Time-Resolved Near-Infrared Photometry of Extreme Kuiper Belt Object Haumea

Abstract

We present time-resolved near-infrared (J and H) photometry of the extreme Kuiper belt object (136108) Haumea (formerly 2003 EL61) taken to further investigate rotational variability of this object. The new data show that the near-infrared peak-to-peak photometric range is similar to the value at visible wavelengths, Δm_R = 0.30+/-0.02 mag. Detailed analysis of the new and previous data reveals subtle visible/near-infrared color variations across the surface of Haumea. The color variations are spatially correlated with a previously identified surface region, redder in B-R and darker than the mean surface. Our photometry indicates that the J-H colors of Haumea (J-H=-0.057+/-0.016 mag) and its brightest satellite Hi'iaka (J-H=-0.399+/-0.034 mag) are significantly (>9 sigma) different. The satellite Hi'iaka is unusually blue in J-H, consistent with strong 1.5 micron water-ice absorption. The phase coefficient of Haumea in the J-band is found to increase monotonically with wavelength in the range 0.4<lambda<1.3. We compare our findings with other Solar system objects and discuss implications regarding the surface of Haumea.

arXiv comment10 pages, 10 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal (2008 November 28)

References in corpus (14)

• THE ORIGIN OF PLUTO'S ORBIT: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SOLAR SYSTEM BEYOND NEPTUNE
• JHK Standard Stars for Large Telescopes: the UKIRT Fundamental and Extended Lists
• The colours of the Sun
• Discovery of a planetary-sized object in the scattered Kuiper belt
• Photometric Observations Constraining the Size, Shape, and Albedo of 2003 El61, a Rapidly Rotating, Pluto-Sized Object in the Kuiper Belt
• Densities of Solar System Objects from their Rotational Lightcurves
• The Diverse Solar Phase Curves of Distant Icy Bodies. Part I: Photometric Observations of 18 Trans-Neptunian Objects, 7 Centaurs, and Nereid
• Satellites of the largest Kuiper belt objects
• The Surface of 2003EL61 in the Near Infrared
• Candidate Members and Age Estimate of the Family of Kuiper Belt Object 2003 EL61
• High Precision Photometry of Extreme KBO 2003 EL61
• Water Ice on the Satellite of Kuiper Belt Object 2003 EL61
• Exploring the surface properties of Transneptunian Objects and Centaurs with polarimetric FORS1/VLT observations
• Optical Spectroscopy of the Large Kuiper Belt Objects 136472 (2005 FY9) and 136108 (2003 EL61)

Cited by in corpus (16)

• "TNOs are Cool": A survey of the trans-Neptunian region X. Analysis of classical Kuiper belt objects from Herschel and Spitzer observations
• Orbits and Masses of the Satellites of the Dwarf Planet Haumea = 2003 EL61
• The Formation of the Collisional Family around the Dwarf Planet Haumea
• Visible spectroscopy of the new ESO Large Program on trans-Neptunian objects and Centaurs: final results
• "TNOs are cool": A survey of the trans-neptunian region. II. The thermal lightcurve of (136108) Haumea
• The size and shape of the oblong dwarf planet Haumea
• The Unusual Kuiper Belt Object 2003 SQ317
• The Short Rotation Period of Hi'iaka, Haumea's Largest Satellite
• Haumea's thermal emission revisited in the light of the occultation results
• Characterisation of candidate members of (136108) Haumea's family: II. Follow-up observations
• Visible Analysis of NASA Lucy Mission Targets Eurybates, Polymele, Orus and Donaldjohanson
• Beyond Point Masses. III. Detecting Haumea's Nonspherical Gravitational Field
• Near-infrared spatially resolved spectroscopy of (136108) Haumea's multiple system
• The Peculiar Photometric Properties of 2010 WG9: A Slowly-Rotating Trans-Neptunian Object from the Oort Cloud
• A Deep Search for Additional Satellites around the Dwarf Planet Haumea
• The Rotational Light Curve of (79360) Sila-Nunam, an Eclipsing Binary in the Kuiper Belt