WISE/NEOWISE Observations of the Jovian Trojans: Preliminary Results

Creators: Grav, T.; Mainzer, A. K.; Bauer, J.; Masiero, J.; Spahr, T.; McMillan, R. S.; Walker, R.; Cutri, R.; Wright, E.; Eisenhardt, P. R. M.; Blauvelt, E.; DeBaun, E.; Elsbury, D.; Gautier, T., IV; Gomillion, S.; Hand, E.; Wilkins, A.

Abstract

We present the preliminary analysis of over 1739 known and 349 candidate Jovian Trojans observed by the NEOWISE component of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). With this survey the available diameters, albedos, and beaming parameters for the Jovian Trojans have been increased by more than an order of magnitude compared to previous surveys. We find that the Jovian Trojan population is very homogenous for sizes larger than ~10 km (close to the detection limit of WISE for these objects). The observed sample consists almost exclusively of low albedo objects, having a mean albedo value of 0.07 ± 0.03. The beaming parameter was also derived for a large fraction of the observed sample, and it is also very homogenous with an observed mean value of 0.88 ± 0.13. Preliminary debiasing of the survey shows that our observed sample is consistent with the leading cloud containing more objects than the trailing cloud. We estimate the fraction to be N(leading)/N(trailing) ~ 1.4 ± 0.2, lower than the 1.6 ± 0.1 value derived by Szabó et al.

Additional Information

© 2011 The American Astronomical Society. Received 2011 May 4; accepted 2011 September 8; published 2011 November 3. This publication makes use of data products from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, which is a joint project of the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This publication also makes use of data products from NEOWISE, which is a project of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, funded by the Planetary Science Division of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. We gratefully acknowledge the extraordinary services specific to NEOWISE contributed by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center, operated by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams, operated by Harvard University. We also thank the worldwide community of dedicated amateur and professional astronomers devoted to minor planet follow-up observations. This research has made use the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive, which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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