Broad-band Photometry of the Potentially Hazardous Asteroid 2006 DP14
ATel #5928; M. Hicks (JPL/Caltech), S. Ebelhar (PCC)
on 28 Feb 2014; 00:58 UT
Credential Certification: Michael D. Hicks (Michael.Hicks@jpl.nasa.gov)
Subjects: Optical, Asteroid, Planet (minor), Solar System Object, Near-Earth Object, Potentially Hazardous Asteroid
The nearr-Earth Asteroid (NEA) 2006 DP14 was discovered by the LINEAR asteroid discovery program on February 23, 2006 (MPEC 2006-D40). With a likely diameter on the order of ~500 meters and a Minimum Orbit Intersection Distance MOID = 0.016 AU, the object has been designated as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) by the Minor Planet Center. Delay-doppler radar imaging was obtained by the JPL Planetary Radar Team at Goldstone on February 12, 2014 (http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroids/2006DP14/2006DP14_planning.html).
We obtained Bessel BVRI colors and light-curve photometry at the JPL Table Mountain 0.6-m telescope (TMO) on February 15 and 17, as illustrated in Figures 1-2
[1]
[2]
and summarized in Table 1. The object's high amplitude lightcurve (~1 mag) is consistent with a highly elongated body and/or contact binary.
The rotationally averaged colors (B-R=1.070+/-0.016; V-R=0.400+/-0.015; R-I=0.392+/-0.027) were consistent with both X and C family classifications (Bus Taxonomy), as shown in
Figure 3
and Table 2. Our data lack sufficient solar phase coverage to constrain albedo. Assuming a solar phase parameter g=0.15, we measured an absolute magnitude H_V = 18.80+/-0.02 mag, in excellent agreement with the absolute magnitude tabulated on the JPL small bodies database. Applying standard Fourier techniques and assuming a double-peaked lightcurve, we found a best-fit synodic period of 5.78+/-0.02 hr, as shown in
Figure 4
.
Copyright 2014. All rights reserved. The research described in this telegram was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The student participation was supported by the National Science Foundation under REU grant AST-1156756 to Los Angeles City College.
Table 1: Observational summary.
UT Date r(AU) d(AU) p(deg) V(mag) Observers
Feb 15.18 1.047 0.071 32.3 14.5 Ebelhar
Feb 17.25 1.076 0.103 29.8 15.3 Hicks
Table 2: Top 5 spectral matches in the SMASS II database (Bus & Binzel 2002).
Taxonomic Class
Misfit Asteroid Name (Tholen) (BUS)
1.541 4332 Milton Xe
1.655 3389 Sinzot C
1.674 143 Adria C Xc
1.677 634 Ute X
2.039 3762 Amaravella X
