CANA: Codes for ANalysis of Asteroids¶
The CANA package arised in the context of the PRIMitive Asteroid Spectrocopic Survey (PRIMASS). As we move to make the first data release of the survey, we provided a package that is made up of a collection of methodologies and codes that were used to analyze the survey data. These methodologies are strongly focused on the spectroscopic analysis of primitive asteroids, with codes that allow calculating the spectral gradient, identifing a hydration band and performing a taxonomic classification. All the methodologies can be applyied or easily extended for other classes of asteroids.
The aim of this package is to make the science made by PRIMASS accessible, reproducible and extendable.
PRIMitive Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey¶
PRIMASS is an effort lead by Dr. Noemi Pinilla-Alonso (Florida Space Institute - US) and Dr. Julia de Leon (Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias - Spain) to map and constrain the composition of primitive asteroids along the Solar System.
The study of primitive asteroids is a key component to undertand the origin and nature of volatile and organic material in the early Solar System. These objects are leftovers of the planetary formation and have undergone little methamorphism since they accreted, therefore providing a rich source of information about the organic compounds naturally present during the prebiotic evolution of the asteroids and terrestrial planets, such as the Earth.
In 2010, we started a observational campaign, using several telescopes around the globe, with the goal of studying the surface of primitive asteroids at different locations in the main asteroid belt, by means of visible and near-infrared spectroscopy. To date we have nearly ~600 spectra of primitive asteroids that were published in more than 10 papers in the literature, and there is more to come!
PRIMASS-L¶
We were funded by NASA Planetary Data Archiving, Restoration, and Tools (PDART) to organize and make the data public at the Small Bodies Node of the Planetary Data Science (PDS-SBN). The SBN-PDS is largely responsible for archiving the data pertaining to small bodies, obtained from ground-based facilities, including ground-based surveys and other mission data.
We are making the first data release available by the end of 2019 with all spectroscopic data that was already published, which contain ~600 spectra of primitive asteroids, from 10 families and two dynamical groups.
PRIMASS Team¶
- Dr. Noemi Pinilla Alonso - Florida Space Institute, US (PI)
- Dr. Julia de Leon - Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Spain (PI)
- Dr. Vania Lorenzi - Fundacion Galileo Galilei, Spain
- Dr. David Morate - Observatorio Nacional, Brazil
- Dr. Mario De Pra - Florida Space Institute, US (PI of CANA)
- Dr. Javier Licandro - Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Spain
- Dr. Humberto Campins - University of Central Florida, US
- Dr. Jorge Carvano - Observatorio Nacional, Brazil