Centaurs and Scattered Disk Objects in the Thermal Infrared: Analysis of WISE/NEOWISE Observations

James M. Bauer , Tommy Grav , Erin Blauvelt , A. K. Mainzer , Joseph R. Masiero , Rachel Stevenson , Emily Kramer , Yan R. Fern\'andez

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C. M. Lisse Roc M. Cutri Paul R. Weissman John W. Dailey Frank J. Masci Russel Walker Adam Waszczak Carrie R. Nugent Karen J. Meech Andrew Lucas George Pearman Ashlee Wilkins Jessica Watkins Shrinivas Kulkarni Edward L. Wright the WISE PTF Teams

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classification 🌌 astro-ph.EP

keywords albedosinfraredthermalcentaursdatadiskmeanobjects

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The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) observed 52 Centaurs and Scattered Disk Objects in the thermal infrared, including the 15 discoveries that were new. We present analyses of these observations to estimate sizes and mean optical albedos. We find mean albedos of 0.08 +/- 0.04 for the entire data set. Thermal fits yield average beaming parameters of 0.9 +/- 0.2 that are similar for both SDO and Centaur sub-classes. Biased cumulative size distributions yield size-frequency distribution power law indices ~ -1.7 +/- 0.3. The data also reveal a relation between albedo and color at the 3-sigma level. No significant relation between diameter and albedos is found.

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Centaurs and Scattered Disk Objects in the Thermal Infrared: Analysis of WISE/NEOWISE Observations

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