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Size, albedo, and taxonomic type of potential spacecraft target Asteroid (10302) 1989 ML
- Source :
- Icarus. April, 2007, Vol. 187 Issue 2, p611, 5 p.
- Publication Year :
- 2007
-
Abstract
- To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2007.01.002 Byline: Michael Mueller (a), Alan W. Harris (a), Alan Fitzsimmons (b) Keywords: Asteroids; Infrared observations; Near-Earth objects; Spectrophotometry Abstract: The Amor-type near-Earth Asteroid (10302) 1989 ML has an 'Earth-like' orbit (period 1.44 yr, eccentricity 0.14, inclination 4.4[degrees]), therefore the energy required to reach it from the Earth is relatively small making it a very attractive target for rendezvous missions. We have observed 1989 ML in the thermal-infrared using the Spitzer Space Telescope, and compared these data with optical and near-infrared observations. The Spitzer results imply a diameter of 0.28[+ or -]0.05km and a geometric albedo of 0.37[+ or -]0.15; together with the reflectance spectrum they are consistent with the relatively rare E classification. Author Affiliation: (a) DLR Institute of Planetary Research, RutherfordstraAe 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany (b) Astrophysics Research Centre, Queen's University Belfast, BT7 1NN, UK Article History: Received 29 September 2006; Revised 18 December 2006
- Subjects :
- Astronomy
Earth sciences
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00191035
- Volume :
- 187
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Gale General OneFile
- Journal :
- Icarus
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- edsgcl.160427537