Spectral properties of the largest asteroids associated with Taurid Complex

TL;DR

This study analyzes the spectral properties of six large Taurid complex asteroids using infrared observations, classifying their surface compositions and comparing them with meteorite spectra to understand their origins.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed spectral and mineralogical analysis of these large Taurid asteroids, revealing diverse surface compositions and challenging the idea of a common cometary origin.

Findings

Five asteroids resemble S-type and ordinary chondrites.

One asteroid (269690) shows a primitive C-type spectrum.

Spectral diversity suggests varied origins among Taurid asteroids.

Abstract

We obtained spectra of six of the largest asteroids (2201, 4183, 4486, 5143, 6063, and 269690) associated with Taurid complex. The observations were made with the IRTF telescope equipped with the spectro-imager SpeX. Their taxonomic classification is made using Bus-DeMeo taxonomy. The asteroid spectra are compared with the meteorite spectra from the Relab database. Mineralogical models were applied to determine their surface composition. All the spectral analysis is made in the context of the already published physical data. Five of the objects studied in this paper present spectral characteristics similar to the S taxonomic complex. The spectra of ordinary chondrites (spanning H, L, and LL subtypes) are the best matches for these asteroid spectra. {\bf The asteroid} (269690) 1996 RG3 presents a flat featureless spectrum which could be associated to a primitive C-type object. The increased reflectance above 2.1 microns constrains its geometrical albedo to a value around 0.03. While there is an important dynamical grouping among the Taurid Complex asteroids, the spectral data of the largest objects do not support a common cometary origin. Furthermore, there are significant variations between the spectra acquired until now.