- 2000 DP107
2000 DP107 is the first Near-Earth Asteroid Satellite System discovered in September 2000.
Discovery
The binary nature of this asteroid was suggested from radar observations taken with the
Goldstone radar antenna on September 22 and 23 2000 by S. Otro and his team [ [http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iauc/07400/07496.html IAUC 7496: 2000 S1; 2000 DP107 ] ] . Additional observations taken in October 2000 with the Arecibo telescope confirms the presence of the companion [ [http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iauc/07500/07503.html#Item2 IAUC 7503: 2000dp; Sats OF MINOR PLANETS ] ] .The binary System
The primary is roughly spherical with a diameter of 800 meters and the smaller secondary, which orbits it in 1.8 days, is about 300 meters.
The density of the primary was estimated using the orbital elements of the satellite and knowing the size of the primary. It has a low density of 1.7 g/cm3 and is assumed to be a "
rubble pile " of rocks and voids. It is spinning at a rate near the breakup point for strengthless bodies, and therefore any slight gravitational disturbance can pull it apart. Probably an encounter with the gravity of a planet created the binary by pulling apart the primary. [ [http://www.naic.edu/~pradar/pradar.htm Planetary Radar at Arecibo Observatory ] ]References
External links
*
* [http://www.naic.edu/~pradar/pradar.htm Arecibo Planetary Science website]
* [http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/296/5572/1445 Binary Asteroids in the Near-Earth Object Population, Margot et al, Science, 2002] (subscription)
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