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Science 5 May 2000:
Vol. 288. no. 5467, pp. 836 - 839
DOI: 10.1126/science.288.5467.836
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Reports

Radar Observations of Asteroid 216 Kleopatra

Steven J. Ostro, 1* R. Scott Hudson, 2 Michael C. Nolan, 3 Jean-Luc Margot, 3 Daniel J. Scheeres, 4 Donald B. Campbell, 5 Christopher Magri, 6 Jon D. Giorgini, 1 Donald K. Yeomans 1

Radar observations of the main-belt, M-class asteroid 216 Kleopatra reveal a dumbbell-shaped object with overall dimensions of 217 kilometers by 94 kilometers by 81 kilometers (±25%). The asteroid's surface properties are consistent with a regolith having a metallic composition and a porosity comparable to that of lunar soil. Kleopatra's shape is probably the outcome of an exotic sequence of collisional events, and much of its interior may have an unconsolidated rubble-pile structure.

1 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109-8099, USA.
2 School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-2752, USA.
3 Arecibo Observatory, HC3 Box 53995, Arecibo, PR 00612, USA.
4 Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2140, USA.
5 Department of Astronomy, Space Sciences Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
6 University of Maine at Farmington, Preble Hall, 39 High Street, Farmington, ME 04938, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ostro{at}reason.jpl.nasa.gov

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