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Elsevier, Icarus, 1(215), p. 17-26, 2011

DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2011.06.044

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Photometric Observations of 107P/Wilson-Harrington

This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

We present lightcurve observations and multiband photometry for 107P/Wilson-Harrington using five small- and medium-sized telescopes. The lightcurve has shown a periodicity of 0.2979 day (7.15 hour) and 0.0993 day (2.38 hour), which has a commensurability of 3:1. The physical properties of the lightcurve indicate two models: (1) 107P/Wilson-Harrington is a tumbling object with a sidereal rotation period of 0.2979 day and a precession period of 0.0993 day. The shape has a long axis mode (LAM) of L1:L2:L3 = 1.0:1.0:1.6. The direction of the total rotational angular momentum is around {λ} = 310{\deg}, {β} = -10{\deg}, or {λ} = 132{\deg}, {β} = -17{\deg}. The nutation angle is approximately constant at 65{\deg}. (2) 107P/Wilson-Harrington is not a tumbler. The sidereal rotation period is 0.2979 day. The shape is nearly spherical but slightly hexagonal with a short axis mode (SAM) of L1:L2:L3 = 1.5:1.5:1.0. The pole orientation is around {λ} = 330{\deg}, {β} = -27{\deg}. In addition, the model includes the possibility of binary hosting. For both models, the sense of rotation is retrograde. Furthermore, multiband photometry indicates that the taxonomy class of 107P/Wilson-Harrington is C-type. No clear rotational color variations are confirmed on the surface. ; Comment: 41 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Icarus