Bibcode
de León, J.; Pinilla-Alonso, N.; Delbo, M.; Campins, H.; Cabrera-Lavers, A.; Tanga, P.; Cellino, A.; Bendjoya, P.; Gayon-Markt, J.; Licandro, J.; Lorenzi, V.; Morate, D.; Walsh, K. J.; DeMeo, F.; Landsman, Z.; Alí-Lagoa, V.
Bibliographical reference
Icarus, Volume 266, p. 57-75.
Advertised on:
3
2016
Journal
Citations
35
Refereed citations
34
Description
The Polana-Eulalia family complex is located in the inner part of the
asteroid belt, bounded by the ν6 and the 3:1 resonances,
where we can find another three collisional families of primitive
asteroids (Erigone, Clarissa, and Sulamitis), and a low-albedo
population of background objects. This region of the belt is believed to
be the most likely origin of the two primitive near-Earth asteroids that
are the current targets of two sample return missions: NASA's OSIRIS-REx
and JAXA's Hayabusa 2 to Asteroids (101955) Bennu and (162173) Ryugu
(also known as 1999 JU3), respectively. Therefore,
understanding these families will enhance the scientific return of these
missions.
We present the results of a spectroscopic survey of asteroids in the
region of the Polana-Eulalia family complex, and also asteroids from the
background population of low-albedo, low-inclination objects. We
obtained visible spectra of a total of 65 asteroids, using the 10.4 m
Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) and the 3.6 m Telescopio Nazionale
Galileo (TNG), both located at the El Roque de Los Muchachos
Observatory, in the island of La Palma (Spain), and the 3.6 m New
Technology Telescope (NTT), located at the European Southern Observatory
of La Silla, in Chile. From the spectral analysis of our sample we found
that, in spite of the presence of distinct dynamical groups, the
asteroids in this region present spectral homogeneity at visible
wavelengths, showing a continuum of spectral slopes, from blue to
moderately red, typical of primitive asteroids classified as B- and
C-types. We conclude that visible spectra cannot be used to distinguish
between members of the Polana and the Eulalia families, or members of
the background population.
The visible spectra of the two targets of sample return missions,
Asteroids Bennu and Ryugu, are compatible with the spectra of the
asteroids in this region, supporting previous studies that suggested
either the Polana family or the background population as the most likely
origins of these NEAs.