Negative polarization properties of regolith simulants

Abstract

Context. Polarization phase curves of asteroids and other small airless bodies are influenced by the compositional and physical properties of their regolith. The mixing of minerals composing the regolith influences the negative polarization at small phase angles because it changes the multiple scattering properties of the medium. Aims. This work aims to demonstrate experimentally how the mixing effect influences the polarization phase curve at small phase angles for different mineralogies relevant for asteroids, and to determine how different aggregate sizes affect the negative polarization. Methods. We prepared a set of binary and ternary mixtures with different common minerals on asteroids and one set of the same mixture with different aggregate sizes. We measured their reflected light at 530 nm with full Stokes polarimetry at phase angles ranging from 0.8°to 30°.Results. The mixing effect of the mixtures with both bright and dark minerals significantly changes the behavior of the phase curves in terms of minimum polarization, phase angle of the minimum, and inversion angle with respect to the mineral components that are mixed together. The changes in phase curve could explain the polarization observation of particular classes of asteroids (F and L class) and other asteroids with peculiar polarization curves or photometric properties. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the negative polarization is invariant to the presence of dust aggregates up to centimeter sizes.

Reflection, emission, and polarization properties of surfaces made of hyperfine grains, and implications for the nature of primitive small bodies

“…10e), it decreases from around 25° for pure FeS to about 21° for FeS:Olivine 90:10 vol%, then increases to its highest value for FeS:Olivine 80:20 vol%, and then decreases progressively toward the value for pure olivine (about 15°). These non-linear behaviours were previously observed for several types of mixtures by Shkuratov (1987), Shkuratov et al (1992), and Spadaccia et al (2022). et al (2017).…”

“…The polarimetric measurements were carried out on olivine, FeS and their mixtures with the POLarimeter for ICE Samples (POLICES) at the University of Bern (Poch et al, 2018;Spadaccia et al, 2022). A polarimeter (Hinds Dual PEM II/FS42-47) is placed above the sample at emission e = 0°, and the sample is illuminated by a motorized arm holding a collimating head fed by an optical fiber connected to a 530 nm LED (Thorlabs M530F2).…”