A Pluto-like radius and a high albedo for the dwarf planet Eris from an occultation
Bruno Sicardy
(1, 2)
,
J. L. Ortiz
(3)
,
M. Assafin
(4)
,
E. Jehin
(5)
,
A. Maury
(6)
,
E. Lellouch
(1)
,
R. Gil Hutton
(7)
,
F. Braga-Ribas
(1, 8)
,
Francois Colas
(9)
,
Daniel Hestroffer
(9)
,
J. Lecacheux
(1)
,
F. Roques
(1)
,
P. Santos-Sanz
(1)
,
T. Widemann
(1)
,
N. Morales
(3)
,
R. Duffard
(3)
,
A. Thirouin
(3)
,
A. J. Castro-Tirado
(3)
,
M. Jelínek
(3)
,
P. Kubánek
(3)
,
A. Sota
(3)
,
R. Sánchez-Ramírez
(3)
,
A. H. Andrei
(8, 10)
,
J. I. B. Camargo
(8, 10)
,
D. N. da Silva Neto
(8, 11)
,
A. Ramos Gomes
(10)
,
R. Vieira Martins
(8, 9, 10)
,
M. Gillon
(5)
,
J. Manfroid
(5)
,
G. P. Tozzi
(12)
,
C. Harlingten
(13)
,
S. Saravia
(6)
,
R. Behrend
(14)
,
S. Mottola
(15)
,
E. García Melendo
(16, 17)
,
V. Peris
(18)
,
J. Fabregat
(18)
,
J. M. Madiedo
(19)
,
L. Cuesta
(20)
,
M. T. Eibe
(20)
,
A. Ullán
(20)
,
F. Organero
(21)
,
S. Pastor
(22)
,
J. A. de Los Reyes
(22)
,
S. Pedraz
(23)
,
A. Castro
(24)
,
I. de La Cueva
(25)
,
G. Muler
(26)
,
I. A. Steele
(27)
,
M. Cebrián
(28)
,
P. Montañés-Rodríguez
(28)
,
A. Oscoz
(28)
,
D. Weaver
(29)
,
C. Jacques
(30)
,
W. J. B. Corradi
(31)
,
F. P. Santos
(31)
,
W. Reis
(31)
,
A. Milone
(32)
,
M. Emilio
(33)
,
L. Gutiérrez
(34)
,
R. Vázquez
(34)
,
H. Hernández-Toledo
(34)
1
LESIA -
Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique
2 IUF - Institut universitaire de France
3 IAA - Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía
4 Observatório do Valongo/UFRJ [Rio de Janeiro]
5 Institut d'Astrophysique et de Géophysique [Liège]
6 SPACE - San Pedro de Atacama Celestial Explorations
7 CASLEO - Complejo Astronómico El Leoncito [San Juan]
8 Observatório Nacional/MCT
9 IMCCE - Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Ephémérides
10 Observatório do Valongo
11 Universidade Estadual da Zona Oeste (UEZO)
12 OAA - INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri
13 Caisey Harlingten Observatory
14 Geneva Observatory
15 DLR - German Aerospace Center
16 Fundació Privada Observatori Esteve Duran
17 ICE-CSIC - Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai [Barcelona]
18 Observatorio Astronomico de Valencia
19 Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales
20 CAB - Centro de Astrobiologia [Madrid]
21 Observatorio astronómico de La Hita
22 Observatorio de la Murta
23 CAHA - Centro Astronómico Hispano Alemán, Observatorio de Calar Alto
24 Sociedad Malagueña de Astronomía
25 Astroimagen
26 Observatorio Nazaret
27 Liverpool JMU
28 IAC - Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias
29 Observatório Astronomico Christus
30 Observatório CEAMIG-REA
31 ICEx - Departamento de Física
32 INPE - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais
33 Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa
34 Instituto de Astronomía
2 IUF - Institut universitaire de France
3 IAA - Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía
4 Observatório do Valongo/UFRJ [Rio de Janeiro]
5 Institut d'Astrophysique et de Géophysique [Liège]
6 SPACE - San Pedro de Atacama Celestial Explorations
7 CASLEO - Complejo Astronómico El Leoncito [San Juan]
8 Observatório Nacional/MCT
9 IMCCE - Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Ephémérides
10 Observatório do Valongo
11 Universidade Estadual da Zona Oeste (UEZO)
12 OAA - INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri
13 Caisey Harlingten Observatory
14 Geneva Observatory
15 DLR - German Aerospace Center
16 Fundació Privada Observatori Esteve Duran
17 ICE-CSIC - Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai [Barcelona]
18 Observatorio Astronomico de Valencia
19 Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales
20 CAB - Centro de Astrobiologia [Madrid]
21 Observatorio astronómico de La Hita
22 Observatorio de la Murta
23 CAHA - Centro Astronómico Hispano Alemán, Observatorio de Calar Alto
24 Sociedad Malagueña de Astronomía
25 Astroimagen
26 Observatorio Nazaret
27 Liverpool JMU
28 IAC - Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias
29 Observatório Astronomico Christus
30 Observatório CEAMIG-REA
31 ICEx - Departamento de Física
32 INPE - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais
33 Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa
34 Instituto de Astronomía
M. Assafin
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 760292
- ORCID : 0000-0002-8211-0777
E. Jehin
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 759915
- ORCID : 0000-0001-8923-488X
Francois Colas
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 742285
- IdHAL : jean-francois-colas
- ORCID : 0000-0002-0764-5042
- IdRef : 05759872X
Daniel Hestroffer
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 12545
- IdHAL : daniel-hestroffer
- ORCID : 0000-0003-0472-9459
- IdRef : 127181393
P. Santos-Sanz
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 764762
- ORCID : 0000-0002-1123-983X
R. Duffard
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 761183
- ORCID : 0000-0001-5963-5850
M. Gillon
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 756643
- ORCID : 0000-0003-1462-7739
J. Manfroid
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 761411
- ORCID : 0000-0002-6930-2205
A. Castro
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 755424
- IdHAL : anna-castro
- ORCID : 0000-0002-3655-1352
- IdRef : 151080569
Abstract
The dwarf planet Eris is a trans-Neptunian object with an orbital eccentricity of 0.44, an inclination of 44 degrees and a surface composition very similar to that of Pluto. It resides at present at 95.7 astronomical units (1AU is the Earth-Sun distance) from Earth, near its aphelion and more than three times farther than Pluto. Owing to this great distance, measuring its size or detecting a putative atmosphere is difficult. Here we report the observation of a multi-chord stellar occultation by Eris on 6 November 2010 UT. The event is consistent with a spherical shape for Eris, with radius 1,163+/-6kilometres, density 2.52+/-0.05 grams per cm3 and a high visible geometric albedo, . No nitrogen, argon or methane atmospheres are detected with surface pressure larger than ~1nanobar, about 10,000 times more tenuous than Pluto's present atmosphere. As Pluto's radius is estimated to be between 1,150 and 1,200 kilometres, Eris appears as a Pluto twin, with a bright surface possibly caused by a collapsed atmosphere, owing to its cold environment. We anticipate that this atmosphere may periodically sublimate as Eris approaches its perihelion, at 37.8 astronomical units from the Sun.
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Eris_letter.pdf (243 Ko)
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Eris_SI.pdf (406.29 Ko)
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| Origin | Files produced by the author(s) |
|---|
| Origin | Files produced by the author(s) |
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