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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.
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Related publications
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Particle size distributions inside and around the artificial crater produced by the Hayabusa2 impact experiment on RyuguJapanese Hayabusa2 spacecraft has successfully carried out an impact experiment using a small carry-on impactor (SCI) on an asteroid (162173) Ryugu. We examine the size distribution of particles inside and outside an artificial impact crater (the SCI crater) based on the images taken by the optical navigation camera onboard the Hayabusa2 spacecraftOgawa, K. et al.
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122022 -
A pristine record of outer Solar System materials from asteroid Ryugu's returned sampleVolatile and organic-rich C-type asteroids may have been one of the main sources of Earth's water. Our best insight into their chemistry is currently provided by carbonaceous chondritic meteorites, but the meteorite record is biased: only the strongest types survive atmospheric entry and are then modified by interaction with the terrestrialIto, Motoo et al.
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82022 -
Spectral Rotational Characterization of the Didymos System prior to the DART ImpactThe smallest member of the Didymos binary near-Earth object system (Dimorphos) is the target of the DART/LICIACube mission, the first attempt to change the orbit of another celestial body via a kinetic impactor. It is important to characterize the unperturbed system prior to the DART impact. In this work we obtained, for the first time, spectralIeva, Simone et al.
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82022 -
Near-ultraviolet to visible spectroscopy of the Themis and Polana-Eulalia complex familiesContext. Spectrophotometry data of asteroids obtained in the 1980s showed that there are large variations in their near-ultraviolet (NUV) reflectance spectra. Reflectance spectra at NUV wavelengths are important because they help detect the presence of hydrated minerals and organics on the asteroid surfaces. However, the NUV wavelength region hasTatsumi, E. et al.
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82022 -
Photometric Observations of the Binary Near-Earth Asteroid (65803) Didymos in 2015-2021 Prior to DART ImpactWe performed photometric observations of the binary near-Earth asteroid (65803) Didymos in support of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission that will test the Kinetic Impactor technology for diverting dangerous asteroids. It will hit the Didymos secondary, called Dimorphos, on 2022 September 26. We observed Didymos with 11 telescopesPravec, P. et al.
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72022 -
The EURONEAR Lightcurve Survey of Near Earth Asteroids 2017-2020This is the fourth data paper publishing lightcurve survey work of 52 Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) using 10 telescopes available to the EURONEAR network between 2017 and 2020. Forty six targets were not observed before our runs (88% of the sample) but some of these were targeted during the same oppositions mainly by Brian Warner. We propose newVaduvescu, O. et al.
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102022 -
Apophis Planetary Defense CampaignWe describe results of a planetary defense exercise conducted during the close approach to Earth by the near-Earth asteroid (99942) Apophis during 2020 December-2021 March. The planetary defense community has been conducting observational campaigns since 2017 to test the operational readiness of the global planetary defense capabilities. TheseReddy, Vishnu et al.
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52022 -
A comprehensive study of the opposition effect on 15 NEOsWe report the results we derived analyzing photometric measurements obtained at different phase angles for 15 Near-Earth Objects (NEOs), observed from Campo Imperatore observatory, and Observatório Astronômico do Sertão de Itaparica (OASI). The performed analysis allows us to taxonomically classify them using several independent techniques, thusIeva, S. et al.
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62022 -
Three-axial shape distributions of pebbles, cobbles and boulders smaller than a few meters on asteroid RyuguOver a broad size range, the shapes of impact fragments from catastrophic disruptions are distributed around the mean axial ratio 2: √2: 1, irrespective of experimental conditions and target materials. Although most blocks on asteroids are likely to be impact fragments, there is not enough quantitative data for reliable statistics on their threeMichikami, Tatsuhiro et al.
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72022 -
Physical and dynamical characterization of hyperbolic comet C/2017 U7 (PANSTARRS)We present here a dynamical and observational study of the comet C/2017 U7 (PANSTARRS). This comet was discovered in 2017 and found to have a hyperbolic orbit. Our dynamical analysis shows that the object has probably originated in the Oort cloud, however an interstellar origin cannot be discarded. The observations were obtained in 2018 and 2019Evangelista-Santana, M. et al.
