Related papers: Asteroid Family Physical Properties
The origin of the Taurid complex is still debated. In addition to comet 2P/Encke, various asteroids were proposed to be members of the complex and thus possible parent bodies of Taurid meteoroids. Studies of physical properties of Taurid…
Metal-rich asteroids and iron meteorites are considered core remnants of differentiated planetesimals and or products of oxygen-depleted accretion. Investigating the origins of iron-rich planetesimals could provide key insights into planet…
Instabilities and strong dynamical interactions between several giant planets have been proposed as a possible explanation for the surprising orbital properties of extrasolar planetary systems. In particular, dynamical instabilities would…
Recently, the first collisional family was discovered in the Kuiper belt. The parent body of this family, Haumea, is one of the largest objects in the Kuiper belt and is orbited by two satellites. It has been proposed that the Haumea family…
The Asteroid Belt and the Kuiper Belt are relics from the formation of our solar system. Understanding the size and spin distribution of the two belts is crucial for a deeper understanding of the formation of our solar system and the…
Whenever a freely spinning body is found in a complex rotational state, this means that either the body is a recent victim of an impact or a tidal interaction, or is a fragment of a recently disrupted progenitor. Another factor (relevant…
Recent dynamical studies have identified pairs of asteroids that reside in nearly identical heliocentric orbits. Possible formation scenarios for these systems include dissociation of binary asteroids, collisional disruption of a single…
Given the compositional diversity of asteroids, and their distribution in space, it is impossible to consider returning samples from each one to establish their origin. However, the velocity and molecular composition of primary minerals,…
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…
In the Nice model, the late heavy bombardment (LHB) is related to an orbital instability of giant planets which causes a fast dynamical dispersion of a transneptunian cometary disk. We study effects produced by these hypothetical cometary…
We have used numerical routines to model the evolution of a simulated Baptistina family to constrain its age in light of new measurements of the diameters and albedos of family members from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. We also…
Stars and planets are the fundamental objects of the Universe. Their formation processes, though related, may differ in important ways. Stars almost certainly form from gravitational collapse and probably have formed this way since the…
We study K-type asteroids in the broad surroundings of the Eos family because they seem to be intimately related, according to their colours measured by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Such `halos' of asteroid families have been rarely used…
Most observed extrasolar planets have masses similar to, but orbits very different from, the gas giants of our solar system. Many are much closer to their parent stars than would have been expected and their orbits are often rather…
The rotational mass loss has been realized to be a prevalent mechanism to produce low-speed debris near the asteroid, and the size composition of the asteroid's surface regolith has been closely measured by in situ explorations. However,…
NEOs come close to the Earth's orbit so that any dust ejected from them, might be seen as a meteor shower. Orbits evolve rapidly, so that a similarity of orbits at one given time is not suffcient to prove a relationship, orbital evolution…
The goal of planet formation as a field of study is not only to provide the understanding of how planets come into existence. It is also an interdisciplinary bridge which links astronomy to geology and mineralogy. Recent observations of…
Tidal disruption events are common in the Universe, which may occur in various compact star systems and could account for many astrophysical phenomena. Depending on the separation between the central compact star and its companion, either a…
Most asteroid families are very homogeneous in physical properties. Some show greater diversity, however. The Flora family is the most intriguing of them. The Flora family is spread widely in the inner main belt, has a rich collisional…
The dynamical evolution of Classical Kuiper Belt Objects (CKBOs) divides into two parts, according to the secular theory of test particle orbits. The first part is a forced oscillation driven by the planets, while the second part is a free…