Selecting asteroids for a targeted spectroscopic survey

TL;DR

This study develops a Bayesian classification method to pre-select asteroid candidates for spectroscopic surveys, aiding in identifying specific asteroid types and understanding Solar System history.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel Bayesian pre-selection technique combining survey data and phase curves to efficiently identify asteroid types for targeted spectroscopic follow-up.

Findings

Successfully identified potential V-type asteroid candidates.

Discovered three likely differentiated asteroids in the mid/outer Main Belt.

Confirmed clustering of V-type candidates around the Vesta family.

Abstract

Asteroid spectroscopy reflects surface mineralogy. There are few thousand asteroids whose surfaces have been observed spectrally. Determining the surface properties of those objects is important for many practical and scientific applications, such as for example developing impact deflection strategies or studying history and evolution of the Solar System and planet formation. The aim of this study is to develop a pre-selection method that can be utilized in searching for asteroids of any taxonomic complex. The method could then be utilized im multiple applications such as searching for the missing V-types or looking for primitive asteroids. We used the Bayes Naive Classifier combined with observations obtained in the course of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer surveys as well as a database of asteroid phase curves for asteroids with known taxonomic type. Using the new classification method we have selected a number of possible V-type candidates. Some of the candidates were than spectrally observed at the Nordic Optical Telescope and South African Large Telescope. We have developed and tested the new pre-selection method. We found three asteroids in the mid/outer Main Belt that are likely of differentiated type. Near-Infrared are still required to confirm this discovery. Similarly to other studies we found that V-type candidates cluster around the Vesta family and are rare in the mid/oter Main Belt. The new method shows that even largely explored large databases combined together could still be further exploited in for example solving the missing dunite problem.