Electronic Telegram No. 964 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION M.S. 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions) CBAT@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science) URL http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html (121) HERMIONE P. Descamps, Institut de Mecanique Celeste et de Calcul des Ephemerides (IMCCE), Paris; F. Marchis, University of California at Berkeley; J. Pollock, Appalachian State University; J. Berthier and F. Vachier, Institut de Mecanique Celeste et de Calcul des Ephemerides, Paris; T. Michalowski, Adam Mickiewicz University; and J.-P. Teng, A. Peyrot, and C. Benard, Les Makes Observatory, Reunion Island, report that a photometric observation program initiated in March 2007 of the minor planet (121) Hermione confirms the bilobated shape of the primary suggested by direct Keck adaptive-optics imaging taken in 2003 (IAUC 8264; Marchis et al. 2005, Icarus 178, 450). According to the orbital model of the satellite companion (cf. IAUC 7980), the system is currently viewed edge-on. The lightcurves recorded mostly at the Make Observatory (Reunion Island) over seven nights reveal the high amplitude of the brightness variation (up to 0.75), with a morphology typical of a contact binary composed of two unequal components with a size ratio of about 0.6. Follow-up photometric observations that will help to refine and improve the shape and pole solution of Hermione (currently V about 12.6) are encouraged. The current amplitude is about 0.6 mag, but this should quickly decrease, as the equatorial plane will open to the line-of-sight. NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars. (C) Copyright 2007 CBAT 2007 May 16 (CBET 964) Daniel W. E. Green