Related papers: Asteroid Deflection: How, where and when?

In this paper we discuss the advantages and challenges of utilizing Fission Fragment Rocket Engines (FFREs) to dramatically reduce transit time in space travel, for example, traveling to Mars. We discuss methods to decrease the size and…

Superfast rotators (SFRs) are small solar system objects that rotate faster than generally possible for a cohesionless rubble pile. Their rotational characteristics allow us to make inferences about their interior structure and composition.…

Few solar system asteroids and comets are found in high eccentricity orbits ($e > 0.9$) but in the primordial planetesimal disks and in exoplanet systems around dying stars such objects are believed to be common. For 2006 HY51, the main…

In the past decade, hundreds of asteroid shape models have been derived using the lightcurve inversion method. At the same time, a new framework of 3-D shape modeling based on the combined analysis of widely different data sources such as…

Earth is bombarded by meteors, occasionally by one large enough to cause a significant explosion and possible loss of life. Although the odds of a deadly asteroid strike in the next century are low, the most likely impact is by a relatively…

The regolith-covered surfaces of asteroids preserve records of geophysical processes that have occurred both at their surfaces and sometimes also in their interiors. As a result of the unique micro-gravity environment that these bodies…

Asteroid 2016 HO3, a small asteroid (<60 m) in super fast rotation state (~28 min), and is the target of China's Tianwen-2 asteroid sample-return mission. In this work, we investigate its structural stability using an advanced…

We consider how an impact generated seismic pulse affects the surface of an asteroid distant from the impact site. With laboratory experiments on dry polydisperse gravel mixtures, we track the trajectories of particles ejected from the…

Binary near-Earth asteroid (65803) Didymos is the target of the proposed NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), part of the Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) mission concept. In this mission, the DART spacecraft is…

Understanding the fate of planetary systems through white dwarfs which accrete debris crucially relies on tracing the orbital and physical properties of exo-asteroids during the giant branch phase of stellar evolution. Giant branch…

From Jan. 6, 2019 to Feb. 18, 2019, OSIRIS-REx observed asteroid (101955) Bennu ejecting 11 plumes of dust, of which part is escaping and another part is re-captured by the asteroid. The relative magnitudes of the typical forces acting on…

Context. Recent observations of dust ejections from active asteroids, including (3200) Phaethon, have drawn considerable interest from planetary astronomers studying the generation and removal of small dust particles on asteroids. Aims. In…

This work presents a mission concept for in-orbit particle collection for sampling and exploration missions towards Near-Earth asteroids. Ejecta is generated via a small kinetic impactor and two possible collection strategies are…

Rotation may affect the occurrence of sustainable hydrogen burning in very low-mass stellar objects by the introduction of centrifugal force to the hydrostatic balance as well as by the appearance of rotational break-up of the objects…

We consider an impact on an asteroid that is energetic enough to cause resurfacing by seismic reverberation and just below the catastrophic disruption threshold, assuming that seismic waves are not rapidly attenuated. In asteroids with…

Some asteroids eject dust, producing transient, comet-like comae and tails; these are the active asteroids. The causes of activity in this newly-identified population are many and varied. They include impact ejection and disruption,…

The computation of the Minimum Orbital Intersection Distance (MOID) is an old, but increasingly relevant problem. Fast and precise methods for MOID computation are needed to select potentially hazardous asteroids from a large catalogue. The…

The tilt of a planet's spin axis off its orbital axis ("obliquity") is a basic physical characteristic that plays a central role in determining the planet's global circulation and energy redistribution. Moreover, recent studies have also…

Asteroids and comets dissipate energy when they rotate about the axis different from the axis of the maximal moment of inertia. We show that the most efficient internal relaxation happens at the double frequency of body's tumbling.…

An understanding of the post-impact dynamics of ejecta clouds are crucial to the planning of a kinetic impact mission to an asteroid, and also has great implications for the history of planetary formation. The purpose of this article to…