Illustration of colour distribution of the irregular satellites of giant planets. Plotted by a program written by Eurocommuter.
For reference, three classical KBOs and the centaur Pholus are plotted (grey labels; size not to scale).
The data reported in the quoted sources have the error estimate sometimes close to 10% (one sigma). The two reports differ occasionally on the data for the same object. Given the limited amount and the precision of the data, this diagram does not illustrate all conclusions drawn in papers.
Graph
Irregular satellites
Jupiter (red labels)
Saturn (yellow labels)
Uranus (green labels)
For references only: Pholus and three classical KBO (Q=Quaoar), (1),(2) with grey labels [size not to scale]
The position of an object represents the two colour indices
horizontal axis V-B, blue colour index i.e. the difference in the magnitude of the object observed through a visual (green-yellow) and a blue filter
vertical axis R-V, red colour index, the difference in the magnitude between red and visual filters
colour (slightly enhanced) represents the hue of the object;
the size of a sphere illustrates the object’s size relative to others.
for a few large objects, the diameter drawn represents the current estimates (for known albedos)
for all the others, the diameter represents the absolute magnitude (H)of the object.
See also
Colours of Centaurs and TNOs.
Data Sources
Colour indices for most objects, with the exception listed below
Grav, Tommy; Holman, Matthew J.; Gladman, Brett J.; Aksnes, Kaare
Photometric survey of the irregular satellites,Icarus, 166,(2003), pp. 33-45. Preprint
For Himalia, Elara, Leda, Caliban and Sycorax
Rettig, Terrence W.; Walsh, Kevin; Consolmagno, Guy Implied Evolutionary Differences of the Jovian Irregular Satellites from a BVR Color Survey, Icarus, 154, pp. 313-320 (2001).
For the four objects used for comparison:
MBOSS base: Hainaut & Delsanti (2002) Color of Minor Bodies in the Outer Solar System Astronomy & Astrophysics, 389, 641 [1]
as of Mar. 13th, 2006
Estimated sizes (illustration only) from Sheppard/Jewitt irregular moons' pages [2]
DescriptionTheIrregulars Colours.svg
Colour distribution for the irregular satellites of giant planets
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