The EURONEAR Lightcurve Survey of Near Earth Asteroids
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AAS 13-484 PASSIVE SORTING OF ASTEROID MATERIAL USING SOLAR RADIATION PRESSURE D. García Yárnoz,* J. P. Sánchez Cuartielles,† and C. R. McInnes ‡ Understanding dust dynamics in asteroid environments is key for future science missions to asteroids and, in the long-term, also for asteroid exploitation. This paper proposes a novel way of manipulating asteroid material by means of solar radiation pressure (SRP). We envisage a method for passively sorting material as a function of its grain size where SRP is used as a passive in-situ ‘mass spec- trometer’. The analysis shows that this novel method allows an effective sorting of regolith material. This has immediate applications for sample return, and in- situ resource utilisation to separate different regolith particle sizes INTRODUCTION Asteroids have lately become prime targets for space exploration missions. This interest is jus- tified as asteroids are among the least evolved bodies in the Solar System and they can provide a better understanding of its formation from the solar nebula. Under NASA’s flexible path plan,1 asteroids have also become one of the feasible “planetary” surfaces to be visited by crewed mis- sions, with the benefit of not requiring the capability to land and take-off from a deep gravity well. In addition, they may well be the most affordable source of in-situ resources to underpin future space exploration ventures. Considerable efforts have been made in the study of the perturbing forces and space environ- ment around cometary and asteroid bodies.2, 3 These forces and harsh environments need to be considered and will have direct implications for the operations of spacecraft around and on small bodies. -
Alactic Observer
alactic Observer G John J. McCarthy Observatory Volume 14, No. 2 February 2021 International Space Station transit of the Moon Composite image: Marc Polansky February Astronomy Calendar and Space Exploration Almanac Bel'kovich (Long 90° E) Hercules (L) and Atlas (R) Posidonius Taurus-Littrow Six-Day-Old Moon mosaic Apollo 17 captured with an antique telescope built by John Benjamin Dancer. Dancer is credited with being the first to photograph the Moon in Tranquility Base England in February 1852 Apollo 11 Apollo 11 and 17 landing sites are visible in the images, as well as Mare Nectaris, one of the older impact basins on Mare Nectaris the Moon Altai Scarp Photos: Bill Cloutier 1 John J. McCarthy Observatory In This Issue Page Out the Window on Your Left ........................................................................3 Valentine Dome ..............................................................................................4 Rocket Trivia ..................................................................................................5 Mars Time (Landing of Perseverance) ...........................................................7 Destination: Jezero Crater ...............................................................................9 Revisiting an Exoplanet Discovery ...............................................................11 Moon Rock in the White House....................................................................13 Solar Beaming Project ..................................................................................14 -
Twenty Years of Toutatis
EPSC Abstracts Vol. 6, EPSC-DPS2011-297, 2011 EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2011 c Author(s) 2011 Twenty Years of Toutatis M.W. Busch (1), L.A.M. Benner (2), D.J. Scheeres (3), J.-L. Margot (1), C. Magri (4), M.C. Nolan (5), and J.D. Giorgini (2) (1) Department of Earth and Space Sciences, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA (2) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, USA (3) Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA (4) University of Maine at Farmington, Farmington, Maine, USA (5) Arecibo Observatory, Arecibo, Puerto Rico, USA Abstract Near-Earth asteroid 4179 Toutatis is near a particularly if the moments of inertia are 4:1 orbital resonance with the Earth. consistent with a uniform internal density. Following its discovery in 1989, Toutatis Toutatis’ last close-Earth-approach for was observed extensively with the Arecibo several decades will be in December 2012, and Goldstone radars during flybys in 1992, when it will be 0.046 AU away. We will 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008. The 1992 and make predictions for what radar 1996 data show that Toutatis is a bifurcated observations at that time should see. object with overall dimensions of 4.6 x 2.3 x 1.9 km and a surface marked with prominent impact craters. Most significantly, Toutatis References is in a non-principal-axis tumbling rotation [1] Hudson, R.S. and Ostro, S.J.: Shape and non-principal state, spinning about its long axis with a axis spin state of asteroid 4179 Toutatis, Science 270 84-86, period of 5.41 days while that axis precesses 1995. -
