2010 TV149: Lightcurve of a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

We measured an optical wavelength lightcurve of 2010 TV149 to obtain a rotational period. 2010 TV149, classified as an Apollo Near-Earth Object (NEO), is a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) with an H=18.72, equivalent to ~0.622 km, an orbital period of 2.21 years, a perihelion of 0.82 au, an aphelion of 2.58 au, and a Minimum Orbit Impact Distance (MOID) of 0.04 au – equivalent to about 16 Earth-Moon distances.

We obtained data over the course of 9 nights from 24 April 2022 to 9 May 2022 using the Spacewatch 0.9m telescope located on Kitt Peak in Southern Arizona. Data was obtained utilizing the Schott OG-515 Filter, a combination V+R+I wideband filter, centered on 515 nm. Sidereal tracking and non-sidereal tracking were utilized; in both cases, the exposure times were determined such that the smearing of either the asteroid, or the stars, respectively, were less than a few pixels, and commensurate with the seeing. Absolute magnitude of the 2010 TV149 was measured using solar calibration stars in the field of view for each night individually, with fixed aperture photometry.

To obtain a rotational period, we will perform a period search utilizing a Fourier transform on the calibrated brightness measurements of 2010 TV149 over the timespan of the observations. We will search over a large range of possible periods, different Fourier orders, and both binned and un-binned data. Preliminary results suggest a period of 67.9 ± 0.8 hr although a full analysis has not yet been performed.