In an effort to better understand the role dark material plays in the reflectance spectrum of carbonaceous asteroids, we performed laboratory studies focusing on quantifying how the addition of relevant dark material (graphite, magnetite and troilite) can alter the ultraviolet-visible and near-infrared spectrum of a neutral silicate mineral. We find that addition of graphite, magnetite and troilite all darken the reflectance spectrum of our forsterite samples and cause the spectral slope to decrease (become blue). These spectral changes can be caused by both nm- and micron-sized grains. In the ultraviolet-visible region, we find that graphite is most efficient at altering the spectral slope, while in the near-infrared, magnetite is the most efficient. At all wavelengths studied, graphite is the most efficient at darkening our sample spectrum. However, the observation that troilite also alters the slope and albedo of our samples suggests that the spectral changes caused by magnetite and graphite may not be unique. In addition, we find that the spectral slopes in our mixtures compare generally well to what has been observed on Bennu suggesting that a significant portion of fine-grained dark material, including sulfides, present in the regolith can cause the observed negative (blue) slope found on B-type asteroids.
We examined two decades of SpeX/NASA Infrared Telescope Facility observations from the Small Main-Belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey (SMASS) and the MIT-Hawaii Near-Earth Object Spectroscopic Survey (MITHNEOS) to investigate uncertainties and systematic errors in reflectance spectral slope measurements of asteroids. From 628 spectra of 11 solar analogs used for calibration of the asteroid spectra, we derived an uncertainty of 4.2%/micron on slope measurements over 0.8 to 2.4 micron. Air mass contributes to -0.92%/micron per 0.1 unit air mass difference between the asteroid and the solar analog…
Using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Moving Object Catalog, we study color as a function of size for C-complex families in the Main Asteroid Belt to improve our understanding of space weathering of carbonaceous materials. We find two distinct spectral slope trends: Hygiea-type and Themis-type. The Hygiea-type families exhibit a reduction in spectral slope with increasing object size until a minimum slope value is reached and the trend reverses with increasing slope with increasing object size. The Themis family shows an increase in spectral slope with increasing object size until a max…
We present near-infrared spectroscopy of the sporadically active asteroid (6478) Gault collected on the 3 m NASA/Infrared Telescope Facility observatory in late 2019 March/early April. Long-exposure imaging with the 0.5 m NEEMO T05 telescope and previously published data simultaneously monitored the asteroid activity, providing context for our measurements. We confirm Gault is a silicate-rich (Q- or S-type) object likely linked to the (25) Phocaea collisional family. The asteroid exhibits substantial spectral variability over the 0.75-2.45 $μ$m wavelength range, from unusual blue (s'=-13.5+/-1…
Asteroid pairs had a single progenitor that split due to rotational-fission of a weak, rubble-pile structured body. By constructing shape models of asteroid pairs from multiple-apparition observations and using a lightcurve inversion technique, we mapped the gravitational and rotational accelerations on the surfaces of these asteroids. This allows us to construct a map of local slopes on the asteroids' surfaces. In order to test for frictional failure, we determine the maximum rotation rate at which an area larger than half the surface area of the secondary member (assumed to be the ejected co…
We numerically investigate how an asteroid's elongation controls the sensitivity of its surface to tidal effects during a distant planetary encounter beyond the Roche limit. We analyze the surface slope and its variation by considering the shape elongation, as well as the spin period and orbital conditions. A more elongated asteroid tends to have a higher slope variation, while there may not be a monotonic increase of the total area having such a variation
We present the results of a Monte Carlo technique to calculate the absolute magnitudes (H) and slope parameters (G) of about 240000 asteroids observed by the Pan-STARRS1 telescope during the first 15 months of its 3-year all-sky survey mission. The system's exquisite photometry with photometric errors < 0.04 mag, and well-defined filter and photometric system, allowed us to derive accurate H and G even with a limited number of observations and restricted range in phase angles. Our Monte Carlo method simulates each asteroid's rotation period, amplitude and color to derive the most-likely H and …
