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      Characterization of material around the centaur (2060) Chiron from a visible and near-infrared stellar occultation in 2011

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          Abstract

          The centaur (2060) Chiron exhibits outgassing behaviour and possibly hosts a ring system. On 2011 November 29, Chiron occulted a fairly bright star (R∼15 mag) as observed from the 3-m NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea and the 2-m Faulkes Telescope North (FTN) at Haleakala. Data were taken as visible wavelength images and simultaneous, low-resolution, near-infrared (NIR) spectra. Here, we present a detailed examination of the light-curve features in the optical data and an analysis of the NIR spectra. We place a lower limit on the spherical diameter of Chiron's nucleus of 160.2 ± 1.3 km. Sharp, narrow dips were observed between 280–360 km from the centre (depending on event geometry). For a central chord and assumed ring plane, the separated features are 298.5–302 and 308–310.5 km from the nucleus, with normal optical depth ∼0.5–0.9, and a gap of 9.1 ± 1.3 km. These features are similar in equivalent depth to Chariklo's inner ring. The absence of absorbing/scattering material near the nucleus suggests that these sharp dips are more likely to be planar rings than a shell of material. The region of relatively-increased transmission is within the 1:2 spin-orbit resonance, consistent with the proposed clearing pattern for a non-axisymmetric nucleus. Characteristics of possible azimuthally incomplete features are presented, which could be transient, as well as a possible shell from ∼900–1500 km: future observations are needed for confirmation. There are no significant features in the NIR light curves, nor any correlation between optical features and NIR spectral slope.

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          Contributors
          (View ORCID Profile)
          Journal
          Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
          Oxford University Press (OUP)
          0035-8711
          1365-2966
          November 12 2019
          Affiliations
          [1 ]South African Astronomical Observatory, Observatory Rd., Cape Town, 7925, South Africa (Address for correspondence: P.O. Box 9, Observatory, 7935, South Africa)
          [2 ]Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
          [3 ]Planetary Science Institute, 1700 East Fort Lowell, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
          [4 ]Lowell Observatory, 1400 West Mars Hill Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA
          [5 ]Dept. of Astronomy and Planetary Science, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA
          [6 ]Florida Space Institute, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, USA
          [7 ]Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lexington, MA 02421, USA
          [8 ]Department of Physics and Astronomy; Joseph R. Biden Jr. School for Public Policy and Administration; Data Science Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
          [9 ]Center for Urban Science and Progress, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
          [10 ]Department of Space Studies, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA
          Article
          10.1093/mnras/stz3079
          335d39d7-efe3-4a75-8f98-e9d9df7fe725
          © 2019

          https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model

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