Simultaneous Spectroscopic and Photometric Observations of Binary Asteroids
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Multiple Asteroid Systems: Dimensions and Thermal Properties from Spitzer Space Telescope and Ground-Based Observations*
Multiple Asteroid Systems: Dimensions and Thermal Properties from Spitzer Space Telescope and Ground-Based Observations* F. Marchisa,g, J.E. Enriqueza, J. P. Emeryb, M. Muellerc, M. Baeka, J. Pollockd, M. Assafine, R. Vieira Martinsf, J. Berthierg, F. Vachierg, D. P. Cruikshankh, L. Limi, D. Reichartj, K. Ivarsenj, J. Haislipj, A. LaCluyzej a. Carl Sagan Center, SETI Institute, 189 Bernardo Ave., Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. b. Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee 306 Earth and Planetary Sciences Building Knoxville, TN 37996-1410 c. SRON, Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Low Energy Astrophysics, Postbus 800, 9700 AV Groningen, Netherlands d. Appalachian State University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, 231 CAP Building, Boone, NC 28608, USA e. Observatorio do Valongo/UFRJ, Ladeira Pedro Antonio 43, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil f. Observatório Nacional/MCT, R. General José Cristino 77, CEP 20921-400 Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil. g. Institut de mécanique céleste et de calcul des éphémérides, Observatoire de Paris, Avenue Denfert-Rochereau, 75014 Paris, France h. NASA Ames Research Center, Mail Stop 245-6, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000, USA i. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, United States j. Physics and Astronomy Department, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, U.S.A * Based in part on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, Chile Programs Numbers 70.C-0543 and ID 72.C-0753 Corresponding author: Franck Marchis Carl Sagan Center SETI Institute 189 Bernardo Ave. Mountain View CA 94043 USA [email protected] Abstract: We collected mid-IR spectra from 5.2 to 38 µm using the Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Spectrograph of 28 asteroids representative of all established types of binary groups. -
1 Rotation Periods of Binary Asteroids with Large Separations
Rotation Periods of Binary Asteroids with Large Separations – Confronting the Escaping Ejecta Binaries Model with Observations a,b,* b a D. Polishook , N. Brosch , D. Prialnik a Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Israel. b The Wise Observatory and the School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel-Aviv University, Israel. * Corresponding author: David Polishook, [email protected] Abstract Durda et al. (2004), using numerical models, suggested that binary asteroids with large separation, called Escaping Ejecta Binaries (EEBs), can be created by fragments ejected from a disruptive impact event. It is thought that six binary asteroids recently discovered might be EEBs because of the high separation between their components (~100 > a/Rp > ~20). However, the rotation periods of four out of the six objects measured by our group and others and presented here show that these suspected EEBs have fast rotation rates of 2.5 to 4 hours. Because of the small size of the components of these binary asteroids, linked with this fast spinning, we conclude that the rotational-fission mechanism, which is a result of the thermal YORP effect, is the most likely formation scenario. Moreover, scaling the YORP effect for these objects shows that its timescale is shorter than the estimated ages of the three relevant Hirayama families hosting these binary asteroids. Therefore, only the largest (D~19 km) suspected asteroid, (317) Roxane , could be, in fact, the only known EEB. In addition, our results confirm the triple nature of (3749) Balam by measuring mutual events on its lightcurve that match the orbital period of a nearby satellite in addition to its distant companion. -
A Survey of Karin Cluster Asteroids with the Spitzer Space Telescope Alan W
