Search for surface variations on TNO 47171 and Centaur 32532

Frédéric Merlin (1, 2) , Maria Antonella Barucci (1, 2) , Elisabetta Dotto (3) , Catherine de Bergh (1, 2) , Gaspare Lo Curto (4)

1 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique
2 Pôle Planétologie du LESIA
3 INAF-OAR - INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma
4 European Southern Observatory

We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of one Trans-Neptunian Object (TNO 47171 1999 TC{36}) and one Centaur (Thereus also named 32532 2001 PT{13}). Near-infrared data were acquired with the ISAAC instrument at one of the 8 m telecopes of the Very Large Telescope (VLT, ESO-Cerro Paranal, Chile), while visible data were obtained with the EFOSC2 instrument on the 3.6 m telescope of La Silla (ESO, Chile). These observations were performed to search for rotational variations for both targets. Water ice has been confirmed on both objects. The surface composition models of the targets are presented and discussed, and are also compared to previous observations available in the literature.

Domaines: Astrophysique [astro-ph]; Planète et Univers [physics]

Frédéric Merlin, Maria Antonella Barucci, Elisabetta Dotto, Catherine de Bergh, Gaspare Lo Curto. Search for surface variations on TNO 47171 and Centaur 32532. Astronomy and Astrophysics - A&A, 2005, 444, pp.977-982. ⟨10.1051/0004-6361:20053642⟩. ⟨hal-03785796⟩