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S. L. Gill (Cal State Univ SB), S. M. Lederer (Cal State Univ SB, NASA Johnson Space Center), J. E. Thomas-Osip, D. J. Osip (Las Campanas Observatory), F. Vilas (NASA Johnson Space Center), K. S. Jarvis (Lockheed-Martin Space Operations)
We present a study of the UBVRI broadband colors of asteroid 25143 Itokawa. This is in support of the Japanese Hayabusa spacecraft mission, which will rendezvous with this near-Earth asteroid in the fall of 2005, and return a sample to Earth in 2007. We obtained broadband BVRI images of Itokawa with the 1.7 m Perkins telescope at Lowell Observatory between January 24 and February 9, 2004. At this time, the asteroid was at an R magnitude of 17.5. Beginning on June 26 (when the asteroid was at close approach with an R magnitude of 12) and continuing through July 31, we obtained UBVRI CCD imaging with the 1.0 m Swope telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. A multi-wavelength, rotational light-curve analysis (including simultaneous near-IR data) is presented by Thomas-Osip et al., at this meeting. Here, we report the rotationally corrected broadband visible colors as a function of phase angle, and compare them with similar results over a more restricted range of phase angle from the 2001 apparition [Lederer et al. Icarus, in press]. The results of this study offer insight into the asteroid's class (believed to be an atypical S-class), the surface composition, and evolution of this object. A detailed study of the asteroid surface regolith properties is presented by Lederer et al., (this meeting) incorporating Hapke modeling of these multi-color phase curves.
This work was made possible in part by a NASA MUCERPI grant, and the NASA Hayabusa Program.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 #4
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.