Lightcurve Analysis of the NEA Binary Asteroid 5381 Sekhmet
Abstract
Radar observations in 2003 (Nolan et al., 2003) showed that the near-Earth asteroid (NEA) 5381 Sekhmet was a binary. CCD photometry observations made from the Center for Solar System Studies-Palmer Divide Station (CS3-PDS) during the 2014 apparition confirmed the discovery and found the first precise values for the primary rotation period, P1 = 2.8233 ± 0.0001 h, and the orbital period of the satellite, P_ORB = 12.379 ± 0.004 h. The estimated effective size ratio of the two bodies is Ds/Dp ≥ 0.25 ± 0.02, which is in good agreement with the sizes estimated by radar.
- Publication:
-
Minor Planet Bulletin
- Pub Date:
- October 2014
- Bibcode:
- 2014MPBu...41..224W