Bistatic radar observations of 2011 UW158
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #48, id.325.02 (2016)
Full textAbstract
We report results of intercontinental bistatic radar observations of near-Earth Asteroid 2011 UW158 during its close approach to the Earth in July 2015. High power continuous wave signal at a fixed 8.4 GHz frequency was transmitted to the asteroid from the 70 m antenna of the Goldstone Observatory (DSS-14) and then the echo reflected back from the target was received by the 32 m radio telescopes of Quasar VLBI network in Zelenchukskaya and Badary observatories. Analysis of the echo power spectra allowed us to estimate the size and spin period, which agrees with the photometric observations as well as obtain some information about asteroid's shape and near-surface roughness. We also reported 18 Doppler estimates and computed the heliocentric orbit of 2011 UW158.