Astronomy & Telescopes

A Catalog of Spectra, Albedos, and Colors of Solar System Bodies for Exoplanet Comparison

By Keith Cowing
Press Release
astro-ph.EP
July 31, 2018
Filed under
A Catalog of Spectra, Albedos, and Colors of Solar System Bodies for Exoplanet Comparison
Planet spectra
astro-ph.EP

We present a catalog of spectra and geometric albedos, representative of the different types of Solar System bodies, from 0.45 to 2.5 microns.

We analyzed published calibrated, un-calibrated spectra, and albedos for Solar System objects and derived a set of reference spectra and reference albedo for 19 objects that are representative of the diversity of bodies in our Solar System. We also identified previously published data that appears contaminated. Our catalog provides a baseline for comparison of exoplanet observations to 19 bodies in our own Solar System, which can assist in the prioritization of exoplanets for time-intensive follow-up with next-generation Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs) and space-based direct observation missions.

Using high and low-resolution spectra of these Solar System objects, we also derive colors for these bodies and explore how a color-color diagram could be used to initially distinguish between rocky, icy, and gaseous exoplanets. We explore how the colors of Solar System analog bodies would change when orbiting different host stars. This catalog of Solar System reference spectra and albedos is available for download through the Carl Sagan Institute.

J. H. Madden, Lisa Kaltenegger
(Submitted on 30 Jul 2018)

Comments: 20 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, 1 appendix table. Published in Astrobiology 2018
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
Cite as: arXiv:1807.11442 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:1807.11442v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
Submission history
From: Jack Madden
[v1] Mon, 30 Jul 2018 16:57:42 GMT (1832kb)
https://arxiv.org/abs/1807.11442
Astrobiology
Astrochemistry

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