Asteroid Polarimetric-Phase Behavior in the Near-Infrared: S- and C-Complex Objects
Abstract
We present the first results of our survey of asteroid polarization-phase curves in the near-infrared J and H bands using the WIRC+Pol instrument on the Palomar 200-inch telescope. We confirm through observations of standard stars that WIRC+Pol can reach the 0.1% precision needed for asteroid phase curve characterization, and show that C-complex asteroids could act as an alternate calibration source as they show less wavelength variation than stellar polarized standards. Initial polarization-phase curve results for S-complex asteroids show a shift in behavior as a function of wavelength from visible to near-infrared bands, extending previously observed trends. Full near-infrared polarization-phase curve characterization of individual asteroids will provide a unique constraint on surface composition of these objects by probing the wavelength dependence of albedo and index of refraction of the surface material.
Additional Information
Accepted for publication in PSJ. The authors would like to thank the Palomar staff for their dedicated support and assistance that enabled our WIRC+Pol observing runs, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic up-ended regular operating procedures. We also thank the referees for their comments and suggestions that improved this paper. Based on observations obtained at the Hale Telescope, Palomar Observatory as part of a continuing collaboration between the California Institute of Technology, NASA/JPL, Yale University, and the National Astronomical Observatories of China. This research made use of Photutils, an Astropy package for detection and photometry of astronomical sources (Bradley et al. 2019).Attached Files
Accepted Version - 2203.15790.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 115501
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20220712-193845707
- Created
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2022-07-13Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2023-06-02Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC)