Open AccessReport on Three Stellar Occultations by the Excited Kuiper Belt Object 2002 MS4.
Author(s) -
Rami Zemouri,
Peter Ceravolo,
J. J. Kavelaars,
Terry Bridges
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
research notes of the aas
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2515-5172
DOI - 10.3847/2515-5172/ac5f3b
Subject(s) - occultation , ephemeris , physics , astronomy , sky , right ascension , chord (peer to peer) , declination , astrophysics , telescope , computer science , satellite , distributed computing
We report on three stellar occultation events by the Kuiper Belt object 2002 MS 4 , observed using a 300 mm telescope on Anarchist Mountain, BC, Canada. Using the three events we have determined chord diameters of (810 ± 70) km, (630 ± 140) km, and (780 ± 70) km. All of these diameters are consistent with those reported from previous occultation events. Based on these data we estimate that 2002 MS 4 is at least 810 ± 70 km in diameter These events also provide high-precision sky positions for 2002 MS 4 at the exact time of the occultation, which can be used to refine the orbital ephemeris of this target, improving predictions of future events. All data and processing outputs described in this Research Note can be retrieved from: 10.11570/22.0001