Related papers: Capturing Near Earth Objects

We develop the mathematical theory for an automatic, space-based system to deflect NEOs by virtue of missiles shot from the Earth-Moon L1 and L3 Lagrangian Points. A patent application has been filed for the relevant code dubbed AsterOFF…

Accurate astrometry is crucial for determining orbits of near-Earth-asteroids (NEAs) and therefore better tracking them. This paper reports on a demonstration of 10 milliarcsecond-level astrometric precision on a dozen NEAs using the Pomona…

Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) is a major survey of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs). In a recent work, we used CSS observations from 2005-2012 to develop a new population model of NEOs (NEOMOD). CSS's G96 telescope was upgraded in 2016 and detected…

Upcoming telescopes like the Vera Rubin Observatory (VRO) and the Argus Array will image large fractions of the sky multiple times per night yielding numerous Near Earth Object (NEO) discoveries. When asteroids are measured with short…

This White Pape motivates the time domain extragalactic science case for the NASA Near-Earth Object Camera (NEOCam). NEOCam is a NASA Planetary mission whose goal is to discover and characterize asteroids and comets, to assess the hazard to…

The population of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) shows a large variety of objects in terms of physical and dynamical properties. They are subject to planetary encounters and to strong solar wind and radiation effects. Their study is also…

Processes such as the solar wind sputtering and micrometeorite impacts can modify optical properties of surfaces of airless bodies. This explains why spectra of the main belt asteroids, exposed to these `space weathering' processes over…

Stars formed in clusters can encounter other stars at close distances. In typical open clusters in the Solar neighbourhood containing hundreds or thousands of member stars, ten to twenty per cent of Solar-mass member stars are expected to…

We demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of using a satellite-based sensor with visual and infrared focal plane arrays to search for NEAs with orbits largely interior to the Earth's orbit. Such a space-based system could detect…

We propose a low-cost robotic optical survey aimed at $1-300$ m Near Earth Objects (NEO) based on four state-of-the-art telescopes having extremely wide field of view. The small Near-Earth Asteroids (NEA) represent a potential risk but also…

In this paper, the near-optimal capture problem is numerically investigated to locate the optimal capture points around Charon using the Pluto-Charon planar circular restricted three-body problem (PCRTBP). Capture orbits are divided into…

We perform a search for dormant comets, asteroidal objects of cometary origin, in the near-Earth asteroid (NEA) population based on dynamical and physical considerations. Our study is based on albedos derived within the ExploreNEOs program…

Mean motion resonances play a fundamental role in the dynamics of the small bodies of the Solar System. The last decades of the 20th century gave us a detailed description of the dynamics as well as the process of capture of small bodies in…

The small solar-system bodies that reside between 30 and 50 AU are often referred to as the Trans Neptunian Objects, or TNOs. A far-infrared (FIR) mission with survey capabilities, like the prospective Cryogenic Aperture Large Infrared…

Our investigation is motivated by the recent discovery of asteroids orbiting the Sun and simultaneously staying near one of the Solar System planets for a long time. This regime of motion is usually called the quasi-satellite regime, since…

One-opposition near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) are growing in number, and they must be recovered to prevent loss and mismatch risk, and to improve their orbits, as they are likely to be too faint for detection in shallow surveys at future…

Assess the joint capabilities of emerging telescopes for near-Earth objects (NEOs) survey and characterization, and what they will add to the current capabilities or replace. NASA telescopes in prime mission, in development, or under study,…

Space-based observatories at the second Sun-Earth Lagrange Point (L2) offer a unique opportunity to efficiently determine the orbits of distant solar system objects by taking advantage of the parallax effect that arises from nearly…

Digital co-addition of astronomical images is a common technique for increasing signal-to-noise and image depth. A modification of this simple technique has been applied to the detection of minor bodies in the Solar System: first stationary…

The outer Solar System contains a large number of small bodies (known as trans-Neptunian objects or TNOs) that exhibit diverse types of dynamical behavior. The classification of bodies in this distant region into dynamical classes --…