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Santana-Ros T, Micheli M, Faggioli L, Cennamo R, Devogèle M, Alvarez-Candal A, Oszkiewicz D, Ramírez O, Liu PY, Benavidez PG, Campo Bagatin A, Christensen EJ, Wainscoat RJ, Weryk R, Fraga L, Briceño C, Conversi L. Orbital stability analysis and photometric characterization of the second Earth Trojan asteroid 2020 XL 5. Nat Commun 2022; 13:447. [PMID: 35105878 PMCID: PMC8807697 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-27988-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2021] [Accepted: 12/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Trojan asteroids are small bodies orbiting around the L4 or L5 Lagrangian points of a Sun-planet system. Due to their peculiar orbits, they provide key constraints to the Solar System evolution models. Despite numerous dedicated observational efforts in the last decade, asteroid 2010 TK7 has been the only known Earth Trojan thus far. Here we confirm that the recently discovered 2020 XL5 is the second transient Earth Trojan known. To study its orbit, we used archival data from 2012 to 2019 and observed the object in 2021 from three ground-based observatories. Our study of its orbital stability shows that 2020 XL5 will remain in L4 for at least 4 000 years. With a photometric analysis we estimate its absolute magnitude to be [Formula: see text], and color indices suggestive of a C-complex taxonomy. Assuming an albedo of 0.06 ± 0.03, we obtain a diameter of 1.18 ± 0.08 km, larger than the first known Earth Trojan asteroid.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Santana-Ros
- Departamento de Fisica, Ingeniería de Sistemas y Teoría de la Señal, Universidad de Alicante, Carr. de San Vicente del Raspeig, s/n, 03690 San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, Spain. .,Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona (IEEC-UB), Carrer de Martí i Franquès, 1, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - M Micheli
- ESA NEO Coordination Centre, Largo Galileo Galilei, 1, 00044, Frascati, Italy
| | - L Faggioli
- ESA NEO Coordination Centre, Largo Galileo Galilei, 1, 00044, Frascati, Italy
| | - R Cennamo
- ESA NEO Coordination Centre, Largo Galileo Galilei, 1, 00044, Frascati, Italy
| | - M Devogèle
- Arecibo Observatory, University of Central Florida, HC3 Box 53995, Arecibo, PR, 00612, USA
| | - A Alvarez-Candal
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC, Apartado 3004, 18080, Granada, Spain.,Instituto de Física Aplicada a las Ciencias y las Tecnologías, Universidad de Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, 03080, Alicante, Spain.,Observatório Nacional / MCTIC, R. Gen. José Cristino, 77, Rio de Janeiro, 20921-400, Brazil
| | - D Oszkiewicz
- Astronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, A. Mickiewicz University, Słoneczna 36, 60-286, Poznań, Poland
| | - O Ramírez
- Solenix Deutschland GmbH, Spreestraße 3, 64295, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - P-Y Liu
- Instituto de Física Aplicada a las Ciencias y las Tecnologías, Universidad de Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, 03080, Alicante, Spain
| | - P G Benavidez
- Departamento de Fisica, Ingeniería de Sistemas y Teoría de la Señal, Universidad de Alicante, Carr. de San Vicente del Raspeig, s/n, 03690 San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, Spain.,Instituto de Física Aplicada a las Ciencias y las Tecnologías, Universidad de Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, 03080, Alicante, Spain
| | - A Campo Bagatin
- Departamento de Fisica, Ingeniería de Sistemas y Teoría de la Señal, Universidad de Alicante, Carr. de San Vicente del Raspeig, s/n, 03690 San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, Spain.,Instituto de Física Aplicada a las Ciencias y las Tecnologías, Universidad de Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, 03080, Alicante, Spain
| | - E J Christensen
- The University of Arizona, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, 1629 E University Blvd, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
| | - R J Wainscoat
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Dr, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA
| | - R Weryk
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond St, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada
| | - L Fraga
- Laboratório Nacional de Astrofísica LNA/MCTIC, R. dos Estados Unidos, 154, Itajubá, 37504-364, Brazil
| | - C Briceño
- Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory/NSF's NOIRLab, Casilla 603, La Serena, Chile
| | - L Conversi
- ESA NEO Coordination Centre, Largo Galileo Galilei, 1, 00044, Frascati, Italy.,ESA ESRIN, Largo Galileo Galilei, 1, 00044, Frascati, Italy
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Hergenrother CW, Maleszewski CK, Nolan MC, Li JY, Drouet d'Aubigny CY, Shelly FC, Howell ES, Kareta TR, Izawa MRM, Barucci MA, Bierhaus EB, Campins H, Chesley SR, Clark BE, Christensen EJ, DellaGiustina DN, Fornasier S, Golish DR, Hartzell CM, Rizk B, Scheeres DJ, Smith PH, Zou XD, Lauretta DS. The operational environment and rotational acceleration of asteroid (101955) Bennu from OSIRIS-REx observations. Nat Commun 2019; 10:1291. [PMID: 30890725 PMCID: PMC6425024 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09213-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2019] [Accepted: 02/26/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
During its approach to asteroid (101955) Bennu, NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft surveyed Bennu's immediate environment, photometric properties, and rotation state. Discovery of a dusty environment, a natural satellite, or unexpected asteroid characteristics would have had consequences for the mission's safety and observation strategy. Here we show that spacecraft observations during this period were highly sensitive to satellites (sub-meter scale) but reveal none, although later navigational images indicate that further investigation is needed. We constrain average dust production in September 2018 from Bennu's surface to an upper limit of 150 g s-1 averaged over 34 min. Bennu's disk-integrated photometric phase function validates measurements from the pre-encounter astronomical campaign. We demonstrate that Bennu's rotation rate is accelerating continuously at 3.63 ± 0.52 × 10-6 degrees day-2, likely due to the Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack (YORP) effect, with evolutionary implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- C W Hergenrother
