Polarimetric Study of Near-Earth Asteroid (1566) Icarus

Abstract

We conducted a polarimetric observation of the fast-rotating near-Earth asteroid (1566) Icarus at large phase (Sun-asteroid-observer's) angles $\alpha$= 57 deg--141deg around the 2015 summer solstice. We found that the maximum values of the linear polarization degree are $P_{\max }$=7.32$\pm$0.25 % at phase angles of ${\alpha }_{\max }$=124$\pm$8 deg in the $V$-band and $P_{\max }$=7.04$\pm$0.21 % at ${\alpha }_{\max }$=124$\pm$6 deg in the $R_{\mathrm{C}}$-band. Applying the polarimetric slope-albedo empirical law, we derived a geometric albedo of $p_{\mathrm{V}}$=0.25$\pm$0.02, which is in agreement with that of Q-type taxonomic asteroids. ${\alpha }_{\max }$ is unambiguously larger than that of Mercury, the Moon, and another near-Earth S-type asteroid (4179) Toutatis but consistent with laboratory samples with hundreds of microns in size. The combination of the maximum polarization degree and the geometric albedo is in accordance with terrestrial rocks with a diameter of several hundreds of micrometers. The photometric function indicates a large macroscopic roughness. We hypothesize that the unique environment (i.e., the small perihelion distance $q$=0.187 au and a short rotational period of $T_{\mathrm{rot}}$=2.27 hours) may be attributed to the paucity of small grains on the surface, as indicated on (3200) Phaethon.

arXiv comment32 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in AJ

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• Polarimetric Properties of the Near--Sun Asteroid (155140) 2005 UD in Comparison with Other Asteroids and Meteoritic Samples
• Photometry and Polarimetry of 2010 XC${}_{15}$: Observational Confirmation of E-type Near-Earth Asteroid Pair
• Implications of High Polarization Degree for the Surface State of Ryugu
• Large Polarization Degree of Comet 2P/Encke Continuum Based on Spectropolarimetric Signals During Its 2017 Apparition
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• A polarimetric study of asteroids in comet-like orbits
• Quantitative grain size estimation on airless bodies from the negative polarization branch. I. Insights from experiments and lunar observations