Taking advantage of the first sufficiently accurate prediction of its path for a stellar occultation, the three sites arranged by us in Hawaii for the 2009 occultation by Kuiper belt object 55636 provided the three graphs in our Nature article that determined its size (143 km) and therefore its reflectivity (albedo), about 90%, making it one of the most reflective objects in the solar system and showing that it is covered in ice.
Refereed Papers
- Size and albedo of Kuiper belt object 55636 from a stellar occultation (Elliot et al., Nature 465, 897-900, 17 June 2010)
- Solar system: Blink from a remote world (Sicardy, Nature 465, 878-879, 17 June 2010)
- PICO: Portable Instrument for Capturing Occultations (Lockhart et al., PASP 122, 1207-1213, October 2010)
Abstracts
- The MIT Program for Predicting Stellar Occultations by Kuiper Belt Objects (Elliot et al., B.A.A.S. 41, No. 3, 1125, October 2009)
- Size and Abedo of Kuiper Belt Object 55636 (Elliot et al., 2010)
Miscellaneous Information
- About KBOs (PowerPoint)
- 2009 October KBO 55636 Occultation Lightcurve
- 2009 October KBO 55636 Occultation Prediction by MIT Group
- Williams College Press Release: Williams College Scientists Look Billions of Miles Away
- MIT Press Release: MIT leads the first team to study a Kuiper Belt object during a stellar occultation
- AFP Article: Distant rock caught by Earth-bound telescopes