Polarimetric Observations of Small Asteroids: Preliminary Results

CELLINO, A., ; GIL HUTTON, R; TEDESCO, E. F.; DI MARTINO, M.; BRUNINI; A.

ICARUS

ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE

Lugar: New York; Año: 1999 vol. 138 p. 129 - 140

0019-1035

A campaign of polarimetric observations of small (D <50 km)asteroids observed by the IRAS satellite is presently under way inorder to obtain independent albedo estimates of these objects. Forthis purpose, the known relationships between the albedo and theparameters (slope h, Pmin) describing the phase-polarization curveare used. The main goal of this research is to obtain an independentcheck on the size dependence of the asteroid albedo distributionexhibited by the IRAS data. At the same time, we can look for thepresence of possible systematic effects influencing the radiometricalbedo estimates for objects close to the IRAS detection limit. Althoughsome indication that IRAS-derived albedos tend to be onthe average slightly higher than polarimetric albedos, preliminaryresults are not sufficient to draw definitive conclusions. An evidentdiscrepancy has been found only for the A-class asteroid 863Benkoela.