Tootfinder

The Distribution of Highly Red-sloped Asteroids in the Middle and Outer Main Belt
Oriel A. Humes, Cristina A. Thomas, Lauren E. McGraw
https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.18553

The Distribution of Highly Red-sloped Asteroids in the Middle and Outer Main Belt
Red (S > 10%/0.1 micron) spectral slopes are common among Centaurs and trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) in the outer solar system. Interior to and co-orbital with Jupiter, the red (S approx. = 10%/0.1 micron) slopes of D-type main-belt and Jupiter Trojan asteroids are thought to reflect their hypothesized shared origin with TNOs beyond the orbit of Jupiter. In order to quantify the abundance of red-sloped asteroids within the main belt, we conducted a survey using the NASA Infrared Telescope Faci…