By searching the IRAS and ISO databases, we compiled a list of 60 debris disks that exhibit the highest fractional luminosity values (f d > 10 À4) in the vicinity of the Sun (d < 120 pc). Eleven out of these 60 systems are new discoveries. Special care was taken to exclude bogus disks from the sample. We computed the fractional luminosity values using available IRAS, ISO, and Spitzer data and analyzed the Galactic space velocities of the objects. The results revealed that stars with disks of high fractional luminosity often belong to young stellar kinematic groups, providing an opportunity to obtain improved age estimates for these systems. We found that practically all disks with f d > 5 ; 10 À4 are younger than 100 Myr. The distribution of the disks in the fractional luminosity versus age diagram indicates that (1) the number of old systems with high f d is lower than was claimed before, (2) there exist many relatively young disks of moderate fractional luminosity, and (3) comparing the observations with a current theoretical model of debris disk evolution, a general good agreement could be found.

Aims. The goal of this work is to characterize the ensemble thermal properties of the Centaurs / trans-Neptunian population. Methods. Thermal flux measurements obtained with Herschel/PACS and Spitzer/MIPS provide size, albedo, and beaming factors for 85 objects (13 of which are presented here for the first time) by means of standard radiometric techniques. The measured beaming factors are influenced by the combination of surface roughness and thermal inertia effects. They are interpreted within a thermophysical model to constrain, in a statistical sense, the thermal inertia in the population and to study its dependence on several parameters. We use in particular a Monte-Carlo modeling approach to the data whereby synthetic datasets of beaming factors are created using random distributions of spin orientation and surface roughness. Results. Beaming factors η range from values <1 to ∼2.5, but high η values (>2) are lacking at low heliocentric distances (r h < 30 AU). Beaming factors lower than 1 occur frequently (39% of the objects), indicating that surface roughness effects are important. We determine a mean thermal inertia for Centaurs/ TNO of Γ = (2.5 ± 0.5) J m −2 s −1/2 K −1 , with evidence of a trend toward decreasing Γ with increasing heliocentric (by a factor ∼2.5 from 8-25 AU to 41-53 AU). These thermal inertias are 2-3 orders of magnitude lower than expected for compact ices, and generally lower than on Saturn's satellites or in the Pluto/Charon system. Most high-albedo objects are found to have unusually low thermal inertias. Our results suggest highly porous surfaces, in which the heat transfer is affected by radiative conductivity within pores and increases with depth in the subsurface.

Context. Physical characterization of trans-Neptunian objects, a primitive population of the outer solar system, may provide constraints on their formation and evolution. Aims. The goal of this work is to characterize a set of 15 scattered disk (SDOs) and detached objects, in terms of their size, albedo, and thermal properties. Methods. Thermal flux measurements obtained with the Herschel-PACS instrument at 70, 100 and 160 μm, and whenever applicable, with Spitzer-MIPS at 24 and 70 μm, are modeled with radiometric techniques, in order to derive the objects' individual size, albedo and when possible beaming factor. Error bars are obtained from a Monte-Carlo approach. We look for correlations between these and other physical and orbital parameters. Results. Diameters obtained for our sample range from 100 to 2400 km, and the geometric albedos (in V band) vary from 3.8% to 84.5%. The unweighted mean V geometric albedo for the whole sample is 11.2% (excluding Eris); 6.9% for the SDOs, and 17.0% for the detached objects (excluding Eris). We obtain new bulk densities for three binary systems: Ceto/Phorcys, Typhon/Echidna and Eris/Dysnomia. Apart from correlations clearly due to observational bias, we find significant correlations between albedo and diameter (more reflective objects being bigger), and between albedo, diameter and perihelion distance (brighter and bigger objects having larger perihelia). We discuss possible explanations for these correlations.

We present fully covered phased light curves for 56 Jovian Trojan asteroids as observed by the K2 mission of the Kepler space telescope. This set of objects has been monitored during Campaign 6 and represents a nearly unbiased subsample of the population of small solar system bodies. We derived precise periods and amplitudes for all Trojans, and found their distributions to be compatible with the previous statistics. We point out, however, that ground-based rotation periods are often unreliable above 20 h, and we find an overabundance of rotation periods above 60 h compared with other minor planet populations. From amplitude analysis we derive a rate of binarity of 20 ± 5%. Our spin rate distribution confirms the previously obtained spin barrier of ∼5 h and the corresponding ∼0.5 g cm −3 cometary-like density limit, also suggesting a high internal porosity for Jovian Trojans. One of our targets, asteroid 65227 exhibits a double rotation period, which can either be due to binarity or the outcome of a recent collision.

