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 activity of comet C/2007 D1 (LINEAR) at 9.7 AU from the Sun 2010A&A...513A..33M
    Testing the comet nature of main belt comets. The spectra of 133P/Elst-Pizarro and 176P/LINEAR 2011A&A...532A..65L
    Taxonomy of asteroids in the Cybele region from the analysis of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey colors 2010Icar..206..729G
    Structures in the dust coma of comet C/1999 T1 (McNaught-Hartley) from Jan. 26 to Feb. 05, 2001 2009A&A...497..843L
    Stardust-NExT, Deep Impact, and the accelerating spin of 9P/Tempel 1 2011Icar..213..345B
    Spitzer observations of the asteroid-comet transition object and potential spacecraft target 107P (4015) Wilson-Harrington 2009A&A...507.1667L
    Spitzer observations of spacecraft target 162173 (1999 JU3) 2009A&A...503L..17C
    Spectroscopy of B-type asteroids: Subgroups and meteorite analogs 2010JGRE..11506005C
    Spectral properties of asteroids in cometary orbits 2008A&A...481..861L
    Rotational fission of trans-Neptunian objects: the case of Haumea 2012MNRAS.419.2315O
    Physical properties and orbital stability of the Trojan asteroids 2008Icar..195..686M
    Origin of the near-Earth asteroid Phaethon and the Geminids meteor shower 2010A&A...513A..26D
    Observations, compositional, and physical characterization of near-Earth and Mars-crosser asteroids from a spectroscopic survey 2010A&A...517A..23D
    New observations of asteroid (175706) 1996 FG3, primary target of the ESA Marco Polo-R mission 2011A&A...530L..12D
    Near-infrared spectroscopy of primitive asteroid families 2011Icar..213..538Z
    Near-infrared spectroscopic survey of B-type asteroids: Compositional analysis 2012Icar..218..196D
    MarcoPolo-R near earth asteroid sample return mission 2012ExA....33..645B
    Low Perihelion Near-Earth Asteroids 2009EM&P..105..159C
    Links between the dynamical evolution and the surface color of the Centaurs 2012A&A...539A.144M
    Lightcurves of 6 Jupiter Trojan asteroids 2010P&SS...58.1035M
    Evolution of the dust coma in comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko before the 2009 perihelion 2011A&A...531A..54T
    EURONEAR—Recovery, follow-up and discovery of NEAs and MBAs using large field 1-2 m telescopes 2011P&SS...59.1632V
    EPOXI: Comet 103P/Hartley 2 Observations from a Worldwide Campaign 2011ApJ...734L...1M
    Digging into the surface of the icy dwarf planet Eris 2009Icar..199..520A
    Deep Impact, Stardust-NExT and the behavior of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 from 1997 to 2010 2011Icar..213..323M
    (65) Cybele: detection of small silicate grains, water-ice, and organics 2011A&A...525A..34L
    Water-ice-driven Activity on Main-Belt Comet P/2010 A2 (LINEAR)? 2010ApJ...718L.132M
    The Dust Environment of Main-Belt Comet P/2010 R2 (La Sagra) 2011ApJ...738L..16M
    5-14 μm Spitzer spectra of Themis family asteroids 2012A&A...537A..73L
    (596) Scheila in Outburst: A Probable Collision Event in the Main Asteroid Belt 2011ApJ...738..130M

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