Thermophysical Modeling of 99942 Apophis: Estimations of Surface Temperature During the April 2029 Close Approach
Apophis T–9 Years 2020 (LPI Contrib. No. 2242) 2069.pdf THERMOPHYSICAL MODELING OF 99942 APOPHIS: ESTIMATIONS OF SURFACE TEMPERATURE DURING THE APRIL 2029 CLOSE APPROACH. K. C. Sorli1 and P. O. Hayne1, 1Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics – University of Colorado Boulder, CO 80303 ([email protected]) Introduction: The April 13, 2029 close approach purposes of calculating temperatures and thermal IR of the ~350-meter asteroid 99942 Apophis offers an fluxes. Our predictions for surface temperatures and unprecedented opportunity to observe a large near-Earth dynamical effects will be directly testable during the asteroid in detail with ground-based observatories. As Janus mission, with an anticipated launch date of 2022. one of the best-studied hazardous objects, with Though the model was constructed with the intent of additional near-miss flybys in coming decades, it is categorizing binary thermal and dynamical behaviors, crucial to planetary defense to understand its properties including binary YORP [5][6], it is easily adaptable to and potential perturbations to its orbit. solitary asteroids. Apophis has been the subject of extensive study, and This model begins by coupling a 1-d thermophysical will continue to be so for years to come. This existing model [7] to a 3-d shape model and computing facet-by- knowledge and the promise of new data makes it an facet temperatures of the surface and near subsurface excellent candidate for modeling subject to during the time period of Apophis’s 2029 close observational constraints. The 2029 close approach will approach. To calculate temperatures, the model is given have a sizable amplifying effect on Apophis’ orbital information about the incoming solar flux on each facet uncertainty, so small dynamical perturbations will be as a function of solar distance and is set to equilibrate required to understand both the conditions of the 2029 for 1 year to allow for subsurface temperature settling. -
Planetary Defence Activities Beyond NASA and ESA
Planetary Defence Activities Beyond NASA and ESA Brent W. Barbee 1. Introduction The collision of a significant asteroid or comet with Earth represents a singular natural disaster for a myriad of reasons, including: its extraterrestrial origin; the fact that it is perhaps the only natural disaster that is preventable in many cases, given sufficient preparation and warning; its scope, which ranges from damaging a city to an extinction-level event; and the duality of asteroids and comets themselves---they are grave potential threats, but are also tantalising scientific clues to our ancient past and resources with which we may one day build a prosperous spacefaring future. Accordingly, the problems of developing the means to interact with asteroids and comets for purposes of defence, scientific study, exploration, and resource utilisation have grown in importance over the past several decades. Since the 1980s, more and more asteroids and comets (especially the former) have been discovered, radically changing our picture of the solar system. At the beginning of the year 1980, approximately 9,000 asteroids were known to exist. By the beginning of 2001, that number had risen to approximately 125,000 thanks to the Earth-based telescopic survey efforts of the era, particularly the emergence of modern automated telescopic search systems, pioneered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT’s) LINEAR system in the mid-to-late 1990s.1 Today, in late 2019, about 840,000 asteroids have been discovered,2 with more and more being found every week, month, and year. Of those, approximately 21,400 are categorised as near-Earth asteroids (NEAs), 2,000 of which are categorised as Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs)3 and 2,749 of which are categorised as potentially accessible.4 The hazards posed to us by asteroids affect people everywhere around the world. -
An Estimate of the Flux of Apophis-Particle Meteors at Earth
Apophis T–9 Years 2020 (LPI Contrib. No. 2242) 2075.pdf An Estimate of the Flux of Apophis-Particle Meteors at Earth 1 1 2 Robert Melikyan , Beth Ellen Clark , Carl Hergenrother 1 D epartment of Physics and Astronomy, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, USA. 2 L unar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA. Near-Earth asteroid (99942) Apophis is meteoroid stream is propagated between 1900 - predicted to make a close encounter with Earth 2029 using an Apophis ephemeris that places the on April 13, 2029. This close encounter will asteroid at its most likely position for the 2029 bring Apophis within 6 Earth radii from our encounter. Unlike most meteoroid stream geocenter providing an excellent opportunity to evolution studies, our simulations release study and observe the asteroid and any particles from Apophis at a regular (~weekly) subsequent effects of the interaction. Here, we rate around its entire orbit, consistent with the bring to your attention the possibility that the Bennu observations. passage of Apophis will not be the only event worth observing. We predict a rain of Apophis Assuming similar particle production meteors that may be detectable to Earth’s meteor mechanisms at Apophis as observed at Bennu, monitoring systems. Apophis could be producing on order of 104 grams of material continuously throughout its NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission has orbit. Of that material, we assume 30% will recently shown that near-Earth asteroid (101955) escape on hyperbolic trajectories [6]. This Bennu has been continuously producing results in roughly 3500 grams of new material 4 cm-sized ejecta at rates of ~10 grams per orbit entering the Apophis meteoroid stream annually. -
The Exploration of Near-Earth Objects
PREFACE i The Exploration of Near-Earth Objects Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration Space Studies Board Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications National Research Council NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS Washington, D.C. 1998 Copyright © 2003 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF File provided by the National Academies Press (www.nap.edu) for research purposes are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Distribution, posting, or copying is strictly prohibited without written permission of the NAP. Generated for [email protected] on Sat Nov 8 11:41:41 2003 NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. -
Radar Images Provide Details on Halloween Asteroid 4 November 2015
Radar images provide details on Halloween asteroid 4 November 2015 California, to transmit high-power microwaves toward the asteroid. The signal bounced off the asteroid, and its radar echoes were received by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's (NRAO) 100-meter (330-foot) Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. The radar images achieve a spatial resolution as fine as 13 feet (4 meters) per pixel. The radar images were taken as the asteroid flew past Earth on October 31 at 1 p.m. EDT at about 1.3 lunar distances (300,000 miles, or 480,000 kilometers) from Earth. Asteroid 2015 TB145 is spherical in shape and approximately 2,000 feet (600 meters) in diameter. "The radar images of asteroid 2015 TB145 show Asteroid 2015 TB145 is depicted in eight individual radar portions of the surface not seen previously and images collected on Oct. 31, 2015 between 5:55 a.m. PDT (8:55 a.m. EDT) and 6:08 a.m. PDT (9:08 a.m. reveal pronounced concavities, bright spots that EDT). At the time the radar images were taken, the might be boulders, and other complex features that asteroid was between 440,000 miles (710,000 could be ridges," said Lance Benner of NASA's Jet kilometers) and about 430,000 miles (690,000 Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, who kilometers) distant. Asteroid 2015 TB145 safely flew past leads NASA's asteroid radar research program. Earth on Oct. 31, at 10:00 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT) at "The images look distinctly different from the about 1.3 lunar distances (300,000 miles, 480,000 Arecibo radar images obtained on October 30 and kilometers). -
The Minor Planet Bulletin 44 (2017) 142
THE MINOR PLANET BULLETIN OF THE MINOR PLANETS SECTION OF THE BULLETIN ASSOCIATION OF LUNAR AND PLANETARY OBSERVERS VOLUME 44, NUMBER 2, A.D. 2017 APRIL-JUNE 87. 319 LEONA AND 341 CALIFORNIA – Lightcurves from all sessions are then composited with no TWO VERY SLOWLY ROTATING ASTEROIDS adjustment of instrumental magnitudes. A search should be made for possible tumbling behavior. This is revealed whenever Frederick Pilcher successive rotational cycles show significant variation, and Organ Mesa Observatory (G50) quantified with simultaneous 2 period software. In addition, it is 4438 Organ Mesa Loop useful to obtain a small number of all-night sessions for each Las Cruces, NM 88011 USA object near opposition to look for possible small amplitude short [email protected] period variations. Lorenzo Franco Observations to obtain the data used in this paper were made at the Balzaretto Observatory (A81) Organ Mesa Observatory with a 0.35-meter Meade LX200 GPS Rome, ITALY Schmidt-Cassegrain (SCT) and SBIG STL-1001E CCD. Exposures were 60 seconds, unguided, with a clear filter. All Petr Pravec measurements were calibrated from CMC15 r’ values to Cousins Astronomical Institute R magnitudes for solar colored field stars. Photometric Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic measurement is with MPO Canopus software. To reduce the Fricova 1, CZ-25165 number of points on the lightcurves and make them easier to read, Ondrejov, CZECH REPUBLIC data points on all lightcurves constructed with MPO Canopus software have been binned in sets of 3 with a maximum time (Received: 2016 Dec 20) difference of 5 minutes between points in each bin. -
