Astrophysical: Near-Earth objects

  • Publication
    2023 DZ2 Planetary Defense Campaign
    We present the results of a fourth planetary defense exercise, focused this time on the small near-Earth asteroid (NEA) 2023 DZ2 and conducted during its close...
  • Publication
    Apophis Planetary Defense Campaign
    We describe results of a planetary defense exercise conducted during the close approach to Earth by the near-Earth asteroid (99942) Apophis during 2020 December...
  • Publication
    Expected spectral characteristics of (101955) Bennu and (162173) Ryugu, targets of the OSIRIS-REx and Hayabusa2 missions
    NASA's OSIRIS-REx and JAXA's Hayabusa2 sample-return missions are currently on their way to encounter primitive near-Earth asteroids (101955) Bennu and (162173)...
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    Monitoring and physical characterization of Near Earth Objects
    We describe an ongoing program dedicated to the observation and physical characterization of Near Earth Objects (NEOs) using night facilities of Observatorio...
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    Near-infrared Spectral Homogeneity of the Didymos System Before and After the DART Impact
    We spectroscopically characterized the Didymos system, target of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)/Light Italian Cubesat for Imaging of Asteroids...
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    Opposition Observations of 162173 Ryugu: Normal Albedo Map Highlights Variations in Regolith Characteristics
    On 2019 January 8, the Telescopic Optical Navigation Camera (ONC-T) on board the Hayabusa2 spacecraft observed the Cb-type asteroid 162173 Ryugu under near...
  • Publication
    Photometric Observations of the Binary Near-Earth Asteroid (65803) Didymos in 2015-2021 Prior to DART Impact
    We performed photometric observations of the binary near-Earth asteroid (65803) Didymos in support of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission that...
  • Publication
    Photometry of the Didymos System across the DART Impact Apparition
    On 2022 September 26, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft impacted Dimorphos, the satellite of binary near-Earth asteroid (65803) Didymos...
  • Publication
    Regional Photometric Modeling of Asteroid (101955) Bennu
    We present a regional photometric analysis of asteroid (101955) Bennu, using image data from the MapCam color imager of the OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite (OCAMS)...