In this work we aim to constrain the slope of the size distribution of main-belt asteroids, at their primordial state. To do so we turn out attention to the part of the main asteroid belt between 2.82 and 2.96~AU, the so-called "pristine zone", which has a low number density of asteroids and few, well separated asteroid families. Exploiting these unique characteristics, and using a modified version of the hierarchical clustering method we are able to remove the majority of asteroid family members from the region. The remaining, background asteroids should be of primordial origin, as the strong…
Asteroid (162173) Ryugu was the first spinning-top-shaped asteroid to be closely approached by a probe, the Hayabusa2 spacecraft, which sent numerous high-resolution images of Ryugu to the Earth and revealed the nature of this type of asteroid. One of the notable features of Ryugu is the equatorial ridge, which is considered the result of rapid spin in the past. Despite the advanced age of the ridge, indicated by the presence of numerous craters, the ridge exhibits a bluish color, indicating that it is covered with fresh material. In addition to Ryugu, many other asteroids have similar blue ar…
We report the discovery of a new asteroid family among the dark asteroids residing in the Phocaea region the Tamara family. We make use of available physical data to separate asteroids in the region according to their surface reflectance properties, and establish the membership of the family. We determine the slope of the cumulative magnitude distribution of the family, and find it to be significantly steeper than the corresponding slope of all the asteroids in the Phocaea region. This implies that sub-kilometer dark Phocaeas are comparable in number to bright S-type objects, shedding light on…
We present the size distribution for Hilda asteroid group using optical survey data obtained by the 8.2 m Subaru Telescope with the Hyper Suprime-Cam. Our unbiased sample consists of 91 Hilda asteroids (Hildas) down to 1~km in diameter. We found that the Hildas' size distribution can be approximated by a single-slope power law in the ~1-10 km diameter range with the best-fit power-law slope of alpha = 0.38 +/- 0.02 in the differential absolute magnitude distribution. Direct comparing the size distribution of Hildas with that of the Jupiter Trojans measured from the same dataset Yoshida & Terai…
A new family classification, based on a catalog of proper elements with $\sim 384,000$ numbered asteroids and on new methods is available. For the $45$ dynamical families with $>250$ members identified in this classification, we present an attempt to obtain statistically significant ages: we succeeded in computing ages for $37$ collisional families. We used a rigorous method, including a least squares fit of the two sides of a V-shape plot in the proper semimajor axis, inverse diameter plane to determine the corresponding slopes, an advanced error model for the uncertainties of asteroid diamet…
Boulders are ubiquitously found on the surfaces of small rocky bodies in the inner solar system and their spatial and size distributions give insight into the geological evolution and collisional history of the parent bodies. Using images acquired by the Chang'e-2 spacecraft, more than 200 boulders have been identified over the imaged area of the near-Earth asteroid Toutatis. The cumulative boulder size frequency distribution (SFD) shows a steep slope of -4.4 $\pm$ 0.1, which is indicative of a high degree of fragmentation. Similar to Itokawa, Toutatis probably has a rubble-pile structure, as …
The surfaces of airless bodies such as asteroids are exposed to many phenomena that can alter their physical properties. Bennu, the target of the OSIRIS-REx mission, has demonstrated how complex the surface of a small body can be. In 2019 November, the potentially hazardous asteroid 2015 JD1 experienced a close approach of 0.0331 au from the Earth. We present results of the physical characterization of 2015 JD1 based on ground-based radar, spectroscopy, and photometric observations acquired during 2019 November. Radar polarimetry measurements from the Arecibo Observatory indicate a morphologic…
We have monitored the Didymos-Dimorphos binary asteroid in spectropolarimetric mode in the optical range before and after the DART impact. The ultimate goal was to obtain constraints on the characteristics of the ejected dust for modelling purposes. Before impact, Didymos exhibited a linear polarization rapidly increasing with phase angle, reaching a level of about 5% in the blue and about 4.5 in the red. The shape of the polarization spectrum was anti-correlated with that of its reflectance spectrum, which appeared typical of an S-class asteroid. After impact, the level of polarization droppe…
