Properties of the Hermean Regolith: II. Disk-Resolved Multicolor Photometry and Color Variations of the “Unknown” Hemisphere

Multicolor photometric observations of the “unknown” hemisphere of Mercury have been performed with the Swedish Vacuum Solar Telescope on La Palma at maximal elongations from the Sun in 1997 and 1998. A set of six interference filters with central wavelengths from 450 to 940 nm were used. Multicolor photometry of Mercury was performed on disk-resolved images of the unknown hemisphere (longitudes 160°-340°) with a highest resolution of ∼200 km (J. Warell and S. Limaye 2001, Planet. Space Sci.49, 1531-1552).Disk-integrated spectrophotometry shows that (1) the spectrum of Mercury displays a linear slope from 650 to 940 nm, indicating that the average mercurian regolith is considerably more mature than relatively immature pure anorthosite regions on the Moon; (2) there is negative evidence for the presence of the putative 1-μm absorption feature near 940 nm due to the presence of ferrous iron (Fe²⁺) in pyroxenes; and (3) no effect of phase reddening of the integrated disk is observed between phase angles of 63° and 84°.For the first time, disk-resolved spectrophotometry of Mercury's surface has been obtained, from which it is inferred that (4) the scattering properties of Mercury's regolith are more homogeneous than for the Moon and that there is no clear relation between reflectance and chemical properties at spatial scales of ∼300 km on the unknown hemisphere and (5) there exists an inverse relation of spectral slope with emission angle which is larger for Mercury than for the Moon, indicating that the average mercurian regolith is more backscattering and that this effect increases with wavelength.Finally, from filter ratio images of Mercury's disk it is found that (6) no color variations larger that 2% with respect to the surroundings are detected at a spatial resolution of ∼300 km.     

Venus phase function and forward scattering from H2SO4

Ground-based and spacecraft photometry covering phase angles from 2° to 179° has been acquired in wavelength bands from blue to near infrared. An unexpected brightness surge is seen in the B and V bands when the disk of Venus is less than 2% illuminated. This excess luminosity appears to be the result of forward scattering from droplets of H₂SO₄ (sulfuric acid) in the high atmosphere of Venus. The fully sunlit brightness of Venus, adjusted to a distance of one AU from the Sun and observer, was found to be V=−4.38, and the corresponding geometric albedo is 67%. The phase integral is 1.35 and the resulting spherical albedo is 90%. Comparison between our data and photometry obtained over the past 50 years indicates a bias in the older photoelectric results, however atmospheric abundance variations suggest that brightness changes may have occurred too.     

Photometric analysis of the nucleus of Comet 81P/Wild 2 from Stardust images

The disk-resolved flyby images of the nucleus of Comet 81P/Wild 2 collected by Stardust are used to perform a detailed study of the photometric properties of this cometary nucleus. A disk-integrated phase function from phase angle 11° to about 100° is measured and modeled. A phase slope of 0.0513 ± 0.0002 mag/deg is found, with a V-band absolute magnitude of 16.29 ± 0.02. Hapke’s photometric model yields a single-scattering albedo of 0.034, an asymmetry factor of phase function −0.53, a geometric albedo 0.059, and a V-band absolute magnitude of 16.03 ± 0.07. Disk-resolved photometric modeling from both the Hapke model and the Minnaert model results in 11% model RMS, indicating small photometric variations. The roughness parameter is modeled to be 27 ± 5° from limb-darkening profile. The modeled single-scattering albedo and asymmetry factor of the phase function are 0.038 ± 0.004 and −0.52 ± 0.04, respectively, consistent with those from disk-integrated phase function. The bulk photometric properties of the nucleus of Wild 2 are comparable with those of other cometary nuclei. The photometric variations on the surface of the nucleus of Wild 2 are at a level of or smaller than 15%, much smaller than those on the nucleus of Comet 19P/Borrelly and comparable or smaller than those on the nucleus of Comet 9P/Tempel 1. The similar photometric parameters of the nuclei of Wild 2, Tempel 1, and the non-source areas of fan jets on Borrelly may reflect the typical photometric properties of the weakly active surfaces on cometary nuclei.     

