Astrophysical: Asteroids

  • Publication
    Global photometric properties of (162173) Ryugu
    Context. The Hayabusa2 spacecraft launched by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has been conducting observations of the asteroid (162173) Ryugu since June 2018...
  • Publication
    GTC/CanariCam observations of (99942) Apophis
    Context. The potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) (99942) Apophis is one of the most remarkable near-Earth asteroids (NEA) in terms of impact hazard. A good...
  • News
    Hera mission flies by Mars on its way to Didymos and captures unique images of its moons
    ESA’s Hera mission for planetary defense performed a flyby of Mars, as part of its gravitational assistance manoeuvre to shorten its journey to the binary...
  • Publication
    High-resolution observations of bright boulders on asteroid Ryugu: 1. Size frequency distribution and morphology
    The near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu displays a Cb-type average spectrum and a very low average normal albedo of 0.04. Although the majority of boulders on...
  • Publication
    High-resolution observations of bright boulders on asteroid Ryugu: 2. Spectral properties
    Many small boulders with reflectance values higher than 1.5 times the average reflectance have been found on the near-Earth asteroid 162,173 Ryugu. Based on...
  • Publication
    High-speed Photometry of the Disintegrating Planetesimals at WD1145+017: Evidence for Rapid Dynamical Evolution
    We obtained high-speed photometry of the disintegrating planetesimals orbiting the white dwarf WD 1145+017, spanning a period of four weeks. The light curves...
  • Publication
    Hungaria asteroid region telescopic spectral survey (HARTSS) I: Stony asteroids abundant in the Hungaria background population
    The Hungaria asteroids remain as survivors of late giant planet migration that destabilized a now extinct inner portion of the primordial asteroid belt and left...
  • Publication
    Hungaria asteroid region telescopic spectral survey (HARTSS) II: Spectral homogeneity among Hungaria family asteroids
    Spectral observations of asteroid family members provide valuable information regarding parent body interiors, the origin and source regions of near-Earth...
  • Publication
    Improved models for the near-Earth asteroids (2100) Ra-Shalom, (3103) Eger, (12711) Tukmit, and (161989) Cacus
    We present 24 new dense light curves of the near-Earth asteroids (3103) Eger, (161989) Cacus, (2100) Ra-Shalom, and (12711) Tukmit, obtained with the Instituto...