Tentative detection of the rotation of Eris

✍ Scribed by Henry G. Roe; Rosemary E. Pike; Michael E. Brown

• Book ID: 103830454
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 510 KB
• Volume: 198
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0019-1035
• DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2008.08.001

✦ Synopsis

We report a multi-week sequence of B-band photometric measurements of the dwarf planet Eris using the Swift satellite. The use of an observatory in low-Earth orbit provides better temporal sampling than is available with a ground-based telescope. We find no compelling evidence for an unusually slow rotation period of multiple days, as has been suggested previously. A ∼1.08 day rotation period is marginally detected at a modest level of statistical confidence (∼97%). Analysis of the combination of the Swift data with the ground-based B-band measurements of Rabinowitz et al. [Rabinowitz, D.L., Schaefer, B.E., Tourtellotte, S.W., 2007. Astron. J. 133, 26-43] returns the same period (∼1.08 day) at a slightly higher statistical confidence (∼99%).