Characterization of Near-Earth Asteroids Using KMTNET-SAAO
- 1. South African Astronomical Observatory, Cape Town, 7925 (South Africa)
- 2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 (United States)
- 3. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138-1516 (United States)
Description
We present here VRI spectrophotometry of 39 near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) observed with the Sutherland, South Africa, node of the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet). Of the 39 NEAs, 19 were targeted, but because of KMTNet's large 2° × 2° field of view, 20 serendipitous NEAs were also captured in the observing fields. Targeted observations were performed within 44 days (median: 16 days, min: 4 days) of each NEA's discovery date. Our broadband spectrophotometry is reliable enough to distinguish among four asteroid taxonomies and we were able to confidently categorize 31 of the 39 observed targets as either an S-, C-, X-, or D-type asteroid by means of a Machine Learning algorithm approach. Our data suggest that the ratio between "stony" S-type NEAs and "not-stony" (C+X+D)-type NEAs, with H magnitudes between 15 and 25, is roughly 1:1. Additionally, we report ∼1 hr light curve data for each NEA, and of the 39 targets, we were able to resolve the complete rotation period and amplitude for six targets and report lower limits for the remaining targets.
Availability note (English)
Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aa88beAdditional details
Identifiers
Publishing Information
- Journal Title
- Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online)
- Journal Volume
- 154
- Journal Issue
- 4
- Journal Page Range
- [10 p.]
- ISSN
- 1538-3881
INIS
- Country of Publication
- United States
- Country of Input or Organization
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
- INIS RN
- 49008624
- Subject category
- S79: ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY;
- Descriptors DEI
- ALGORITHMS; ASTEROIDS; DIAGRAMS; PLANETS; REPUBLIC OF KOREA; ROTATION; SOUTH AFRICA; SPECTROPHOTOMETRY; TELESCOPES; VISIBLE RADIATION
- Descriptors DEC
- AFRICA; ASIA; DEVELOPED COUNTRIES; DEVELOPING COUNTRIES; ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION; INFORMATION; MATHEMATICAL LOGIC; MOTION; RADIATIONS