Related papers: Physical properties of B-type asteroids from WISE …
We present results of polarimetric, photometric, and spectral observations of the near-Earth asteroid (3200) Phaethon carried out at the 6-m BTA telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory and the 2.6-m and 1.25-m telescopes of the…
The near-Earth asteroid population suggests the existence of an inner Main Belt source of asteroids that belongs to the spectroscopic X-complex and has moderate albedos. The identification of such a source has been lacking so far. We argue…
Results from the TESS mission showed that previous studies strngly underestimated the number of slow rotators, revealing the importance of studying those asteroids. For most slowly rotating asteroids (P > 12), no spin and shape model is…
We report on Spitzer Space Telescope IRAC observations of near-Earth object (NEO) 2009 BD that were carried out in support of the NASA Asteroid Robotic Retrieval Mission (ARRM) concept. We did not detect 2009 BD in 25 hrs of integration at…
Aims. The aim of our study is to obtain the near-ultraviolet to visible (NUV-VIS, 0.35 - 0.95 micron) reflectance spectra of primitive asteroids with a focus on members of the Themis and Polana-Eulalia complex families. This…
We fit 54,296 sparsely-sampled asteroid lightcurves in the Palomar Transient Factory to a combined rotation plus phase-function model. Each lightcurve consists of 20+ observations acquired in a single opposition. Using 805 asteroids in our…
The rotational-fission of a rubble-pile asteroid can result in an "asteroid pair", two un-bound asteroids sharing similar orbits. This mechanism might exposes material that previously had never have been exposed to the weathering conditions…
Six asteroids including two NEAs, one of which is PHA, accessible for observation in September 2012 were investigated using a low-resolution spectrophotometry in the range 0.35-0.90 um with the aim to study features of their reflectance…
Detecting heat from minor planets in the outer solar system is challenging, yet it is the most efficient means for constraining the albedos and sizes of Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) and their progeny, the Centaur objects. These physical…
Among asteroid families, the Astrid family is peculiar because of its unusual inclination distribution. Objects at $a\simeq$~2.764 au are quite dispersed in this orbital element, giving the family a "crab-like" appearance. Recent works…
Large-area surveys operating at mid-infrared wavelengths have proven to be a valuable means of discovering and characterizing minor planets. Through the use of radiometric models, it is possible to derive physical properties such as…
Exoplanet research focusing on the characterization of super-Earths is currently limited to those handful targets orbiting bright stars that are amenable to detailed study. This Letter proposes to look at alternative avenues to probe the…
V-type asteroids in the inner Main Belt (a < 2.5 AU) and the HED meteorites are thought to be genetically related to one another as collisional fragments from the surface of the large basaltic asteroid 4 Vesta. We investigate this…
Using the POLISH2 polarimeter at the Lick Observatory Shane 3-m and Nickel 1-m telescopes, we discover rotation phase-locked variations in linear polarization to be common among asteroids and a NEO in a clear, 383 to 720 nm bandpass.…
Context. Many databases on asteroid brightnesses (e.g. ALCDEF, WISE) are potential sources for extensive asteroid shape and spin modelling. Individual lightcurve inversion models require several apparitions and hundreds of data points per…
By considering all asteroid linear polarization data available in the literature, it is possible to obtain updated phase - polarization curves for several tens of objects. In a separate paper (Cellino et al., 2015a, MNRAS, 451, 3473) we…
The near-Earth asteroid (3200) Phaethon is an intriguing object: its perihelion is at only 0.14 au and is associated with the Geminid meteor stream. We aim to use all available disk-integrated optical data to derive a reliable convex shape…
Aims. To derive the thermal inertia of 2008 EV$_5$, the baseline target for the Marco Polo-R mission proposal, and infer information about the size of the particles on its surface. Methods. Values of thermal inertia are obtained by fitting…
We present a new near-infrared photometric system for detection of water ice and methane ice in the solar system. The system consists of two medium-band filters in the K-band region of the near-infrared, which are sensitive to water ice and…
To date, reflectance spectra of Jupiter Trojan asteroids have revealed no distinctive absorption features. For this reason, the surface composition of these objects remains a subject of speculation. Spectra have revealed, however, that the…