Research Note

Adaptive optics observations of asteroid (216) Kleopatra^*

¹ IMCCE, UMR CNRS 8028, Paris Observatory, 77 Av. Denfert Rochereau, 75014 Paris, France
² CFAO/University of California, Dept. of Astronomy, 601 Campbell Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
³ ONERA, DOTA-E, BP 72, 92322 Châtillon, France

Corresponding author: D. Hestroffer, hestro@bdl.fr

Received: 22 March 2002
Accepted: 11 July 2002

Abstract

The large main-belt asteroid (216) Kleopatra has been for long suspected to be a binary object, mainly due to its large lightcurve amplitude. However, recent observations suggest that it is a single “bone-shaped” or bi-lobated body (Ostro et al. [CITE]; Tanga et al. [CITE]). We present results obtained from ground-based adaptive optics observations, and in agreement with the radar raw-observations, the images show two prominent lobes. Making use of the MISTRAL deconvolution technique, the restored images yield a well-separated binary object. Nevertheless, the spatial resolution of the 3.6 m ESO telescope is limited and a dumbbell-shaped body could yield similar features. Further simulations show that adaptive optics observations with an 8-meter class telescope analyzed with the powerful MISTRAL deconvolution technique could overcome this limitation.