Analysis of the First Disk-Resolved Images of Ceres from Ultraviolet Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope

Details Analysis of the First Disk-Resolved Images of Ceres from Ultraviolet Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope Analysis of the First Disk-Resolved Images of Ceres from Ultraviolet Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope

2001-10-10

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0110258v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

9 pages, 4 figures, in AASTeX v5.02 document class with "emulateapj5" and "onecolfloat" styles (onecolfloat.sty is included).

Scientific paper

10.1086/338093

We present HST Faint Object Camera observations of the asteroid 1 Ceres at near-, mid-, and far-UV wavelengths (lambda = 3636, 2795, and 1621 A, respectively) obtained on 1995 June 25. The disk of Ceres is well-resolved for the first time, at a scale of ~50km. We report the detection of a large, ~250km diameter surface feature for which we propose the name ``Piazzi''; however it is presently uncertain if this feature is due to a crater, albedo variegation, or other effect. From limb fits to the images, we obtain semi-major and semi-minor axes of R_1=484.8+/-5.1km and R_2=466.4+/-5.9km, respectively, for the illumination-corrected projected ellipsoid. Although albedo features are seen, they do not allow for a definitive determination of the rotation or pole positions of Ceres, particularly because of the sparse sampling (two epochs) of the 9 hour rotation period. From full-disk integrated albedo measurements, we find that Ceres has a red spectral slope from the mid- to near-UV, and a significant blue slope shortward of the mid-UV. In spite of the presence of Piazzi, we detect no significant global differences in the integrated albedo as a function of rotational phase for the two epochs of data we obtained. From Minnaert surface fits to the near- and mid-UV images, we find an unusually large Minnaert parameter of k~0.9, suggesting a more Lambertian than lunar-like surface.

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