Geometric characterization of the Arjuna orbital domain

Arjuna‐type orbits are characterized by being Earth‐like, having both low‐eccentricity and low‐inclination. Objects following these trajectories experience repeated trappings in the 1:1 commensurability with the Earth and can become temporary Trojans, horseshoe librators, quasi‐satellites, and even transient natural satellites. Here, we review what we know about this peculiar dynamical group and use a Monte Carlo simulation to characterize geometrically the Arjuna orbital domain, studying its visibility both from the ground and with the European Space Agency Gaia spacecraft. The visibility analysis from the ground together with the discovery circumstances of known objects are used as proxies to estimate the current size of this population. The impact cross‐section of the Earth for minor bodies in this resonant group is also investigated. We find that, for ground‐based observations, the solar elongation at perigee of nearly half of these objects is less than 90°. They are best observed by space‐borne telescopes, but Gaia is not going to improve significantly the current discovery rate for members of this class. Our results suggest that the size of this population may have been underestimated by current models. On the other hand, their intrinsically low encounter velocities with the Earth induce a 10–1000‐fold increase in the impact cross‐section with respect to what is typical for objects in the Apollo or Aten asteroid populations. We estimate that their probability of capture as transient natural satellites of our planet is about 8 %. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Precovery of near‐Earth asteroids by a citizen‐science project of the Spanish Virtual Observatory

This article describes a citizen‐science project conducted by the Spanish Virtual Observatory (SVO) to improve the orbits of near‐Earth asteroids (NEAs) using data from astronomical archives. The list of NEAs maintained at the Minor Planet Center (MPC) is checked daily to identify new objects or changes in the orbital parameters of already catalogued objects. Using NEODyS we compute the position and magnitude of these objects at the observing epochs of the 938 046 images comprising the Eigth Data Release of the Sloan Digitised Sky Survey (SDSS). If the object lies within the image bound‐aries and the magnitude is brighter than the limiting magnitude, then the associated image is visually inspected by the project's collaborators (the citizens) to confirm or discard the presence of the NEA. If confirmed, accurate coordinates and, sometimes, magnitudes are submitted to the MPC. Using this methodology, 3226 registered users have made during the first fifteen months of the project more than 167 000 measurements which have improved the orbital elements of 551 NEAs (6% of the total number of this type of asteroids). Even more remarkable is the fact that these results have been obtained at zero cost to telescope time as NEAs were serendipitously observed while the survey was being carried out. This demonstrates the enormous scientific potential hidden in astronomical archives. The great reception of the project as well as the results obtained makes it a valuable and reliable tool for improving the orbital parameters of near‐Earth asteroids. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Investigation of Thermal Inertia and Surface Properties for Near-earth Asteroid (162173) 1999 JU3

In order to obtain the substantial information about the surface physics and thermal property of the target asteroid (162173) 1999 JU3, which will be visited by Hayabusa 2 in a sample return mission, with the Advanced Thermal Physical Model (ATPM) we estimate the possible thermal inertia distribution over its surface, and infer the major material composition of its surface materials. In addition, the effective diameter and geometric albedo are derived to be D_eff = 1.13 ± 0.03 km, pv = 0.042 ± 0.003, respectively, and the average thermal inertia is estimated to be about (300 ± 50) J m^-2 s^-0.5 K^-1 According to the derived thermal inertia distribution, we infer that the major area on the surface of the target asteroid may be covered by loose materials, such as rock debris, sands, and so on, but few bare rocks may exist in a very small region. In this sense, the sample return mission of Hayabusa 2 is feasible, when it is performed successfully, it will certainly bring significant scientific information to the research of asteroids.     

The dynamics of globally active triaxial comets, with applications to asteroid rotation

It is demonstrated how globally distributed outgassing activity on a triaxial comet nucleus bridges the gap between the intuitive Sekanina model, used for comet orbit solutions, and the physics of the problem. In this activity and shape limit, it is shown how a recoil force component, which originates from a day-side restricted sublimation process, is necessary to describe the comet's rotational evolution. Modifications of the non-gravitational force cosines are suggested, with a fundamentally different interpretation than before. Applications to asteroid rotation yield that the ability of specular reflection, of solar photons on an asteroid's surface, to change the asteroid's rotation period and equatorial obliquity, is not dependent on the overall shape of the asteroid.     

