2001/09/01 by J. Romon, C. de Bérgh, M. A. Barucci +5 · 4 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Planetary Science and Exploration #Physics #Photometry (optics) #Astrophysics #Uranus #Infrared #Astronomy #Satellite #Spectral slope #Spectroscopy #Spectral line #Stars
paper · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20010934
openalex publication_date 2001/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Sycorax is the brightest of the five irregular Uranian satellites recently discovered. These satellites are supposed to be captured bodies. We present visible and near-infrared photometry, as well as near-infrared spectroscopy of Sycorax. The overall shape of the spectrum is quite puzzling: it has a red slope in the visible (such as Centaurs and Transneptunian objects), whereas the reflectivity strongly decreases beyond 1 μm and is rather flat over the near-infrared range. We were not able to reproduce the spectral behaviour of Sycorax using simple materials. A rotational effect is suggested to explain the shape of the spectrum. BVRIJ magnitudes have been measured over a period of 1 hour, with five V measurements which do not show any strong variation. So only a strong change in the magnitude between the V measurements and the J measurement (30 min later) could explain the shape of the spectrum, but further investigation is required to conclude.