Bibcode
Ziffer, Julie; Campins, H.; Licandro, J.; Kelley, M. S.; Fernandez, Y. R.; Delbo, M.; Hargrove, K.; Alí-Lagoa, V.
Bibliographical reference
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #218, #405.03; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Advertised on:
5
2011
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
NASA's Wide-field Survey Explorer (WISE) mapped the sky in four bands at
3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 μm during its mission. Published on 14 April
2011, the WISE Preliminary Release provides data of more than 150,000
asteroids that were processed with initial calibration and reduction
algorithms. Our aim is to carry out an analysis of key physical
parameters (size, albedo, and thermal properties) of outer main-belt
asteroid families. Our study concentrates on the Themis, Veritas, and
Hygeia families, but will also include other primitive families
(taxonomic types C, P, and D). For each of our target asteroids in the
WISE preliminary release, we estimated diameters and albedos by fitting
thermal models to the measured fluxes, thus constraining their size
distribution and compositions. Our initial results from WISE are part of
a more extensive study that includes visible, near-infrared, and
mid-infrared spectroscopy. These asteroid families are believed to have
experienced less heating than most other asteroids and comparisons with
Jupiter Trojans, cometary nuclei, and primitive meteorites can provide
strong tests of dynamical and collisional models that relate outer belt
asteroids with Transneptunian objects.