A Survey of Karin Cluster Asteroids with the Spitzer Space Telescope Alan W. Harris, Michael Mueller, Carey M. Lisse, Andrew F. Cheng To cite this version: Alan W. Harris, Michael Mueller, Carey M. Lisse, Andrew F. Cheng. A Survey of Karin Cluster Asteroids with the Spitzer Space Telescope. Icarus, Elsevier, 2008, 199 (1), pp.86. 10.1016/j.icarus.2008.09.004. hal-00499096 HAL Id: hal-00499096 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00499096 Submitted on 9 Jul 2010 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Accepted Manuscript A Survey of Karin Cluster Asteroids with the Spitzer Space Telescope Alan W. Harris, Michael Mueller, Carey M. Lisse, Andrew F. Cheng PII: S0019-1035(08)00323-0 DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2008.09.004 Reference: YICAR 8763 To appear in: Icarus Received date: 6 August 2008 Revised date: 25 September 2008 Accepted date: 26 September 2008 Please cite this article as: A.W. Harris, M. Mueller, C.M. Lisse, A.F. Cheng, A Survey of Karin Cluster Asteroids with the Spitzer Space Telescope, Icarus (2008), doi: 10.1016/j.icarus.2008.09.004 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. -
Comet Hitchhiker
Comet Hitchhiker NIAC Phase I Final Report June 30, 2015 Masahiro Ono, Marco Quadrelli, Gregory Lantoine, Paul Backes, Alejandro Lopez Ortega, H˚avard Grip, Chen-Wan Yen Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology David Jewitt University of California, Los Angeles Copyright 2015. All rights reserved. Mission Concept - Pre-decisional - for Planning and Discussion Purposes Only. This research was carried out in part at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and in part at University of California, Los Angeles. Comet Hitchhiker NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Preface Yes, of course the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was in my mind when I came up with a concept of a tethered spacecraft hitching rides on small bodies, which I named Comet Hitchhiker. Well, this NASA-funded study is not exactly about traveling through the Galaxy; it is rather about exploring our own Solar System, which may sound a bit less exciting than visiting extraterrestrial civilizations, building a hyperspace bypass, or dining in the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. However, for the “primitive ape-descended life forms that have just begun exploring the universe merely a half century or so ago, our Solar System is still full of intellectually inspiring mysteries. So far the majority of manned and unmanned Solar System travelers solely depend on a fire breathing device called rocket, which is known to have terrible fuel efficiency. You might think there is no way other than using the gas-guzzler to accelerate or decelerate in an empty vacuum space. -
Michael P. Lucas and Joshua P. Emery
Surface Mineralogy of Mars-Crossing Asteroid 1747 Wright: Analogous to the H Chondrites Michael P. Lucas1 and Joshua P. Emery1 (1) Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, 1412 Circle Drive, Knoxville, TN 37996, [email protected] Introduction Mars-Crosser 1747 Wright Mineral Abundance and Composition Figure 6. – 1747 Wright and Asteroid dynamical work has suggested that differentiated • Previously classified in visible-light spectral three more asteroids asteroids, precursors of metallic (core) and olivine-rich (mantle) interior to the main-belt fragments may have formed in the terrestrial planet region and are surveys as an A-type indicated on the band-band now interlopers to the inner main-belt [1]. Furthermore, recent work [3,6], Sl-type [5], or an plot from [15]. 1747 Wright has suggested that the Hungaria asteroids are the survivors of an Ld-type [6] plots within the field of extended and now largely extinct portion of the asteroid belt that • We found 1747 Wright orthopyroxene (black diamonds), while 1509 existed between 1.7 and 2.1 AU early in solar system history [2] to be a Sw-type (Bus- DeMeo extended Esclangona appears to be (Figure 1). The mineralogy of these relatively close objects hold more clinopyroxene (gray important clues to the dynamical evolution of the inner-Solar System. taxonomy) squares) rich. In particular, a key aspect of asteroid mineralogy is the abundance • Presence of Band I and composition of olivine and pyroxene, which can reveal details near 0.90 µm and regarding the degree (or lack) of igneous differentiation. Figure 3. – VISNIR spectrum of 1747 Wright Band II near 1.9 µm obtained with the SpeX instrument on the NASA Figure 7. -
A Low Density of 0.8 G Cm-3 for the Trojan Binary Asteroid 617 Patroclus
