Brown, Michael E. and Koresko, Chritopher D. and Blake, Geoffrey A. (1998) Detection of Water Ice on Nereid. Astrophysical Journal, 508 (2). L175-L176. ISSN 0004-637X. http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20120913-161858332
- Published Version
See Usage Policy.
Use this Persistent URL to link to this item: http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20120913-161858332
We report the detection of the 1.5 and 2.0 μm absorption bands of water ice in the near-infrared reflection spectrum of Neptune's distant irregular satellite Nereid. The spectrum and albedo of Nereid appear intermediate between those of the Uranian satellites Umbriel and Oberon, suggesting a surface composed of a combination of water ice frost and a dark and spectrally neutral material. In contrast, the surface of Nereid appears dissimilar to those of the outer solar system minor planets Chiron, Pholus, and 1997 CU_26. The spectrum thus provides support for the hypothesis that Nereid is a regular satellite formed in a circumplanetary environment rather than a captured object.
|Additional Information:||© 1998 American Astronomical Society. Received 1998 August 6; accepted 1998 October 2; published 1998 October 23. These data were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the Universities of California, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.|
|Subject Keywords:||infrared: solar system; minor planets; planets and satellites: individual (Nereid)|
|Official Citation:||Detection of Water Ice on Nereid Michael E. Brown et al. 1998 ApJ 508 L175|
|Usage Policy:||No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.|
|Deposited By:||Jason Perez|
|Deposited On:||13 Sep 2012 23:47|
|Last Modified:||26 Dec 2012 16:10|
Repository Staff Only: item control page