A Pluto-like radius and a high albedo for the dwarf planet Eris from an occultation - Nature

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Authors and Affiliations

1. LESIA-Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Université Paris-Diderot, 11, Rue Marcelin Berthelot, 92195 Meudon cedex, France,

   B. Sicardy, E. Lellouch, F. Braga-Ribas, J. Lecacheux, F. Roques, P. Santos-Sanz & T. Widemann

2. Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 4, Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris cedex 5, France,

   B. Sicardy

3. Institut Universitaire de France, 103, Boulevard Saint Michel, 75005 Paris, France,

   B. Sicardy

4. Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC, Apartado 3004, 18080 Granada, Spain,

   J. L. Ortiz, N. Morales, R. Duffard, A. Thirouin, A. J. Castro-Tirado, M. Jelínek, P. Kubánek, A. Sota & R. Sánchez-Ramírez

5. Observatório do Valongo/UFRJ, Ladeira Pedro Antonio 43, CEP 20.080-090 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil,

   M. Assafin, A. H. Andrei, J. I. B. Camargo, A. Ramos Gomes & R. Vieira Martins

6. Institut d'Astrophysique de I'Université de Liège, Allée du 6 Août 17, B-4000 Liège, Belgium,

   E. Jehin, M. Gillon & J. Manfroid

7. San Pedro de Atacama Celestial Explorations, Casilla 21, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile,

   A. Maury & S. Saravia

8. Complejo Astronómico El Leoncito (CASLEO) and San Juan National University, Avenida España 1512 sur, J5402DSP, San Juan, Argentina,

   R. Gil Hutton

9. Observatório Nacional/MCT, Rua General José Cristino 77, CEP 20921-400 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil,

   F. Braga-Ribas, A. H. Andrei, J. I. B. Camargo, D. N. da Silva Neto & R. Vieira Martins

10. IMCCE-Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Université Lille 1, 77 Avenue Denfert-Rochereau, 75014 Paris, France,

    F. Colas, D. Hestroffer & R. Vieira Martins

11. Centro Universitário Estadual da Zona Oeste, Avenida Manual Caldeira de Alvarenga 1203, CEP, 23.070-200 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil,

    D. N. da Silva Neto

12. INAF, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi 5, I-50125 Firenze, Italy,

    G. P. Tozzi

13. Caisey Harlingten Observatory, The Grange, Scarrow Beck Road, Erpingham, Norfolk NR11 7QX, UK,

    C. Harlingten

14. Observatoire de Genève, CH-1290 Sauverny, Switzerland,

    R. Behrend

15. DLR – German Aerospace Center, Rutherfordstrasse 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany,

    S. Mottola

16. Fundació Privada Observatori Esteve Duran, 08553 Seva, Spain,

    E. García Melendo

17. Institut de Ciències de I'Espai (CSIC-IEEC), Facultat de Ciències, Torre C5, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain,

    E. García Melendo

18. Observatori Astronòmic, Universitat de València, Calle Catedràtic José Beltrán 2, 46980 Paterna, Spain,

    V. Peris & J. Fabregat

19. Universidad de Huelva, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Avenida de las Fuerzas Armadas S/N, 21071 Huelva, Spain,

    J. M. Madiedo

20. Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), Carretera de Ajalvir, km 4, 28850 Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain,

    L. Cuesta, M. T. Eibe & A. Ullán

21. Observatorio astronómico de La Hita, 45840 La Puebla de Almoradiel (Toledo), Spain

    F. Organero

22. Observatorio de la Murta, 30153 Murcia, Spain,

    S. Pastor & J. A. de los Reyes

23. Calar Alto Observatory, Centro Astronómico Hispano Alemán, Calle Jesús Durbán Remón, 2, 04004 Almería, Spain,

    S. Pedraz

24. Sociedad Malagueña de Astronomía, Centro Cultural José María Gutiérrez Romero, Calle República Argentina 9, 29016 Málaga, Spain,

    A. Castro

25. Astroimagen, Abad y Lasierra 58Bis, 07800 Ibiza, Spain,

    I. de la Cueva

26. Observatorio Nazaret, 35539 Nazaret, Lanzarote, Spain,

    G. Muler

27. Liverpool JMU, Twelve Quays House, Egerton Wharf, Birkenhead CH41 1LD, UK,

    I. A. Steele

28. Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Vía Láctea s/n, 38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain,

    M. Cebrián, P. Montañés-Rodríguez & A. Oscoz

29. Observatório Astronomico Christus, Colégio Christus, Rua João Carvalho 630, Aldeota, CEP 60140140, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil,

    D. Weaver

30. Observatório CEAMIG-REA, CEP31545-120, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil,

    C. Jacques

31. Departamento de Física – Instituto de Ciências Exatas – Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Antônio Carlos 6627, 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil,

    W. J. B. Corradi, F. P. Santos & W. Reis

32. Divisão de Astrofísica, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE-MCT), Avenida dos Astronautas, 1758, São José dos Campos, 12227-010, SP, Brazil,

    A. Milone

33. Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa, O.A. – DEGEO, Avenida Carlos Cavalcanti 4748, Ponta Grossa 84030-900, PR, Brazil,

    M. Emilio

34. Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Carretera Tijuana-Ensenada, km 103, 22860 Ensenada, BC, Mexico,

    L. Gutiérrez & R. Vázquez

35. Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-264, 04510 México DF, Mexico,

    H. Hernández-Toledo

Contributions

B.S. helped plan the campaign, centralized the stellar occultation predictions, participated in the observations, analysed data, wrote and ran the diffraction, limb-fitting and ray-tracing codes, and wrote part of the paper. J.L.O. helped plan the campaign, analysed data for the prediction, participated in the observations, obtained and analysed data, and wrote part of the paper. E.L. analysed the implications of the results for the Eris thermal model, albedo constraints and putative atmospheric structure, and wrote part of the paper. M.A., F.B.-R., A.H.A., J.I.B.C., R.V.M., D.N.d.S.N. and R.B. discovered the star candidate and analysed data for the predictions. E.J. and A.M. obtained and analysed the positive occultation detection at La Silla/TRAPPIST and San Pedro/Harlingten telescopes, respectively. F.B.-R., F.C., M.G. and J.M. analysed data, D.H. calculated Dysnomia’s position at the moment of occultation and wrote part of the paper. All other authors participated in the planning of the campaign and/or the observations, and the authors listed in Supplementary Table 2 were responsible for the observations. All authors were given the opportunity to review the results and comment on the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to B. Sicardy.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary Information

This file contains Supplementary Text and Data 1-7, Supplementary Figures 1- 5 with legends, Supplementary Tables 1-5 and additional references. This file was replaced on 20 December to reinstate the type missing from the top of page 5. (PDF 489 kb)

Cite this article

Sicardy, B., Ortiz, J., Assafin, M. et al. A Pluto-like radius and a high albedo for the dwarf planet Eris from an occultation. Nature 478, 493–496 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10550

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• Received: 05 June 2011

• Accepted: 06 September 2011

• Published: 26 October 2011

• Issue Date: 27 October 2011

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10550