds. Analyzing our observations we found P = All observations were unfiltered, except in the case of 1293 Sonja. 2.879 ± 0.002 hrs and A 0.16 ± 0.02 mag.

Our results are described below. All results were previously 2006 VV2. A great opportunity to make photometry of this near- submitted to the CALL web-site and published on the author’s Earth object discovered by LINEAR was at the end of March 2007 web-site: http://beoastrophot.freehostia.com when it came within 0.023 AU of Earth, or 8.8 lunar distances. We were able to observe it over two nights on March 25 and March 27 when its apparent magnitudes were about 13.9 and 12.8

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 29 respectively. Since the motion of the object was extremely fast and our CCD field of view is quite small, we had to divide single night session into 14 sub sessions. This procedure was successful for March 25 observations, but linking of the data was very hard to achieve and at least impossible for the second night. The March 25 observations cover two full rotations of the asteroid. In spite of all difficulties, we successfully plotted the lightcurve from that single night of observations and found the rotational period with limited accuracy. Due to reasonable reasons of complicated observational conditions it slightly differs from values found by other authors, i.e. Gianluca Masi (2007) from Bellatrix Observatory who found a value if 2.4302 hrs. Our value is 2.410 ± 0.005 hrs. The amplitude is 0.57 ± 0.02 mag. Our results are cited on the web-site Asteroids with Satellites by Wm. Robert Johnston at http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/astro/asteroidmoons.html.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Brian D. Warner for his kind suggestions and answers that helped us to infringe more daringly in the field of practical photometry of asteroids. Also, we express our gratefulness to Dr Violeta Ivanova and Bonka Bilkina from Institute of Astronomy of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences for providing possibility for us to observe at Bulgarian National Observatory Rozhen.

References

Bucheim R. K. (2006). Lightcurves of asteroids 125 Liberatrix, 461 Saskia, and 2781 Kleczek. Minor Planet Bul. 33, 63.

Masi G. (2007). 2006 VV2 Lightcurve from the Images Collected in March 2007, http://virtualtelescope.bellatrixobservatory.org/2006vv2lc.gif

Johnston Wm. R. (2007). Asteroids with Satellites, http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/astro/asteroidmoons.html

Kaasalainen M. and Warner B. D. (2007). Mikko Kaasalainen’s Alert List and FAQ, http://www.minorplanetobserver.com/astlc/shape_targets.htm

Warner B. D. (2006a). A Practical Guide to Lightcurve Photometry and Analysis. Springer, USA.

Warner B. D. and Harris, A. (2006b). Potential Lightcurve Targets, 2006 July-September, http://www.minorplanetobserver.com/astlc/targets_3q_ 2006.htm

Warner B. D. and Harris A. (2006c). Potential Lightcurve Targets, 2006 October-December, http://www.minorplanetobserver.com/astlc/targets_4q_2006.htm

Warner B. D. and Harris A. (2007a). Potential Lightcurve Targets, 2007 January-March, http://www.minorplanetobserver.com/astlc/targets_1q_2007.htm

Warner B. D. and Harris A. (2007b). Potential Lightcurve Targets, 2007 July-September, http://www.minorplanetobserver.com/astlc/targets_3q_2007.htm

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 30

ASTERIOD LIGHTCURVE ANALYSIS AT HUNTERS HILL control whilst calibration and image measurements were OBSERVATORY AND COLLABORATING STATIONS: undertaken by MPO Canopus version 9. APRIL 2007 – JUNE 2007 Targets were chosen either from the CALL list provided by David Higgins Warner (2007), from Binary Asteroid Photometric Survey list Hunters Hill Observatory (E14) provided by Dr. Petr Pravec (2005), or as specific observing 7 Mawalan Street requests. Results are summarised in the table below with the Ngunnawal ACT 2913, Australia individual plots presented at the end. Additional comment, where [email protected] appropriate, is provided. Binary candidates and collaborative targets for which Hunters Hill was not the principal observer are (Received: 24 July) not included. Binary candidates will be reported separately by Pravec.

The lightcurves for the following asteroids were The strategy for potential binary candidates is to check the obtained at Hunters Hill Observatory and collaborating lightcurves carefully for deviations that would indicate the stations and then analysed to determine the synodic presence of a satellite. Considerable effort was made to identify period and amplitude: 1554 Yugoslavia, 1600 and eliminate sources of observational errors that might corrupt Vyssotsky, 1685 Toro, 1862 Apollo, 1967 Menzel, 3356 the observations and lead to false attenuation events. It was Resnik, 3364 Zdenka, (15758) 1992 FT1, (27065) 1998 particularly important to identify and eliminate data points SJ64, and (28736) 2000 GE133. affected by faint background stars, bad pixels, and cosmic ray hits.