Asteroid Regolith Weathering: a Large-Scale Observational Investigation
University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 5-2019 Asteroid Regolith Weathering: A Large-Scale Observational Investigation Eric Michael MacLennan University of Tennessee, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Recommended Citation MacLennan, Eric Michael, "Asteroid Regolith Weathering: A Large-Scale Observational Investigation. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2019. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/5467 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Eric Michael MacLennan entitled "Asteroid Regolith Weathering: A Large-Scale Observational Investigation." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Geology. Joshua P. Emery, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Jeffrey E. Moersch, Harry Y. McSween Jr., Liem T. Tran Accepted for the Council: Dixie L. Thompson Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) Asteroid Regolith Weathering: A Large-Scale Observational Investigation A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Eric Michael MacLennan May 2019 © by Eric Michael MacLennan, 2019 All Rights Reserved. -
Detecting the Yarkovsky Effect Among Near-Earth Asteroids From
Detecting the Yarkovsky effect among near-Earth asteroids from astrometric data Alessio Del Vignaa,b, Laura Faggiolid, Andrea Milania, Federica Spotoc, Davide Farnocchiae, Benoit Carryf aDipartimento di Matematica, Universit`adi Pisa, Largo Bruno Pontecorvo 5, Pisa, Italy bSpace Dynamics Services s.r.l., via Mario Giuntini, Navacchio di Cascina, Pisa, Italy cIMCCE, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Universits, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, Univ. Lille, 77 av. Denfert-Rochereau F-75014 Paris, France dESA SSA-NEO Coordination Centre, Largo Galileo Galilei, 1, 00044 Frascati (RM), Italy eJet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, 91109 CA, USA fUniversit´eCˆote d’Azur, Observatoire de la Cˆote d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Boulevard de l’Observatoire, Nice, France Abstract We present an updated set of near-Earth asteroids with a Yarkovsky-related semi- major axis drift detected from the orbital fit to the astrometry. We find 87 reliable detections after filtering for the signal-to-noise ratio of the Yarkovsky drift esti- mate and making sure the estimate is compatible with the physical properties of the analyzed object. Furthermore, we find a list of 24 marginally significant detec- tions, for which future astrometry could result in a Yarkovsky detection. A further outcome of the filtering procedure is a list of detections that we consider spurious because unrealistic or not explicable with the Yarkovsky effect. Among the smallest asteroids of our sample, we determined four detections of solar radiation pressure, in addition to the Yarkovsky effect. As the data volume increases in the near fu- ture, our goal is to develop methods to generate very long lists of asteroids with reliably detected Yarkovsky effect, with limited amounts of case by case specific adjustments. -
Photometric Survey of 67 Near-Earth Objects S
A&A 615, A127 (2018) Astronomy https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201732154 & c ESO 2018 Astrophysics Photometric survey of 67 near-Earth objects S. Ieva1, E. Dotto1, E. Mazzotta Epifani1, D. Perna1,2, A. Rossi3, M. A. Barucci2, A. Di Paola1, R. Speziali1, M. Micheli1,4, E. Perozzi5, M. Lazzarin6, and I. Bertini6 1 INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Via Frascati 33, 00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Rome, Italy e-mail: [email protected] 2 LESIA – Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, Univ. Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 5 place Jules Janssen, 92195 Meudon, France 3 IFAC – CNR, Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Firenze, Italy 4 ESA SSA-NEO Coordination Centre„ Largo Galileo Galilei 1, 00044 Frascati (RM), Italy 5 Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Via del Politecnico 1, 00100 Rome, Italy 6 Department of Physics and Astronomy “Galileo Galilei”, University of Padova, Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 3, 35122 Padova, Italy Received 23 October 2017 / Accepted 29 March 2018 ABSTRACT Context. The near-Earth object (NEO) population is a window into the original conditions of the protosolar nebula, and has the potential to provide a key pathway for the delivery of water and organics to the early Earth. In addition to delivering the crucial ingredients for life, NEOs can pose a serious hazard to humanity since they can impact the Earth. To properly quantify the impact risk, physical properties of the NEO population need to be studied. Unfortunately, NEOs have a great variation in terms of mitigation- relevant quantities (size, albedo, composition, etc.) and less than 15% of them have been characterized to date.