Description
2006 WB is an asteroid with a diameter of approximately 100m and a rotation period of approximately 10 hours (Ticha et al. 2006). During the closest approach of this target in November 2024, when is was at a distance of within 0.0059 AU (2.3 lunar distances), we made a successful detection of the radar echo using bistatic radar with transmission from DSS-63 at NASA’s Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex and received by the Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory and e-Merlin outstations throughout the UK. To achieve this detection we applied Doppler and light-time corrections using JPL Horizons and SPICE routines. This yielded a detection at the central frequency of 7.2 GHz and the signal was resolved to a width of approximately 0.8 Hz. Throughout the 2.5 hour observation window the signal to noise ratio increases with time due to the target rising in elevation from the horizon as there is no correction to gravitational bending of the surface, which is up to 2cm at the edge of the Lovell dish. This observation has been the first experiment to demonstrate Jodrell Bank’s capability of detecting asteroids. Future work is to be done to use this observation to refine orbital parameters and rotation rate.
