Absolute colors and phase coefficients of trans-Neptunian objects: HV-HR and relative phase coefficients

Abstract

The trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) are small Solar System bodies at large distances from the Sun. As such, their physical properties are difficult to measure. Accurate determination of their physical parameters is essential to model and theorize the actual composition and distribution of the population, and to improve our understanding of the formation and evolution of the Solar System. The objective of this work is to construct phase curves in two filters, $V$ and $R$, of a large TNO sample obtaining absolute magnitudes ($H$) and phase coefficients ($\beta$), and study possible relations between them and other physical parameters (orbital elements, sizes, and albedos). We used our own data, together with data from the literature, to create the phase curves assuming an overall linear trend. We obtained new magnitudes for 35 TNOs, 27 in the V filter and 35 in the R filter. These magnitudes, together with data from the literature, allowed us to obtain absolutes magnitudes, 114 in the V filter and 113 in the R filter, of which 106 have both. From the search for correlations we found a strong anticorrelation between $H_V-H_R$ and $\Delta \beta ={\beta }_V-{\beta }_R$, which is probably more related to surface structure than to composition or size of the objects.

8 pages, 5 figures, online material at http://extranet.on.br/alvarez/TNOs- Abs_Mags/phase-curves.tar

References in corpus (4)

• The Diverse Solar Phase Curves of Distant Icy Bodies. Part I: Photometric Observations of 18 Trans-Neptunian Objects, 7 Centaurs, and Nereid
• The albedo-color diversity of transneptunian objects
• New BVRI photometry results on KBOs from the ESO VLT
• Time series photometry of the dwarf planet ERIS (2003 UB313)

Cited by in corpus (12)

• "TNOs are Cool": A survey of the trans-Neptunian region X. Analysis of classical Kuiper belt objects from Herschel and Spitzer observations
• Absolute colours and phase coefficients of trans-Neptunian objects: Correlations and Populations
• Absolute colors and phase coefficients of asteroids
• Hubble Space Telescope Search for Activity in High Perihelion Objects
• Phase Curves of Small Bodies from the SLOAN Moving Objects Catalog
• The multi-wavelength phase curves of small bodies: Phase coloring
• Light curves of transneptunian objects from the K2 mission of the Kepler Space Telescope
• Light curves of ten Centaurs from K2 measurements
• The Albedos, Sizes, Colors and Satellites of Dwarf Planets Compared with Newly Measured Dwarf Planet 2013 FY27
• TNOs are Cool! A Survey of the transneptunian Region XV. Physical characteristics of 23 resonant transneptunian and scattered disk objects
• Causal evidence for the primordiality of colours in trans-Neptunian objects
• A catalog of near-IR absolute magnitudes of Solar System small bodies