Size, Shape, and Geometric Albedo of Dwarf Planet Quaoar's Largest Satellite Weywot

Abstract

The small satellites of dwarf-planet size worlds in trans-Neptunian space are thought to be produced through giant impacts, and are typically observed to have bright water-ice-dominated surfaces. Here we focus on Quaoar's small primary satellite, Weywot. We build on previous work by re-analyzing the June 2023 stellar occultation by Weywot using results from 11 orbits of HST imaging with the Wide Field Camera 3. Weywot's rotational lightcurve was constrained along with its independent photometric phase curve, which we used to obtain more robust measurements of Weywot's size, shape, and geometric albedo. We found Weywot's volume-equivalent radius to be req = 73+-5 km, with principal axes a = 82+5-3 , b = 73+5-3, c = 65+8-12 km, indicating a triaxial shape. This shape is consistent with a Roche-ellipsoid rubble-pile interpretation requiring only moderate internal friction at Weywot's current semimajor axis, and Weywot can retain this shape down to Quaoar's co-rotation radius. We also found Weywot's geometric albedo to be quite low, pV = 0.036+0.010-0.006, akin to that of Eris's satellite Dysnomia, but over an order of magnitude lower than Pluto's minor satellites and Haumea's satellites. We propose this may indicate that Weywot's ice-mass fraction<100%, and that Weywot is not sourced from the water-ice mantle of a differentiated pre-impact progenitor as suggested for Pluto's minor satellites and Haumea's satellites.