Optical Spectra of the Large Kuiper Belt Objects 2003 EL61 and 2005 FY9

Details Optical Spectra of the Large Kuiper Belt Objects 2003 EL61 and 2005 FY9 Optical Spectra of the Large Kuiper Belt Objects 2003 EL61 and 2005 FY9

Sep 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.4001t&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #40.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.556

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

We present optical spectra (0.40 - 0.95 micron; fwhm 0.0020 micron) of the large Kuiper belt objects 2003 EL61 and 2005 FY9. The spectra were obtained with the Red Channel Spectrograph and the 6.5 meter MMT telescope on Mt Hopkins, AZ. Five 600-sec spectra of 2003 EL61 span 40 % of its rotational period. We find no evidence of ice absorption bands in any of the spectra nor any evidence of differences between the spectra. By combining the five spectra, we achieve a continuum signal to noise ratio of 200 near 0.577 and 0.627 micron. Such a signal to noise ratio enables us to rule out the presence of O2-ice on 2003 EL61 at an abundance seen on the surface of Ganymede (Spencer et al. 1995). In addition, the lack of the 0.890 micron CH4-ice band in our spectrum allows us to set an upper limit on the thickness of a global glaze of CH 4-ice at 0.3 mm.
Our spectrum of 2005 FY9 exhibits deep CH 4-ice absorption at 0.620, 0.730, 0.786, 0.799, 0.844, 0.869, 0.890, and 0.902 micron in agreement with spectra of Licandro et al. 2006. The wavelengths of these absorption bands are consistent with pure CH4-ice. In addition, our spectrum exhibits weak CH 4-ice bands at 0.54, 0.58, and 0.60 micron. This is the first detection of these weak ice bands in laboratory or astrophysical spectra.
We thank the NASA Planetary Astronomy Program for financial support of this research and the Steward Telescope Allocation Committee for allocation of telescope time.

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