Related papers: Threat Characterization: Trajectory Dynamics
Exploration of asteroids and comets can give insight into the origins of the solar system and can be instrumental in planetary defence and in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). Asteroids, due to their low gravity are a challenging target for…
By means of a fully connected artificial neural network, we identified asteroids with the potential to impact Earth. The resulting instrument, named the Hazardous Object Identifier (HOI), was trained on the basis of an artificial set of…
Among the near-Earth object (NEO) population there are comets and active asteroids which are sources of fragments that initially move together; in addition, some NEOs follow orbits temporarily trapped in a web of secular resonances. These…
In recent years, understanding asteroids has shifted from light worlds to geological worlds by exploring modern spacecraft and advanced radar and telescopic surveys. However, flyby in 2029 will be an opportunity to conduct an internal…
About 10% of the observed asteroids have rotational periods lower than P = 3 h and they seem to be relatively close to the spin barrier. Yet, the rotation has often been neglected in simulations of asteroid collisions. To determine the…
Space weathering is the generic term used for processes that modify the optical properties of surfaces of atmosphereless rocky bodies under exposure to the space environment. The general agreement about the relevance of the effects of space…
Orbital resonances are believed to be responsible for the delivery of main belt asteroids to the inner Solar System. Several possibilities have been suggested to transport asteroids and their fragments into mean motion and secular…
Context. Orbital similarity measures, such as the D-values, have been extensively used in meteor science to identify meteoroid streams and associate meteorite falls with near-Earth objects (NEOs). However, the chaotic nature of near-Earth…
Earthquakes rank among the most destructive manifestations of the Earth's dynamics. Can they be predicted? This is often the first question students ask. To answer that right away: no, at present it is not possible to anticipate the date,…
Large or even medium sized asteroids impacting the Earth can cause damage on a global scale. Existing and planned concepts for finding near-Earth objects (NEOs) with diameter of 140 m or larger would take ~15-20 years of observation to find…
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…
Studies on Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) throw light on discoveries, identification, orbit prediction and civil alert capabilities, including potential asteroid impact hazards. Due to various new observational programs, the discovery rate of…
The asteroid belt is a unique source of information on some of the most important questions facing solar system science. These questions include the sizes, numbers, types and orbital distributions of the planetesimals that formed the…
Observational searches for asteroids orbiting near Earth's triangular Lagrange points face unique obstacles. A population of such asteroids would occupy a large projected area on the sky (possibly hundreds of square degrees) and is not…
The most significant periodicities in the terrestrial impact crater record are due to the human-signal: the bias of assigning integer values for the crater ages. This bias seems to have eluded the proponents and opponents of real…
Global warming is one of the problems of human civilization and decarbonization policy is the main solution to this problem. In this work, we propose using the gravity-assist by the asteroids to increase the orbital distance of the Earth…
Due to their strong resonances with their host planet, Trojan asteroids can remain in stable orbits for billions of years. As a result, they are powerful probes for constraining the dynamical and chemical history of the solar system.…
Many asteroids that make close encounters with terrestrial planets are in a binary configuration. Here we calculate the relevant encounter timescales and investigate the effects of encounters on a binary's mutual orbit. We use a combination…
The orbital evolution of Jupiter-family comets (JFCs), resonant asteroids, and asteroidal, trans-Neptunian, and cometary dust particles under the gravitational influence of planets was integrated. For dust particles we also considered…
It is known that near-Earth objects (NEOs) during their orbital evolution may often undergo close approaches to the Sun. Indeed it is estimated that up to ~70% of them end their orbital evolution colliding with the Sun. Starting from the…