Eclipsing events in the binary system of the asteroid 90 Antiope

¹ Astronomical Observatory, Adam Mickiewicz University, Słoneczna 36, 60-286 Poznań, Poland
² Institut de Mécanique Céleste, 77 Av. Denfert Rochereau, 75014 Paris, France
³ Institute of Astronomy, Karazin Kharkiv National University, Sums'ka 35, 61022 Kharkiv, Ukraine
⁴ Astroqueyras Association, 05350 Saint Veran, France

Corresponding author: T. Michałowski, tmich@amu.edu.pl

Received: 25 July 2002
Accepted: 10 September 2002

Abstract

CCD observations of the binary asteroid 90 Antiope were carried out at four observatories (Borowiec, Pic du Midi, Kharkiv, and Chateau Renard) on 26 nights from October 2001 through February 2002. The results show a two–component lightcurve with each showing the same period of hours. The first component (with the amplitude of 0.10 mag) is associated with the rotation of two non–spherical bodies of the system; the second one, showing two sharp minima (with the amplitude in the range 0.05–0.12 mag, depending linearly on the phase angle) is due to eclipses in the binary system. The lightcurve suggests a synchronous rotation. The orientation of the system's orbit has been determined from the analysis of both the amplitudes and the duration of the eclipses. Some predictions of the possibility of observations of the eclipsing events during future oppositions have also been made.