1862 Apollo Although this target has a well established period, a Hunters Hill Observatory is equipped as described in Higgins request was made by Drs David Vokrouhlicky and Mikko (2005). All observations for this paper were made using a clear filter with guided exposure times of 240 seconds. MaxIm Kaasalainen in a further effort to constrain the targets shape and assess YORP affects. DL/CCD, driven by ACP4, was used for telescope and camera Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 31

Name Date Range Session Period P.E. Amp Amp Hrs Mag Error 1554 Yugoslavia 09Apr-15Apr07 3 3.8879 0.0003 0.64 0.02 1600 Vyssotsky 05May-22Jun07 11 3.20116 0.00004 0.25 0.02 1685 Toro 23May-22Jul07 13 10.1995 0.0004 0.47 0.02 1862 Apollo 09Apr-20Apr07 9 3.06445 0.00014 0.16 0.02 1967 Menzel 07Apr-14Apr07 5 2.8346 0.0003 0.25 0.02 3356 Resnik 05May-05May07 1 >32.0 n/a >0.1 0.01 3364 Zdenka 10May-12May07 3 7.584 0.002 0.43 0.01 15758 1992 FT1 25May-27May07 2 10.13 0.09 0.6 0.03 27065 1998 SJ64 07Apr-09Apr07 3 4.560 0.005 0.2 0.03 28736 2000 GE133 12May-14May07 3 4.658 0.003 0.44 0.03

3356 Resnik This target was observed over an 8 hr period in one session and displayed a steady decline in magnitude over the entire session resulting in the period estimate of > 32 hrs.

1600 Vyssotsky and 1685 Toro Observations were requested by David Vokrouhlicky, Mikko Kaasalainen, and/or Brian D. Warner for shape modelling. Both targets have previously published periods as outlined in Harris and Warner 2007.

Acknowledgements

The SBIG ST-8E used by Hunters Hill was funded by The Planetary Society under the 2005 Gene Shoemaker NEO Grants program. Thanks go to Brian D Warner for his continued development and support for the data analysis software, MPO Canopus v 9 and in particular his development of StarBGone which has enabled me to gather data even in the presence of interfering background stars.

References

Harris, A. W. andWarner B. D. (2007). "Minor Planet Lightcurve Parameters", Minor Planet Center website, http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/LightcurveDat.html.

Higgins, D. (2005) "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at Hunters Hill Observatory and Collaborating Stations - Autumn/Winter 2005", Minor Planet Bulletin 33, 8-11.

Pravec, P. (2005). "Photometric Survey of Asynchronous Binary Asteroids", http://www.asu.cas.cz/~asteroid/binastphotsurvey.htm.

Warner, B. D. (2007). CALL Website http://www.minorplanetobserver.com/astlc/default.htm.

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 32

LIGHTCURVE ANALYSIS OF 654 ZELINDA

Brian D. Warner Palmer Divide Observatory/Space Science Institute 17995 Bakers Farm Rd., Colorado Springs, CO 80908 [email protected]

David Higgins Hunters Hill Observatory, Ngunnawal, Canberra 2913 AUSTRALIA

(Received: 4 October)

The authors made lightcurve observations of the Phocaea-member minor planet, 654 Zelinda, in support of future radar observations. Our results support the previously reported period of approximately 32 hr and found an amplitude of 0.10 ± 0.02 mag.

In August 2007, Dr. Ellen Howell at Arecibo requested observations of 654 Zelinda in support of planned radar observations for late 2008. Previous reports of the minor planet’s lightcurve and period were somewhat ambiguous and clarification was needed in order to help interpret the radar data correctly. Behrend (2007) reported a period of 34.080 hr but this has only U = 1 rating in the Harris/Warner lightcurve database (Harris 2007), meaning it is considered unreliable. Schrober’s lightcurve (1975) has a U = 2 rating and period of 31.9 hr.

The authors observed the minor planet from 29 August through 01 October, 2007, getting data on 19 separate runs. In some cases, the runs were on the same date and so created a longer base-line that helped fit the data onto a common zero point. At the Palmer Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 33

