Optical and Infrared Photometry of Kuiper Belt Object 1993SC

Author： Davies J.K. McBride N. Green S.F.

ISSN： 0019-1035

Source： Icarus, Vol.125, Iss.1, 1997-01, pp. : 61-66

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Abstract

Minor planet 1993SC, with a semi-major axis of 39.67 AU, is one of the brightest of numerous recently discovered objects with orbits close to or beyond Neptune. It is a member of the Kuiper Belt, a planetesimal population remaining from the formation of the Solar System. We present optical photometry which indicates a lightcurve amplitude of less than 0.2 magnitude for 1993SC and which does not support the 0.5 magnitude lightcurve of I. P. Williams et al. ( Icarus 116, 180-185, 1995). We derive (Kron-Cousins photometric system) V - R = 0.54 ± 0.14, V - I = 0.97 ± 0.14, and V - J = 2.08 ± 0.15, which confirm that 1993SC has optical/infrared colors closer to Centaur 1993HA 2 than to the extremely red 5145 Pholus. We also find that VRI colors published by J. X. Luu and D. C. Jewitt ( Astron. J. 111, 499-503, 1996) are inconsistent with their reflectance spectrum of 1993SC and we derive new values from their reflectance spectrum of V - R = 0.56 ± 0.08 and V - I = 1.19 ± 0.18, which give reasonable agreement with our results.