Cosmic Origins
Searching for answers about our universe and its origins

The Cosmic Pathfinders Program

Cosmic Pathfinder Activities

Cosmic Chatter Series | Modeling Asteroids and Using Microwave Telescope Data to Constrain Thermophysical Properties

Thursday, May 30, 2024, 3:00pm – 4:30pm


Speaker: Mariah Jones (Vassar College)

Abstract: The South Pole Telescope (SPT), a millimeter-wave bolometer camera designed to measure the polarization of light left over from the early universe, happens to observe asteroids during its detection of the cosmic microwave background. Due to the long exposure of asteroids resulting from this detection method, the telescope can image multiple stages of the asteroids’ path. With access to these images, we want to determine whether this data is useful in constraining thermophysical properties of asteroids. We write an interface capable of loading in and modeling an asteroid shape model, which then determines the temperature distribution concerning the depth of the asteroid and uses this information to calculate the object’s flux. We then compare our modeled flux outputs to measured data from microwave telescopes to check the accuracy of our interface, and then determine a thermophysical property of (2) Pallas. Based on our plots of the measured flux divided by the modeled flux, we conclude that SPT data is very beneficial in constraining these properties. Furthermore, we gather that this asteroid has a higher thermal inertial value, correlating to increased thermal conductivity, density, and specific heat capacity of materials comprising (2) Pallas.


Session Video
News
18 April 2025
PRIMA and the Future of Far-Infrared Science Meeting | May 19 – 21st, 2025
»  Details
25 April 2025
AXIS Community Science Conference 14 – 16 May 2025 in Annapolis, MD
»  Details
22nd Meeting of the AAS High-Energy Astrophysics Division (HEAD): Call for Abstracts & Splinter Meetings
»  Details
Galaxies SIG Seminar: Connecting Galaxy Morphology and Astrophysics Using Interpretable AI | May 7th 2025 11:00 am – 12:00 noon ET
»  Details