Fundación Galileo Galilei - INAF Telescopio Nazionale Galileo 28°45'14.4N 17°53'20.6W 2387.2m A.S.L.

Seminars at FGG

Rotations and Densities of Trans-Neptunian Objects

Speaker: Davide Perna (INAF-­Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Italy)

Date and time: 2009-03-24 12:00

Trans-Neptunian Objects are considered the remnants of the outer planetesimals, hence their investigation can help us to cast light on the origin and early evolution of the Solar System. A very powerful tool to retrieve information about these distant and icy bodies is the analysis of their photometric light curves, which are functions of the rotational period, shape and large scale surface structure of the observed objects. On the basis of rotational stability considerations, this analysis also allows us to constrain their densities, improving the knowledge of their physical nature. Recent results from our group will be presented and discussed.