Spitzer Space Telescope - Archive Research Proposal #40116


The Spitzer Asteroid Catalog II: 10,000 more asteroids

Principal Investigator: David Trilling
           Institution: University of Arizona

     Technical Contact: David Trilling, University of Arizona

Co-Investigators: 
Bidushi Bhattacharya, SSC                                             
Myra Blaylock, University of Arizona                                  
John Stansberry, University of Arizona                                
Mark Sykes, PSI                                                       
Lawrence Wasserman, Lowell Observatory                                

Science Category: asteroids 
Dollars Approved: 49935 

Abstract:
We propose here to continue building the Spitzer Asteroid Catalog by
identifying, extracting, cataloging, and analyzing serendipitous observations of
asteroids in the Spitzer public archive. Under the auspices of our approved
Cycle 3 Archive program, we have created a fully automated pipeline that
produces catalogs of fluxes, albedos, and diameters from publicly available
Spitzer images. We have recently completed Phase A of that program and
catalogued 533 unique asteroid appearances, and present those results for the
first time here. We propose in Cycle 4 to extend our analysis to twelve months'
worth of newly available IRAC and MIPS imaging data to derive sizes and albedos
from 10,000 measurements of well-known asteroids. The costs proposed here are
quite low since the infrastructure for this program already exists. Our results
will help reveal compositional gradients in the asteroid belt; extend the small
end of the asteroid size distribution; look for common properties within
asteroid families; improve existing asteroid thermal models; and serve as a
fundamental database of asteroid properties for the coming decades. The products
of this program will allow rich science investigations into the composition,
evolution, and dynamical history of the asteroid belt and be a legacy of the
Spitzer Space Telescope for decades to come. The results will be published in
refereed papers and in NASA's peer-reviewed Planetary Data System.