Observations of Polarization and Brightness Variations with the Rotation for Asteroids 9 Metis, 52 Europa, and 1036 Ganymed

Abstract

We present the results of photo-polarimetric observations for asteroids 9 Metis (S-type, main belt asteroid (MBA)), 52 Europa (C-type, MBA), and 1036 Ganymed (S-type, near-Earth asteroid), obtained at six wavelength bands. It is found, combining our new data with previous observations, that (1) larger maximum value of negative polarization P_min=-1.37% and higher polarization slope h=0.27% deg ^-1 occur in 52 Europa, while smaller P_min and lower h appear, i.e., -0.84%, 0.11% deg ^-1 for 9 Metis and -0.57%, 0.095% deg ^-1 for 1036 Ganymed. These results confirm the general trend of polarization-phase angle curves found previously between C- and S-type asteroids (see B. Goidet-Devel et al. 1995, Planet Space Sci.43, 779-786). (2) An increase of polarization with wavelength from 0.42 to 0.76 μm is found from the data with their root-mean-square errors in 9 Metis and 1036 Ganymed, in contrast with vice versa dependence in 52 Europa. (3) A relation of P_min and geometric albedo A, presented in D. F. Lupishko and R. A. Mohamed (1996, Planet Space Sci.46, 47-74), leads to the resulting values of A for 0.15, 0.082, and 0.24 for 9 Metis, 52 Europa, and 1036 Ganymed, respectively. (4) The polarization observed for 9 Metis shows a significant time variation modified with the rotation of asteroid, but no clear relation between lightcurve and polarization curve appears. For 52 Europa and 1036 Ganymed, the observed time variation of polarization is weak. (5) A comparison of model simulation to the observations of lightcurve and geometric albedo A variation for 9 Metis suggests the existence of inhomogeneous albedo features on its surface, where the albedo was derived from the relation of P_min and A.