Published November 20, 2012 | Version v1
Journal article

PHYSICAL PARAMETERS OF ASTEROIDS ESTIMATED FROM THE WISE 3-BAND DATA AND NEOWISE POST-CRYOGENIC SURVEY

  • 1. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States)
  • 2. Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719 (United States)
  • 3. Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
  • 4. Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, 1629 East University Boulevard, Tucson, AZ 85721-0092 (United States)
  • 5. Department of Earth and Space Sciences, UCLA, 595 Charles Young Drive East, Box 951567, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1567 (United States)
  • 6. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)
  • 7. Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy, Monterey, CA 93933 (United States)
  • 8. Department of Physics and Astronomy, UCLA, P.O. Box 91547, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1547 (United States)

Description

Enhancements to the science data processing pipeline of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission, collectively known as NEOWISE, resulted in the detection of >158,000 minor planets in four infrared wavelengths during the fully cryogenic portion of the mission. Following the depletion of its cryogen, NASA's Planetary Science Directorate funded a four-month extension to complete the survey of the inner edge of the Main Asteroid Belt and to detect and discover near-Earth objects (NEOs). This extended survey phase, known as the NEOWISE Post-Cryogenic Survey, resulted in the detection of ∼6500 large Main Belt asteroids and 86 NEOs in its 3.4 and 4.6 μm channels. During the Post-Cryogenic Survey, NEOWISE discovered and detected a number of asteroids co-orbital with the Earth and Mars, including the first known Earth Trojan. We present preliminary thermal fits for these and other NEOs detected during the 3-Band Cryogenic and Post-Cryogenic Surveys.

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/760/1/L12

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Astrophysical Journal Letters
Journal Volume
760
Journal Issue
1
Journal Page Range
[6 p.]
ISSN
2041-8205

INIS

Country of Publication
United States
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
44037599
Subject category
S46: INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY;
Descriptors DEI
ASTEROIDS; CRYOGENIC FLUIDS; DATA PROCESSING; DETECTION; EARTH PLANET; INFRARED SURVEYS; MARS PLANET; NASA; WAVELENGTHS
Descriptors DEC
FLUIDS; GEOLOGIC SURVEYS; GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS; NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS; PLANETS; PROCESSING; US ORGANIZATIONS