Size-based spectrophotometric analysis of the Polana-Eulalia Complex

Size-based spectrophotometric analysis of the Polana-Eulalia Complex

The Polana-Eulalia Complex (PEC) is an Inner Main Belt, C-complex asteroid population that may be the source of the near-Earth asteroid spacecraft mission targets (101955) Bennu and (162173) Ryugu. Here, we report a size-based investigation of the visible (VIS; 0.47 —0.89 μm) spectrophotometric slop...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Icarus (New York, N.Y. 1962) Vol. 425; p. 116322
Main Authors: McClure, L.T., Emery, J.P., Thomas, C.A., Walsh, K.J., Williams, R.K.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier Inc 01-01-2025
Subjects:
Asteroids
Composition
Spectrophotometry
Spectrophotometry
Composition
Asteroids
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Summary:The Polana-Eulalia Complex (PEC) is an Inner Main Belt, C-complex asteroid population that may be the source of the near-Earth asteroid spacecraft mission targets (101955) Bennu and (162173) Ryugu. Here, we report a size-based investigation of the visible (VIS; 0.47 —0.89 μm) spectrophotometric slopes of the PEC's constituent families, the “New Polana” and Eulalia Families. Using two releases of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's Moving Object Catalog as well as the 3rd data release of the Gaia catalog, we present evidence of size-based slope variability within each family. We find that Eulalia family members exhibit lower average slopes than Polana family members in all catalogs' samples, particularly for objects <9 km in diameter. We are unable to conclude that VIS slope distinguishability between the families is statistically significant, but we explore a potential cause of the bulk slope differences between the PEC families, in addition to providing commentary on size-slope trends generally. •We investigated the size-dependent, visible spectrophotometric slope variabilities of the Polana and Eulalia asteroid families.•Polana family asteroids are generally redder than Eulalia family asteroids.•SDSS-derived slopes showed significant distinguishability between the families, while Gaia-derived slopes did not.•Visible slopes may be more distinguishable between the families at smaller (< 9 km) sizes.
ISSN:0019-1035
DOI:10.1016/j.icarus.2024.116322