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52022 -
Spectroscopic study of Ceres' collisional family candidatesContext. 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 were proposed as candidate members of a Ceres collisional family. Aims: Our main objective is to study the connection betweenTinaut-Ruano, F. et al.
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22022 -
Anomalously porous boulders on (162173) Ryugu as primordial materials from its parent bodyPlanetesimals—the initial stage of the planetary formation process—are considered to be initially very porous aggregates of dusts 1,2, and subsequent thermal and compaction processes reduce their porosity 3. The Hayabusa2 spacecraft found that boulders on the surface of asteroid (162173) Ryugu have an average porosity of 30-50% (refs. 4-6), higherSakatani, N. et al.
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52021 -
J-PLUS: A first glimpse at the spectrophotometry of asteroids. The MOOJa catalogContext. The Javalambre Photometric Local Universe Survey (J-PLUS) is an observational campaign that aims to obtain photometry in 12 ultraviolet-visible filters (0.3−1 μm) over ∼8500 deg 2 of the sky observable from Javalambre (Teruel, Spain). Due to its characteristics and observation strategy, this survey will allow a great number of Solar SystemMorate, David et al.
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112021 -
Properties of slowly rotating asteroids from the Convex Inversion Thermophysical ModelContext. Recent results for asteroid rotation periods from the TESS mission showed how strongly previous studies have underestimated the number of slow rotators, revealing the importance of studying those targets. For most slowly rotating asteroids (those with P > 12 h), no spin and shape model is available because of observation selection effectsMarciniak, A. et al.
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102021 -
Spectrally blue hydrated parent body of asteroid (162173) RyuguRyugu is a carbonaceous rubble-pile asteroid visited by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. Small rubble pile asteroids record the thermal evolution of their much larger parent bodies. However, recent space weathering and/or solar heating create ambiguities between the uppermost layer observable by remote-sensing and the pristine material from the parentTatsumi, Eri et al.
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102021 -
Widely distributed exogenic materials of varying compositions and morphologies on asteroid (101955) BennuUsing the multiband imager MapCam on board the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer) spacecraft, we identified 77 instances of proposed exogenic materials distributed globally on the surface of the B-type asteroid (101955) Bennu. We identified materials as exogenic on the basis of anTatsumi, Eri et al.
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122021 -
Spectral properties of near-Earth objects with low-Jovian Tisserand invariantThe near-Earth objects with low-Jovian Tisserand invariant (T J) represent about 9 per cent of the known objects orbiting in the near-Earth space, being subject of numerous planetary encounters and large temperature variations. We aim to make a spectral characterization for a large sample of NEOs with T J ≤ 3.1. Consequently, we can estimate theSimion, N. G. et al.
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112021 -
Opposition Observations of 162173 Ryugu: Normal Albedo Map Highlights Variations in Regolith CharacteristicsOn 2019 January 8, the Telescopic Optical Navigation Camera (ONC-T) on board the Hayabusa2 spacecraft observed the Cb-type asteroid 162173 Ryugu under near-opposition illumination and viewing conditions from approximately 20 km in distance. Although opposition observations have never been used for mapping purposes of a planetary body, we foundYokota, Yasuhiro et al.
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102021 -
High-resolution observations of bright boulders on asteroid Ryugu: 2. Spectral propertiesMany 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 their visible wavelength spectral differences, Tatsumi et al. (2021, Nature Astronomy, 5, doi:10.1038/s41550-020-1179-z) defined two bright boulder classes: C-type and S-type. These twoSugimoto, Chiho et al.
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112021 -
Spectrophotometric Properties of 162173 Ryugu's Surface from the NIRS3 Opposition ObservationsExamination of the opposition geometry properties show that Ryugu's surface regolith is commensurate with laboratory studies of the photometric behavior of powdered carbonaceous chondrites. The regolith is consistent with a broad grain size distribution that contains a fine-grained component.Domingue, Deborah et al.
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102021
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The Gran Telescopio Canarias obtains the visible spectrum of C/2019 Q4 (Borisov), the first confirmed interstellar cometAdvertised on