Visible spectroscopic and photometric survey of Jupiter Trojans: Final results on dynamical families

We present the results of a visible spectroscopic and photometric survey of Jupiter Trojans belonging to different dynamical families. The survey was carried out at the 3.5 m New Technology Telescope (NTT) of the European Southern Observatory (La Silla, Chile) in April 2003, May 2004 and January 2005. We obtained data on 47 objects, 23 belonging to the L5 swarm and 24 to the L4 one. These data together with those already published by Fornasier et al. [Fornasier, S., Dotto, E., Marzari, F., Barucci, M.A., Boehnhardt, H., Hainaut, O., de Bergh, C., 2004a. Icarus 172, 221-232] and Dotto et al. [Dotto, E., Fornasier, S., Barucci, M.A., Licandro, J., Boehnhardt, H., Hainaut, O., Marzari, F., de Bergh, C., De Luise, F., 2006. Icarus 183, 420-434], acquired since November 2002, constitute a total sample of visible spectra for 80 objects. The survey allows us to investigate six families (Aneas, Anchises, Misenus, Phereclos, Sarpedon, Panthoos) in the L5 cloud and four L4 families (Eurybates, Menelaus, 1986 WD and 1986 TS6). The sample that we measured is dominated by D-type asteroids, with the exception of the Eurybates family in the L4 swarm, where there is a dominance of C- and P-type asteroids. All the spectra that we obtained are featureless with the exception of some Eurybates members, where a drop-off of the reflectance is detected shortward of 5200 Å. Similar features are seen in main belt C-type asteroids and commonly attributed to the intervalence charge transfer transition in oxidized iron. Our sample comprises fainter and smaller Trojans as compared to the literature's data and allows us to investigate the properties of objects with estimated diameter smaller than 40-50 km. The analysis of the spectral slopes and colors versus the estimated diameters shows that the blue and red objects have indistinguishable size distribution, so any relationship between size and spectral slopes has been found. To fully investigate the Trojans population, we include in our analysis 62 spectra of Trojans available in literature, resulting in a total sample of 142 objects. Although the mean spectral behavior of L4 and L5 Trojans is indistinguishable within the uncertainties, we find that the L4 population is more heterogeneous and that it has a higher abundance of bluish objects as compared to the L5 swarm. Finally, we perform a statistical investigation of the Trojans's spectra property distributions as a function of their orbital and physical parameters, and in comparison with other classes of minor bodies in the outer Solar System. Trojans at lower inclination appear significantly bluer than those at higher inclination, but this effect is strongly driven by the Eurybates family. The mean colors of the Trojans are similar to those of short period comets and neutral Centaurs, but their color distributions are different.     

Near-Earth Asteroid 2005 CR37: Radar images and photometry of a candidate contact binary

Arecibo (2380 MHz, 13 cm) radar observations of 2005 CR37 provide detailed images of a candidate contact binary: a 1.8-km-long, extremely bifurcated object. Although the asteroid's two lobes are round, there are regions of modest topographic relief, such as an elevated, 200-m-wide facet, that suggest that the lobes are geologically more complex than either coherent fragments or homogeneous rubble piles. Since January 1999, about 9% of NEAs larger than ∼200 m imaged by radar can be described as candidate contact binaries.     

Regolith transport in craters on Eros

Images of Eros from the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft reveal bright and dark albedo features on steep crater walls unlike markings previously observed on asteroids. These features have been attributed to the downslope movement of space-weathered regolith, exposing less weathered material (Science 292 (2001) 484; Meteor. Planet. Sci. 36 (2001) 1617; Icarus 155 (2002) 145). Here we present observations of the interiors of large craters (>1 km in diameter) to test this hypothesis and constrain the origin of the features. We find that bright regions in these craters correspond to steep slopes, consistent with previous work. The geographic distribution of craters with albedo variations shows no pattern and does not resemble the distribution of ponds, another phenomenon on Eros attributed to regolith movement. Shadows and other indications of topography are not observed at feature boundaries, implying that the transported layer is ?1 m thick. The presence of multiple bright and dark units on long slopes with sharp boundaries between them suggests that mobilized regolith may be halted by frictional or other effects before reaching the foot of the slope. Features on crater walls should darken at the same rate as bright ejecta deposits from crater formation; the lack of observed, morphologically fresh craters with bright interiors or ejecta suggests that the albedo patterns are younger than the most recently formed craters greater than about 100 m in diameter. Smaller or micrometeorite impacts, which would not necessarily leave evident deposits of bright ejecta, remain possible causes of albedo patterns. Although their effectiveness is difficult to assess, electrostatic processes and thermal creep are also candidates.     

Collision Probability for Earth-Crossing Asteroids Using Orbital Ranging

We introduce new techniques for the computation of the collision probability for Earth-crossing asteroids in the case of short observational arcs and/or small numbers of observations. The techniques rely on the orbital element probability density computed using statistical orbital ranging. We apply the techniques to the Earth-crossing asteroid 1998 OX₄with non-vanishing collision probability in numerous close approaches after the year 2012 (inclusive). We study the invariance of the collision probability in transformations between different orbital element sets, and develop a Spearman rank correlation measure for the validity of the linear approximation. We introduce an optimized, fast version of the statistical ranging method.     

Close Approaches of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids during Two Centuries

1 INTRODUCTIONNearearth asteroid8 (NEAs) can move very near the earth or iatrude into the eath orbit,hence they are of particular concern to the wor1d. Even more so are the so-called Poten-tially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs). PHAs (JPL, http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/pha arecurrently defined by paramters that measure the asteroid's potential of making threateningly close aPproaChes to the earth. Specilically all asteroids with an eaxth Minbo OrbitIlltersection Distance (MOID) of 0.05…