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General
This project studies the physical and compositional properties of the so-called minor bodies of the Solar System, that includes asteroids, icy objects, and comets. Of special interest are the trans-neptunian objects (TNOs), including those considered the most distant objects detected so far (Extreme-TNOs or ETNOs); the comets and the comet-asteroid transitional objects (Centaurs and main belt comets or MBCs); the primitive asteroids. The last two groups contain the most primordial and pristine material of the Solar System and so they provide the clues to understand the origin and the subsequent evolution of our system. Among asteroid population, the near-Earth asteroids or NEAs, as well as the potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs) are of particular interest: due to their proximity to the Earth, they are the most accesible to spacecraft and so are ideal for in-situ or even sample-return space missions. In addition they are considered as future potential resources of materials (asteroid mining), and they are also impact hazards for the Earth. Regarding primitive asteroids, it is remarkable the spectroscopic survey (visible and near-infrared) led by the PI of this project (PRIMitive Asteroids Spectroscopic Survey - PRIMASS). This survey received financial support from NASA (17-PDART17_2-0097, PI: N. Pinilla-Alonso, 137.000€ - 2 years) in order to upload and archive at the Small Bodies Node of the NASA Planetary Data System the more than 800 spectra obtained.
The compositional surface properties, as well as the physical and thermal properties of these objects are inferred through imaging, photometry, and spectroscopy in a wide range of wavelengths (from 0.35 up to 24 microns). Data are interpreted using scattering and thermo-physical models. This project works also in the study of the physical properties of the cometary nuclei, as well as properties of dust and coma in the tails of the MBCs and the mechanisms that generate them.
This group maintains several international collaborations with other groups, and some of their members are also members of (1) the Science Team of the NASA OSIRIS-REx mission, in particular the Image Processing Working Group, were they work with the images obtained with the OCAMS suite of cameras; (2) the coordination of an international group to study NEAs (EURONEAR); (3) the central core of the proponents of ESA M5 missions CASTALIA, CASTAway, and Hera; (4) the Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science - CLASS (NASA); (5) the Solar System group of the Euclid consortium; (6) the surveys J-PLUS and J-PASS for the exploitation of observations of Solar System objects; (7) the Solar System working group of Gaia and JWST.
Members
Scientific activity
Related publications
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Asteroids (65) Cybele, (107) Camilla and (121) Hermione: Infrared spectral diversity among the CybelesWe find a clear diversity in the 3 μm and 10 μm features of three Cybele asteroids: (107) Camilla, (121) Hermione, and (65) Cybele. (121) Hermione exhibits a "check-like" 3 μm feature, which may be attributed to OH-dominated minerals and (107) Camilla shows a rounded "bowl" like feature closer to that of (65) Cybele, which may be attributed to H2OHargrove, Kelsey D. et al.
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92012 -
Spectroscopic observations of new Oort cloud comet 2006 VZ13 and four other cometsSpectral data are presented for comets 2006 VZ13 (LINEAR), 2006 K4 (NEAT), 2006 OF2 (Broughton), 2P/Encke and 93P/Lovas I, obtained with the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory 1.5-m telescope in 2007 August. Comet 2006 VZ13 is a new Oort cloud comet and shows strong lines of CN (3880 Å), the Swan band sequence for C2 (4740, 5160 and 5630 Å)Gilbert, A. M. et al.
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22010 -
More than 160 near Earth asteroids observed in the EURONEAR networkContext. The EUROpean Near Earth Asteroid Research (EURONEAR) is a network which envisions to bring some European contributions into the general context traced by the Spaceguard Foundation which was carried out during the last 15 years mainly by the US with some modest European and amateur contributions. Aims: The number of known near EarthBirlan, M. et al.
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22010 -
High-Precision Astrometry of NEAs via EURONEAR ObservationsNot AvailableBirlan, Mirel et al.
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02010 -
Formation of asteroid pairs by rotational fissionPairs of asteroids sharing similar heliocentric orbits, but not bound together, were found recently. Backward integrations of their orbits indicated that they separated gently with low relative velocities, but did not provide additional insight into their formation mechanism. A previously hypothesized rotational fission process may explain theirPravec, P. et al.
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82010 -
EURONEAR: Data mining of asteroids and Near Earth AsteroidsBesides new observations, mining old photographic plates and CCD image archives represents an opportunity to recover and secure newly discovered asteroids, also to improve the orbits of Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs), Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) and Virtual Impactors (VIs). These are the main research aims of the EURONEAR network. As statedVaduvescu, O. et al.
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72009 -
Deep Ks -near-infrared Surface Photometry of 80 Dwarf Irregular Galaxies in the Local VolumeWe present deep near-infrared (Ks ) images and surface photometry for 80 dwarf irregular galaxies (dIs) within ~5 Mpc of the Milky Way. The galaxy images were obtained at five different facilities between 2004 and 2006. The image reductions and surface photometry have been performed using methods specifically designed for isolating faint galaxiesFingerhut, Robin L. et al.
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62010 -
A Pluto-like radius and a high albedo for the dwarf planet Eris from an occultationThe dwarf planet Eris is a trans-Neptunian object with an orbital eccentricity of 0.44, an inclination of 44 degrees and a surface composition very similar to that of Pluto. It resides at present at 95.7 astronomical units (1AU is the Earth-Sun distance) from Earth, near its aphelion and more than three times farther than Pluto. Owing to this greatSicardy, B. et al.