Divide Observatory, a 0.35-m Schmidt-Cassegrain and SBIG ST- LIGHTCURVE ANALYSIS OF 287 NEPHTHYS 9E were used for 60-second exposures. The camera was run at 1x1 binning (20 µm pixels). Hunters Hill also employed a 0.35-m SCT Kevin B. Alton but with an SBIG ST-8E at 1x1 binning (9 µm pixels) and 60- 70 Summit Ave second exposures. All images were processed with dark frames Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927 and flat fields. We used MPO Canopus for aperture photometry of the images. Period analysis was also done in Canopus, which (Received: 1 September) includes an implementation of the Fourier analysis algorithm by Alan Harris (1989). Lightcurves for 287 Nephthys were obtained over five nights in April and May 2007. Clear-filter photometric A period search in the range of 10-120 hours, found a monomodal exposures were used to calculate the synodic period curve with a reasonable fit at 32.0 ± 0.1 hrs, in agreement with (7.604802 ± 0.000001h) and 0.36 mag. amplitude. Schorber’s finding. Previous radar data was reviewed with this period in mind and found good agreement between the two (Howell, private communications). During the analysis, we did 287 Nephthys (~68 km) is a main-belt asteroid first detected by find another solution, assuming a bimodal curve, of about 64 hrs. C.H.F. Peters in 1889. Since the first photoelectric observations However, this value is ruled out by the radar data. by Scaltriti and Zappala (1979), less than six lightcurves from this minor planet are described in the literature. The most recent, Acknowledgements corresponding to the 2004 apparition, was published by Fauerbach and Bennett (2005). Funding for observations at the Palmer Divide Observatory is provided by NASA grant NNG06GI32G, by National Science Equipment included a focal reduced (f/6.3) 0.2-m NexStar 8 GPS Foundation grant AST-0607505, and by a 2007 Shoemaker NEO SCT with a thermoelectrically cooled (–10°C from ambient) Grant from the Planetary Society. The SBIG ST-8E used by SBIG ST 402ME CCD camera mounted at the Cassegrain focus. Hunters Hill was funded by The Planetary Society under the 2005 Clear filter imaging (unbinned for 15 sec) was carried out on a Gene Shoemaker NEO Grants program. total of five nights. Sessions lasted from 2 to 5 hours with exposures automatically taken at least every 60 seconds. Image References acquisition (raw lights, darks and flats) was performed using Behrend, R. (2007). Observatoire de Geneve web site, CCDSOFT 5 (SBIG) while calibration and registration were http://obswww.unige.ch/~behrend/page_cou.html. accomplished with AIP4WIN (Berry and Burnell 2005). Further image reduction with MPO Canopus (Warner 2006) was achieved Harris, A. W., Young, J. W., Bowell, E., Martin, L. J., Millis, R. using at least three non-varying comparison stars to generate light L., Poutanen, M., Scaltriti, F., Zappala, V., Schober, H. J., curves by differential aperture photometry. Data were light-time Debehogne, H., and Zeigler, K. W. (1989). “Photoelectric corrected but not reduced to standard magnitudes. Observations of Asteroids 3, 24, 60, 261, and 863.” Icarus 77, 171-186. A total of 972 photometric readings were collected over 33.098 days. Relevant aspect parameters for 287 Nephthys taken at the Harris, A. W., Warner, B.D., Pravec. P. (2007). Asteroid mid-point from each session are tabulated below. MPO Canopus Lightcurve Database, available on the CALL web site, provided a period solution for the folded data sets using Fourier http://www.MinorPlanetObserver.com/astlc/default.htm. analysis (Harris 1989). The synodic period, determined to be 7.604802 ± 0.000001h was in good agreement with rotational Schober, H. J. (1975). Astron. Astrophys. 44, 85-89. periods for 287 Nephthys published by Fauerbach and Bennett (2005) and that found by the “Small-Body Database Browser” at the JPL Solar System Dynamics website. Periodograms produced using “Peranso” (Vannmunster 2006) by applying periodic orthogonals to fit observations and analysis of variance (ANOVA) to evaluate fit quality, also corroborated this period determination (7.60479 ± 0.0030 hr). The lightcurve amplitude (~0.36m) is consistent with findings from previous investigations.

Acknowledgement

Brian D. Warner’s review and comments on this bulletin is gratefully appreciated.

References

Fauerbach, M. and Bennett, T. (2005), “First photometric lightcurve observations from the Evelyn L. Egan Observatory”, Minor Planet Bulletin 32, 34-35.

Scaltriti, F. and Zappala, V. (1979), “Photoelectric photometry and rotation periods of the asteroids 26 Proserpina, 194 Prokne, 287 ======Nephthys, and 554 Peraga.” Icarus 39, 124-130.

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 34

Berry, R. and Burnell, J. (2005). AIP4WIN version 2.1.0, LIGHTCURVE ANALYSIS OF FOURTEEN ASTEROIDS Willmann-Bell, Inc, Richmond, VA. Donald P. Pray Harris, A. W., Young, J. W., Bowell, E., Martin, L. J., Millis, R. Carbuncle Hill Observatory L., Poutanen, M., Scaltriti, F., Zappala, V., Schober, H. J., 272 Nicholas Rd., Greene, RI, 02827, USA Debehogne, H, and Zeigler, K. (1989). “Photoelectric [email protected] Observations of Asteroids 3, 24, 60, 261, and 863.” Icarus 77, 171-186. Adrián Galád, Modra Observatory, Warner, B. D. (2006). MPO Software, Canopus version 9.2.1.0. Department of Astronomy, Physics of the Earth, and Meteorology Bdw Publishing, Colorado Springs, CO. FMFI UK, 842 48 Bratislava, SLOVAKIA

Vannmunster, T. (2006). Peranso Period Analysis Software, Marek Husárik Peranso version 2.10, CBA Belgium Observatory. Skalnaté Pleso Observatory AI SAS, Tatranská Lomnica, SLOVAKIA JPL Solar System Dynamics website (http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi) Julian Oey Leura Observatory Leura NSW 2780, AUSTRALIA

(Received: 11 October)

Lightcurve period and amplitude are reported for the following asteroids observed at Carbuncle Hill Observatory and other sites between December 2006 and March 2007: 1806 Derice, 2472 Bradman, 2480 Popanov, 2768 Gorky, 2874 Jim Young, 3314 Beals, 4936 Butakov, 5676 Voltaire, 6709 Hiromiyuki, 6737 Okabayashi, 9368 Eshashi, 13497 Ronstone, (14142) 1998 SG10 and (46598) 1993 FT2.

