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General
This project studies the physical and compositional properties of the so-called minor bodies of the Solar System, that includes asteroids, icy objects, and comets. Of special interest are the trans-neptunian objects (TNOs), including those considered the most distant objects detected so far (Extreme-TNOs or ETNOs); the comets and the comet-asteroid transitional objects (Centaurs and main belt comets or MBCs); the primitive asteroids. The last two groups contain the most primordial and pristine material of the Solar System and so they provide the clues to understand the origin and the subsequent evolution of our system. Among asteroid population, the near-Earth asteroids or NEAs, as well as the potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs) are of particular interest: due to their proximity to the Earth, they are the most accesible to spacecraft and so are ideal for in-situ or even sample-return space missions. In addition they are considered as future potential resources of materials (asteroid mining), and they are also impact hazards for the Earth. Regarding primitive asteroids, it is remarkable the spectroscopic survey (visible and near-infrared) led by the PI of this project (PRIMitive Asteroids Spectroscopic Survey - PRIMASS). This survey received financial support from NASA (17-PDART17_2-0097, PI: N. Pinilla-Alonso, 137.000€ - 2 years) in order to upload and archive at the Small Bodies Node of the NASA Planetary Data System the more than 800 spectra obtained.
The compositional surface properties, as well as the physical and thermal properties of these objects are inferred through imaging, photometry, and spectroscopy in a wide range of wavelengths (from 0.35 up to 24 microns). Data are interpreted using scattering and thermo-physical models. This project works also in the study of the physical properties of the cometary nuclei, as well as properties of dust and coma in the tails of the MBCs and the mechanisms that generate them.
This group maintains several international collaborations with other groups, and some of their members are also members of (1) the Science Team of the NASA OSIRIS-REx mission, in particular the Image Processing Working Group, were they work with the images obtained with the OCAMS suite of cameras; (2) the coordination of an international group to study NEAs (EURONEAR); (3) the central core of the proponents of ESA M5 missions CASTALIA, CASTAway, and Hera; (4) the Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science - CLASS (NASA); (5) the Solar System group of the Euclid consortium; (6) the surveys J-PLUS and J-PASS for the exploitation of observations of Solar System objects; (7) the Solar System working group of Gaia and JWST.
Members
Scientific activity
Related publications
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The spatial distribution of impact craters on RyuguAsteroid 162173 Ryugu has numerous craters. The initial measurement of impact craters on Ryugu, by Sugita et al. (2019), is based on Hayabusa2 ONC images obtained during the first month after the arrival of Hayabusa2 in June 2018. Utilizing new images taken until February 2019, we constructed a global impact crater catalogue of Ryugu, whichHirata, Naoyuki et al.
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32020 -
Analysis in the visible range of NASA Lucy mission targets: Eurybates, Polymele, Orus and Donaldjohanson.Jupiter Trojan asteroids are minor bodies that share Jupiter's orbit around the Sun. Although not yet well understood in origin and composition, they have surface properties that, besides being comparable with other populations of small bodies in the Solar System, hold information that may restrict models of planetary formation. Because of thisSouza-Feliciano, A. C. et al.
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32020 -
The spectroscopic properties of the Lixiaohua family, cradle of Main Belt CometsThe Lixiaohua collisional family lies in the Outer Main Belt, close to the well characterized Themis primitive class family. It is one of the only three families that host two active asteroids that present cometary-like activity: 313P/Gibbs and 358P/PANSTARRS (P/2012 T1). As a part of the PRIMitive Asteroid Spectroscopy Survey (PRIMASS), we presentDe Prá, M. N. et al.
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32020 -
An ultra-short period rocky super-Earth orbiting the G2-star HD 80653★Ultra-short period (USP) planets are a class of exoplanets with periods shorter than one day. The origin of this sub-population of planets is still unclear, with different formation scenarios highly dependent on the composition of the USP planets. A better understanding of this class of exoplanets will, therefore, require an increase in the sampleFrustagli, G. et al.
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12020 -
Microquasar V404 Cyg /GS 2023+338: MASTER optical observations during the June and December 2015 super-outburstsWe present several thousands homogeneous photometric (WBVRI and polarization) observations of the microquasar black hole binary V404 Cyg, obtained by the MASTER Global Robotic Network (Lipunov et al. 2010). MASTER were the first telescopes to optically monitor the microquasar after its gamma-ray onset from 18 h 34 m 09 s UT on June 15, 2015 ()Lipunov, V. M. et al.
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102019 -
The MASTER Global Robotic Telescope Network: Observations of Asteroid NEA 2015 TB145The results of white-light photometry for a uniquely long series of data (13.5 hours of observations, 1124 measurements) for the Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) 2015 TB145 are presented. These data were obtained with the MASTER-Amur and MASTER-Tavrida wide-field robotic telescopes of the Mobile Astronomical System of Telescope-Robots (MASTER) globalZimnukhov, D. S. et al.
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122019 -
The descent and bouncing path of the Hayabusa2 lander MASCOT at asteroid (162173) RyuguImages from the Optical Navigation Camera system (ONC) onboard the Hayabusa2 spacecraft show the MASCOT lander during its descent to the surface of asteroid (162173) Ryugu. We used results from a previous stereo-photogrammetric analysis that provided precise ONC image orientation data (camera position and pointing), ONC orthoimages, and an ONCScholten, F. et al.
