Determination of size, albedo and thermal inertia of 10 Vesta family asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE observations

Abstract

In this work, we investigate the size, thermal inertia, surface roughness and geometric albedo of 10 Vesta family asteroids by using the Advanced Thermophysical Model (ATPM), based on the thermal infrared data acquired by mainly NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Here we show that the average thermal inertia and geometric albedo of the investigated Vesta family members are 42 $\mathrm{J}{\mathrm{m}}^{-2}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1/2}{\mathrm{K}}^{-1}$ and 0.314, respectively, where the derived effective diameters are less than 10 km. Moreover, the family members have a relatively low roughness fraction on their surfaces. The similarity in thermal inertia and geometric albedo among the V-type Vesta family member may reveal their close connection in the origin and evolution. As the fragments of the cratering event of Vesta, the family members may have undergone similar evolution process, thereby leading to very close thermal properties. Finally, we estimate their regolith grain sizes with different volume filling factors.

arXiv comment29 pages, 40 figures, accepted for publication in AJ

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