Carbuncle Hill Observatory (CHO) is located about twenty miles west of Providence, RI. Of the asteroids reported here, eleven were observed exclusively at CHO while the remaining three involved collaborations with three observatories. Targets in Table I are noted to show contributors and their affiliation. Observations at CHO were made with a 0.51m f/4 reflector with a UT Date No. Phase %Phase LPAB BPAB (2007) Obs Angle Coverage SBIG ST-10XME CCD camera at the prime focus. This system produced an image dimension of 28x17 arcmin (2.1 arcsec per Apr 22 227 19.3 171.4 7.9 64.2 Apr 23 123 19.6 171.5 8.0 26.3 pixel, binned 3x3). All observations were taken through the May 5 313 22.5 173.3 8.2 56.3 “clear” filter. Leura Observatory used a 0.35m SCT at f/11 and a May 22 171 24.9 176.7 8.4 37.5 SBIG ST9XE CCD at the prime focus. The camera was operated May 25 138 25.2 177.4 8.5 26.3 binned 1x1 resulting in an image dimension of 9.1 x 9.1 arcmin (1.07 arcsec per pixel). Modra Observatory used a 0.6m, f/5.5

Table I

# Name Dates Period P.E. Amp Phase LPAB* BPAB* (h) (h) (m) 1806 Derice (2,4) 12/17-20/2006 3.2240 0.0005 0.19 18.3-17.0 115.3 -1.3 2472 Bradman (4) 02/10-24/2007 5.894 0.001 0.11 5.5-13.0 132.7 3.3 2480 Popanov (4) 12/21-28/2006 3.095 0.001 0.13 10.9-7.0 106.2 3.8 2768 Gorky (4) 02/06-09/2007 4.507 0.001 0.51 5.1-5.9 132.8 8.5 2874 Jim Young (4) 12/17/06-01/21/07 131.3 ? ~0.75 17.3-3.3 115.1 3.0 3314 Beals (4) 01/10-17/2007 5.4616 0.0005 0.70 9.4-6.5 123.4 8.9 4936 Butakov (3,4) 02/23-03/19/2007 13.828 0.001 0.14 12.8-22.0 132.1 -2.4 5676 Voltaire (4) 12/09-21/2006 10.081? 0.001 0.06 10.8-15.3 59.9 -11.5 6709 Hiromiyuki (4) 02/19-24/2007 6.828 0.001 1.00 7.2-9.8 138.0 1.7 6737 Okabayashi (4) 02/13-17/2007 2.5515 0.0005 0.12 0.7-2.2 144.2 1.1 9368 Eshashi (4) 01/18-02/05/2007 2.9183 0.0002 0.20 7.5-3.0 129.3 -1.7 13497 Ronstone (1,4) 02/09-22/2007 11.847 0.001 0.90 17.9-15.9 146.7 24.8 (14142) 1998 SG10 (4) 02/05-11/2007 50-64 na ~1.2 8.0-10.8 125.8 8.8 (46598) 1993 FT2 (4) 01/18-26/2007 4.8620 0.0005 0.33 24.0-21.0 140.0 25.8

(1) Galád (Modra); (2) Husárik (Skalnate Pleso); (3) Oey (Leura); (4) Pray (Carbuncle Hill) * As of date of first session.

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 35 reflector with an AP8p CCD camera. Image dimensions were 25 arcmin squared (1.5 arcsec per pixel). All images were taken through the “clear” filter. Skalnaté Pleso Observatory used a 0.61- m f/4.2 Newtonian reflector and a SBIG ST-8XME CCD camera. Frames were binned 2x2 (1.4 arcsec per pixel). Differential photometry was performed through a Johnson-Cousins R filter.

All of the targets were selected from a list provided by Pravec (2007) as part of his “Photometric Survey of Asynchronous Binary Asteroids” study. At CHO, image calibration via dark frames, bias frames and flat field frames was performed using “MaxIm DL”. Lightcurve construction and analysis was accomplished using “Canopus” developed by Brian Warner. Differential photometry was used in all cases, and all measurements were corrected for light-travel time.

Results are shown in Table I, below. Column headings are self- explanatory. Plots of the lightcurves are also shown. None of the asteroids presented here had previously determined periods.

2472 Bradman. This is rated with a quality of U=1 since several possible but less preferred solutions exist.

2874 Jim Young. This asteroid has a very long period, so it was not possible to obtain dense coverage. Sessions were linked to an internal reference system where all of the star fields used in the analysis were imaged on a single, photometric night, and the session data were adjusted based on the instrumental magnitudes of comparison stars in those fields. The period remains somewhat uncertain and should be rated as U=2.

4936 Butakov. We list U=2 due to uncertainties in the solution.

5676 Voltair. This is rated as U=2 since there are two possible solutions. The solution at 10.081h is bimodal, whereas the 5.040h period is a monomodal curve, and is somewhat less likely. The uncertainty is caused by the low amplitude of the lightcurve

(14142) 1998 SG10. This asteroid appears to be a tumbler. Despite linking the session to an internal reference system, it is rated U=1.

