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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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V404 CYG/GS 2023+338: Monitoring in the Optical with Robotic Telescopes of the MASTER Global Network during the 2015 Superburst2070 unique, homogeneous photometric and polarization observations of the microquasar in a binary system with a black hole V404 Cyg/GS2023+338 obtained in 2015 with the MASTER global network of robotic telescopes (16 robotic telescopes located at eight points on the Earth in Russia, Spain, South Africa, and Argentina) are presented. MASTER was theLipunov, V. M. et al.
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72019 -
QSO2 outflow characterization using data obtained with OSIRIS at the Gran Telescopio CanariasContext. Ionized outflows are ubiquitous in non-radio-loud obscured quasars (QSO2s) at different redshifts. However, the actual size of the outflows and their efficiency for gas ejection and star formation truncation are controversial. Large-scale (exceeding several kiloparsec) extended radio structures might be necessary to identify (even toBellocchi, Enrica et al.
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62019 -
Physical characterization of 2009 WN25: exploring the link with November i-Draconids meteor showerThe distinction between active and inactive small bodies in the Solar System has become more blended in recent years, with the discovery of objects exhibiting a transient nature. The assumption of activity (past or present) for a small body can be achieved indirectly by its identification as the parent of a meteor shower. In this framework, theIeva, S. et al.
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82019 -
Spectroscopic and dynamical properties of comet C/2018 F4, likely a true average former member of the Oort cloudContext. The population of comets hosted by the Oort cloud is heterogeneous. Most studies in this area have focused on highly active objects, those with small perihelion distances or examples of objects with peculiar physical properties and/or unusual chemical compositions. This may have produced a biased sample of Oort cloud comets in which theLicandro, J. et al.
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52019 -
Lower atmosphere and pressure evolution on Pluto from ground-based stellar occultations, 1988-2016Context. The tenuous nitrogen (N2) atmosphere on Pluto undergoes strong seasonal effects due to high obliquity and orbital eccentricity, and has recently (July 2015) been observed by the New Horizons spacecraft. Aims: The main goals of this study are (i) to construct a well calibrated record of the seasonal evolution of surface pressure on PlutoMeza, E. et al.
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52019 -
Ultra-violet imaging of the night-time earth by EUSO-Balloon towards space-based ultra-high energy cosmic ray observationsThe JEM-EUSO (Joint Experiment Missions for the Extreme Universe Space Observatory) program aims at developing Ultra-Violet (UV) fluorescence telescopes for efficient detections of Extensive Air Showers (EASs) induced by Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) from satellite orbit. In order to demonstrate key technologies for JEM-EUSO, weAbdellaoui, G. et al.
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92019 -
Physical properties of PHA 2014 JO25 from a worldwide observational campaignThe study of minor planets is motivated both by fundamental science of Solar system origins (some of these bodies contain the most pristine materials from the early ages of the planetary nebula) and by practical reasons concerning space exploration and impact frequency with Earth. Among minor bodies, near-Earth asteroids are a particularlyAznar, A. et al.
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32019 -
Dust properties of double-tailed active asteroid (6478) GaultContext. Asteroid (6478) Gault was discovered to exhibit a comet-like tail in observations from December 2018, becoming a new member of the so-called active asteroid population in the main asteroid belt. Aims: We seek to investigate the grain properties of the dust ejected from asteroid (6478) Gault and to give insight into the activity mechanism(sMoreno, F. et al.
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42019 -
Properties of rubble-pile asteroid (101955) Bennu from OSIRIS-REx imaging and thermal analysisEstablishing the abundance and physical properties of regolith and boulders on asteroids is crucial for understanding the formation and degradation mechanisms at work on their surfaces. Using images and thermal data from NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft, we showDellagiustina, D. N. et al.
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32019 -
MuSCAT2: four-color simultaneous camera for the 1.52-m Telescopio Carlos SánchezWe report the development of a four-color simultaneous camera for the 1.52-m Telescopio Carlos Sánchez in the Teide Observatory, Canaries, Spain. The instrument, named MuSCAT2, has a capability of four-color simultaneous imaging in g (400 to 550 nm), r (550 to 700 nm), i (700 to 820 nm), and zs (820 to 920 nm) bands. MuSCAT2 equips four 1024 × 1024Narita, N. et al.
