Polarimetry of Asteroids in the Near-Infrared

The small bodies of the Solar system, particularly the asteroids, act as tracers of the epoch of terrestrial planet formation.  We can use the polarization induced by the scattering of sunlight off asteroid surfaces as a unique probe of the specific minerals that these objects are made of.  The change in polarimetric properties as a function of observing geometry and wavelength provide information that is complementary to photometry and spectroscopy.  In this talk, I will present the first results of a survey of asteroids using the new near-infrared polarimeter on the Palomar 200" telescope.