Radar observations of asteroid 1 Ceres |
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Authors: | Steven J Ostro Gordon H Pettengill Irwin I Shapiro Donald B Campbell Richard R Green |
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Institution: | Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA;Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91103, USA |
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Abstract: | Radar observations of asteroid 1 Ceres were made at a 12.6-cm wavelength from the Arecibo Observatory in March/April 1977. The measurements, made with a received circular polarization orthogonal to that transmitted, yield a radar cross section of (0.04 ± 0.01)πR2, for R = 510 km. The corresponding radar reflectivity is less than that measured for any other celestial body. Within the accuracy of measurement, no significant variation of cross section with rotational phase is apparent. The shape of the power spectrum suggests that Ceres is rougher at the scale of the observing wavelength than the Moon and inner planets, but smoother than the outer three Galilean satellites. |
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