Publisher: NPG; Journal: Nature:Nature; Article Type: Physics letter DOI: 10.1038/nature04350 A low density of 0.8 g cm−3 for the Trojan binary asteroid 617 Patroclus Franck Marchis1, Daniel Hestroffer2, Pascal Descamps2, Jérôme Berthier2, Antonin H. Bouchez3, Randall D. Campbell3, Jason C. Y. Chin3, Marcos A. van Dam3, Scott K. Hartman3, Erik M. Johansson3, Robert E. Lafon3, David Le Mignant3, Imke de Pater1, Paul J. Stomski3, Doug M. Summers3, Frederic Vachier2, Peter L. Wizinovich3 & Michael H. Wong1 1Department of Astronomy, University of California, 601 Campbell Hall, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. 2Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calculs des Éphémérides, UMR CNRS 8028, Observatoire de Paris, 77 Avenue Denfert-Rochereau, F-75014 Paris, France. 3W. M. Keck Observatory, 65-1120 Mamalahoa Highway, Kamuela, Hawaii 96743, USA. The Trojan population consists of two swarms of asteroids following the same orbit as Jupiter and located at the L4 and L5 stable Lagrange points of the Jupiter–Sun system (leading and following Jupiter by 60°). The asteroid 617 Patroclus is the only known binary Trojan1. The orbit of this double system was hitherto unknown. Here we report that the components, separated by 680 km, move around the system’s centre of mass, describing a roughly circular orbit. Using this orbital information, combined with thermal measurements to estimate +0.2 −3 the size of the components, we derive a very low density of 0.8 −0.1 g cm . The components of 617 Patroclus are therefore very porous or composed mostly of water ice, suggesting that they could have been formed in the outer part of the Solar System2. -
IMPLICATIONS of ASTEROIDAL SATELLITES. W.J. Merline1 and C.R
64th Annual Meteoritical Society Meeting (2001) 5457.pdf IMPLICATIONS OF ASTEROIDAL SATELLITES. W.J. Merline1 and C.R. Chapman2, 1Southwest Research Institute ([email protected]), 2Southwest Research Institute ([email protected]) There has been a recent revolution in asteroid astron- strange objects like the highly elongated metallic ob- omy that may have important implications for meteor- ject Kleopatra and the recently discovered distant sat- ite parent bodies. In short, in the last 8 years, it has ellite of a Kuiper Belt Object, could be a remnant from been found that numerous asteroids are double bodies accretionary processes. or have small satellites orbiting about them. The first one to be discovered (the 1.8 km moonlet found by the In thinking about where meteorites come from, it Galileo spacecraft to be orbiting around 31 km-sized would help parent-body modelers to have a mental Ida during a 1993 flyby) could have been a fluke, since framework that includes the kinds of configurations the accepted theoretical perspective at the time was now being discovered and the potential processes these that such satellites would be very rare or absent. How- bodies have been through before delivering meteorites ever, we now know that at least several percent of to our collections. Certainly there are implications main-belt asteroids are binaries and that a large per- from the existence of asteroidal satellites for the char- centage of Earth-approaching asteroids are binaries. acter of rubble piles, exposure ages of asteroidal rocks, and so on. The existence of double impact craters on It is not known with certainty how these satellites are the Earth and other planets may now have a more natu- created, but it is likely to be due to several different ral explanation. -
The Veritas and Themis Asteroid Families: 5-14Μm Spectra with The
Icarus 269 (2016) 62–74 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Icarus journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/icarus The Veritas and Themis asteroid families: 5–14 μm spectra with the Spitzer Space Telescope Zoe A. Landsman a,∗, Javier Licandro b,c, Humberto Campins a, Julie Ziffer d, Mario de Prá e, Dale P. Cruikshank f a Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, 4111 Libra Drive, PS 430, Orlando, FL 32826, United States b Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, C/Vía Láctea s/n, 38205, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain c Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna, E-38205, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain d Department of Physics, University of Southern Maine, 96 Falmouth St, Portland, ME 04103, United States e Observatório Nacional, R. General José