Mercury's integral phase curve: Phase reddening and wavelength dependence of photometric quantities

We present results of a five-filter photometric study of Mercury's integral phase curve in the Johnson-Cousins UBVRI system, performed with the 0.90-m Westerlund Telescope in Uppsala, Sweden. CCD observations were made of the integrated disk for the phase angle range 22-152°, and the study is the first to cover the extended visible spectrum of Mercury. The observations are analyzed with Hapke's semi-empirical radiative transfer-based light-scattering model and photometric quantities are derived. A statistically significant phase reddening effect of is determined for Mercury based on color index observations, which is similar to that of the Moon. Phase coefficients fit to integral absolute magnitude data and Hapke models in combination with color index data provide a phase reddening effect of which does however not provide statistically significant evidence for its presence. Phase coefficients indicate that phase reddening may be decreasing in magnitude with wavelength. As for the case with the Moon, the value of the phase integral increases with wavelength, but at an eight times higher rate. This value is consistent with the difference in the rate of change in the spectral slope-emission angle relation for the two bodies. We attribute these differences with Mercury's redder spectral slope and an increase with wavelength of the backscattering lobe amplitude in the double Henyey-Greenstein particle phase function formulation. The normal albedo of integral Mercury at 1064 nm, pertinent to the return pulse energy of the BepiColombo laser altimeter (BELA), is estimated to 0.23±0.06 with a range of 0.13-0.33 for 99% of the surface.     

Properties of the Hermean regolith: IV. Photometric parameters of Mercury and the Moon contrasted with Hapke modelling

A comparison of the photometric properties of Mercury and the Moon is performed, based on their integral phase curves and disk-resolved image data of Mercury obtained with the Swedish Vacuum Solar Telescope. Proper absolute calibration of integral V-band magnitude observations reveals that the near-side of the Moon is 10-15% brighter than average Mercury, and 0-5% brighter for the “bolometric” wavelength range 400-1000 nm. As shown, this is supported by recent estimates of their geometric albedos. Hapke photometric parameters of their surfaces are derived from identical approaches, allowing a contrasting study between their surface properties to be performed. Compared to the average near-side Moon, Mercury has a slightly lower single-scattering albedo, an opposition surge with smaller width and of marginally smaller amplitude, and a somewhat smoother surface with similar porosity. The width of the lobes of the single-particle scattering function are smaller for Mercury, and the backward scattering anisotropy is stronger. In terms of the double Henyey-Greenstein b-c parameter plot, the scattering properties of an average particle on Mercury is closer to the properties of lunar maria than highlands, indicating a higher density of internal scatterers than that of lunar particles. The photometric roughness of Mercury is well constrained by the recent study of Mallama et al. (2002, Icarus 155, 253-264) to a value of about 8°, suggesting that the surfaces sampled by the highest phase angle observations (Borealis, Susei, and Sobkou Planitia) are lunar mare-like in their textural properties. However, Mariner 10 disk brightness profiles obtained at intermediate phase angles indicate a surface roughness of about twice this value. The photometric parameters of the Moon are more difficult to constrain due to limited phase angle coverage, but the best Hapke fits are provided by rather small surface roughnesses. Better-calibrated, multiple-wavelength observations of the integral and disk-resolved brightnesses of both bodies, and obtained at higher phase angle values in the case of the Moon, are urgently needed to arrive at a more consistent picture of the contrasting light scattering properties of their surfaces.     

