Trans-Neptunian objects are distant bodies that retain valuable information about the origin and evolution of the Solar System. Many of these objects constitute binary systems. Studying binaries allows us to further characterise this primitive population and is critical for determining mass densities, a key but elusive physical property. Nevertheless, satellite detection can be challenging. This study aims to constrain the presence of close-in satellites around a selection of ten trans-Neptunian objects, including four known binary systems used for methodology validation. We developed a methodology independent of primary-secondary separation. We exploit the combination of occultation-derived sizes and thermal emission data from the 'TNOs are Cool' key project. We model the thermal emission from a binary system to explain the thermal excess that cannot be reproduced by a single body of the occultation-derived size. Herschel Space Observatory We obtain satisfactory constraints for the validation targets , , , and . We find that , , and are likely binary systems, which was previously unknown. We report size estimates for their putative satellites. For , , and we find that no sizable satellite is needed to reconcile thermal and occultation data.
Gómez-Limón et al. (Fri,) studied this question.