The stellar occultation by Makemake on 2011 April 23

Ortiz, J. L.; Sicardy, B.; Assafin, M.; Alvarez-Candal, A.; Ivanov, V. D.; Camargo, J.; Littlefair, S.; Unda-Sanzana, E.; Jehin, E.; Braga-Ribas, F.; Lellouch, E.; Morales, N.; Licandro, J.; Gil-Hutton, R.; Duffard, R.; Colque, J. P.; Tancredi, G.; Mafroid, J.; Thirouin, A.; Lecacheux, J.; Gillon, M.; Maury, A.; Colas, F.; Jaques, C.; Weaver, D.; Milone, A.; Salvo, S.; Bruzzone, S.; Organero, F.; Behrend, R.; Roland, S.; Vieira-Martins, R.; Widemann, T.; Roques, F.; Santos-Sanz, P.; Hestroffer, D.
Referencia bibliográfica

EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2011, held 2-7 October 2011 in Nantes, France. http://meetings.copernicus.org/epsc-dps2011, p.704

Fecha de publicación:
10
2011
Número de autores
36
Número de autores del IAC
0
Número de citas
1
Número de citas referidas
1
Descripción
We have taken advantage of a stellar occultation by the dwarf planet Makemake on 2011 April 23, to determine several of its main physical properties. We present results from a multisite campaign with 8 positive occultation detections from 5 different sites, including data from the 8-m VLT and 3.5-m NTT telescopes in Chile, which have very high temporal resolution. Because the star was significantly fainter than Makemake (setting a record in the magnitude of a star whose occultation has been detected), the occultation resulted in a drop of just ~0.3 mag in the lightcurves. From the lightcurves we have been able to determine the size and shape of the body, its geometric albedo and constraints on its atmosphere.