Deep Impact photometry of Comet 9P/Tempel 1

The photometric properties of the nucleus of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 are studied from the disk-resolved color images obtained by Deep Impact (DI). Comet Tempel 1 has typical photometric properties for comets and dark asteroids. The disk-integrated spectrum of the nucleus of Tempel 1 between 309 and 950 nm is linear without any features at the spectral resolution of the filtered images. At V-band, the red slope of the nucleus is 12.5±1% per 100 nm at 63° phase angle, translating to B-V=0.84±0.01, V-R=0.50±0.01, and R-I=0.49±0.02. No phase reddening is confirmed. The phase function of the nucleus of Tempel 1 is constructed from DI images and earlier ground-based observations found from the literature. The phase coefficient is determined to be β=0.046±0.007 mag/deg between 4° and 117° phase angle. Hapke's theoretical scattering model was used to model the photometric properties of this comet. Assuming a single Henyey-Greenstein function for the single-particle phase function, the asymmetry factor of Tempel 1 was fitted to be g=−0.49±0.02, and the corresponding single-scattering albedo (SSA) was modeled to be 0.039±0.005 at 550 nm wavelength. The SSA spectrum shows a similar linear slope to that of the disk-integrated spectrum. The roughness parameter is found to be 16°±8°, and independent of wavelength. The Minnaert k parameter is modeled to be 0.680±0.014. The photometric variations on Tempel 1 are relatively small compared to other comets and asteroids, with a ∼20% full width at half maximum of albedo variation histogram, and ∼3% for color. Roughness variations are evident in one small area, with a roughness parameter about twice the average and appearing to correlate with the complex morphological texture seen in high-resolution images.     

Photometric correction of Mercury's global color mosaic

During the third flyby of Mercury by the MESSENGER spacecraft, a dedicated disk-integrated photometric sequence was acquired with the wide-angle multispectral camera to observe Mercury's global photometric behavior in 11 spectral filters over as broad a range of phase angle as possible within the geometric constraints of the flyby. Extraction of disk-integrated measurements from images acquired during this sequence required careful accounting for scattered light and residual background effects. The photometric model fit to these measurements is shown to fit observed radiances at phase angles below 110°, possibly except where both solar incidence and emission angles are high (>70°). The complexity of the scattered light at wavelengths greater than 828 nm contributes to a less accurate photometric correction at these wavelengths. The model is used to correct the global imaging data set acquired at a variety of geometries to a common geometry of incidence angle=30°, emission angle=0°, and phase angle=30°, yielding a relatively seamless mosaic. The results here will be used to correct image mosaics of Mercury acquired in orbit.     

Photometric analysis and disk-resolved thermal modeling of Comet 19P/Borrelly from Deep Space 1 data

Images returned from the Deep Space 1 (DS-1) spacecraft during its encounter with Comet 19P/Borrelly are used to study its disk-integrated and disk-resolved photometry and its thermal properties. A disk-integrated phase function was constructed from a combination of DS-1 images and ground-based observations, giving a geometric albedo of 0.072±0.020 and a phase slope of 0.043 mag deg⁻¹. The shape model of Borrelly [Kirk, R.L., Howington-Kraus, E., Soderblom, L.A., Giese, B., Oberst, J., 2004a. Icarus 167, 54-69] and the ephemerides of DS-1 were used to analyze the disk-resolved photometric data with Hapke's theoretical model. It was found that the surface of Borrelly displays large photometric heterogeneities in its photometric parameters. The single-scattering albedo, w, varies by a factor of 2.5 with an average of 0.057±0.009; the asymmetry factor, g, ranges from almost isotropic (−0.1) to strongly backscattering (−0.7) with an average of −0.43±0.07; the roughness parameter, , is less than 35° for most parts of surface but ranges up to 55° in some areas. Its average is 22°±5°. The observed 1-D temperature profile is modeled well by the standard thermal model (STM) for inactive regions and is found to be consistent with a very low thermal inertia. Water sublimation in the source region of the fan jet is observed to decrease the surface temperature from the STM predictions by 20-40 K. The source areas of two collimated jets could not be determined from either photometric model or thermal model. It is evident that the fan jet activity occurring on Borrelly's surface can be correlated to areas of relatively high albedo, weak backscattering, and high roughness.     

