CaltechAUTHORS
Published September 2020 | Version Published + Submitted
Journal Article Open

Detection of a Satellite of the Trojan Asteroid (3548) Eurybates—A Lucy Mission Target

Creators

  • 1. ROR icon Goddard Space Flight Center
  • 2. ROR icon California Institute of Technology
  • 3. ROR icon Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
  • 4. ROR icon Lowell Observatory
  • 5. ROR icon Southwest Research Institute
  • 6. ROR icon National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Abstract

We describe the discovery of a satellite of the Trojan asteroid (3548) Eurybates in images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. The satellite was detected on three separate epochs, two in 2018 September and one in 2020 January. The satellite has a brightness in all three epochs consistent with an effective diameter of d₂ = 1.2 ± 0.4 km. The projected separation from Eurybates was s ~ 1700–2300 km and varied in position, consistent with a large range of possible orbits. Eurybates is a target of the Lucy Discovery mission and the early detection of a satellite provides an opportunity for a significant expansion of the scientific return from this encounter.

Additional Information

© 2020. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. Received 2020 June 12; revised 2020 July 17; accepted 2020 August 2; published 2020 September 4. This research is based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by AURA under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. These observations are associated with programs GO-15144 and GO-16056. Note added in proof. The Eurybates satellite was detected for a fourth time in observations with HST on 2020 July 19 and was not detected in observations obtained on August 3. The data are still insufficient to determine an orbit. Additional observations are planned.

Attached Files

Published - Noll_2020_Planet._Sci._J._1_44.pdf

Submitted - 2008.01858.pdf

Files

2008.01858.pdf

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Additional details

Identifiers

Eprint ID
105332
Resolver ID
CaltechAUTHORS:20200911-133133971

Related works

Describes
https://arxiv.org/abs/2008.01858 (URL)

Funding

NASA
5-26555
NASA
GO-15144
NASA
GO-16056

Dates

Created
2020-09-15
Created from EPrint's datestamp field
Updated
2021-11-16
Created from EPrint's last_modified field

Caltech Custom Metadata

Caltech groups
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences (GPS)