Skip to main content
Kent Academic Repository

Asteroid 2867 Steins I. Photometric properties from OSIRIS/Rosetta and ground-based visible observations

Jorda, L., Lamy, P.L., Faury, G., Weissman, P., Barucci, M.A., Fornasier, S., Lowry, S.C., Toth, I., Küppers, M. (2008) Asteroid 2867 Steins I. Photometric properties from OSIRIS/Rosetta and ground-based visible observations. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 487 (3). pp. 1171-1178. ISSN 0004-6361. E-ISSN 1432-0746. (doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078994) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:52297)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20078994

Abstract

Context. Asteroid 2867 Steins is the first target of the Rosetta space mission with a flyby scheduled in September 2008.Aims. An early characterization is needed to optimize the flyby parameters and the science operations and to maximize the scientific return. The aim of this article is to characterize the photometric properties of this asteroid.Methods. The asteroid was imaged with the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS) during the cruise phase of the Rosetta spacecraft, at a phase angle of significantly larger than achievable from Earth. It was continuously monitored over ~ h (on 11 March 2006), thus covering four rotational periods, at a temporal cadence of 6 min. An accurate photometric calibration was obtained from the observations of a solar analog star, 16 Cyg B.Results. The light curve in the photometric band of the Johnson-Kron-Cousins system has a mean value and an amplitude of mag. The periodicity was analyzed with different techniques yielding a mean value of the synodic rotational period of h. By combining with ground-based observations obtained at different phase angles, the phase function is constructed and characterized by a linear part having a phase coefficient mag/deg and a mean value . In terms of the formalism, the best fit photometric values are and , but the resulting opposition surge of 0.25 mag, although typical of E-type asteroids, is not really constrained because of the lack of data at phase angles below . Altogether the photometric properties of asteroid 2867 Steins (phase function, color and albedo) indicate that it is a somewhat extreme E-type object, although it is known that this quite small population exhibits at least three different surface mineralogies. © 2008 ESO.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1051/0004-6361:20078994
Additional information: Unmapped bibliographic data: LA - English [Field not mapped to EPrints] J2 - Astron. Astrophys. [Field not mapped to EPrints] AD - Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, UMR6110 CNRS/Université de Provence, Technopôle de Marseille-Etoile, 38 rue Frédéric Joliot-Curie, 13388 Marseille Cedex 13, France [Field not mapped to EPrints] AD - Jet Propulsion Laboratory, MS 183-301, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, United States [Field not mapped to EPrints] AD - LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, 92195 Meudon Principal Cedex, France [Field not mapped to EPrints] AD - Université de Paris 7 Denis Diderot, France [Field not mapped to EPrints] AD - School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University, Belfast, United Kingdom [Field not mapped to EPrints] AD - Konkoly Observatory, PO Box 67, 1525, Hungary [Field not mapped to EPrints] AD - Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Germany [Field not mapped to EPrints] DB - Scopus [Field not mapped to EPrints]
Uncontrolled keywords: Minor planets, asteroids, Techniques: photometric, Asteroids, Crystallography, Imaging systems, Imaging techniques, Interplanetary flight, Mineralogy, Minerals, Optoelectronic devices, Population statistics, Solar system, Spacecraft, At phase, Best fit, Cruise phase, Ground-based, Ground-based observations, Light curves, Mean value, Minor planets, asteroids, Optical-, Phase angles, Phase coefficients, Phase functions, Photometric calibration, Photometric properties, Remote imaging, Rosetta, Science operations, Space missions, Techniques: photometric, Photometry
Subjects: Q Science > QB Astronomy
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Natural Sciences > Physics and Astronomy
Depositing User: Stephen Lowry
Date Deposited: 08 Dec 2015 22:46 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:21 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/52297 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.