The NASA mission OSIRIS-REx has been observing near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu in close proximity since December 2018. In this work, we investigate spectral phase reddening -- that is, the variation of spectral slope with phase angle -- on Bennu using spectra acquired by the OSIRIS-REx Visible and InfraRed Spectrometer (OVIRS) covering a phase angle range of 8-130$^{o}$. We investigate this process at the global scale and for some localized regions of interest (ROIs), including boulders, craters, and the designated sample collection sites of the OSIRIS-REx mission. Bennu has a globally nega…
We probed the surface environment of large ($>$80 km in diameter) T-type asteroids, a taxonomic type relatively ill-constrained as an independent group, and discussed their place of origin. We performed spectroscopic observations of two T-type asteroids, (96) Aegle and (570) Kythera, over 2.8--4.0 $μ$m using the Subaru telescope. With other T-types' spectra available in the literature and survey datasets, we strove to find commonalities and global trends in this group. We also utilised the asteroids' polarimetric data and meteorite spectra to constrain their surface texture and composition. Ou…
Primitive asteroids in the main belt, Cybele, and Hilda populations from Gaia DR3
LIRA, Université Paris Cité, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, Sorbonne Université, CY Cergy Paris Université, CNRS（拉伊特研究所，巴黎西岱大学，巴黎天文台，巴黎文理研究大学，索邦大学，塞吉-巴黎大学，法国国家科学研究中心）；Institut Universitaire de France (IUF)（法兰西学院）；Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency（宇宙科学研究所，日本宇宙航空研究开发机构）
Dark asteroids exhibiting intermediate characteristics between C and X types
Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency（宇宙科学研究所，日本宇宙航空研究开发机构）；School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester（莱斯特大学物理与天文学学院）；European Southern Observatory (ESO)（欧洲南方天文台）；Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS–Lagrange, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur（蔚蓝海岸大学，法国国家科学研究中心-拉格朗日实验室，蔚蓝海岸天文台）；Japan Spaceguard Association（日本太空监视协会）；Geological Survey of Japan, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology（日本地质调查所，产业技术综合研究所）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University（首尔大学物理与天文学系）；SNU Astronomy Research Center, Seoul National University（首尔大学天体物理研究中心）；Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science, Northern Arizona University（北亚利桑那大学天文与行星科学系）
Long-baseline ATLAS photometry of the seven main-belt asteroid targets of the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt
South African Astronomical Observatory（南非天文台）；Stellenbosch University（斯泰伦博斯大学）；Charles University（查理大学）；Northern Arizona University（北亚利桑那大学）；University of Hawaii（夏威夷大学）；University of Oxford（牛津大学）；Queen’s University Belfast（贝尔法斯特女王大学）；Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC)（加那利天体物理学研究所）；Universidad de La Laguna (ULL)（拉帕鲁纳大学）
Context: Despite the observed signs of large impacts on the surface of Ceres, there is no confirmed collisional family associated with this dwarf planet. After a dynamical and photometric study, a sample of 156 asteroids was proposed as candidate members of a Ceres collisional family. Aims: Our main objective is to study the connection between Ceres and a total of 14 observed asteroids among the candidate's sample to explore their genetic relationships with Ceres. Methods: We obtained visible spectra of these 14 asteroids using the OSIRIS spectrograph at the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias(GTC…
Infrared-to-visible albedo ratio of Phobos: Comparison with primitive asteroids
Université Côte d’Azur（蔚蓝海岸大学）；CNRS–Lagrange（法国国家科学研究中心-拉格朗日实验室）；Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur（蔚蓝海岸天文台）；Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES)（法国国家空间研究中心）；Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) – Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova (OAPd)（意大利国家天体物理研究所帕多瓦天文台）；University of Leicester（莱斯特大学）
In 2010 Jewitt and Li published a paper examining the behavior of comet-asteroid transition object 3200 Phaethon, arguing it was asteroid-like in its behavior throughout most of its orbit, but that near its perihelion, at a distance of only 0.165 AU from the sun, its dayside temperatures would be hot enough to vaporize rock (>1000 K, Hanus et al. 2016). Thus it would act like a "rock comet" as gases produced from evaporating rock were released from the body, in a manner similar to the more familiar sublimation of water ice into vacuum seen for comets coming within ~3 AU of the Sun. In this Not…