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12019 -
Spectral clustering tools applied to Ceres in preparation for OSIRIS-REx color imaging of asteroid (101955) BennuThe OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample-return mission is investigating primitive near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu. Thousands of images will be acquired by the MapCam instrument onboard the spacecraft, an imager with four color filters based on the Eight-Color Asteroid Survey (ECAS): b‧ (473 nm), v (550 nm), w (698 nm), and x (847 nm). This set of filtersRizos, J. L. et al.
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82019 -
Hungaria asteroid region telescopic spectral survey (HARTSS) II: Spectral homogeneity among Hungaria family asteroidsSpectral observations of asteroid family members provide valuable information regarding parent body interiors, the origin and source regions of near-Earth asteroids, and the link between meteorites and their parent bodies. Asteroids of the Hungaria family represent some of the closest samples to the Earth from a collisional family (∼1.94 AU)Lucas, Michael P. et al.
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42019 -
J-PLUS: The Javalambre Photometric Local Universe SurveyThe Javalambre Photometric Local Universe Survey (J-PLUS ) is an ongoing 12-band photometric optical survey, observing thousands of square degrees of the Northern Hemisphere from the dedicated JAST/T80 telescope at the Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre (OAJ). The T80Cam is a camera with a field of view of 2 deg2 mounted on a telescope with aCenarro, A. J. et al.
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22019 -
The Diverse Population of Small Bodies of the Solar SystemSmall bodies are rocky and/or icy objects, usually ranging in size from a few meters to a few hundreds of kilometers. They comprise near-Earth and main belt asteroids, Jupiter Trojans, trans-Neptunian objects, Centaurs, comets, and a recently discovered category called the transitional objects. Their physical nature, distribution, formation, andde León, Julia et al.
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2018 -
The visible and near-infrared spectra of asteroids in cometary orbitsContext. Dynamical and albedo properties suggest that asteroids in cometary orbits (ACOs) are dormant or extinct comets. Their study provides new insights for understanding the end-states of comets and the size of the comet population. Aims: We intend to study the visible and near-infrared (NIR) spectral properties of different ACO populations andLicandro, J. et al.
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102018 -
The Castalia mission to Main Belt Comet 133P/Elst-PizarroWe describe Castalia, a proposed mission to rendezvous with a Main Belt Comet (MBC), 133P/Elst-Pizarro. MBCs are a recently discovered population of apparently icy bodies within the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, which may represent the remnants of the population which supplied the early Earth with water. Castalia will perform theSnodgrass, C. et al.
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102018 -
CASTAway: An asteroid main belt tour and surveyCASTAway is a mission concept to explore our Solar System's main asteroid belt. Asteroids and comets provide a window into the formation and evolution of our Solar System and the composition of these objects can be inferred from space-based remote sensing using spectroscopic techniques. Variations in composition across the asteroid populationsBowles, N. E. et al.
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102018 -
Color study of asteroid families within the MOVIS catalogThe aim of this work is to study the compositional diversity of asteroid families based on their near-infrared colors, using the data within the MOVIS catalog. As of 2017, this catalog presents data for 53 436 asteroids observed in at least two near-infrared filters (Y, J, H, or Ks). Among these asteroids, we find information for 6299 belonging toMorate, D. et al.
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92018 -
Taxonomic classification of asteroids based on MOVIS near-infrared colorsContext. The MOVIS catalog contains the largest set of near-infrared (NIR) colors for solar system objects. These data were obtained from the observations performed by VISTA-VHS survey using the Y, J, H, and Ks filters. The taxonomic classification of objects in this catalog allows us to obtain large-scale distributions for the asteroidalPopescu, M. et al.
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92018 -
EUSO-TA - First results from a ground-based EUSO telescopeEUSO-TA is a ground-based telescope, installed at the Telescope Array (TA) site in Black Rock Mesa, Utah, USA. This is the first detector to successfully use a Fresnel lens based optical system and multi-anode photomultipliers (64 channels per tube, 2304 channels encompassing a 10.6° × 10.6° field of view) for detection of Ultra High Energy CosmicAbdellaoui, G. et al.
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