IR Compendium: Background: Solar System Science

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Overview

Minor Planets

Minor planets include objects such as asteroids (main belt, Near-Earth Asteroids and Centaurs), comets, satellites of major planets, and Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). Spitzer's high sensitivity lends itself well to characterization of these small, cool, dark objects.

Zodiacal Dust (Interplanetary Dust)

Zodiacal dust is light reflected from interplanetary dust particles. Spitzer can study the structure of this dust. In fact, Spitzer's orbit takes it through a clump of this dust (see below).

Major Planets

Of the major planets, Spitzer is optimal for studying the outer planets Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto; the others are likely too bright or, in the case of Venus and Mercury, are too close to the Sun. Since Spitzer is very sensitive, many objects will saturate Spitzer's detectors, so this should be taken into consideration when planning observations.

Other Solar Systems

By studying our Solar System (and those of disks around other stars), Spitzer can gather information to understand our Solar System in context with other planetary systems.

Images and Plots

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Locations of objects in the outer Solar System. The orbits of the planets are shown in light blue and the location (as of mid-summer 2003) of each object is marked by large dark-blue symbols. The location of unusual high-e objects are shown as cyan triangles, Centaur objects as orange triangles, Plutinos (objects in 2:3 resonance with Neptune) as white circles (Pluto itself is the large white symbol), scattered-disk objects as magenta circles and "classical" or "main-belt" objects as red circles, and comets as light-blue squares. Open symbols have more uncertain positions. This plot was taken from the Minor Planet Center, where you can also find a more recent version of this plot, as well as animations of the orbits.

Predicted KBO and Centaur fluxes and approximate Spitzer detection limits. Plot courtesy J. Stansberry, U. Arizona; dated circa 2000.

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Predicted KBO and Centaur fluxes with Spitzer sensitivity and saturation levels for all three instruments. Plot courtesy J. Stansberry, U. Arizona.

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Comparison of the ISO spectrum of the young star HD 100546 and that of comet Hale-Bopp in the mid-IR. The similarity in features indicates a possible bombardment of comets in the early stages of the disk forming around HD 100546. From Malfait et al. 1998, AandA, 332, 25

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COBE/DIRBE image of the infrared sky. The S-shaped blue streak is the zodiacal light in the plane of our Solar System.

A model of the Zodiacal dust in our Solar System. LEFT: Earth's Resonant Ring around the Sun showing the strong rotational asymmetry in a frame centered on the Sun and uniformly rotating with the mean motion at 1 AU. RIGHT: The higher-resolution image shows the dust cloud embedded in the ring that trails the Earth in its orbit. The unique 5 year orbit of Spitzer is superimposed upon the image. Spitzer will traverse the dust cloud during the course of its mission allowing us to measure the flux variations in the zodiacal background due to the interplanetary dust particles. Plot courtesy Sumita Jayaraman, Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy.

A model of the Zodiacal dust in our Solar System. High-resolution view of dust cloud in Earth's Resonant Ring around the Sun showing the strong rotational asymmetry in a frame centered on the Sun and uniformly rotating with the mean motion at 1 AU. Plot courtesy Sumita Jayaraman, Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy.

For more information

• Basic IR Astro Links
• More information on Zodiacal Dust in the infrared
• More information on planets and moons in the infrared
• More information on comets in the infrared
• More information on asteroids in the infrared

• Dana Point Workshop, including specifically this summary report, which summarizes what Spitzer can do for Solar System observers.
• Mannings, Boss, and Russell (eds), Protostars and Planets IV, University of Arizona Press, 2000. See all 4 articles in Part VI.
• Zodiacal dust: Asteroidal Dust by Dermott et al., in Asteroids III, W. F. Bottke Jr., A. Cellino, P. Paolicchi, and R. P. Binzel (eds), University of Arizona Press, Tucson, p.423-442

• Solar System Observing with Spitzer - Summary Overview
• Spitzer Asteroid Count Estimates
• Spot NAIF ID -- NAME List, including information on IDs for recently discovered objects
• Ephemeris Files in the Spot Database
• Horizons Tips For Spitzer Solar System Observers
• SSC Response to the Dana Point report