Reflectance spectroscopy of asteroids

Abstract

Telescopic observations of asteroids in the visible and near-infrared spectral domain reveal the intimate structure of their surface. Spectral data in reflectance is essential for characterizing the asteroid mineralogy. Statistics on spectral data for large samples allow the development of taxonomic systems. Added to comparative planetology methods, spectral data obtained via groundbased observations allows the mineralogical characterization of asteroids. The article presents the problematics as well as some asteroid spectra as example of spectral diversity among this population of objects, namely (1154 Astronomia), (7986) Romania, and (357439) 2004BL86.