Inhomogeneities on the surface of 21 Lutetia, the asteroid target of the Rosetta mission
背景：2010年7月，欧空局的罗塞塔号航天器将飞越主带小行星21 Lutetia。到目前为止，已经对这颗小行星进行了几次观测，但它的表面组成和性质仍然是一个有争议的问题。很长一段时间以来，Lutetia被认为具有金属性质，因为它具有高的IRAS反射率。后来有人提出它的表面成分类似于原始的碳质球粒陨石，而进一步的观察则提出它可能与更进化的顽火辉石球粒陨石有遗传联系。目标：为了在解决Lutetia性质的难题方面做出重要贡献，我们于2008年11月在Telescopio Nazionale Galileo（TNG，La Palma，西班牙）对这颗小行星进行了可见光谱观测。方法：在不同旋转相位下获得13个可见光谱。研究结果：我们证实了Lazzarin等人（2009年）在Lutetia光谱中发现的约0.47-0.48微米处的窄光谱特征的存在。我们还发现了Lazzarin等人（2004年）在Lutetia光谱中发现的约0.6微米的光谱特征。更重要的是，我们的光谱在0.6和0.75微米之间表现出不同的光谱斜率，特别是，我们发现高达20%的Lutetia表面可以具有更平坦的光谱。结论：我们在不同的旋转阶段检测到光谱斜率的变化，这可以解释为可能是由于化学/矿物成分的差异，以及Lutetia表面结构的不均匀性（例如，在南半球的陨石坑或火山点的存在）。
The distribution of solar system absolute magnitudes ($H$) for the near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) observable near opposition -- i.e. Amors, Apollos, and Atens ($A^3$) -- is derived from the set of ALL currently known NEAs. The result is based only on common sense assumptions of uniformly random distributions and that the orbital phase space and $H$-magnitude distribution of known NEAs is representative of the total population. There is no population or other modeling and no assumption on albedo except in interpreting the result as a size-frequency distribution (SFD). The analysis is based on the …
The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa 2 visited the asteroid (162173) Ryugu and provided many high-resolution images of its surface, revealing that Ryugu has a spinning-top shape with a prominent equatorial ridge, much like the shapes reported for some other asteroids. In this study, through dozens of numerical calculations, we demonstrate that during a period of fast rotation, ejecta from craters formed at lower and mid-latitudes can be deposited on the equatorial ridge. Assuming a rotation period of 3 h, we estimate that an equatorial ridge with a height of 50 m can be generated in 128(+47 / -27)…
Non-differentiated asteroids are among the most primitive objects in our Solar System, having escaped intense heating mechanisms. To help us understand the information contained in reflectance spectra measured on asteroids, we analyzed meteorites in the laboratory. We present an in-depth analysis of a large set of reflectance spectra: 23 CV3, 15 CO3, 4 CR2 and 31 Unequilibrated Ordinary Chondrites (UOCs). Each of the samples has a well characterized thermal history . Variations in the reflectance spectra are observed between and within each chondrite group. UOCs systematically exhibit deeper a…
We study the visible and near-infrared (NIR) spectral properties of different ACO populations and compare them to the independently determined properties of comets. We select our ACOs sample based on published dynamical criteria and present our own observational results obtained using the 10.4m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), the 4.2m William Herschel Telescope (WHT), the 3.56m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG), and the 2.5m Isaac Newton Telescope (INT), all located at the El Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (La Palma, Spain), and the 3.0m NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF), located at…
Themis is an old and statistically robust asteroid family populating the outer main belt, and resulting from a catastrophic collision that took place 2.5$\pm$1.0 Gyr ago. Within the old Themis family a young sub-family, Beagle, formed less than 10 Myr ago, has been identified. We present the results of a spectroscopic survey in the visible and near infrared range of 22 Themis and 8 Beagle families members. The Themis members investigated exhibit a wide range of spectral behaviors, while the younger Beagle family members look spectrally bluer with a smaller spectral slope variability. The best …
We present ultraviolet photometry (NUV band, 180--280 nm) of 405 asteroids observed serendipitously by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) from 2003--2012. All asteroids in this sample were detected by GALEX at least twice. Unambiguous visible-color-based taxonomic labels (C type versus S type) exist for 315 of these asteroids; of these, thermal-infrared-based diameters are available for 245. We derive NUV-V color using two independent models to predict the visual magnitude V at each NUV-detection epoch. Both V models produce NUV-V distributions in which the S types are redder than C types w…
