Significantly high polarization degree of the very low-albedo asteroid (152679) 1998 KU2

6Citations
Citations of this article
7Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

We present a unique and significant polarimetric result regarding the near-Earth asteroid (152679) 1998 KU2, which has a very low geometric albedo. From our observations, we find that the linear polarization degrees of 1998 KU2 are 44.6 ± 0.5% in the RC band and 44.0 ± 0.6% in the V band at a solar phase angle of 81.0°. These values are the highest of any known airless body in the solar system (i.e., high-polarization comets, asteroids, and planetary satellites) at similar phase angles. This polarimetric observation is not only the first for primitive asteroids at large phase angles, but also for low-albedo (<0.1) airless bodies. Based on spectroscopic similarities and polarimetric measurements of materials that have been sorted by size in previous studies, we conjecture that 1998 KU2 has a highly microporous regolith structure comprising nano-sized carbon grains on the surface.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Kuroda, D., Ishiguro, M., Watanabe, M., Hasegawa, S., Sekiguchi, T., Naito, H., … Kuramoto, K. (2018). Significantly high polarization degree of the very low-albedo asteroid (152679) 1998 KU2. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 611. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201732086

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free