Physical Investigation of the Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (144898) 2004 VD17

TL;DR

This study conducted detailed physical observations of asteroid (144898) 2004 VD17, revealing its classification, size, rotation, and structural nature, which are crucial for understanding its potential hazard and physical characteristics.

Contribution

The paper provides the first comprehensive physical characterization of asteroid 2004 VD17, including its classification, size, rotation period, and structural implications, based on multi-method observational data.

Findings

Classified as an E-type asteroid

Estimated diameter of about 320 meters

Rotational period of approximately 2 hours

Abstract

In this paper we present the observational campaign carried out at ESO NTT and VLT in April and May 2006 to investigate the nature and the structure of the Near Earth Object (144898) 2004 VD17. In spite of a great quantity of dynamical information, according to which it will have a close approach with the Earth in the next century, the physical properties of this asteroid are largely unknown. We performed visible and near--infrared photometry and spectroscopy, as well as polarimetric observations. Polarimetric and spectroscopic data allowed us to classify 2004 VD17 as an E-type asteroid. A good agreement was also found with the spectrum of the aubrite meteorite Mayo Belwa. On the basis of the polarimetric albedo (p_v=0.45) and of photometric data, we estimated a diameter of about 320 m and a rotational period of about 2 hours. The analysis of the results obtained by our complete survey have shown that (144898) 2004 VD17 is a peculiar NEO, since it is close to the breakup limits for fast rotator asteroids, as defined by Pravec and Harris (2000). These results suggest that a more robust structure must be expected, as a fractured monolith or a rubble pile in a "strength regime" (Holsapple 2002).