[Previous] | [Session 15] | [Next]

[15.28] CCD Photometry of Asteroid 2867 Steins: Flyby Target of the Rosetta Mission

Paul R. Weissman (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Stephen C. Lowry (Queen's University, Belfast), Young-Jun Choi (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

Asteroid 2867 Steins is one of two flyby targets selected for the Rosetta mission, now en route to periodic comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta will encounter Steins on September 5, 2008. We obtained R-filter CCD images of 2867 Steins on April 14-16, 2004 (UT) using the Table Mountain Observatory 0.6m telescope and 1024 x 1024 CCD camera. Photometric analysis of the images reveals a well-defined, asymmetric double-peaked lightcurve indicating a synodic rotation period of 6.0490 +/- 0.0095 hours. The observed photometric range of ~0.3 magnitudes suggests a minimum axial ratio of ~1.3. Other results of the analysis will be reported. The work was supported by the NASA Planetary Astronomy Program.

The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: paul.r.weissman@jpl.nasa.gov

[Previous] | [Session 15] | [Next]

Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #3
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.