(9972) Minoruoda

W. Cooney, Starry Night Observatory, Columbus, TX, U.S.A.; V. Benishek, Belgrade Astronomical Observatory; P. Pravec, H. Kucakova, K. Hornoch, P. Kusnirak, and J. Vrastil, Ondrejov Observatory; J. Gross, Sonoita Research Observatory, Sonoita, AZ, U.S.A.; D. Terrell, Southwest Research Institute; D. Pray, Sugarloaf Mountain Observatory, South Deerfield, MA, U.S.A.; V. Chiorny and I. Slyusarev, Kharkiv Observatory; B. Flanagan and B. Pellerin, Madrona Peak Observatory, Medina, TX, U.S.A.; and R. Montaigut and A. Leroy, OPERA Observatory, France, report that photometric observations taken with a 0.43-m telescope at the Starry Night Observatory, a 0.35-m telescope at the Sopot Observatory in Serbia, a 0.65-m telescope at the Ondrejov Observatory, a 0.50-m telescope at the Sonoita Research Observatory, a 0.50-m telescope at the Sugarloaf Mountain Observatory, a 0.70-m telescope at the Chuguev station of the Kharkiv Observatory in Ukraine, a 0.6-m telescope at the Madrona Peak Observatory, and a 0.20-m telescope at the OPERA Observatory during Feb. 24- Apr. 30 reveal that minor planet (9972) is a binary system with an orbital period of 22.89 +/- 0.01 hr. The primary shows a period of 3.4221 +/- 0.0002 hr and has a lightcurve amplitude of 0.11 mag at solar phases 10-14 degrees, suggesting a nearly spheroidal shape. Mutual eclipse/occultation events that are 0.06- to 0.13-magnitude deep indicate a lower limit on the secondary-to-primary mean-diameter ratio of 0.24. The mean absolute R magnitude in the Cousins system is H_R = 13.68 +/- 0.09, assuming the phase relation slope parameter G = 0.24 +/- 0.11.