Asteroid 951 Gaspra Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer Radiance Data

Abstract:

Five radiance spectra of asteroid 951 Gaspra have been archived in the Small Bodies Node of the NASA Planetary Data System [Granahan, 2014]. The radiance spectra were created from uncalibrated Galileo spacecraft Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer files archived in the Imaging Node of the NASA Planetary Data System. The NASA Galileo spacecraft observed asteroid 951 Gaspra on October 29, 1991 with the Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) at wavelengths ranging from 0.7 – 5.2 micrometers [Carlson et al., 1992]. The five radiance spectra consist of two 17, two 100, and one 329 spectral channel data sets. They record data that was acquired by NIMS at ranges between 27232.6 to 14723.8 kilometers from asteroid 951 Gaspra. The uncalibrated NIMS data were converted into radiance spectra using calibration coefficients obtained during the Galileo mission’s first Earth encounter on December 8, 1990. The archived radiance spectral data is located at the URL (Universal Record Locator): http://sbn.psi.edu/pds/resource/gaspraspec.html and contains radiance, solar, incidence over flux, and data documentation.

This archived data set contains a variety of spectral signatures. These signatures include absorptions near 1.0, 2.0, 2.8, 3.4, and 4.5 micrometers. The 1.0 and 2.0 micrometer features are indicators of olivine and pyroxene on the asteroid surface. The 2.8 micrometer feature has a shape similar to the combined spectra of multiple iron bearing phyllosilicates. The 3.4 micrometer feature is in the same location as absorptions created by a carbon-hydrogen bond. The 4.5 micrometer feature, present only in the 329 channel data set, corresponds in position to absorptions detected in sulfate minerals.

Carlson, R. W., et al. (1992) Bull. of the A.A.S., 24, 932.

Granahan, J. C. (2014), GO-A-NIMS-3-GASPRASPEC-V1.0, NASA Planetary Data System.