Polarimetry of main belt asteroids: Wavelength dependence

Abstract

New UBVRI polarimetric observations of ten asteroids, including space mission targets 1 Ceres and 21 Lutetia, are presented. These observations were obtained with the 1.25-m telescope of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory and have been used to study the wavelength dependence of polarization for a sample of asteroids belonging to the M and low albedo classes. A more general analysis including also a larger data set of UBVRI polarimetric observations available in the literature for more than 50 main belt asteroids belonging to different taxonomic classes shows that the variation of the polarization degree P r as a function of wavelength is generally well described by a linear trend. It typically does not exceed 0.2% in the studied spectral range 0.37–0.83 microns and tends to increase for increasing phase angle. Asteroids belonging to the S and M classes are found to exhibit a deeper negative branch and smaller positive polarization for increasing wavelength (negative sign of the slope of Δ P r / Δ λ ). Since the objects belonging to these classes are known to exhibit reddish reflectance spectra, the observed wavelength behavior of negative polarization contradicts the well-known inverse correlation of P min and albedo. Low albedo asteroids show larger dispersion of spectral slopes, but the overall trend is characterized by a shallower negative branch and a larger positive polarization for increasing wavelength (positive sign of the slope of Δ P r / Δ λ ). A few exceptions from this general trend are discussed. The observed variety in the wavelength dependence of asteroid polarization seems to be mainly attributed to surface composition.