Thermophysical modeling of NEOWISE observations of DESTINY+ targets Phaethon and 2005 UD

Abstract

Thermophysical models allow for improved constraints on the physical and thermal surface properties of asteroids beyond what can be inferred from more simple thermal modeling, provided a sufficient number of observations is available. We present thermophysical modeling results of observations from the NEOWISE mission for two near-Earth asteroids which are the targets of the DESTINY+ flyby mission: (3200) Phaethon and (155140) 2005 UD. Our model assumes a rotating, cratered, spherical surface, and employs a Monte Carlo Markov Chain to explore the multi-dimensional parameter space of the fit. We find an effective spherical diameter for Phaethon of $4.6_{-0.3}^{+0.2}$km, a geometric albedo of $p_V=0.16\pm 0.02$, and a thermal inertia $\Gamma =880$ ${}_{-330}^{+580}$, using five epochs of NEOWISE observations. The best model fit for (155140) 2005 UD was less well constrained due to only having two NEOWISE observation epochs, giving a diameter of $1.2\pm 0.4$km and a geometric albedo of $p_V=0.14\pm 0.09$.

Accepted for publication in AJ

References in corpus (14)

• Initial Performance of the NEOWISE Reactivation Mission
• OSIRIS-REx: Sample Return from Asteroid (101955) Bennu
• Arecibo Radar Observations of Near-Earth Asteroid (3200) Phaethon During the 2017 Apparition
• (3200) Phaethon: Bulk density from Yarkovsky drift detection
• Optical Properties of (162173) 1999 JU3: In Preparation for the JAXA Hayabusa 2 Sample Return Mission
• Survey Simulations of a New Near-Earth Asteroid Detection System
• The Albedo Distribution of Near Earth Asteroids
• How to find metal-rich asteroids
• Rotationally-Resolved Spectroscopic Characterization of near-Earth object (3200) Phaethon
• Optical observations of NEA 3200 Phaethon (1983 TB) during the 2017 apparition
• The fast spin of near-Earth asteroid (455213) 2001 OE84, revisited after 14 years: constraints on internal structure
• An Investigation of the Ranges of Validity of Asteroid Thermal Models for Near-Earth Asteroid Observations
• Small and Nearby NEOs Observed by NEOWISE During the First Three Years of Survey: Physical Properties
• Olivine-rich asteroids in the near-Earth space

Cited by in corpus (18)

• Asteroid Taxonomy from Cluster Analysis of Spectrometry and Albedo
• Dynamical Evolution and Thermal History of Asteroids (3200) Phaethon and (155140) 2005 UD
• Volatility of Sodium in Carbonaceous Chondrites at Temperatures Consistent with Low-Perihelia Asteroids
• Near-infrared observations of active asteroid (3200) Phaethon reveal no evidence for hydration
• Evidence of surface heterogeneity on active asteroid (3200) Phaethon
• Photometric study for near-Earth asteroid (155140) 2005 UD
• (3200) Phaethon Polarimetry in the Negative Branch: New Evidence for the Anhydrous Nature of the DESTINY+ Target Asteroid
• Perihelion Activity of (3200) Phaethon Is Not Dusty: Evidence from STEREO/COR2 Observations
• Thermal radiation pressure as a possible mechanism for losing small particles on asteroids
• The Lingering Death of Periodic Near-Sun Comet 323P/SOHO
• Simultaneous Multicolor Photometry of the DESTINY${}^{+}$ target asteroid (3200) Phaethon
• WISE/NEOWISE Multi-Epoch Imaging of the Potentially Geminid-related Asteroids: (3200) Phaethon, 2005 UD and 1999 YC
• Nature of bright C-complex asteroids
• Multi-wavelength JWST observations of (3200) Phaethon show a dehydrated object with an aqueously altered origin
• Inconsistencies in Simple Thermal Model Results for Near-Earth Asteroids between Infrared Telescope Facility SpeX and NEOWISE Data
• Constraining the Limitations of NEATM-like Models: A Case Study with Near-Earth Asteroid (285263) 1998 QE2
• Surface Properties of Near-Sun Asteroids
• Deepest ever photographed Geminid with small but not negligible terminal mass