Bibcode
Campins, Humberto; Kelley, M. S.; Fernández, Y. R.; Ziffer, J.; Licandro, J.; Emery, J.; Cruikshank, D. P.; Hergenrother, C.; Pinilla-Alonso, N.; Hargrove, K.; Clautice, D.
Bibliographical reference
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #39, #36.04; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.486
Advertised on:
10
2007
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
Last year (Campins et al. 2006), we reported near-infrared rotational
variability in ground-based spectra of comet-asteroid transition object
944 Hidalgo. Since then, we carried out a rotationally resolved study of
Hidalgo at mid-infrared wavelengths using the Infrared Spectrograph
(IRS) on NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. We obtained 7 to 38 micron
spectra of Hidalgo at 10 different rotational phases. These observations
were carried out on July 24, 2006, when Hidalgo was at heliocentric and
Spitzer-centric distances of 4.83 AU and 4.84 AU. In an initial
analysis, we normalized the spectra with a thermal model fit to the
continuum (which varied as the cross section of this non-spherical
object changed with rotational phase). No detectable rotational
variability in the emissivity was found across the wavelength range. All
the spectra show clear emissions from silicates. These emissions are
qualitatively similar to those seen in the spectra of Trojan asteroids
(Emery et al. 2006) and in the spectrum of comet Hale-Bopp (Crovisier et
al. 1997). Given the lack of emissivity variability, we averaged all our
spectra and compared them with the other Spitzer spectrum of Hidalgo,
which was obtained as part of the guaranteed time observations (GTO) on
February 10, 2005 when Hidalgo was at heliocentric and Spitzer-centric
distances of 1.96 AU and 1.71 AU. Although the 2005 spectrum has better
signal-to-noise than the combined 2006 spectra, the two are identical
within the uncertainties, save for changes in the thermal continuum. It
is not clear why there is spectral variability in the near-infrared and
not the longer wavelengths. One possible explanation is that the
mineralogy across Hidalgo's surface is similar but some areas have been
affected differently by space weathering, i.e., one or more collisions
may have exposed fresh material on some of Hidalgo's surface.