DPS 34th Meeting, October 2002
Session 7. Centaurs and Kuiper Belt Objects I
Oral, Chair(s): M.E. Brown and D.P. Cruikshank, Monday, October 7, 2002, 2:30-3:30 and 4:00-4:30pm, Ballroom

[Previous] | [Session 7] | [Next]


[7.05] Simultaneous Visible/IR Photometry of Minor Bodies of the Outer Solar System with the ESO-Very Large Telescopes.

A. C. Delsanti (ESO/Chile - LESIA Obs. Paris), O. R. Hainaut, H. Boehnhardt (ESO/Chile), K. J. Meech (IfA), L. Barrera (U. Antofagasta)

We present the results of a program conducted at the ESO 8m-Very Large Telescopes to obtain simultaneous visible and near-IR colors of Minor Bodies of the Outer Solar System (MBOSSes). For that purpose, we used during a same night in November 2000 the FOcal Reducer Spectrograph 1 (FORS1) on Telescope Unit 1 (UT1) in order to perform visible broadband photometry (Bessell B, V, R, I) simultaneously with the Infrared Spectrometer And Array Camera (ISAAC) on UT2 (J, H, Ks filters). The simultaneity of the visible and IR data ensures that the V-J colors are not affected by rotational effects, and the large diameter of the telescopes provides us with an excellent signal-to-noise ratio.

The BVRIJHK reflectivity spectra show a broad range of slopes at visible wavelengths, but all of them display a strong flattening in the IR. Most of the objects even have a negative slope on the H-K domain. We compare these results with those obtained by other groups (not observing simultaneously in visible and IR). We discuss the implication of these results on the MBOSSes surface evolution.


If the author provided an email address or URL for general inquiries, it is as follows:

adelsant@eso.org



[Previous] | [Session 7] | [Next]

Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #3< br> © 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.