JWST Spectrophotometry of the Small Satellites of Uranus and Neptune

Abstract

We use 1.4-4.6 micron multi-band photometry of the small inner Uranian and Neptunian satellites obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope's near-infrared imager NIRCam to characterize their surface compositions. We find that the satellites of the ice giants have, to first-order, similar compositions to one another, with a 3.0 micron absorption feature possibly associated with an O-H stretch, indicative of water ice or hydrated minerals. Additionally, the spectrophotometry for the small ice giant satellites matches spectra of some Neptune Trojans and excited Kuiper belt objects, suggesting shared properties. Future spectroscopy of these small satellites is necessary to identify and better constrain their specific surface compositions.

14 pages, 5 figures, Accepted to the Planetary Science Journal

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Cited by in corpus (4)

• Spectral trends across the rings and inner moons of Uranus and Neptune from JWST NIRCam images
• Irregular moons possibly injected from the outer solar system by a stellar flyby
• Probabilistic Spectral Reconstruction of Trans-Neptunian Objects from Sparse Photometry: A Framework for Taxonomy, Survey Optimization, and Outlier Detection
• Neptune's Inner Moons and Rings Are Exposed Icy Body Interiors