Authors: J. H. Madden, Lisa Kaltenegger
Abstract: We present a catalog of spectra and geometric albedos, representative of the different types of Solar System bodies, from 0.45 to 2.5 microns. We analyzed published calibrated, un-calibrated spectra, and albedos for Solar System objects and derived a set of reference spectra and reference albedo for 19 objects that are representative of the diversity of bodies in our Solar System. We also identified previously published data that appears contaminated. Our catalog provides a baseline for comparison of exoplanet observations to 19 bodies in our own Solar System, which can assist in the prioritization of exoplanets for time-intensive follow-up with next-generation Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs) and space-based direct observation missions. Using high and low-resolution spectra of these Solar System objects, we also derive colors for these bodies and explore how a color-color diagram could be used to initially distinguish between rocky, icy, and gaseous exoplanets. We explore how the colors of Solar System analog bodies would change when orbiting different host stars. This catalog of Solar System reference spectra and albedos is available for download through the Carl Sagan Institute.
My Comment: This is cool stuff. In order to have a clue as to what we will (soon) be looking at in terms of exoplanets we need to know what the worlds that we have access to would look like as exoworlds. This (public) catalog is a nice first step. Clearly acknowledging several issues that arose in making it, it lays out a nice guideline as to how to make a first-pass at guessing if you are looking at a rocky or icy surface, or at a whole bunch of gas. Also: Venus is hard.
My Scrawling Notes:
