The opposition effect in the outer Solar System: a comparative study of the phase function morphology

TL;DR

This study characterizes the phase functions of Solar System satellites and rings, revealing correlations with surface properties and the influence of solar size bias on observed phase curve morphology.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analysis of phase function morphology, including new parametrizations and a method to deconvolve the solar size effect, linking surface properties to phase curve features.

Findings

Galilean, Saturnian, Uranian, Neptunian satellites share similar HWHMs (~0.5°)

The Moon exhibits a larger HWHM (2°) due to solar size bias

Active resurfacing surfaces have smaller opposition surge amplitudes and HWHMs

Abstract

In this paper, we characterize the morphology of the disk-integrated phase functions of satellites and rings around the giant planets of our Solar System. We find that the shape of the phase function is accurately represented by a logarithmic model (Bobrov, 1970, in Surfaces and Interiors of Planets and Satellites, Academic, edited by A. Dollfus). For practical purposes, we also parametrize the phase curves by a linear-exponential model (Kaasalainen et al., 2001, Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, 70, 529-543) and a simple linear-by-parts model (Lumme and Irvine, 1976, Astronomical Journal, 81, 865-893), which provides three morphological parameters : the amplitude A and the Half-Width at Half-Maximum (HWHM) of the opposition surge, and the slope S of the linear part of the phase function at larger phase angles. Our analysis demonstrates that all of these morphological parameters are correlated with the single scattering albedos of the surfaces. By taking more accurately into consideration the finite angular size of the Sun, we find that the Galilean, Saturnian, Uranian and Neptunian satellites have similar HWHMs (0.5 degrees), whereas they have a wide range of amplitudes A. The Moon has the largest HWHM (2 degrees). We interpret that as a consequence of the solar size bias, via the finite size of the Sun which varies dramatically from the Earth to Neptune. By applying a new method that attempts to morphologically deconvolve the phase function to the solar angular size, we find that icy and young surfaces, with active resurfacing, have the smallest values of A and HWHM, whereas dark objects (and perhaps older surfaces) such as the Moon, Nereid and Saturn C ring have the largest A and HWHM.