[meteorite-list] 2003 UB313 Update

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Aug 15 01:36:57 2005
Message-ID: <200508150535.j7F5ZwX16837_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/planetlila/index.html

2003 UB313 Update
Mike Brown

Update on the name on status

We have recently discussed the status of the object and of the name
with members of the IAU who decide such things. As far as we can
determine several activities are taking place:

    * A special committee of the International Astronomical Union (IAU)
      is trying to decide precisely what to classify this as.
    * Another committee of the IAU which vets names for asteroids and
      Kuiper belt objects is mulling over the name that we suggested
      upon discovery.
    * Yet another committee of the IAU which approves names for
      features on major planets and satellites has suggested that if
      the object is declared a major planet the naming falls strictly
      to them, and they have suggested that the name should continue
      the Greco-Roman tradition of the previous planets. We have a
      couple of interesting choices in mind in that case.

It appears that with the dead month of August rolling around no one
will be making decision anytime soon, though the IAU has recently
made an official pronouncement (http://www.iau.org/IAU/FAQ/2003_UB313.html)


Update on upcoming Spitzer observations

Though we tried earlier to measure the size using Spitzer, those
observations failed due to human error which caused the telescope
to point in the wrong direction. The Spitzer Space Telescope rarely
makes such errors, but these observations were extremely unusual in
that they were of a moving object whose position could not be
obtained from pubically available web sites at JPL (since JPL didn't
yet know of the existence of the object). Instead, a string of human
interaction had to occur between our [correct] submission of the
orbital elements and the final pointing of the telescope. Somewhere
in this string of interactions a mistake was made. Two other Kuiper
belt objects (2003 EL61 and 2005 FY9) were observed in the same manner
at the same time and the observations proceeded without a glitch,
leading us to initially assume that the 2003 UB313 observations were
correctly pointed also. The mistake was caught by one of the many
extremely careful members of the Spitzer Science Center. As soon as
the mistake was caught new observations were scheduled and safeguards
were put into place to prevent such an occurence again. Spitzer will
again attempt to observe 2003 UB313 at the end of the month.

In the meantime, we are attempting observing from the 30-meter IRAM
telescope. This telescope, like Spitzer, measures the heat output.
But IRAM measures the heat output in a region of the spectrum where
much less heat is output. Nonetheless we have high hopes that these
observations will succeed. The combination of Spitzer and IRAM will
be especially powerful.

Yet another step to try to measure the size will be to observe the
planet with the Hubble Space Telescope and see if we can do some very
careful analysis to measure the size in a similar manner as we did
for the planetoid Quaoar. These observations are already scheduled
and will be taking place shortly, though the observations are
optimzed for detection of satellite rather than size measurement.
We are attempting to secure observations optimized for size
measurement.
Received on Mon 15 Aug 2005 01:35:58 AM PDT