Broadband Reflectance Measurements (λ > 2.5 μm) of KBOS, Centaurs, and Trojan Asteroids

Details Broadband Reflectance Measurements (λ > 2.5 μm) of KBOS, Centaurs, and Trojan Asteroids Broadband Reflectance Measurements (λ > 2.5 μm) of KBOS, Centaurs, and Trojan Asteroids

Oct 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007dps....39.4908e&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #39, #49.08; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.510

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

1

Scientific paper

From the standpoint of their composition, Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) are still a puzzle: some of them contain water ice, some methane and ethane ice, some are rich in pyroxenes and/or olivine, and some contain a reddening agent that, we think, has to be organic in nature. Overall it is still a puzzle whose pieces are slowly coming together with the improvements in telescopes and instrumentation, including space-based observatories and spacecraft.
We have measured reflectances of a sample of KBOs, Centaurs, and low albedo Trojan asteroids with the infrared array camera (IRAC) on the Spitzer Space Telescope. IRAC measures broadband fluxes at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 μm. Reflectance is measured for all 30 objects at 3.6 and 4.5 μm. Only a handful of TNOs and Centaurs are bright enough for the detection of reflected flux at 5.8 μm, and none are detected at 8.0 μm. For the low albedo Trojan asteroids, the flux at 5.8 μm is a combination of reflection and emission, whereas the 8.0 μm flux is dominated by thermal emission. Ground-based spectra have previously been published from the visible to 2.5 μm for all objects in the target list. In some cases, particularly for the featureless spectra, spectral models admit a range of possible compositions. Reflectances in the IRAC bands allow discrimination between these possible spectral models, thereby constraining surface compositions. For objects whose vis-NIR spectra show specific absorption bands (e.g., H2O), the IRAC data permit refinement of the spectral interpretations. For example, the IRAC data of 90377 Sedna show strong absorptions that require not only methane to properly model, but also H2O. We will present new data and implications for the compositions of the individual objects thus far observed.

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