Acknowledgements

Operations at Carbuncle Hill Observatory were supported by a 2007 Gene Shoemaker Grant provided by the Planetary Society. Research at Modra was supported by VEGA, the Slovak Grant Agency for Science Grant 1/3074/06. Research at Skalnaté Pleso Observatory was supported by grant 4012 from VEGA, the Slovak Grant Agency for Science. Thanks are given to Petr Pravec for his assistance in assigning “U” values to the lightcurve solutions, and for his help and encouragement in the field of asteroid research, and to Brian Warner for his continued development and improvement of the program, “Canopus”.

References

Pravec, P. (2007). Photometric Survey of Asynchronous Binary Asteroids , http://www.asu.cas.cz/~asteroid/binastphotsurvey.htm.

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 36

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 37

LIGHTCURVE OF 2106 HUGO Acknowledgements

Greg Crawford Thanks are given to Brian D. Warner for the advice on lightcurve Bagnall Beach Observatory analysis given in the second edition of his book (Warner, 2006), 172 Salamander Way especially his advice on determining period. Salamander Bay, NSW 2317 AUSTRALIA [email protected] References

Julian Oey Crawford, G. (2007) “Lightcurve Analysis of 8256 Shenzhou” in Kingsgrove Observatory Minor Planet Bul., submitted. Kingsgrove, NSW2208, AUSTRALIA Harris, A. W., Young, J. W., Bowell, E., Martin, L. J., Millis, R. (Received: 9 October) L., Poutanen, M., Scaltriti, F., Zappala, V., Schober, H. J., Debehogne, H, and Zeigler, K. (1989). “Photoelectric Observations of Asteroids 3, 24, 60, 261, and 863.” Icarus 77, Minor planet 2106 Hugo was observed on six nights in 171-186. September-October, 2007. The synodic period was determined as 6.9297 ± 0.0001 hr. The peak-to-peak Oey, J. (2007) “ Analysis of 8 Asteroids from Leura amplitude was approximately 0.55 mag. and Other Collaborating Observatories”. Minor Planet Bul. 34, 81- 82. 2106 Hugo was suggested as a target by the on-line list of Warner, B.D. (2006) MPO Software, Canopus version 9, Bdw potential lightcurve targets for October-December 2007, Publishing, http://mimorplanetobserver.com/ maintained by Warner et al (2007). No information was available on that list regarding the rotational period of the asteroid. Warner, B.D. (2006). A Practical Guide to Lightcurve Photometry Crawford and Oey discovered that each was independently and Analysis.2nd edition. Springer, New York. Chapter 10. observing the asteroid and agreed to collaborate on this project. The location and instrumentation of Bagnall Beach Observatory Warner, B.D., et al. (2007) “Potential Lightcurve Targets 2007 were previously described in Crawford (2007). The location and October-December” http://www.minorplanetobserver.com/ instrumentation of Kingsgrove Observatory were previously described in Oey (2007). Observations were made on six nights across a time interval of thirteen days in September-October, 2007. The full Moon on 27th September, 2007, hampered some observations, and smoke from bushfires resulted in noisy data for Crawford 1-3 October, 2007.

Both Crawford and Oey used MPO Canopus software (Warner, 2006), incorporating the Fourier analysis method (FALC) of Harris (1989), to measure images and calculate the rotational period. Collaboration was facilitated by the data exchange capabilities of MPO Canopus, so that both authors could immediately work on their combined data. Noisy data from 24 September 2007 was excluded from the plot, but made no difference to the calculated period. A period of 6.9297 ± 0.0001 hr was derived assuming a bimodal curve. The peak-to-peak amplitude was approximately 0.55 mag.

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 38

LIGHTCURVE PHOTOMETRY OPPORTUNITIES supplement the radar data. Reducing to standard magnitudes is not JANUARY-MARCH 2008 required but high precision work usually is, i.e., on the order of 0.01-0.03mag. The geocentric ephemeredes are for planning Brian D. Warner purposes only. The date range may not always coincide with the Palmer Divide Observatory/Space Science Institute dates of planned radar observations, which – for Arecibo – are 17995 Bakers Farm Rd. limited to a relatively narrow band of declinations. Use the on-line Colorado Springs, CO 80908 USA services such as those from the Minor Planet Center JPL’s [email protected] Horizons to generate high-accuracy topocentric ephemeredes.

