AO Spectroscopy of Charon Between 1.4-2.5 (mu)m

Details AO Spectroscopy of Charon Between 1.4-2.5 (mu)m AO Spectroscopy of Charon Between 1.4-2.5 (mu)m

Aug 2005

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005noao.prop..413c&link_type=abstract

NOAO Proposal ID #2005B-0413

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Scientific paper

At the outer bounds of the solar system, Pluto and Charon represent the largest of the Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). Spectroscopic observations of several recently discovered large KBOs (600 ≲ r ≲ 1200 km) show surfaces similar to Charon suggesting a link between these objects. To better understand the physical properties of Pluto and Charon, and to provide insights into their origin and evolution in the context of other outer solar system objects, we propose the first spectroscopic program to study the surface of Charon using the AO instrument on Gemini North. The surface of Charon is mainly covered by crystalline H_2O ice, shown by the 1.65 (micron) feature. Grundy et al. (1999) showed this feature is highly temperature sensitive. Based on the best pure Charon spectra, the surface temperature was measured at 60+/-20 K (Buie & Grundy, 2000) however, the greater spectral resolution of NIRI- Altair will measure the temperature to within 2-5 K, if not better. Additional cosmochemically abundant ices expected in the 1.4-2.5 (micron) region include CO_2, NH_3 and CH_4 (Roush, 1994, Brown & Calvin, 2000), but have eluded detection to date due to low resolution and poor signal-to-noise (SNR). Rotationally resolved spectra of Charon using Altair-NIRI will be obtained to search for the presence and distribution of these ices. For those species not detected, significant limits will be determined.

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