Optical Properties of (162173) 1999 JU3: In Preparation for the JAXA Hayabusa 2 Sample Return Mission

1,2Masateru Ishiguro et al. (>10)*
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University, Gwanak, Seoul 151-742, Korea
2Visiting Scientist, Institut de Mecanique Celeste et de Calcul des Ephemerides, Observatoire de Paris, 77 Avenue Denfert Rochereau, F-75014 Paris, France.
*Find the extensive, full author and affiliation list on the publishers website

We investigated the magnitude-phase relation of (162173) 1999 JU3, a target asteroid for the JAXA Hayabusa 2 sample return mission. We initially employed the International Astronomical Union’s H-G formalism but found that it fits less well using a single set of parameters. To improve the inadequate fit, we employed two photometric functions: the Shevchenko and Hapke functions. With the Shevchenko function, we found that the magnitude-phase relation exhibits linear behavior in a wide phase angle range (α = 5°-75°) and shows weak nonlinear opposition brightening at α < 5°, providing a more reliable absolute magnitude of H V = 19.25 ± 0.03. The phase slope (0.039 ± 0.001 mag deg–1) and opposition effect amplitude (parameterized by the ratio of intensity at α = 0fdg3 to that at α = 5°, I(0fdg3)/I(5°) = 1.31 ± 0.05) are consistent with those of typical C-type asteroids. We also attempted to determine the parameters for the Hapke model, which are applicable for constructing the surface reflectance map with the Hayabusa 2 onboard cameras. Although we could not constrain the full set of Hapke parameters, we obtained possible values, w = 0.041, g = –0.38, B 0 = 1.43, and h = 0.050, assuming a surface roughness parameter $\bar{\theta }$ = 20°. By combining our photometric study with a thermal model of the asteroid, we obtained a geometric albedo of p v = 0.047 ± 0.003, phase integral q = 0.32 ± 0.03, and Bond albedo A B = 0.014 ± 0.002, which are commensurate with the values for common C-type asteroids.

Reference
Ishiguro M et al. (2014) Optical Properties of (162173) 1999 JU3: In Preparation for the JAXA Hayabusa 2 Sample Return Mission. The Astrophysical Journal 792, 74.
Link to Article [doi:10.1088/0004-637X/792/1/74]

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