Alan W. Harris MPC: http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/mpc.html Space Science Institute JPL: http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?horizons La Canada, CA 91011-3364 USA Those obtaining lightcurves in support of radar observations Petr Pravec should contact Dr. Benner directly at the email given above. There Astronomical Institute are several web sites of particular interest for coordinating radar CZ-25165 Ondrejov, Czech Republic and optical observations. Future targets (up to 2015) can be found at http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/~lance/future.radar.nea.periods.html. Mikko Kaasalainen Past radar targets can be found at http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/~lance/ Rolf Nevanlinna Institute radar.nea.periods.html This page can be used to plan optical FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland observations for those past targets with no or poorly-known rotation periods. Obtaining a rotation period will help analyze that Lance A.M. Benner pre-existing radar data. Slightly different information for Arecibo Jet Propulsion Laboratory is given at http://www.naic.edu/~pradar/sched.shtml. For Pasadena, CA 91109-8099 USA Goldstone, additional information is available at We present here four lists of “targets of opportunity” for the http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroids/goldstone_asteroid_ period 2008 January-March. The first list is those asteroids schedule.html. reaching a favorable apparition during this period, are <15m at brightest, and have either no or poorly constrained lightcurve Once you have data and have analyzed them, it’s important that parameters. By “favorable” we mean the asteroid is unusually you publish your results, if not part of a pro-am collaboration, then brighter than at other times and, in many cases, may not come in the Minor Planet Bulletin. It’s also important to make the data again for many years. The goal for these asteroids is to find a well- available at least on a personal website or upon request. determined rotation rate, if at all possible. Don’t hesitate to solicit Note that the lightcurve amplitude in the tables could be more, or help from other observers at widely spread longitudes should the less, than what’s given. Use the listing as a guide and double- initial findings show that a single station may not be able to finish the job. check your work.