Cristino, 77 - Imperial de São Cristóvão, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 20921-400, Brazil f NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-6, Moffett Field, CA 94035, United States article info abstract Article history: Spectroscopic investigations of primitive asteroid families constrain family evolution and composition and Received 18 October 2015 conditions in the solar nebula, and reveal information about past and present distributions of volatiles in Revised 30 December 2015 the solar system. Visible and near-infrared studies of primitive asteroid families have shown spectral di- Accepted 8 January 2016 versity between and within families. Here, we aim to better understand the composition and physical Available online 14 January 2016 properties of two primitive families with vastly different ages: ancient Themis (∼2.5 Gyr) and young Ver- Keywords: itas (∼8 Myr). We analyzed the 5 – 14 μm Spitzer Space Telescope spectra of 11 Themis-family asteroids, Asteroids including eight previously studied by Licandro et al. -
Multiple Asteroid Systems: Dimensions and Thermal Properties from Spitzer Space Telescope and Ground-Based Observations Q ⇑ F
Icarus 221 (2012) 1130–1161 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Icarus journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/icarus Multiple asteroid systems: Dimensions and thermal properties from Spitzer Space Telescope and ground-based observations q ⇑ F. Marchis a,g, , J.E. Enriquez a, J.P. Emery b, M. Mueller c, M. Baek a, J. Pollock d, M. Assafin e, R. Vieira Martins f, J. Berthier g, F. Vachier g, D.P. Cruikshank h, L.F. Lim i, D.E. Reichart j, K.M. Ivarsen j, J.B. Haislip j, A.P. LaCluyze j a Carl Sagan Center, SETI Institute, 189 Bernardo Ave., Mountain View, CA 94043, USA b Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, 306 Earth and Planetary Sciences Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-1410, USA c SRON, Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Low Energy Astrophysics, Postbus 800, 9700 AV Groningen, Netherlands d Appalachian State University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, 231 CAP Building, Boone, NC 28608, USA e Observatorio do Valongo, UFRJ, Ladeira Pedro Antonio 43, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil f Observatório Nacional, MCT, R. General José Cristino 77, CEP 20921-400 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil g Institut de mécanique céleste et de calcul des éphémérides, Observatoire de Paris, Avenue Denfert-Rochereau, 75014 Paris, France h NASA, Ames Research Center, Mail Stop 245-6, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000, USA i NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA j Physics and Astronomy Department, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA article info abstract Article history: We collected mid-IR spectra from 5.2 to 38 lm using the Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Spectrograph Available online 2 October 2012 of 28 asteroids representative of all established types of binary groups. -
The Handbook of the British Astronomical Association
THE HANDBOOK OF THE BRITISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION 2012 Saturn’s great white spot of 2011 2011 October ISSN 0068-130-X CONTENTS CALENDAR 2012 . 2 PREFACE. 3 HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2012. 4 SKY DIARY . .. 5 VISIBILITY OF PLANETS. 6 RISING AND SETTING OF THE PLANETS IN LATITUDES 52°N AND 35°S. 7-8 ECLIPSES . 9-15 TIME. 16-17 EARTH AND SUN. 18-20 MOON . 21 SUN’S SELENOGRAPHIC COLONGITUDE. 22 MOONRISE AND MOONSET . 23-27 LUNAR OCCULTATIONS . 28-34 GRAZING LUNAR OCCULTATIONS. 35-36 PLANETS – EXPLANATION OF TABLES. 37 APPEARANCE OF PLANETS. 38 MERCURY. 39-40 VENUS. 41 MARS. 42-43 ASTEROIDS AND DWARF PLANETS. 44-60 JUPITER . 61-64 SATELLITES OF JUPITER . 65-79 SATURN. 80-83 SATELLITES OF SATURN . 84-87 URANUS. 88 NEPTUNE. 89 COMETS. 90-96 METEOR DIARY . 97-99 VARIABLE STARS . 100-105 Algol; λ Tauri; RZ Cassiopeiae; Mira Stars; eta Geminorum EPHEMERIDES OF DOUBLE STARS . 106-107 BRIGHT STARS . 108 ACTIVE GALAXIES . 109 INTERNET RESOURCES. 110-111 GREEK ALPHABET. 111 ERRATA . 112 Front Cover: Saturn’s great white spot of 2011: Image taken on 2011 March 21 00:10 UT by Damian Peach using a 356mm reflector and PGR Flea3 camera from Selsey, UK. Processed with Registax and Photoshop. British Astronomical Association HANDBOOK FOR 2012 NINETY-FIRST YEAR OF PUBLICATION BURLINGTON HOUSE, PICCADILLY, LONDON, W1J 0DU Telephone 020 7734 4145 2 CALENDAR 2012 January February March April May June July August September October November December Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of Month Week Year Week Year Week Year Week Year Week Year Week Year Week Year Week Year Week Year Week Year Week Year Week Year 1 Sun. -