Lunar photometric properties at wavelengths 0.5-1.6 μm acquired by SELENE Spectral Profiler and their dependency on local albedo and latitudinal zones

The lunar photometric function, which describes the dependency of the observed radiance on the observation geometry, is used for photometric correction of lunar visible/near-infrared data. A precise photometric correction parameter set is crucial for many applications including mineral identification and reflectance map mosaics. We present, for the first time, spectrally continuous photometric correction parameters for both sides of the Moon for wavelengths in the range 0.5-1.6 μm and solar phase angles between 5° and 85°, derived from Kaguya (SELENE) Spectral Profiler (SP) data. Since the measured radiance also depends on the surface albedo, we developed a statistical method for selecting areas with relatively uniform albedos from a nearly 7000-orbit SP data set. Using the selected data set, we obtained empirical photometric correction parameter sets for three albedo groups (high, medium, and low). We did this because the photometric function depends on the albedo, especially at phase angles below about 20° for which the shadow hiding opposition effect is appreciable. We determined the parameters in 160 bands and discovered a small variation in the opposition effect due to the albedo variation of mafic mineral absorption. The consistency of the photometric correction was checked by comparing observations made at different times of the same area on the lunar surface. Variations in the spectra obtained were lower than 2%, except for the large phase angle data in mare. Lastly, we developed a correction method for low solar elevation data, which is required for high latitude regions. By investigating low solar elevation data, we introduced an additional correction method. We used the new photometric correction to generate a 1° mesh global lunar reflectance map cube in a wavelength range of 0.5-1.6 μm. Surprisingly, these maps reveal that high latitude (?75°) regions in both the north and south have much lower spectral continuum slopes (color ratio r_1547.7nm/r_752.8nm ? 1.8) than the low and medium latitude regions, which implies lower degrees of space weathering.     

Whole-disk spectrophotometric properties of Mercury: Synthesis of MESSENGER and ground-based observations

Disk-integrated and disk-resolved measurements of Mercury’s surface obtained by both the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) and the Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS) onboard the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft were analyzed and compared with previous ground-based observations of Mercury at 11 wavelengths. The spectra show no definitive absorption features and display a red spectral slope (increasing reflectance with increasing wavelength) typical of space-weathered rocky surfaces. The MDIS spectra show evidence of phase reddening, which is not observed in the MASCS spectra. The MDIS spectra are commensurate with ground-based observations to within 10%, whereas the MASCS spectra display greater discrepancies with ground-based observations at near-infrared wavelengths. The derived photometric calibrations provide corrections within 10% for observations taken at phase angles less than ∼100°. The derived photometric properties are indicative of a more compact regolith than that of the lunar surface or of average S-type asteroids. The photometric roughness of the surface is also much smoother than the Moon’s. The calculated geometric albedo (reflectance at zero phase) is higher than lunar values. The lower reflectance of immature units on Mercury compared with immature units on the Moon, in conjunction with the higher geometric albedo, is indicative of more complicated grain structures within Mercury’s regolith.     

Opposition Effects in Brightness,Color, and Polarization of Comet 1P/Halley: Comparison with Atmosphereless Solar System Bodies

Systematic and uniform sets of photometric and polarimetric observations of comet 1P/Halley have been analyzed. The phase dependence of brightness for comet Halley was obtained at phase angles α ranging from 1.4° ≤ α ≤ 65°. The following parameters were determined: the amplitude of the opposition effect Δm = 0.75^m ± 0.06^m; the half-width at a half-maximum of intensity HWHM = 6.4° ± 1.6°; the linear phase coefficient β = 0.0045 ± 0.0001 mag/deg for α from 30° ≤ α ≤ 65°; and the phase angle at which a nonlinear increase in brightness starts, α _opp ≈ 31°. For the first time, the phase-angle dependence was obtained for the color of the dust of comet Halley: the color index BC-RC systematically decreases with increasing phase angle. Such a phase behavior of the dust color can be caused by the decrease in the mean size of dust particles that occurs when the comet approaches the Sun. For comet Halley, the negative polarization branch is almost symmetric; the minimal value of polarization is P _min = −1.54% at a phase angle α_min = 10.5°, and the inversion angle is α_inv = 21.7°. A comparative analysis of the phase functions of brightness and polarization has been performed for the cometary dust and atmosphereless bodies. Among the latter are low-albedo asteroids of the P and C types (102 Miriam and 47 Aglaja, respectively), as well as Deimos; high-albedo objects, such as the E-type asteroid 64 Angelina and the icy satellite of Jupiter Europa; and the Moon with its intermediate albedo. The possibility of a weak depression in the negative polarization branch of comets Halley and 47P/Ashbrook-Jackson at phase angles smaller than 2° is discussed.__________Translated from Astronomicheskii Vestnik, Vol. 39, No. 4, 2005, pp. 353–363.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Rosenbush.     

