Related papers: Asteroid Ryugu Before the Hayabusa2 Encounter
We performed a wide-field survey observation of small asteroids using the Hyper Suprime-Cam installed on the 8.2 m Subaru Telescope. We detected more than 3,000 main-belt asteroids with a detection limit of 24.2 mag in the r-band, which…
The Optical Navigation Camera (ONC-T, ONC-W1, ONC-W2) onboard Hayabusa2 are also being used for scientific observations of the mission target, C-complex asteroid 162173 Ryugu. Science observations and analyses require rigorous instrument…
In this work, we investigate the thermophysical properties of OSIRIS-REx target asteroid (101955) Bennu (hereafter, Bennu), where thermal inertia plays an important role in understanding the nature of the asteroid's surface, and will…
The OSIRIS camera onboard Rosetta successfully acquired images of asteroid 2867 Steins through a variety of color filters during the flyby on 5 September 2008. The best images of this 5 km diameter asteroid have a resolution of 78 meters…
We present new results of the observing program which is a part of the NEOROCKS project aimed to improve knowledge on physical properties of near-Earth Objects (NEOs) for planetary defense. Photometric observations were performed using the…
We advocate a low-cost strategy for long-duration research into the 'milligravity' environment of asteroids, comets and small moons, where surface gravity is a vector field typically less than 1/1000 the gravity of Earth. Unlike the…
The recently discovered first high velocity hyperbolic objects passing through the Solar System, 1I/'Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov, have raised the question about near term missions to Interstellar Objects. In situ spacecraft exploration of these…
The YORP effect is a small thermal-radiation torque experienced by small asteroids, and is considered to be crucial in their physical and dynamical evolution. It is important to understand this effect by providing measurements of YORP for a…
In the last decades Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) have become very important targets to study, since they can give us clues to the formation, evolution and composition of the Solar System. In addition, they may represent either a threat to…
In May of 2011, NASA selected the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) asteroid sample return mission as the third mission in the New Frontiers program. The other two New…
Missions to rendezvous with or capture an asteroid present significant interest both from a geophysical and safety point of view. They are key to the understanding of our solar system are as well stepping stones for interplanetary human…
In this article, theory-based analytical methodologies of astrophysics employed in the modern era are suitably operated alongside a test research-grade telescope to image and determine the orbit of a near-earth asteroid from original…
Gaia is an astrometric mission that will be launched in 2013 and set on L2 point of Lagrange. It will observe a large number of Solar System Objets (SSO) down to magnitude 20. The Solar System Science goal is to map thousand of Main Belt…
This paper outlines the Radio Science Experiment (RSE) proposed for the RAMSES mission to asteroid (99942) Apophis, which will undergo a close Earth encounter in April 2029. This event provides a unique opportunity to study the asteroid's…
The Yarkovsky (orbital drift) and YORP (spin state change) effects play important roles in the dynamical and physical evolution of asteroids. Thermophysical modelling of these observed effects, and of thermal-infrared observations, allows a…
The heterogeneity of the small body population complicates the prediction of small body properties before the spacecraft's arrival. In the context of autonomous small body exploration, it is crucial to develop algorithms that estimate the…
The moniker rubble pile is typically applied to all solar system bodies with Diameter between 200m and 10km - where in this size range there is an abundance of evidence that nearly every object is bound primarily by self-gravity with…
The isotopic compositions of samples returned from Cb-type asteroid Ryugu and Ivuna-type (CI) chondrites are distinct from other carbonaceous chondrites, which has led to the suggestion that Ryugu and CI chondrites formed in a different…
Aims. We determine the physical properties (spin state and shape) of asteroid (21) Lutetia, target of the ESA Rosetta mission, to help in preparing for observations during the flyby on 2010 July 10 by predicting the orientation of Lutetia…
The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft arrived at its target, near-Earth asteroid 101955 Bennu, in December 2018. After one year of operating in proximity, the…