85-μm fluxes from asteroids: 2 Pallas, 7 Iris, 15 Eunomia, and 45 Eugenia

Abstract

Broad-bandpass flux measurements with effective wavelengths at 20, 27 and 85 μm are presented for four asteroids—2 Pallas, 7 Iris, 15 Eunomia, and 45 Eugenia. The observations were made during the Far Infrared Sky Survey Experiment (FIRSSE) with a super-fluid helium-cooled telescope flown to exospheric altitudes aboard a sounding rocket. The 20- and 27-μm fluxes are consistent with published 10- and 20-μm photometry. However, the 85-μm fluxes are a factor of 2 to 3 lower than a Planck law extrapolation of the shorter wavelength fluxes. If the thermal radiation from asteroids at these wavelenghts is adequately described by graybody emission, as is expected on the basis of models of asteroid radiation discussed in the literature, then the value of emissivity in the 85-μm bandpass is likely to be substantially lower than the 10- to 20-μm value. The decrease in emissivity between 20 and 85 μm suggested for these asteroids is in qualitative agreement with studies, both observational and theoretical, of emissivity of a lunar-type regolith. Fluxes measured at 20 and/or 27 μm are also reported for an additional 16 asteroids.