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102011 -
Water ice and organics on the surface of the asteroid 24 ThemisIt has been suggested that Earth's current supply of water was delivered by asteroids, some time after the collision that produced the Moon (which would have vaporized any of the pre-existing water). So far, no measurements of water ice on asteroids have been made, but its presence has been inferred from the comet-like activity of several smallCampins, Humberto et al.
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42010 -
Visible spectroscopy in the neighborhood of 2003EL{61}Context: The recent discovery of a group of trans-neptunian objects (TNOs) in a narrow region of the orbital parameter space and with surfaces composed of almost pure water ice, being 2003 EL{61} its largest member, promises new and interesting results about the formation and evolution of the TNb and the outer Solar System. Aims: The aim of thisPinilla-Alonso, N. et al.
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102008 -
Triple F—a comet nucleus sample return missionThe Triple F ( Fresh From the Fridge) mission, a Comet Nucleus Sample Return, has been proposed to ESA’s Cosmic Vision program. A sample return from a comet enables us to reach the ultimate goal of cometary research. Since comets are the least processed bodies in the solar system, the proposal goes far beyond cometary science topics (like theKüppers, Michael et al.
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32009 -
The trans-Neptunian object size distribution at small sizesAims: The aim of this work is to estimate the size distribution of small Trans-Neptunian objects. Methods: We simulate the irradiation and collisional processes affecting the surface of a Trans-Neptunian object for the first time using as a constraint the peculiar crystalline to amorphous water ice ratio observed on (136108) 2003 EL61. Results: WeGil-Hutton, R. et al.
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62009 -
The surface of (136108) Haumea (2003 EL{61}), the largest carbon-depleted object in the trans-Neptunian beltContext: Previously known as 2003 EL{61}, (136108) Haumea, is the largest member of a group of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) with similar orbits and “unique” spectral characteristics in the form of a neutral slope in the visible and the deepest water ice absorption bands observed in the trans-Neptunian belt (TNb). Studying the surface of 2003 ELPinilla-Alonso, N. et al.
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32009 -
The spectrum of (136199) Eris between 350 and 2350 nm: results with X-ShooterContext. X-Shooter is the first second-generation instrument for the ESO-Very Large Telescope. It is a spectrograph covering the entire 300-2480 nm spectral range at once with a high resolving power. These properties enticed us to observe the well-known trans-Neptunian object (136199) Eris during the science verification of the instrument. TheAlvarez-Candal, A. et al.
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82011 -
The size and thermal properties of the nucleus of Comet 22P/KopffWe detected the nucleus of Comet 22P/Kopff at 4.87 AU from the Sun with the two IRS peak-up cameras of the Spitzer Space Telescope on April 19, 2007. Using the thermal model of [Groussin, O., and 15 colleagues, 2007. Icarus 187, 16 25], we derive a nucleus size of 1.89±0.16 km, in agreement with [Lamy, P., Toth, I., Jorda, L., Groussin, O., A'HearnGroussin, O. et al.
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22009 -
The Origin of Asteroid 101955 (1999 RQ36)Near-Earth asteroid (NEA) 101955 (1999 RQ36; henceforth RQ36) is especially accessible to spacecraft and is the primary target of NASA's OSIRIS-REx sample return mission; it is also a potentially hazardous asteroid. We combine dynamical and spectral information to identify the most likely main-belt origin of RQ36 and we conclude that it is theCampins, Humberto et al.
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92010 -
The activity of comet C/2007 D1 (LINEAR) at 9.7 AU from the Sun (Corrigendum)Based on observations collected at the Italian Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG), operated on the island of La Palma by the Centro Galileo Galilei of the INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica) at the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias.Mazzotta Epifani, E. et al.
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122010 -
The activity of comet C/2007 D1 (LINEAR) at 9.7 AU from the SunAims: We report on the unusual distant activity of the dynamically new comet C/2007 D1 (LINEAR), observed at rh = 9.7 AU post-perihelion. This comet is particularly interesting because of its quite large perihelion distance (rq = 8.8 AU). Methods: We analyse V and R band images taken at the TNG telescope to characterise the dust coma of the cometMazzotta Epifani, E. et al.
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42010 -
Testing the comet nature of main belt comets. The spectra of 133P/Elst-Pizarro and 176P/LINEARContext. Dynamically, 133P/Elst-Pizarro and 176P/LINEAR are main belt asteroids, likely members of the Themis collisional family, and unlikely of cometary origin. They have been observed with cometary-like tails, which may be produced by water-ice sublimation. They are part of a small group of objects called Main Belt Comets (MBCs, Hsieh & JewittLicandro, J. et al.
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82011 -
Taxonomy of asteroids in the Cybele region from the analysis of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey colorsIn this paper we search for photometric data of asteroids in the outer region of the Hecuba gap in the Moving Object Catalogue of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to find the spectrophotometric characteristics of small members of this group. We found that the correlation between size and spectral slope previously identified for Cybele asteroids isGil-Hutton, R. et al.
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42010