The rotational and physical properties of the Centaur (32532) 2001 PT13

We present observations of the Centaur (32532) 2001 PT₁₃ taken between September 2000 and December 2000. A multi-wavelength lightcurve was assembled from V-, R- and J-band photometry measurements. Analysis of the lightcurve indicates that there are two peaks of slightly different brightness, a rotation period of 0.34741±0.00005 day, and a maximum photometric range of 0.18 mag. We obtained VRJHK colors (V-R=0.50±0.01, V-J=1.69±0.02, V-H=2.19±0.04, and V-K=2.30±0.04) that are consistent with the grey KBO/Centaur population. The V-R color shows no variation as a function of rotational phase; however, we cannot exclude the possibility that rotational variations are present in the R-J color. Assuming a 4% albedo, we estimate that 2001 PT₁₃ has an effective diameter of 90 km and a minimum axial ratio a/b of 1.18. We find no evidence of a coma and place an upper limit of 15 g s⁻¹ on the dust production rate.     

New Earth-based absolute photometry of the Moon

A 2-month series of quasi-simultaneous imaging photometric observations of the Moon and the Sun has been performed at Maidanak Observatory (Uzbekistan). New absolute values of lunar albedo have been obtained. Maps of lunar apparent albedo and equigonal albedo at phase angles 1.7-73° at wavelength 603 nm are presented. The standard deviation of our data from a best-fitted phase curve is 2%. The average ratio of the Clementine albedo to ours is 1.41. While the ratio of ROLO albedo to ours is 0.87, our data are in agreement with independent measurements of absolute albedo by Saiki et al. (Saiki, K., Saito, K., Okuno, H., Suzuki, A., Yamanoi, Y., Hirata N., Nakamura, R. [2008]. Earth Planets Space 60, 417-424) at a phase angle near 7°. A phase ratio imaging near opposition (1.6°/2.7°) shows almost the same ratio for maria and highlands, though bright craters (e.g., Tycho, Copernicus, Aristarchus) clearly reveal smaller slopes of phase function. This is an unexpected result, as the craters are bright and one could anticipate a manifestation of the coherent backscattering effect resulting in the opposition spike increasing at so small phase angles.     

The structure of mercury’s regolith from photometric data

The integral photometric properties of Mercury and the Moon were studied, and the similarities in the reflectance characteristics of small surface areas determined by centimeter-sized irregularities were found. The relations obtained were used to pattern the surface of the Hermean soil on a specified scale. In a first approximation, the resulting image shows the character of the photometric relief of Mercury and the fine-grained structure of the surface in a range of phase angles, where the shadow function of centimeter-sized irregularities most affects the brightness of the mantle material. Probable variations of the photometric-relief types were revealed in processing the images selected from a series obtained from the Mariner 10 flyby. According to the data analysis, three main types of photometric relief were distinguished, which correspond to different morphological types of the Hermean surface formations. The relationship between the morphological types and the properties of the surface structure of the Hermean mantle material was revealed via morphological studies.Translated from Astronomicheskii Vestnik, Vol. 38, No. 6, 2004, pp. 504–512.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by Molodensky     

Asteroid observations at low phase angles: III. Brightness behavior of dark asteroids

