Polarimetric survey of main belt asteroids. I. Results for fifty six S-, L-, and K-type objects

GIL-HUTTON, R.; CAÑADA ASSANDRI, M.

ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS

EDP SCIENCES S A

Año: 2011 vol. 529 p. 1 - 4

0004-6361

Aims. We present the first results of a polarimetric survey of main-belt asteroids at Complejo Astronómico El Leoncito (Casleo),San Juan, Argentina. The aims of this survey are to increase the database of asteroid polarimetry, to estimate diversity in polarimetricproperties of asteroids that belong to different taxonomic classes, and to search for objects that exhibit anomalous polarimetric prop-erties, similar to those shown by the asteroid (234) Barbara.Methods. The data were obtained with the Torino and CASPROF polarimeters at the 2.15 m telescope. The Torino polarimeter isan instrument that allows the simultaneous measurement of polarization in five different bands, and the CASPROF polarimeter is atwo-hole aperture polarimeter with rapid modulation.Results. The survey began in 2003, and up to 2009 data on a sample of more than 170 asteroids were obtained. In this paper the resultsof 57 S-, L-, and K-type objects are presented, most of them are being polarimetrically observed for the first time. Using these datawe find phase-polarization curves and polarimetric parameters for these taxonomic classes. Furthermore, we also find two candidates,(397) Vienna and (458) Hercynia, that could have a phase-polarization curve with a large inversion angle.