Minor Bodies of the Solar System

    General
    Description

    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.

    Principal investigator
    Project manager
    Collaborators
    Dr.
    Noemí Pinilla-Alonso
    Dr.
    Humberto Campins
    Dr.
    Fernando Moreno Danvila
    Dr.
    Y. Fernández
    Dr.
    José Luis Ortiz
    Dr.
    R. Duffard
    Prof.
    R. Hil-Hutton

    Related publications

    The infrared camera prototype characterization for the JEM-EUSO space mission 2014NIMPA.749...74M
    Blending the distinctions among groups of minor bodies: a portrait of the Centaur-comet "transition" object P/2010 C1 (Scotti) 2014A&A...565A..69M
    Rotationally resolved spectroscopy of (20000) Varuna in the near-infrared 2014A&A...562A..85L
    Intermittent Dust Mass Loss from Activated Asteroid P/2013 P5 (PANSTARRS) 2014ApJ...781..118M
    Observational results for eight long-period comets observed far from the Sun 2014A&A...561A...6M
    Thermophysical properties of near-Earth asteroid (341843) 2008 EV5 from WISE data 2014A&A...561A..45A
    Mining the ESO WFI and INT WFC archives for known Near Earth Asteroids. Mega-Precovery software 2013AN....334..718V
    Lightcurve, Color and Phase Function Photometry of the OSIRIS-REx Target Asteroid (101955) Bennu 2013Icar..226..663H
    Thermal properties, sizes, and size distribution of Jupiter-family cometary nuclei 2013Icar..226.1138F
    739 observed NEAs and new 2–4 m survey statistics within the EURONEAR network 2013P&SS...85..299V
    Additional spectra of asteroid 1996 FG3, backup target of the ESA MarcoPolo-R mission 2013A&A...556A..33D
    The Origin of Asteroid 162173 (1999 JU3) 2013AJ....146...26C
    Visible and near-infrared observations of asteroid 2012 DA14 during its closest approach of February 15, 2013 2013A&A...555L...2D
    The persistent activity of Jupiter-family comets at 3–7 AU 2013Icar..225..475K
    Physical properties of B-type asteroids from WISE data 2013A&A...554A..71A
    The Dust Environment of Main-Belt Comet P/2012 T1 (PANSTARRS) 2013ApJ...770L..30M
    An evaluation of the exposure in nadir observation of the JEM-EUSO mission 2013APh....44...76A
    Near-infrared spectroscopy of 1999 JU3, the target of the Hayabusa 2 mission 2013A&A...552A..79P
    Activity of Comet 103P/Hartley 2 at the time of the EPOXI mission fly-by 2013Icar..222..766T
    Surface composition and dynamical evolution of two retrograde objects in the outer solar system: 2008 YB3 and 2005 VD 2013A&A...550A..13P
    Exploring the nature of new main-belt comets with the 10.4 m GTC telescope: (300163) 2006 VW139 2013A&A...550A..17L
    Albedo and atmospheric constraints of dwarf planet Makemake from a stellar occultation 2012Natur.491..566O
    A Short-duration Event as the Cause of Dust Ejection from Main-Belt Comet P/2012 F5 (Gibbs) 2012ApJ...761L..12M
    Asteroids (65) Cybele, (107) Camilla and (121) Hermione: Infrared spectral diversity among the Cybeles 2012Icar..221..453H
    Spectroscopic observations of new Oort cloud comet 2006 VZ13 and four other comets 2010MNRAS.401.2399G
    More than 160 near Earth asteroids observed in the EURONEAR network 2010A&A...511A..40B
    High-Precision Astrometry of NEAs via EURONEAR Observations 2010RoAJ...20S.119B
    Formation of asteroid pairs by rotational fission 2010Natur.466.1085P
    EURONEAR: Data mining of asteroids and Near Earth Asteroids 2009AN....330..698V
    Deep Ks -near-infrared Surface Photometry of 80 Dwarf Irregular Galaxies in the Local Volume 2010ApJ...716..792F
    A Pluto-like radius and a high albedo for the dwarf planet Eris from an occultation 2011Natur.478..493S
    Water ice and organics on the surface of the asteroid 24 Themis 2010Natur.464.1320C
    Visible spectroscopy in the neighborhood of 2003EL{61} 2008A&A...489..455P
    Triple F—a comet nucleus sample return mission 2009ExA....23..809K
    The trans-Neptunian object size distribution at small sizes 2009A&A...500..909G
    The surface of (136108) Haumea (2003 EL{61}), the largest carbon-depleted object in the trans-Neptunian belt 2009A&A...496..547P
    The spectrum of (136199) Eris between 350 and 2350 nm: results with X-Shooter 2011A&A...532A.130A
    The size and thermal properties of the nucleus of Comet 22P/Kopff 2009Icar..199..568G
    The Origin of Asteroid 101955 (1999 RQ36) 2010ApJ...721L..53C
    The activity of comet C/2007 D1 (LINEAR) at 9.7 AU from the Sun (Corrigendum) 2010A&A...524C...1M

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