We present results of polarimetric, photometric, and spectral observations of the near-Earth asteroid (3200) Phaethon carried out at the 6-m BTA telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory and the 2.6-m and 1.25-m telescopes of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory over a wide range of phase angles during its close approach to the Earth at the end of 2017 (19-135 deg) and in 2020 at α= 52.2 deg. Using our and other available in literature data, we found that the maximum degree of linear polarization of Phaethon in the V band is 45% at the phase angle 124 deg. Using the dependence (polar…
The asteroid (16) Psyche is of scientific interest because it contains ~ 1% of the total mass of the asteroid belt and is thought to be the remnant metallic core of a protoplanet. Radar observations have indicated the significant presence of metal on the surface with a small percentage of silicates. Prior ground-based observations showed rotational variations in the near-infrared (NIR) spectra and radar albedo of this asteroid. However, no comprehensive study that combines multi-wavelength data has been conducted so far. Here we present rotationally resolved NIR spectra (0.7-2.5 microns) of (1…
Recently published space-based observations of main-belt asteroids with the AKARI telescope provide a full description of the 3 μm band, related to the presence of OH bearing minerals. Here, we use laboratory spectra of carbonaceous chondrites obtained under controlled atmosphere (CI,CM,CO,CV,CR Tagish Lake) to derive spectral metrics related to the water content in the samples. After testing several spectral metrics, we use a combination of band depth at 2.75 μm and 2.80 μm that shows a correlation with [H2O] in the sample determined by TGA, though with a high uncertainty (4 wt% H2O). This re…
Rotation, spectral type, and albedo of the potentially hazardous asteroid (153814) 2001 WN$_{\text 5}$ Prior to the 2028 June close approach
Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange（蔚蓝海岸大学，蔚蓝海岸天文台，法国国家科学研究中心，拉格朗日实验室）；Department of Earth and Planetary Science, The University of Tokyo（东京大学地球行星科学系）；Institute of Astronomy, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University（哈尔科夫国立大学瓦·尼·卡拉津天体物理研究所）；Astronomical Institute ASCR（捷克科学院天文研究所）
The physical characterization of potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs) is important for impact hazard assessment and evaluating mitigation options. Close flybys of PHAs provide an opportunity to study their surface photometric and spectral properties that enable identification of their source regions in the main asteroid belt. We observed PHA (357439) 2004 BL86 during a close flyby of the Earth at a distance of 1.2 million km (0.0080 AU) on January 26, 2015, with an array of ground-based telescopes to constrain its photometric and spectral properties. Lightcurve observations showed that the a…
(16) Psyche is the largest M-type asteroid in the main belt and the target of the NASA Discovery-class Psyche mission. Despite gaining considerable interest in the scientific community, Psyche's composition and formation remain unconstrained. Originally, Psyche was considered to be almost entirely composed of metal due to its high radar albedo and spectral similarities to iron meteorites. More recent telescopic observations suggest the additional presence of low-Fe pyroxene and exogenic carbonaceous chondrites on the asteroid's surface. To better understand the abundances of these additional m…
The OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample-return mission is investigating primitive near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu. Thousands of images will be acquired by the MapCam instrument onboard the spacecraft, an imager with four color filters based on the Eight-Color Asteroid Survey (ECAS): $b$' (473 nm), $v$ (550 nm), $w$ (698 nm), and $x$ (847 nm). This set of filters will allow identification and characterization of the absorption band centered at 700 nm and associated with hydrated silicates. In this work, we present and validate a spectral clustering methodology for application to the upcoming MapCam i…
Composition of Near-Earth Asteroid 2008 EV5: Potential target for Robotic and Human Exploration
我们在可见光（0.30-0.92微米）和近红外（0.75-2.5微米）波长下观察了潜在危险的小行星（PHA）2008 EV 5，以确定其表面成分。这颗小行星特别令人感兴趣，因为它是两个样本返回任务提案（马可波罗-R和隼鸟-2）和人类探索的潜在目标，因为它的低delta-v交会。2008 EV 5的光谱除了一个0.48微米的弱自旋禁戒Fe 3+吸收带外，基本上没有什么特征。光谱也有一个整体的蓝色斜率。2008年EV 5的最大值仍然不确定，根据热模型，下限为0.05，上限为0.20。Busch等人（2011年）估计的0.12与我们的热建模结果一致。2008年EV 5的基因组和组成也与C型分类学分类一致（Somers等人，2008年）。最佳光谱匹配是与类似于Orgueil的Cl碳质方解石，其也具有弱的0.48微米特征和整体蓝色斜率。这个0.48微米的特征也可以在磁铁矿的光谱中看到。CI卫星的最大值是我们对2008年EV 5最大值的估计范围的下限。