ABSTRACT2012 DR 30 is a recently discovered solar system object on a unique orbit, with a high eccentricity of 0.9867, a perihelion distance of 14.54 AU, and a semi-major axis of 1109 AU, in this respect outscoring the vast majority of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). We performed Herschel/PACS and optical photometry to uncover the size and albedo of 2012 DR 30 , together with its thermal and surface properties. The body is 185 km in diameter and has a relatively low V-band geometric albedo of ∼8%. Although the colours of the object indicate that 2012 DR 30 is an RI taxonomy class TNO or Centaur, we detected an absorption feature in the Z-band that is uncommon among these bodies. A dynamical analysis of the target's orbit shows that 2012 DR 30 moves on a relatively unstable orbit and was most likely only recently placed on its current orbit from the most distant and still highly unexplored regions of the solar system. If categorised on dynamical grounds 2012 DR 30 is the largest Damocloid and/or high inclination Centaur observed so far.

Context. Because the second reaction wheel failed, a new mission was conceived for the otherwise healthy Kepler space telescope. In the course of the K2 mission, the telescope is staring at the plane of the Ecliptic. Thousands of solar system bodies therefore cross the K2 fields and usually cause additional noise in the highly accurate photometric data. Aims. We here follow the principle that some person's noise is another person's signal and investigate the possibility of deriving continuous asteroid light curves. This is the first such endeavor. In general, we are interested in the photometric precision that the K2 mission can deliver on moving solar system bodies. In particular, we investigate space photometric optical light curves of main-belt asteroids. Methods. We studied the K2 superstamps that cover the fields of M35, and Neptune together with Nereid, which were observed in the long-cadence mode (29.4 min sampling). Asteroid light curves were generated by applying elongated apertures. We used the Lomb-Scargle method to determine periodicities that are due to rotation. Results. We derived K2 light curves of 924 main-belt asteroids in the M35 field and 96 in the path of Neptune and Nereid. The light curves are quasi-continuous and several days long. K2 observations are sensitive to longer rotational periods than typical ground-based surveys. Rotational periods are derived for 26 main-belt asteroids for the first time. The asteroid sample is dominated by faint objects (>20 mag). Owing to the faintness of the asteroids and the high density of stars in the M35 field, only 4.0% of the asteroids with at least 12 data points show clear periodicities or trends that signal a long rotational period, as opposed to 15.9% in the less crowded Neptune field. We found that the duty cycle of the observations had to reach ∼60% to successfully recover rotational periods.

In September 2011, the Herschel Space Observatory performed an observation campaign with the PACS photometer observing the asteroid (101955) 1999 RQ 36 in the far infrared. The Herschel observations were analysed, together with ESO VLT/VISIR and Spitzer/IRS data, by means of a thermophysical model in order to derive the physical properties of 1999 RQ 36 . We find the asteroid has an effective diameter in the range 480 to 511 m, a slightly elongated shape with a semi-major axis ratio of a/b = 1.04, a geometric albedo of 0.045 +0.015 −0.012 , and a retrograde rotation with a spin vector between -70 and -90• ecliptic latitude. The thermal emission at wavelengths below 12 μm-originating in the hot sub-solar region-shows that there may be large variations in roughness on the surface along the equatorial zone of 1999 RQ 36 , but further measurements are required for final proof. We determine that the asteroid has a disk-averaged thermal inertia of Γ = 650 Jm −2 s −0.5 K −1 with a 3-σ confidence range of 350 to 950 Jm −2 s −0.5 K −1 , equivalent to what is observed for 25143 Itokawa and suggestive that 1999 RQ 36 has a similar surface texture and may also be a rubble-pile in nature. The low albedo indicates that 1999 RQ 36 very likely contains primitive volatile-rich material, consistent with its spectral type, and that it is an ideal target for the OSIRIS-REx sample return mission.

Thermal observations of the Pluto-Charon system acquired by the Herschel Space Observatory in February 2012 are presented. They consist of photometric measurements with the PACS and SPIRE instruments (nine visits to the Pluto system each), covering six wavelengths from 70 to 500 μm altogether. The thermal light curve of Pluto-Charon is observed in all filters, albeit more marginally at 160 and especially 500 μm. Putting these data into the context of older ISO, Spitzer and ground-based observations indicates that the brightness temperature (T B ) of the system (rescaled to a common heliocentric distance) drastically decreases with increasing wavelength, from ∼53 K at 20 μm to ∼35 K at 500 μm, and perhaps ever less at longer wavelengths. Considering a variety of diurnal and/or seasonal thermophysical models, we show that T B values of 35 K are lower than any expected temperature for the dayside surface or subsurface of Pluto and Charon, implying a low surface emissivity. Based on multiterrain modeling, we infer a spectral emissivity that decreases steadily from 1 at 20−25 μm to ∼0.7 at 500 μm. This kind of behavior is usually not observed in asteroids (when proper allowance is made for subsurface sounding), but is found in several icy surfaces of the solar system. We tentatively identify that a combination of a strong dielectric constant and a considerable surface material transparency (typical penetration depth ∼1 cm) is responsible for the effect. Our results have implications for the interpretation of the temperature measurements by REX/New Horizons at 4.2 cm wavelength.