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122019 -
The MASCOT landing area on asteroid (162173) Ryugu: Stereo-photogrammetric analysis using images of the ONC onboard the Hayabusa2 spacecraftA high-resolution 3D surface model, map-projected to a digital terrain model (DTM), and precisely ortho-rectified context images (orthoimages) of MASCOT landing site area are important data sets for the scientific analysis of relevant data that have been acquired with MASCOT's image camera system MASCam and other instruments (e.g., the radiometerPreusker, F. et al.
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122019 -
Episodes of particle ejection from the surface of the active asteroid (101955) BennuActive asteroids are those that show evidence of ongoing mass loss. We report repeated instances of particle ejection from the surface of (101955) Bennu, demonstrating that it is an active asteroid. The ejection events were imaged by the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security─Regolith Explorer)Lauretta, D. S. et al.
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122019 -
The last pieces of the primitive inner belt puzzle: Klio, Chaldaea, Chimaera, and SveaAims: Several primitive families in the inner region of the main asteroid belt were identified as potential sources for two near-Earth asteroids (NEAs), (101955) Bennu and (162173) Ryugu, targets of the sample-return missions OSIRIS-REx and Hayabusa2, respectively. Four of the families, located at high proper inclinations (i > 10°), have not yetMorate, David et al.
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102019 -
The Changing Rotational Light-curve Amplitude of Varuna and Evidence for a Close-in SatelliteFrom CCD observations carried out with different telescopes, we present short-term photometric measurements of the large trans-Neptunian object Varuna in 10 epochs, spanning around 19 years. We observe that the amplitude of the rotational light curve has changed considerably during this period of time from 0.41 to 0.55 mag. In order to explain thisFernández-Valenzuela, Estela et al.
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92019 -
Distribution and spectrophotometric classification of basaltic asteroidsWe aim to determine the distribution of basaltic asteroids (classified as V-types) based on the spectrophotometric data reported in the MOVIS-C catalogue. A total of 782 asteroids were identified. The observations with all four filters (Y, J, H, Ks), available for 297 of these candidates, allow a reliable comparison with the laboratory data ofMansour, J. -A. et al.
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22020 -
Near-infrared spectroscopy of the Klio primitive inner-belt asteroid familyThe PRIMitive Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey (PRIMASS) aims to characterize primitive asteroids throughout the asteroid belt in the visible and near-infrared (NIR). There are eight primitive families in the inner main belt: Polana-Eulalia, Erigone, Sulamitis, Clarissa, Chaldaea, Klio, Svea and Chimaera. PRIMASS has already characterized all 8Arredondo, A. et al.
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12020 -
Mega-Archive and the EURONEAR tools for data mining world astronomical imagesThe world astronomical image archives offer huge opportunities to time-domain astronomy sciences and other hot topics such as space defense, and astronomical observatories should improve this wealth and make it more accessible in the big data era. In 2010 we introduced the Mega-Archive database and the Mega-Precovery server for data mining imagesVaduvescu, O. et al.
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12020 -
A Reverse Shock in GRB 181201AWe present comprehensive multiwavelength radio to X-ray observations of GRB 181201A spanning from ≈150 s to ≈163 days after the burst, comprising the first joint ALMA─VLA─GMRT observations of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow. The radio and millimeter-band data reveal a distinct signature at ≈3.9 days, which we interpret as reverse-shock (RS)Laskar, Tanmoy et al.
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102019 -
Interstellar Visitors: A Physical Characterization of Comet C/2019 Q4 (Borisov) with OSIRIS at the 10.4 m GTCde León, Julia et al.
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92019 -
Multivariable statistical analysis of spectrophotometry and spectra of (162173) Ryugu as observed by JAXA Hayabusa2 missionContext. Starting from late June 2018, the JAXA asteroid sample return mission Hayabusa2 acquired a large quantity of resolved images and spectra of the surface of the asteroid (162173) Ryugu. Aims: By studying the visible and near-infrared spectral behavior across the surface of Ryugu using a statistical analysis, we aim to distinguish spectralBarucci, M. A. et al.
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92019 -
Compositional characterization of V-type candidate asteroids identified using the MOVIS catalogueThe main objective of this work is to compositionally analyse the visible to near-infrared spectra of a total of six V-type candidates identified using the MOVIS (Y-J) versus (J-Ks) colour-colour plot and located outside the Vesta collisional family. We obtained visible and near-infrared spectra of these asteroids using the 2.54m Isaac NewtonMedeiros, H. et al.
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92019 -
Near-Earth asteroids spectroscopic survey at Isaac Newton TelescopeContext. The population of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) shows a large variety of objects in terms of physical and dynamical properties. They are subject to planetary encounters and to strong solar wind and radiation effects. Their study is also motivated by practical reasons regarding space exploration and long-term probability of impact with thePopescu, M. et al.
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72019 -
Asteroid pairs: A complex pictureWe studied a sample of 93 asteroid pairs, i.e., pairs of genetically related asteroids that are on highly similar heliocentric orbits. We estimated times elapsed since separation of pair members (i.e., pair age) that are between 7 × 103 yr and a few 106 yr. With photometric observations, we derived the rotation periods P1 for all the primaries (i.ePravec, P. et al.
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