The results of photometric observations of eight main-belt asteroids with low surface albedo are presented. The magnitude-phase dependences including low phase angles (<1 deg) have been obtained for Asteroids 76 Freia (down to phase angle 0.1 deg, P-type), 190 Ismene (0.3 deg, P-type), 303 Josephina (0.2 deg, C-type), 309 Fraternitas (0.1 deg, C-type), 313 Chaldaea (0.1 deg, C-type), 444 Gyptis (0.8 deg, P-type), 615 Roswitha (0.1 deg, C-type), and 954 Li (0.03 deg, FCX-type). The behavior of brightness in the range of opposition effect is found to be practically linear for 190 Ismene with amplitude of opposition effect only 0.03 mag. Amplitudes of the opposition effect for other asteroids are close to a mean for this type. The obtained data allowed us also to determine the rotation periods of asteroids: 303 Josephina (12.497±0.001 h), 309 Fraternitas (11.205±0.005 h), 615 Roswitha (4.422±0.001 h) and 954 Li (7.207±0.002 h). The color indexes B-V, V-R and R-I have been determined for some asteroids.     

A quantitative evaluation of the uniformity of the light scattering properties of the lunar surface

A catalogue was compiled in the author's previous paper (Jones, 1969) of the relative brightness of 199 lunar features as observed at phase angles of 2°.1, 17°.5, 32°.5, 46°.2, 59°.4 and 72°.1 before full Moon, in the wavelength interval 5500 to 7000 Å. The present paper is concerned with an interpretation of this data in terms of the uniformity of the photometric function of the lunar surface. If due account is taken of the effect of second order scattering it is found that all the survey points studied scatter light according to the same photometric function independent of the type of terrain on which they are located.Now at the National Institute of Oceanography, Wormley, Surrey, England     

A new look at photometry of the Moon

We use ROLO photometry (Kieffer, H.H., Stone, T.C. [2005]. Astron. J. 129, 2887-2901) to characterize the before and after full Moon radiance variation for a typical highlands site and a typical mare site. Focusing on the phase angle range 45° < α < 50°, we test two different physical models, macroscopic roughness and multiple scattering between regolith particles, for their ability to quantitatively reproduce the measured radiance difference. Our method for estimating the rms slope angle is unique and model-independent in the sense that the measured radiance factor I/F at small incidence angles (high Sun) is used as an estimate of I/F for zero roughness regolith. The roughness is determined from the change in I/F at larger incidence angles. We determine the roughness for 23 wavelengths from 350 to 939 nm. There is no significant wavelength dependence. The average rms slope angle is 22.2° ± 1.3° for the mare site and 34.1° ± 2.6° for the highland site. These large slopes, which are similar to previous “photometric roughness” estimates, require that sub-mm scale “micro-topography” dominates roughness measurements based on photometry, consistent with the conclusions of Helfenstein and Shepard (Helfenstein, P., Shepard, M.K. [1999]. Icarus 141, 107-131). We then tested an alternative and very different model for the before and after full Moon I/F variation: multiple scattering within a flat layer of realistic regolith particles. This model consists of a log normal size distribution of spheres that match the measured distribution of particles in a typical mature lunar soil 72141,1 (McKay, D.S., Fruland, R.M., Heiken, G.H. [1974]. Proc. Lunar Sci. Conf. 5, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 1 (5), 887-906). The model particles have a complex index of refraction 1.65-0.003i, where 1.65 is typical of impact-generated lunar glasses. Of the four model parameters, three were fixed at values determined from Apollo lunar soils: the mean radius and width of the log normal size distribution and the real part of the refraction index. We used FORTRAN programs from Mishchenko et al. (Mishchenko, M.I., Dlugach, J.M., Yanovitskij, E.G., Zakharova, N.T. [1999]. J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Trans. 63, 409-432; Mishchenko, M.I., Travis, L.D., Lacis, A.A. [2002]. Scattering, Absorption and Emission of Light by Small Particles. Cambridge Univ. Press, New York. <http://www.giss.nasa.gov/staff/mmishchenko/books.html>) to calculate the scattering matrix and solve the radiative transfer equation for I/F. The mean single scattering albedo is ω = 0.808, the asymmetry parameter is 〈cos Θ〉 = 0.77 and the phase function is very strongly peaked in both the forward and backward scattering directions. The fit to the observations for the highland site is excellent and multiply scattered photons contribute ?80% of I/F. We conclude that either model, roughness or multiple scattering, can match the observations, but that the strongly anisotropic phase functions of realistic particles require rigorous calculation of many orders of scattering or spurious photometric roughness estimates are guaranteed. Our multiple scattering calculation is the first to combine: (1) a regolith model matched to the measured particle size distribution and index of refraction of the lunar soil, (2) a rigorous calculation of the particle phase function and solution of the radiative transfer equation, and (3) application to lunar photometry with absolute radiance calibration.     