Asteroids Do Have Satellites
Asteroids Do Have Satellites William J. Merline Southwest Research Institute (Boulder) Stuart J. Weidenschilling Planetary Science Institute Daniel D. Durda Southwest Research Institute (Boulder) Jean-Luc Margot California Institute of Technology Petr Pravec Astronomical Institute AS CR, Ondrejoˇ v, Czech Republic and Alex D. Storrs Towson University After years of speculation, satellites of asteroids have now been shown definitively to exist. Asteroid satellites are important in at least two ways: (1) they are a natural laboratory in which to study collisions, a ubiquitous and critically important process in the formation and evolution of the asteroids and in shaping much of the solar system, and (2) their presence allows to us to determine the density of the primary asteroid, something which otherwise (except for certain large asteroids that may have measurable gravitational influence on, e.g., Mars) would require a spacecraft flyby, orbital mission, or sample return. Satellites or binaries have now been detected in a variety of dynamical populations, including near- Earth, Main Belt, outer Main-Belt, Trojan, and trans-Neptunian. Detection of these new systems has been the result of improved observational techniques, including adaptive op- tics on large telescopes, radar, direct imaging, advanced lightcurve analysis, and spacecraft imaging. Systematics and differences among the observed systems give clues to the for- mation mechanisms. We describe several processes that may result in binary systems, all of which involve collisions of one type or another, either physical or gravitational. Several mechanisms will likely be required to explain the observations. 1 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Overview Discovery and study of small satellites of asteroids or double asteroids can yield valuable infor- mation about the intrinsic properties of asteroids themselves and about their history and evolution. -
Detection of the Yarkovsky Effect for Main-Belt Asteroids
Icarus 170 (2004) 324–342 www.elsevier.com/locate/icarus Detection of the Yarkovsky effect for main-belt asteroids David Nesvorný ∗, William F. Bottke Department of Space Studies, Southwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut St., Suite 400, Boulder, CO 80302, USA Received 19 February 2004; revised 1 April 2004 Available online 9 June 2004 Abstract The Yarkovsky effect, a non-gravitational acceleration produced by the anisotropic emission of thermal energy (Öpik, 1951, Proc. Roy. Irish Acad. 54, 165–199), plays an important role in the dynamical evolution of asteroids. Current theoretical models of the Yarkovsky effect, however, rely on a number of poorly known parameters that can only approximate how real asteroids respond to solar heating. To improve this situation, we investigated whether the orbital distribution of the Karin cluster, a 5.8 ± 0.2 Myr old S-type asteroid family (Nesvorný et al., 2002a, Nature 417, 720–722), could be used to determine the rate at which multikilometer main-belt asteroids spread in semimajor axis due to the Yarkovsky effect. Our results indicate that the orbital histories of individual Karin cluster members bear clear signatures of having drifted in semimajor axis drift since their formation. Using numerical methods, we determined the drift speed of ≈ 70 Karin cluster members (asteroids 1–6 km in diameter). This is the first time the speed that main-belt asteroids evolve in the semimajor axis due to the non-gravitational effects have been measured. The magnitude of measured speeds is similar to those predicted by theoretical models of the Yarkovsky force. Taken together, our results represent the first direct detection of the Yarkovsky effect for main-belt asteroids, and they validate in significant ways the asteroid thermal models described in the recent literature (e.g., Vokrouhlický, 1999, Astron.