Infrared Light Curves of Near-Earth Objects

Joseph L. Hora; Amir Siraj; Michael Mommert; Andrew McNeill; David E. Trilling; Annika Gustafsson; Howard A. Smith; Giovanni G. Fazio; Steven Chesley; Joshua P. Emery; Alan Harris; Michael Mueller

doi:10.3847/1538-4365/aadcf5

Infrared Light Curves of Near-Earth Objects

Joseph L. Hora, Amir Siraj, Michael Mommert, Andrew McNeill, David E. Trilling, Annika Gustafsson, Howard A. Smith, Giovanni G. Fazio, Steven Chesley, Joshua P. Emery, Alan Harris, Michael Mueller

Astronomy and Planetary Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present light curves and derive periods and amplitudes for a subset of 38 near-Earth objects (NEOs) observed at 4.5 μm with the IRAC camera on the the Spitzer Space Telescope, many of them having no previously reported rotation periods. This subset was chosen from about 1800 IRAC NEO observations as having obvious periodicity and significant amplitude. For objects where the period observed did not sample the full rotational period, we derived lower limits to these parameters based on sinusoidal fits. Light curve durations ranged from 42 to 544 minutes, with derived periods from 16 to 270 minutes. We discuss the effects of light curve variations on the thermal modeling used to derive diameters and albedos from Spitzer photometry. We find that both diameters and albedos derived from the light curve maxima and minima agree with our previously published results, even for extreme objects, showing the conservative nature of the thermal model uncertainties. We also evaluate the NEO rotation rates, sizes, and their cohesive strengths.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	22
Journal	Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series
Volume	238
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4365/aadcf5
State	Published - Oct 2018

Keywords

infrared: planetary systems
minor planets, asteroids: general
surveys

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

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10.3847/1538-4365/aadcf5

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title = "Infrared Light Curves of Near-Earth Objects",

abstract = "We present light curves and derive periods and amplitudes for a subset of 38 near-Earth objects (NEOs) observed at 4.5 μm with the IRAC camera on the the Spitzer Space Telescope, many of them having no previously reported rotation periods. This subset was chosen from about 1800 IRAC NEO observations as having obvious periodicity and significant amplitude. For objects where the period observed did not sample the full rotational period, we derived lower limits to these parameters based on sinusoidal fits. Light curve durations ranged from 42 to 544 minutes, with derived periods from 16 to 270 minutes. We discuss the effects of light curve variations on the thermal modeling used to derive diameters and albedos from Spitzer photometry. We find that both diameters and albedos derived from the light curve maxima and minima agree with our previously published results, even for extreme objects, showing the conservative nature of the thermal model uncertainties. We also evaluate the NEO rotation rates, sizes, and their cohesive strengths.",

keywords = "infrared: planetary systems, minor planets, asteroids: general, surveys",

author = "Hora, {Joseph L.} and Amir Siraj and Michael Mommert and Andrew McNeill and Trilling, {David E.} and Annika Gustafsson and Smith, {Howard A.} and Fazio, {Giovanni G.} and Steven Chesley and Emery, {Joshua P.} and Alan Harris and Michael Mueller",

note = "Funding Information: This work is based on observations made with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under a contract with NASA. Support for this work was provided by NASA through an award issued by JPL/Caltech. This work is supported in part by NSF award 1229776. IRAF is distributed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..",

year = "2018",

month = oct,

doi = "10.3847/1538-4365/aadcf5",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "238",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series",

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T1 - Infrared Light Curves of Near-Earth Objects

AU - Hora, Joseph L.

AU - Siraj, Amir

AU - Mommert, Michael

AU - McNeill, Andrew

AU - Trilling, David E.

AU - Gustafsson, Annika

AU - Smith, Howard A.

AU - Fazio, Giovanni G.

AU - Chesley, Steven

AU - Emery, Joshua P.

AU - Harris, Alan

AU - Mueller, Michael

N1 - Funding Information: This work is based on observations made with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under a contract with NASA. Support for this work was provided by NASA through an award issued by JPL/Caltech. This work is supported in part by NSF award 1229776. IRAF is distributed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. Publisher Copyright: © 2018. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..

PY - 2018/10

Y1 - 2018/10

N2 - We present light curves and derive periods and amplitudes for a subset of 38 near-Earth objects (NEOs) observed at 4.5 μm with the IRAC camera on the the Spitzer Space Telescope, many of them having no previously reported rotation periods. This subset was chosen from about 1800 IRAC NEO observations as having obvious periodicity and significant amplitude. For objects where the period observed did not sample the full rotational period, we derived lower limits to these parameters based on sinusoidal fits. Light curve durations ranged from 42 to 544 minutes, with derived periods from 16 to 270 minutes. We discuss the effects of light curve variations on the thermal modeling used to derive diameters and albedos from Spitzer photometry. We find that both diameters and albedos derived from the light curve maxima and minima agree with our previously published results, even for extreme objects, showing the conservative nature of the thermal model uncertainties. We also evaluate the NEO rotation rates, sizes, and their cohesive strengths.

AB - We present light curves and derive periods and amplitudes for a subset of 38 near-Earth objects (NEOs) observed at 4.5 μm with the IRAC camera on the the Spitzer Space Telescope, many of them having no previously reported rotation periods. This subset was chosen from about 1800 IRAC NEO observations as having obvious periodicity and significant amplitude. For objects where the period observed did not sample the full rotational period, we derived lower limits to these parameters based on sinusoidal fits. Light curve durations ranged from 42 to 544 minutes, with derived periods from 16 to 270 minutes. We discuss the effects of light curve variations on the thermal modeling used to derive diameters and albedos from Spitzer photometry. We find that both diameters and albedos derived from the light curve maxima and minima agree with our previously published results, even for extreme objects, showing the conservative nature of the thermal model uncertainties. We also evaluate the NEO rotation rates, sizes, and their cohesive strengths.

KW - infrared: planetary systems

KW - minor planets, asteroids: general

KW - surveys

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JO - Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series

JF - Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series

IS - 2

M1 - 22

ER -

Infrared Light Curves of Near-Earth Objects

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