Related papers: Thermal Tomography of Asteroid Surface Structure
We present a new method for the determination of the surface properties of airless bodies from measurements of the emitted infrared flux. Our approach uses machine learning techniques to train, validate, and test a neural network…
The thermal properties of the surfaces of asteroids determine the magnitude of the drift rate cause by the Yarkovsky force. In the general case of Main Belt asteroids, the Yarkovsky force is indirectly proportional to the thermal inertia,…
Asteroid surfaces are subjected to mechanical weathering processes that result in the development and evolution of regolith. Two proposed mechanisms--impact bombardment and thermal fatigue--have been proposed as viable and dominant…
Themis family is one of the largest and oldest asteroid populations in the main-belt. Water-ice may widely exist on the parent body (24) Themis. In this work, we employ the Advanced Thermophysical Model as well as mid-infrared measurements…
Here we explore a technique for constraining physical properties of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) based on variability in thermal emission as a function of viewing aspect. We present case studies of the low albedo, near-Earth asteroids…
Asteroids near the Sun can attain equilibrium temperatures sufficient to induce surface modification from thermal fracture, desiccation and decomposition of hydrated silicates. We present optical observations of nine asteroids with…
In granular systems, thermal cycling causes compaction, creep, penetration of dense objects, and ratcheting of grains against each other. On asteroid surfaces, thermal cycling is high amplitude and can happen billions of times in a few…
In planetary science, surface roughness is regarded to be a measure of surface irregularity at small spatial scales, and causes the thermal-infrared beaming effect (i.e. re-radiation of absorbed sunlight back towards to the Sun). Typically,…
The Yarkovsky--O'Keefe--Radzievskii--Paddack (YORP) effect governs the spin evolution of small asteroids. The axial component of YORP, which alters the rotation rate of the asteroid, is mostly independent of its thermal inertia, while the…
Near-Earth asteroid (1862) Apollo has strong detections of both orbital semimajor axis drift and rotational acceleration. We produce a unified model that can accurately match both observed effects using a single set of thermophysical…
Surface shedding of an asteroid is a failure mode where surface materials fly off due to strong centrifugal forces beyond the critical spin period, while the internal structure does not deform significantly. This paper proposes a possible…
The surface temperature of an asteroid is fundamental information for the design of an exploration mission and the interpretation of scientific observations. In addition, the thermal radiation of the asteroid causes a non-gravitational…
The Yarkovsky effect on real asteroids is complicated to calculate either by analytical or numerical methods, since they are generally irregular in shape. We propose an index to properly characterise the shape of any asteroid, through which…
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…
The majority of known asteroid diameters are derived from thermal-infrared observations. Diameters are derived using asteroid thermal models that approximate their surface temperature distributions and compare the measured thermal-infrared…
Context. The YORP effect is the thermal torque generated by radiation from the surface of an asteroid. The effect is sensitive to surface topology, including small-scale roughness, boulders, and craters. Aims: The aim of this paper is to…
Surface charging phenomenon of asteroids, mainly resulting from solar wind plasma and solar radiation, has been studied extensively. However, the influence of asteroid's rotation on surface charging has yet to be fully understood. Here…
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…
In this work, we investigate the surface thermophysical properties (thermal emissivity, thermal inertia, roughness fraction and geometric albedo) of asteroid (99942) Apophis, using the currently available thermal infrared observations of…
Context: Asteroids with a diameter of up to a few dozen meters may spin very fast and complete an entire rotation within a few minutes. These small and fast-rotating bodies are thought to be monolithic objects because the gravitational…