THERMAL MODEL CALIBRATION FOR MINOR PLANETS OBSERVED WITH WISE/NEOWISE: COMPARISON WITH INFRARED ASTRONOMICAL SATELLITE

Journal Article · Wed Aug 10 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/737/1/L9· OSTI ID:21562493

Mainzer, A; Masiero, J; Bauer, J ^[1]; Grav, T ^[2]; Wright, E ^[3]; Cutri, R M ^[4]; Walker, R ^[5]

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1. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States)
2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
3. UCLA Astronomy, P.O. Box 91547, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1547 (United States)
4. Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
5. Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy, Monterey, CA (United States)

With thermal infrared observations detected by the NEOWISE project, we have measured diameters for 1742 minor planets that were also observed by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS). We have compared the diameters and albedo derived by applying a spherical thermal model to the objects detected by NEOWISE and find that they are generally in good agreement with the IRAS values. We have shown that diameters computed from NEOWISE data are often less systematically biased than those found with IRAS. This demonstrates that the NEOWISE data set can provide accurate physical parameters for the >157,000 minor planets that were detected by NEOWISE.

• OSTI ID: 21562493
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 737, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/737/1/L9; ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
CALIBRATION
CATALOGS
INFRARED SURVEYS
PLANETS
SIMULATION
DOCUMENT TYPES
GEOLOGIC SURVEYS
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS