The relation between polarimetric properties and geometric albedo of the asteroids: Some progress

A. CELLINO, R. GIL-HUTTON, M. CAÑADA-ASSANDRI, Y P. BENDJOYA

Nantes

Congreso; EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2011; 2011

Europlanet

Since a long time it has been known that a relation existsbetween the polarimetric properties exhibited byatmosphereless Solar system bodies and their geometricalbedo. For this reason, polarimetry is a very importantobserving technique, being able to provide estimatesof the albedo directly resulting from measuredpolarimetric properties, without need of any additionalancillary data (like the absolute magnitude in the casealbedo determination using thermal radiometry). Themost serious problem in asteroid polarimetry comesfrom the fact that the relation linking the geometricalbedo with polarimetric properties includes some calibrationparameters which are affected by noticeableuncertainty. By obtaining new polarimetric data for aselected list of target asteroids having well-establishedalbedoes, we are improving the situation. Some preliminaryresults are shown.