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
| | - C K Maleszewski
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - M C Nolan
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - J-Y Li
- Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | | | - F C Shelly
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - E S Howell
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - T R Kareta
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - M R M Izawa
- Institute for Planetary Materials, Okayama University-Misasa, Misasa, Tottori, Japan
| | - M A Barucci
- LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Univ. Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Meudon, France
| | | | - H Campins
- Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA
| | - S R Chesley
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - B E Clark
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - E J Christensen
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - D N DellaGiustina
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - S Fornasier
- LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Univ. Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Meudon, France
| | - D R Golish
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - C M Hartzell
- Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - B Rizk
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - D J Scheeres
- Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - P H Smith
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - X-D Zou
- Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - D S Lauretta
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
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Bertiger WI, Bar-Sever YE, Christensen EJ, Davis ES, Guinn JR, Haines BJ, Ibanez-Meier RW, Jee JR, Lichten SM, Melbourne WG, Muellerschoen RJ, Munson TN, Vigue Y, Wu SC, Yunck TP, Schutz BE, Abusali PAM, Rim HJ, Watkins MM, Willis P. GPS precise tracking of TOPEX/POSEIDON: Results and implications. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1994. [DOI: 10.1029/94jc01171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 122] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Christensen EJ, Haines BJ, Keihm SJ, Morris CS, Norman RA, Purcell GH, Williams BG, Wilson BD, Born GH, Parke ME, Gill SK, Shum CK, Tapley BD, Kolenkiewicz R, Nerem RS. Calibration of TOPEX/POSEIDON at Platform Harvest. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1994. [DOI: 10.1029/94jc01641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Tolson RH, Duxbury TC, Born GH, Christensen EJ, Diehl RE, Farless D, Hildebrand CE, Mitchell RT, Molko PM, Morabito LA, Palluconi FD, Reichert RJ, Taraji H, Veverka J, Neugebauer G, Findlay JT. Viking First Encounter of Phobos: Preliminary Results. Science 1978; 199:61-4. [PMID: 17841954 DOI: 10.1126/science.199.4324.61] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
During the last 2 weeks of February 1977, an intensive scientific investigation of the martian satellite Phobos was conducted by the Viking Orbiter-1 (VO-1) spacecraft. More than 125 television pictures were obtained during this period and infrared observations were made. About 80 percent of the illuminated hemisphere was imaged at a resolution of about 30 meters. Higher resolution images of limited areas were also obtained. Flyby distances within 80 kilometers of the surface were achieved. An estimate of the mass of Phobos (GM) was obtained by observing the effect of Phobos's gravity on the orbit of VO-1 as sensed by Earth-based radiometric tracking. Preliminary results indicate a value of GM of 0.00066 +/- 0.00012 cubic kilometer per second squared (standard deviation of 3) and a mean density of about 1.9 +/- 0.6 gram per cubic centimeter (standard deviation of 3). This low density, together with the low albedo and the recently determined spectral reflectance, suggest that Phobos is compositionally similar to type I carbonaceous chondrites. Thus, either this object formed in the outer part of the asteroid belt or Lewis's theory that such material cannot condense at 1.5 astronomical units is incorrect. The data on Phobos obtained during this first encounter period are comparable in quantity to all of the data on Mars returned by Mariner flights 4, 6, and 7.
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Lorell J, Born GH, Christensen EJ, Jordan JF, Laing PA, Martin WL, Sjogren WL, Shapiro II, Reasenberg RD, Slater GL. Mariner 9 Celestial Mechanics Experiment: Gravity Field and Pole Direction of Mars. Science 1972; 175:317-20. [PMID: 17814540 DOI: 10.1126/science.175.4019.317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Analysis of the Mariner 9 radio-tracking data shows that the Martian gravity field is rougher than that of Earth or the moon, and that the accepted direction of Mars's rotation axis is in error by about 0.5 degrees . The new value for the pole direction for the epoch 1971.9, referred to the mean equatorial system of 1950.0, is right ascension alpha= 317.3 degrees +/- 0.3 degrees , declination delta = 52.6 degrees +/- 0.2 degrees . The values found for the coefficients of the low-order harmonics of Mars's gravity field are as follows: J(2)=(1.96+/-0.01)x10(-3), referred to an equatorial radius of 3394 kilometers; C(22) = -(5 +/- 1) x 10(-5); and S(22) = (3 +/- 1) x 10(-5). The value for J(2) is in excellent agreement with the result from, Wilkins' analysis of the observations of Phobos. The other two coefficients imply a value of (2.5 +/- 0.5) x 10(-4) for the fractional difference in the principal equatorial moments of inertia; the axis of the minimum moment passes near 105 degrees W.
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