A Robust Survey of the Physical Properties of the Karin Cluster Asteroids

Details A Robust Survey of the Physical Properties of the Karin Cluster Asteroids A Robust Survey of the Physical Properties of the Karin Cluster Asteroids

Jun 2005

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005sptz.prop20158h&link_type=abstract

Spitzer Proposal ID #20158

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Scientific paper

The Karin cluster is by far the youngest known family of main-belt asteroids, dating back to a collisional event only 5.8+/-0.2 Myr ago. We propose to sample the thermal continua of 17 Karin cluster asteroids of different sizes, down to the smallest members discovered so far, in order to derive accurate sizes and study the physical properties of their surfaces. Our aims include a study of trends in thermal inertia and albedo with size. The analysis will be based on sophisticated thermal models that will provide important insight into thermal inertia and regolith coverage. The widely used 'standard thermal model' leads to serious errors in thermal studies of small asteroids and is not adequate for a detailed study of the physical characteristics of Karin cluster members. The following questions are amongst those addressed by this program: 1. Are the distributions of sizes and albedos compatible with the Karin cluster being the result of a single catastrophic collision 5.8+/-0.2 Myr ago (Nesvorny et al., 2002)? 2. Are the sizes and thermal properties of the Karin-cluster members compatible with the claim of Nesvorny and Bottke (2004) that the Yarkovsky Effect is responsible for an apparent non-gravitational drift of their orbital motion? 3. Does the retention of a significant thermally insulating layer of regolith depend on asteroid size? If so, what are the consequences for modeling the Yarkovsky effect and the delivery of main-belt asteroids into near-Earth orbits? 4. Is there a correlation between albedo and size among the Karin cluster members similar to that evident for near-Earth asteroids in the same size range? If so, what are the consequences for models of age-dependent space weathering? (the Karin cluster members all have the same age).

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