Mercury's spectrophotometric properties: Update from the Mercury Dual Imaging System observations during the third MESSENGER flyby

Presented here are analyses of the photometric measurements acquired by the imaging system on the MESSENGER spacecraft during its three flybys of Mercury, in particular the dedicated sequence of photometric measurements obtained during the third flyby. A concise, analytical approach is adopted for characterizing the effects of scattered light on the images. This approach works well for wavelengths shorter than 700 nm but breaks down at the longer wavelengths where the scattering behavior of the imaging system is more complex. Broadband spectral properties are commensurate with ground-based observations for spectra acquired at phase angles less than 110°; photometric corrections to a common illumination and viewing geometry provide consistent results for those phase angles. No phase reddening is apparent in the image-derived spectra. A bolometric albedo of 0.081 is derived over the wavelength range of the imaging system.     

Rotation and cometary activity of KBO (29981) 1999 TD10

We describe observations of the scattered Kuiper Belt object (29981) 1999 TD₁₀ performed during five observing runs at two observatories, over 370 days from 2000 September to 2001 September. They show significant brightness variations that fit a double-peaked lightcurve with period 15.448±0.012 h in V and R bands. The phase effect in V band, 0.09±0.01 mag deg⁻¹, is smaller than that of Pluto but larger than that of several KBOs, while in R band it is 0.030±0.005 mag deg⁻¹. We find color variation between the two bands, which implies a non-homogeneous albedo distribution on the surface. Evidence of surface activity near perihelion in the form of a coma/tail is presented using radial image profiles and a 2D contour map.     

Titan: Preliminary results on surface properties and photometry from VIMS observations of the early flybys

Cassini observations of the surface of Titan offer unprecedented views of its surface through atmospheric windows in the 1-5 μm region. Images obtained in windows for which the haze opacity is low can be used to derive quantitative photometric parameters such as albedo and albedo distribution, and physical properties such as roughness and particle characteristics. Images from the early Titan flybys, particularly T0, Ta, and T5 have been analyzed to create albedo maps in the 2.01 and 2.73 μm windows. We find the average normal reflectance at these two wavelengths to be 0.15±0.02 and 0.035±0.003, respectively. Titan's surface is bifurcated into two albedo regimes, particularly at 2.01 μm. Analysis of these two regimes to understand the physical character of the surface was accomplished with a macroscopic roughness model. We find that the two types of surface have substantially different roughness, with the low-albedo surface exhibiting mean slope angles of ∼18°, and the high-albedo terrain having a much more substantial roughness with a mean slope angle of ∼34°. A single-scattering phase function approximated by a one-term Henyey-Greenstein equation was also fit to each unit. Titan's surface is back-scattering (g∼0.3-0.4), and does not exhibit substantially different backscattering behavior between the two terrains. Our results suggest that two distinct geophysical domains exist on Titan: a bright region cut by deep drainage channels and a relatively smooth surface. The two terrains are covered by a film or a coating of particles perhaps precipitated from the satellite's haze layer and transported by eolian processes. Our results are preliminary: more accurate values for the surface albedo and physical parameters will be derived as more data is gathered by the Cassini spacecraft and as a more complete radiative transfer model is developed from both Cassini orbiter and Huygens Lander measurements.