K. S. Jarvis

Near-Infrared Spectral Results of Asteroid Itokawa from the Hayabusa Spacecraft

The near-infrared spectrometer on board the Japanese Hayabusa spacecraft found a variation of more than 10% in albedo and absorption band depth in the surface reflectance of asteroid 25143 Itokawa. Spectral shape over the 1-micrometer absorption band indicates that the surface of this body has an olivine-rich mineral assemblage potentially similar to that of LL5 or LL6 chondrites. Diversity in the physical condition of Itokawas surface appears to be larger than for other S-type asteroids previously explored by spacecraft, such as 433 Eros.

The 2004 Las Campanas/Lowell Observatory Itokawa campaign: I. Simultaneous visible and near-infrared photometry of the Hayabusa mission target

In 2004, Asteroid 25143 Itokawa made its final close approach to the Earth prior to its encounter with the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa. This apparition was superb with Itokawa reaching magnitude 12 (two magnitudes brighter than the 2001 apparition and the brightest since its discovery in 1998) and covering a large range of observable solar phase angles. An extensive visible and near-infrared observing campaign of Itokawa was undertaken at Las Campanas and Lowell Observatories to obtain full rotational coverage and cover the largest possible range of solar phase angles (4–129°). Unresolved global color mapping over the complete light curve (best fit synodic period of 12.118 hr) shows no sign of rotational color variability with upper limits of a few percent across the full U-thru-K spectrum. These combined multi-wavelength (UBVRIJHK) rotational light curves allow for the concrete deconvolution of shape from albedo variation in the rotational models and as required for Hapke modeling presented in Paper II (Lederer et al., this issue), permits the removal of the rotational light curve effects from the solar phase curve. Furthermore, these derived solar phase curves can be fit with the IAU H,G magnitude system (Bowell et al., 1989) thus allowing the calculation of geometric albedos (pv = 0.23 ± 0.02) as well as an estimate of the asteroid’s elongated shape (a/b = 1.9 ± 0.1) via the amplitudephase relationtionship (Zappalà et al., 1990). Results derived from the extensive ground-based campaigns are compared and contrasted with the much higher spatial resolution in situ measurements made by the Hayabusa spacecraft. The ‘ground-truth’ provided by the Hayabusa mission results shed light on the inferences that can begin to be made for the general asteroid population.

The 2004 Las Campanas/Lowell Observatory campaign II. Surface properties of Hayabusa target Asteroid 25143 Itokawa inferred from Hapke modeling

We present an analysis of Hapke photometric modeling applied to uniform ground-based UBVRIJHK broadband data of asteroid 25143 Itokawa collected over a wide range of solar phase angles (4°–130°) during the 2004 apparition (Thomas-Osip et al., this issue, hereafter Paper I). Our photometric analyses indicate that Itokawa has a blocky surface with properties different from other, albeit larger, S-class asteroids studied using similar Hapke modeling analyses. Images from the Hayabusa spacecraft affirm the Hapke modeling results, demonstrating the ability of Hapke photometric modeling to predict a rocky asteroid surface correctly; this is the first time that a predicted rocky surface has been observed by a spacecraft. The single particle scattering functions are dominantly forward scattering, suggesting the surface material is composed primarily of clear particles whose scattering is dictated by the particle’s surface as opposed to internal scatterers (more typical of S-class asteroids), while the opposition parameters indicate that the regolith may be more compact than most of the limited number of asteroids visited by spacecraft to date. The roughness properties, single particle scattering properties, and opposition surge characteristics are all indicative of a surface where multiple scattering does not play a major role in defining the photometric properties of the regolith.