Related papers: Rotationally induced failure of irregularly shaped…
Small asteroids and large meteoroids frequently impact the Earth, though their physical and material properties remain poorly understood. When observed as fireballs in Earth's atmosphere, these properties can be inferred from their ablation…
We study long-range morphological changes in atomic monolayers on solid substrates induced by different types of defects; e.g., by monoatomic steps in the surface, or by the tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM), placed at some distance…
The mechanics of cohesive or cemented granular materials is complex, combining the heterogeneous responses of granular media, like force chains, with clearly defined material properties. Here, we use a discrete element model (DEM)…
Asteroid 162173 Ryugu is a rubble-pile asteroid, whose top-shape is compatible with models of deformation by spin up. Rims of major craters on Ryugu have an east-west asymmetric profile; their western crater rims are sharp and tall, while…
Asteroid shapes and satellites: role of gravitational reaccumulation. Following current evidences, it is widely accepted that many asteroids would be "gravitational aggregates", i.e. bodies lacking internal cohesion. They could mainly be…
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…
This study examines the rotational characteristics of asteroids through statistical modeling of the diameter-period relationship. A statistical evaluation of the diameter-period relationship was conducted using a dataset of 34,326…
In this work, we employ a soft-sphere discrete element method with a cohesion implementation to model the dynamical process of sub-km-sized cohesive rubble piles under continuous spinup. The dependencies of critical spin periods $T_c$ on…
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…
Extreme mass-ratio inspirals are crucial sources for future space-based gravitational wave detections. Gravitational waveforms emitted by extreme mass-ratio inspirals are closely related to the orbital dynamics of small celestial objects,…
Possible connections between the physical properties of Near-Earth Asteroids (NEA) and their orbital evolution were explored, with emphasis on binary asteroids. Our main starting hypothesis, suggested from the observations, was that the NEA…
The photometry of the minor body with extrasolar origin (1I/2017 U1) 'Oumuamua revealed an unprecedented shape: Meech et al. (2017) reported a shape elongation b/a close to 1/10, which calls for theoretical explanation. Here we show that…
Construction of the precise shape of an asteroid is critical for spacecraft operations as the gravitational potential is determined by spatial mass distribution. The typical approach to shape determination requires a prolonged mapping phase…
We present a novel implementation of a soft sphere, discrete elements code to simulate the dynamics of self-gravitating granular materials. The code is used to study the outcome of sub-sonic collisions between self-gravitating rubble piles…
An asteroid spun up to its critical limit has unique surface mechanical properties that its gravity and the centrifugal force largely balance, creating a relaxation environment where low-energy events such as mass shedding may trigger…
Porosity is one of the key properties of dense particle packings like sediment deposits and is influenced by a multitude of grain characteristics such as their size distribution and shape. In the present work, we focus on the form, a…
The population of known minor bodies in retrograde orbits ($i > 90 ^{\circ}$) that are classified as asteroids is still growing. The aim of our study was to estimate the dynamical lifetimes of these bodies by use of the latest observational…
Voids are one of the many material defects present at the microscopic length scale. They are primarily responsible for the formation of cracks and hence contribute to ductile fracture. Circular voids tend to deform into elliptical voids…
The asteroid belt was dynamically shaped during and after planet formation. Despite representing a broad ring of stable orbits, the belt contains less than one one-thousandth of an Earth mass. The asteroid orbits are dynamically excited…
Physical studies of asteroids depend on an availability of lightcurve data. Targets that are easy to observe and analyse naturally have more data available, so their synodic periods are confirmed from multiple sources. Also, thanks to…