Bibcode
Alvarez-Candal, A.; Pinilla-Alonso, N.; Licandro, J.; Cook, J.; Mason, E.; Roush, T.; Cruikshank, D.; Gourgeot, F.; Dotto, E.; Perna, D.
Bibliographical reference
EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2011, held 2-7 October 2011 in Nantes, France. http://meetings.copernicus.org/epsc-dps2011, p.524
Advertised on:
10
2011
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
We observe Eris, one of the largest trans-Neptunian objects, in the 300
- 2480 nm range with X-Shooter, the first second-generation instrument
for the ESOVery Large Telescope, and compare the newly obtained spectra
with those available in the literature. The large spectra coverage and
high resolving power ( / ' 5000) of X-Shooter allow us to study
absorption features due to CH4 and search for other ices' absorptions.
We measure the positions and depth of CH4 absorption features and
compare them with those of reflectance of pure methane ice obtained from
the optical constants of this ice at 30 K to study shifts in their
positions. We do not directly detect absorption bands due to N2 or CO
ices in the spectra. Nevertheless, the measured wavelength shifts of the
CH4 absorption features points to a dilution of this ice in another one
on the surface of Eris and the presence of pure CH4 spatially
segregated. The comparison of the centers and shapes of these bands with
previous works suggest that the surface is heterogeneous.