The Low Phase Angle list includes asteroids that reach very low Funding for Warner and Harris in support of this article is provided by NASA grant NNG06GI32G and by National Science phase angles. Getting accurate, calibrated measurements (usually Foundation grant AST-0607505. V band) at or very near the of opposition can provide important information for those studying the “opposition effect”, Lightcurve Opportunities which is when objects near opposition brighten more than simple geometry would predict. Brightest # Name Date Mag Dec U Period Amp The third list is of those asteroids needing only a small number of ------2345 Fucik 1 02.7 14.5 +28 lightcurves to allow shape and spin axis modeling. Some asteroids 6296 Cleveland 1 04.9 14.9 +13 2 15.38 0.20 have been on the list for some time, so work on them is strongly 4512 Sinuhe 1 07.1 14.2 +18 encouraged in order to allow models to be completed. For 7225 Huntress 1 07.4 14.5 +20 29934 1999 JL46 1 09.4 15.0 + 8 modeling work, we encourage you to do absolute photometry, 1284 Latvia 1 09.6 12.9 +27 2 9.644 0.21 meaning that the observations are not differential but absolute 1810 Epimetheus 1 13.6 14.1 +17 values put onto a standard system, such as Johnson V. If this is not 27259 1999 XS136 1 13.9 15.0 +25 possible or practical, accurate relative photometry is also 6411 Tamaga 1 15.7 15.0 -21 2397 Lappajarvi 1 15.7 14.3 +13 permissible. This is where all differential values are against a 9117 Aude 1 16.1 14.4 +29 1 2.811 0.25 calibrated zero point that is not necessarily on a standard system. 4859 Fraknoi 1 19.7 14.8 +20 5806 Archieroy 1 21.0 14.6 +21 2 12.16 0.34 867 Kovacia 1 24.0 14.8 +28 When working any asteroid, keep in mind that the best results for 557 Violetta 1 25.5 14.0 +18 shape and spin axis modeling are obtained when lightcurves are 1292 Luce 1 25.6 14.1 +17 obtained over a range of phase angles, let alone viewing aspects at 1479 Inkeri 1 31.5 14.0 +29 2670 Chuvashia 2 02.1 14.6 +10 different apparitions. If at all possible, try to get lightcurves not 4424 Arkhipova 2 02.2 14.6 +15 only close to opposition, but before and after, e.g., when the phase 1805 Dirikis 2 03.5 14.6 +20 2 23.0 0.45 angle is 15° or more. This can be difficult at times but the extra 739 Mandeville 2 03.6 11.3 +15 2 11.931 0.14 750 Oskar 2 05.4 14.3 +22 2 6.47 0.07 effort can and will pay off. 1488 Aura 2 06.4 14.4 +26 6972 Helvetius 2 15.1 14.8 + 3 The fourth list gives a brief ephemeris for planned radar targets. 637 Chrysothemis 2 15.2 14.4 +13 Supporting optical observations made to determine the 1513 Matra 2 15.3 14.9 +14 1 > 24. >0.1 1379 Lomonosowa 2 16.3 14.0 + 3 2 24.71 >0.51 lightcurve’s period, amplitude, and shape are needed to 6349 Acapulco 2 16.5 14.8 +13 Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 39 Lightcurve Opportunities (continued) 2005 WJ56 No lightcurve parameters have been reported for this asteroid, Brightest which has an estimated diameter of about 0.8 km. For the first few # Name Date Mag Dec U Period Amp ------days of January, the asteroid will be circumpolar for northern 3401 Vanphilos 2 16.6 14.1 + 7 observers as well as being fairly bright. In the following days, it 4450 Pan 2 16.9 12.4 - 6 moves rapidly south and the solar elongation decreases 1126 Otero 2 18.2 13.7 +19 3787 Aivazovskij 2 19.9 14.9 + 0 dramatically. Given the rapid motion, many sets of comparison 426 Hippo 3 01.6 12.0 - 8 2 34.3 0.22 stars may be required and so calibration to at least an internal 2606 Odessa 3 05.4 13.6 - 5 system will be helpful. 4533 Orth 3 10.2 14.5 - 3 7267 1943 DF 3 11.2 14.1 +13 Date Geocentric 1855 Korolev 3 14.5 14.3 + 1 2008 RA(2000) DC(2000) E.D. V α E 4375 Kiyomori 3 15.0 14.8 + 8 ------5468 Hamatonbetsu 3 21.2 14.5 +14 2 42.02 0.43 01/01 9 20.10 +69 19.7 0.070 14.02 48.8 128 443 Photographica 3 23.9 12.3 + 0 1 U 16. 0.3 01/03 8 28.33 +67 15.7 0.058 13.48 44.5 133 1633 Chimay 3 24.7 14.1 + 2 01/05 7 27.69 +62 27.3 0.046 12.81 38.3 140 3691 Bede 3 28.7 14.5 -40 2 226.8 0.5 01/07 6 26.27 +52 26.3 0.036 12.04 30.0 149 2911 Miahelena 3 30.1 14.6 + 6 01/09 5 32.64 +34 09.1 0.030 11.44 25.2 154 275 Sapientia 3 31.5 11.6 + 2 2 14.766 0.06 01/11 4 50.33 + 8 48.3 0.028 11.71 38.7 140 01/13 4 18.38 -13 57.8 0.033 12.59 58.4 120 Low Phase Angle Opportunities 01/15 3 54.39 -28 53.9 0.042 13.53 72.4 105 01/17 3 36.10 -38 00.4 0.053 14.32 81.1 96 # Name Date α V Dec Period AMax U 01/19 3 21.82 -43 47.0 0.064 14.96 86.8 89 ------526 Jena 1 02.3 0.73 13.7 +21 9.474 0.27 3 2000 RW37 367 Amicitia 1 05.1 0.96 12.5 +25 5.05 0.28 3 There are no lightcurve parameters for this small (0.31 km) 184 Dejopeja 1 12.4 0.37 12.4 +23 6.455 0.3 3 678 Fredegundis 1 12.9 0.85 11.5 +20 11.606 0.25 2 asteroid. At brightest, it is only 17.1 towards the end of February 775 Lumiere 1 13.1 0.53 14.0 +23 6.103 0.26 3 and at –30° declination. Those with 1-meter or larger scopes 1 20.9 0.95 12.0 +18 11.11 0.13 3 should try to work this if possible. Check the on-line services for a 159 Aemilia 1 23.8 0.67 11.7 +18 16.37 0.24 3- 557 Violetta 1 25.4 0.44 14.0 +18 recent ephemeris. 54 Alexandra 1 27.0 0.65 12.1 +21 7.024 0.31 4 440 Theodora 1 28.0 0.41 13.1 +18 4.828 0.43 3 (153591) 2001 SN263 215 Oenone 1 30.0 0.87 13.3 +20 > 20. 0.1 2 This 1.5 km asteroid will be an easy target for the first six weeks 103 Hera 2 01.5 0.25 11.5 +17 23.74 0.42 2 739 Mandeville 2 03.5 0.78 11.4 +15 11.931 0.14 2 of 2008. In mid-February, it moves rapidly south and then slows 122 Gerda 2 04.5 0.53 12.0 +15 10.685 0.26 3 again while remaining relatively easy for Southern Hemisphere 203 Pompeja 2 17.2 0.62 12.3 +14 46.6 0.10 2 observers in March and April. 469 Argentina 2 21.3 0.31 12.0 +12 17.573 0.12 3- 177 Irma 2 22.0 0.17 13.5 +11 14.208 0.37 2 46 Hestia 2 24.8 0.53 12.2 +08 21.04 0.11 3 Date Geocentric 77 Frigga 3 01.4 0.51 11.9 +09 9.012 0.19 3 2008 RA(2000) DC(2000) E.D. V α E 551 Ortrud 3 02.4 0.17 13.3 +07 13.05 0.16 2 ------240 Vanadis 3 03.9 0.90 12.5 +09 10.64 0.30 3 01/01 3 45.03 +51 04.7 0.204 14.83 37.0 136 242 Zambesia 3 07.1 0.30 14.0 +06 17.305 0.24 2 01/11 3 45.14 +50 34.1 0.170 14.56 44.5 129 732 Tjilaki 3 11.2 0.36 13.5 +03 12.34 0.19 3 01/21 4 02.17 +49 06.6 0.137 14.19 50.5 123 382 Gerti 3 14.6 0.21 14.0 +02 3.082 0.29 3 01/31 4 43.78 +45 45.3 0.106 13.66 53.0 122 808 Merxia 3 19.9 0.11 13.0 +00 30.631 0.70 3 02/10 5 59.11 +36 55.8 0.079 12.88 48.5 128 650 Heckmann 3 21.1 0.70 14.0 -02 02/20 7 41.09 +16 36.4 0.066 12.11 34.5 143 337 Devosa 3 22.2 0.66 11.3 -02 4.653 0.75 4 03/01 9 11.78 - 6 52.6 0.078 12.27 26.2 152 443 Photographica 3 23.8 0.52 12.3 +00 ? 16. 0.3 1 03/11 10 11.74 -19 32.5 0.109 13.08 26.7 150 161 Athor 3 31.8 0.78 12.2 -03 7.288 0.27 2 03/21 10 49.30 -24 26.0 0.151 13.84 26.1 150 03/31 11 14.43 -25 47.2 0.200 14.51 24.8 150 Shape/Spin Modeling Opportunities 4450 Pan Brightest Per Amp This asteroid is favorably positioned in late January until mid- # Name Date Mag Dec (h) Min Max U February. There are no lightcurve parameters and the size is about ------1.1 km. 34 Circe 1 01. 12.9 +11 12.15 0.24 3 76 Freia 1 01. 11.8 +20 9.972 0.10-0.33 2 Date 83 Beatrix 1 01. 12.9 +21 10.16 0.18-0.27 4 2008 RA(2000) DC(2000) E.D. V a E 4954 Eric 1 01. 13.1 +60 12.056 0.66 3 ------ 1 04.4 11.2 +11 9.020 0.10-0.14 4 01/25 9 53.85 +14 09.5 0.283 15.84 16.8 158 24 Themis 1 24.0 10.5 +21 8.374 0.09-0.14 3 01/28 9 50.56 +13 39.4 0.248 15.42 14.3 162 54 Alexandra 1 27.0 12.0 +21 7.024 0.10-0.31 4 01/31 9 45.80 +13 01.4 0.215 14.95 11.5 166 1685 Toro 2 02.3 13.4 -03 10.196 0.6 -1.25 4 02/03 9 38.98 +12 11.0 0.182 14.40 8.2 170 369 Aeria 2 05.4 12.4 +28 4.787 0.08 2 02/06 9 29.04 +11 00.1 0.150 13.79 5.1 174 48 Doris 2 06.3 11.0 +09 11.89 0.35 3 233 Asterope 2 18.5 12.3 +01 19.70 0.35 3 02/09 9 13.98 + 9 12.6 0.120 13.28 5.9 173 77 Frigga 3 01.3 11.8 +09 9.012 0.07-0.19 3 02/12 8 49.49 + 6 12.6 0.091 12.92 13.3 165 441 Bathilde 3 10.2 12.3 -08 10.447 0.13 3 02/15 8 05.08 + 0 32.8 0.065 12.57 27.4 151 258 Tyche 3 13.3 12.9 -08 10.041 0.40 3 02/18 6 34.10 -10 49.4 0.045 12.50 54.5 123 221 Eos 3 20.5 12.3 +09 10.436 0.04-0.11 4 02/21 3 52.67 -24 34.7 0.042 13.77 97.0 81 419 Aurelia 3 24.6 11.3 -06 16.709 0.08 2

