• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.71-82
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• 2019

We derive the geometric albedo of a near-Earth asteroid, (4179) Toutatis, to investigate its surface physical conditions. The asteroid has been studied rigorously not only via ground-based photometric, spectrometric, polarimetric, and radar observations but also via in situ observation by the Chinese Chang'e-2 space probe; however, its geometric albedo is not well understood. We conducted V-band photometric observations when the asteroid was at opposition in April 2018 using the three telescopes in the southern hemisphere that compose the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet). The observed time-variable cross section was corrected using the radar shape model. We find that Toutatis has a geometric albedo $p_V=0.185^{+0.045}_{-0.039}$, which is typical of S-type asteroids. We compare the geometric albedo with archival polarimetric data and further find that the polarimetric slope-albedo law provides a reliable estimate for the albedo of this S-type asteroid. The thermal infrared observation also produced similar results if the size of the asteroid is updated to match the results from Chang'e-2. We conjecture that the surface of Toutatis is covered with grains smaller than that of the near-Sun asteroids including (1566) Icarus and (3200) Phaethon.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.55-57
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• 2017

Presently, the number of known asteroids is more than 710,000. Knowledge of size and albedo is essential in many aspects of asteroid research, such as the chemical composition and mineralogy, the size-frequency distribution of dynamical families, and the relationship between small bodies in the outer solar system or comets. Recently, based on the infrared all-sky survey data obtained by IRAS, AKARI, and WISE, the large asteroid catalogs containing size and albedo data have been constructed. In this paper, we discuss the compositional distribution in the main belt regions based on the compiled data on size, albedo, and separately obtained taxonomic type information.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.7-15
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• 2008

We carried out a set of simulations to reproduce the performance of wide-field NEO surveys based on the revised population model of Near Earth Objects (NEOs) constructed by Morbidelli (2006). This is the first time where the new model is carefully compared with discovery statistics, and with the exception of population model, the simulation is identical to the procedure described in Moon et al. (2008). Our simulations show rather large discrepancy between the number of NEO discoveries made by the actual and the simulated surveys. First of all, unlike Bottke et al. (2002)'s, Morbidelli (2006)'s population model overestimates the number of NEOs. However, the latter reproduces orbit distributions of the actual population better. Our analysis suggests that both models significantly underestimate Amors, while overestimating the number of Apollos. Our simulation result implies that substantial modifications of both models are needed for more accurate reproduction of survey observations. We also identify Hungaria region (HU) to be one of the most convincing candidates that supply a large fraction of asteroids to the inner Solar System.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.173-194
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• 2022

We complete the survey for finite-source/point-lens (FSPL) giant-source events in 2016-2019 KMTNet microlensing data. The 30 FSPL events show a clear gap in Einstein radius, 9 𝜇as < 𝜃_E < 26 𝜇as, which is consistent with the gap in Einstein timescales near t_E ~ 0.5 days found by Mróz et al. (2017) in an independent sample of point-source/point-lens (PSPL) events. We demonstrate that the two surveys are consistent. We estimate that the 4 events below this gap are due to a power-law distribution of free-floating planet candidates (FFPs) dN_FFP/d log M = (0.4 ± 0.2) (M/38 M_⊕)^-p/star, with 0.9 ≲ p ≲ 1.2. There are substantially more FFPs than known bound planets, implying that the bound planet power-law index 𝛾 = 0.6 is likely shaped by the ejection process at least as much as by formation. The mass density per decade of FFPs in the Solar neighborhood is of the same order as that of 'Oumuamua-like objects. In particular, if we assume that 'Oumuamua is part of the same process that ejected the FFPs to very wide or unbound orbits, the power-law index is p = 0.89 ± 0.06. If the Solar System's endowment of Neptune-mass objects in Neptune-like orbits is typical, which is consistent with the results of Poleski et al. (2021), then these could account for a substantial fraction of the FFPs in the Neptune-mass range.