Small Bodies Science with Twinkle. (arXiv:1903.09840v1 [astro-ph.EP])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Edwards_B/0/1/0/all/0/1">Billy Edwards</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Lindsay_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Sean Lindsay</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Savini_G/0/1/0/all/0/1">Giorgio Savini</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Tinetti_G/0/1/0/all/0/1">Giovanna Tinetti</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Arena_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Claudio Arena</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bowles_N/0/1/0/all/0/1">Neil Bowles</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Tessenyi_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Marcell Tessenyi</a>
Twinkle is an upcoming 0.45m space-based telescope equipped with a visible
and two near-infrared spectrometers over the spectral range 0.4 – 4.5$mu$m
with a resolving power R $sim$ 250 ($lambda$textless 2.42$mu$m) and R
$sim$ 60 ($lambda$textgreater 2.42$mu$m). Here we explore Twinkle’s
capabilities for small bodies science and find that, given Twinkle’s
sensitivity, pointing stability, and spectral range, Twinkle could observe a
large number of small bodies. The sensitivity of Twinkle is calculated and
compared to the flux from an object of a given visible magnitude. The number,
and brightness, of asteroids and comets which enter Twinkle’s field of regard
is studied over three time periods of up to a decade. We find that, over a
decade, several thousand asteroids enter Twinkle’s field of regard with a
brightness and non-sidereal rate which would allow Twinkle to characterise them
at the instrumentation’s native resolution with SNR textgreater 100. Hundreds
of comets could also be observed. Therefore, Twinkle offers a unique
opportunity to contribute to the field of Solar System small bodies research.
Twinkle is an upcoming 0.45m space-based telescope equipped with a visible
and two near-infrared spectrometers over the spectral range 0.4 – 4.5$mu$m
with a resolving power R $sim$ 250 ($lambda$textless 2.42$mu$m) and R
$sim$ 60 ($lambda$textgreater 2.42$mu$m). Here we explore Twinkle’s
capabilities for small bodies science and find that, given Twinkle’s
sensitivity, pointing stability, and spectral range, Twinkle could observe a
large number of small bodies. The sensitivity of Twinkle is calculated and
compared to the flux from an object of a given visible magnitude. The number,
and brightness, of asteroids and comets which enter Twinkle’s field of regard
is studied over three time periods of up to a decade. We find that, over a
decade, several thousand asteroids enter Twinkle’s field of regard with a
brightness and non-sidereal rate which would allow Twinkle to characterise them
at the instrumentation’s native resolution with SNR textgreater 100. Hundreds
of comets could also be observed. Therefore, Twinkle offers a unique
opportunity to contribute to the field of Solar System small bodies research.
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