Radar-Optical Opportunities

In the ephemeredes, E.D. is earth distance (AU), V is the V magnitude, α is the phase angle, and E is solar elongation.

Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008) 40

2002 TD66 THE MINOR PLANET BULLETIN (ISSN 1052-8091) is the quarterly This asteroid is favorably positioned in late February into early journal of the Minor Planets Section of the Association of Lunar and March. There are no lightcurve parameters and the size is about Planetary Observers – ALPO. Beginning with volume 32, the current and 0.3 km. most recent issues of the MPB are available on line, free of charge at http://www.minorplanetobserver.com/mpb/default.htm . Subscription Date Geocentric information for conventional printed copies is given below. 2008 RA(2000) DC(2000) E.D. V α E ------Nonmembers are invited to join ALPO by communicating with: Matthew 02/25 4 40.50 +27 26.3 0.044 15.92 80.8 97 L. Will, A.L.P.O. Membership Secretary, P.O. Box 13456, Springfield, IL 02/26 5 24.11 +26 14.8 0.043 15.60 72.4 105 62791-3456 ([email protected]). The Minor Planets Section is 02/27 6 07.02 +24 13.8 0.043 15.36 63.8 114 directed by its Coordinator, Prof. Frederick Pilcher, 4438 Organ Mesa 02/28 6 46.54 +21 37.8 0.045 15.22 55.7 122 02/29 7 21.09 +18 47.2 0.048 15.16 48.5 129 Loop, Las Cruces, NM 88011 USA ([email protected]), assisted by 03/01 7 50.33 +15 59.3 0.051 15.16 42.3 136 Lawrence Garrett, 206 River Road, Fairfax, VT 05454 USA 03/02 8 14.65 +13 24.6 0.056 15.22 37.3 141 ([email protected]). Steve Larson, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, 03/03 8 34.81 +11 07.6 0.061 15.31 33.2 145 1629 E. University Blvd., University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA 03/04 8 51.54 + 9 08.7 0.067 15.42 30.0 148 ([email protected]) is Scientific Advisor. The Asteroid Photometry 03/05 9 05.53 + 7 26.5 0.073 15.55 27.4 151 Coordinator is Brian D. Warner, Palmer Divide Observatory, 17995 Bakers Farm Rd., Colorado Springs, CO 80908 USA ([email protected]).

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Minor Planet Bulletin 35 (2008)