A peculiar stable region around Pluto

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Dynamical evolution and chronology of the Hygiea asteroid family

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

PECULIAR EUPHROSYNE

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Dynamical evolution of V-type photometric candidates in the outer main belt

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Resonance capture at arbitrary inclination

Resonance capture is studied numerically in the three-body problem for arbitrary inclinations. Massless particles are set to drift from outside the 1: 5 resonance with a Jupiter-mass planet thereby encountering the web of the planet's diverse mean motion resonances. Randomly constructed samples explore parameter space for inclinations from 0 to 180 degrees with 5 degrees increments totalling nearly 6 x 10(5) numerical simulations. 30 resonances internal and external to the planet's location are monitored. We find that retrograde resonances are unexpectedly more efficient at capture than prograde resonances and that resonance order is not necessarily a good indicator of capture efficiency at arbitrary inclination. Capture probability drops significantly at moderate sample eccentricity for initial inclinations in the range [10 degrees,110 degrees]. Orbit inversion is possible for initially circular orbits with inclinations in the range [60 degrees,130 degrees]. Capture in the 1:1 co-orbital resonance occurs with great likelihood at large retrograde inclinations. The planet's orbital eccentricity, if larger than 0.1, reduces the capture probabilities through the action of the eccentric Kozai-Lidov mechanism. A capture asymmetry appears between inner and outer resonances as prograde orbits are preferentially trapped in inner resonances. The relative capture efficiency of retrograde resonance suggests that the dynamical lifetimes of Damocloids and Centaurs on retrograde orbits must be significantly larger than those on prograde orbits implying that the recently identified asteroids in retrograde resonance, 2006 BZ8, 2008 SO218, 2009 QY6 and 1999 LE31 may be among the oldest small bodies that wander between the outer giant planets.

Stable retrograde orbits around the triple system 2001 SN263

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

First EURONEAR NEA discoveries from La Palma using the INT

Since 2006, the European Near Earth Asteroids Research (EURONEAR) project has been contributing to the research of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) within a European network. One of the main aims is the amelioration of the orbits of NEAs, and starting in 2014 February we focus on the recovery of one-opposition NEAs using the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) in La Palma in override mode. Part of this NEA recovery project, since 2014 June EURONEAR serendipitously started to discover and secure the first NEAs from La Palma and using the INT, thanks to the teamwork including amateurs and students who promptly reduce the data, report discoveries and secure new objects recovered with the INT and few other telescopes from the EURONEAR network. Five NEAs were discovered with the INT, including 2014 LU14, 2014 NL52 (one very fast rotator), 2014 OL339 (the fourth known Earth quasi-satellite), 2014 SG143 (a quite large NEA), and 2014 VP. Another very fast moving NEA was discovered but was unfortunately lost due to lack of follow-up time. Additionally, another 14 NEA candidates were identified based on two models, all being rapidly followed-up using the INT and another 11 telescopes within the EURONEAR network. They include one object discovered by Pan-STARRS, two Mars crossers, two Hungarias, one Jupiter trojan, and other few inner main belt asteroids (MBAs). Using the INT and Sierra Nevada 1.5 m for photometry, then the Gran Telescopio de Canarias for spectroscopy, we derived the very rapid rotation of 2014 NL52, then its albedo, magnitude, size, and its spectral class. Based on the total sky coverage in dark conditions, we evaluate the actual survey discovery rate using 2-m class telescopes. One NEA is possible to be discovered randomly within minimum 2.8 deg2 and maximum 5.5 deg2. These findings update our past statistics, being based on double sky coverage and taking into account the recent increase in discovery.

Commission 15: Physical Studies of Comets and Minor Planets

This report of the business meeting of Commission 15 at the 2009 IAU GA is based on notes provided by Walter Huebner, past president, and on the minutes taken by Daniel Boice, secretary of Commission 15 in the triennium 2006 to 2009, with additional notes from the current secretary, Daniel Hestroffer. The business meeting was split into two sessions, the first held on 5 August and the second held on 11 August. This report presents the minutes of the two Commission 15 business-meeting sessions held during General Assembly XXVII.

On the V-type asteroids outside the Vesta family - II. Is (21238) 1995 WV7 a fragment of the long-lost basaltic crust of (15) Eunomia?

Context. The V-type asteroids are associated with basaltic composition. Apart from ( 1459) Magnya, an asteroid that is clearly dynamically and mineralogically unconnected to the Vesta family, all currently known V-type asteroids are either members of the Vesta family, or are hypothesized to be former members of the dynamical family that migrated to their current orbital positions. The recent identification of ( 21238) 1995 WV7 as a V-type asteroid introduces the possibility that a second basaltic asteroid not connected with the Vesta family exists. This asteroid is on the opposite side of the 3: 1 mean motion resonance with respect to Vesta, and it would be very unlikely that a member of the Vesta family of its size (D > 5km) migrating via either the Yarkovsky effect or repeated close encounters with Vesta survived the passage through such a resonance.Aims. In this work we investigate the possibility that ( 21238) 1995 WV7 originated as a fragment of the parent body of the Eunomia family and then migrated via the interplay of the Yarkovsky effect and some powerful nonlinear secular resonances, such as the (s - s(6)) - ( g(5) - g(6)). If (15) Eunomia is, as claimed, a differentiated object whose originally pyroxene-enriched crust layer was lost in a collision that either created the Eunomia family or preceded its formation, can (21238) be a fragment of its long-lost basaltic crust that migrated to the current position?Methods. We mapped the phase space around (21238) and determined which of the nonlinear secular resonances that we identified are stronger and more capable of having caused the current difference in proper i between (21238) and members of the Eunomia family. We simulated the Yarkovsky effect by using the SWIFT-RMVSY integrator.Results. Our results suggest that it is possible to migrate from the Eunomia dynamical family to the current orbital location of ( 21238) via the interplay of the Yarkovsky effect and the (s - s6) - (g5 - g6) nonlinear secular resonance, on time-scales of at least 2.6 Gyr.Conclusions. (15) Eunomia might be the third currently known parent body for V-type asteroids.

Time analysis for temporary gravitational capture: Satellites of Uranus

We study the problem of gravitational capture in the framework of the Sun-Uranus-particle system. Part of the space of initial conditions is systematically explored, and the duration of temporary gravitational capture is measured. The location and size of different capture-time regions are given in terms of diagrams of initial semimajor axis versus eccentricity. The other initial orbital elements - inclination (i), longitude of the node (Ω), argument of pericenter (ω), and time of pericenter passage (τ) - are first taken to be zero. Then we investigate the cases with ω = 90°, 180°, and 270°. We also present a sample of results for Ω = 90°, considering the cases i = 60°, 120°, 150°, and 180°. Special attention is given to the influence of the initial orbital inclination, taking orbits initially in opposition at pericenter. In this case, the initial inclination is varied from 0° to 180° in steps of 10°. The success of the final stage of the capture problem, which involves the transformation of temporary captures into permanent ones, is highly dependent on the initial conditions associated with the longest capture times. The largest regions of the initial-conditions space with the longest capture times occur at inclinations of 60°-70° and 160°. The regions of possible stability as a function of initial inclination are also delimited. These regions include not only a known set of retrograde orbits, but also a new sort of prograde orbit with inclinations greater than zero.

Physical and dynamical characterisation of low ΔV NEA (190491) 2000 FJ10

Aims: We investigated the physical properties and dynamical evolution of near-Earth asteroid (NEA) (190491) 2000 FJ10 in order to assess the suitability of this accessible NEA as a space mission target. Methods: Photometry and colour determination were carried out with the 1.54 m Kuiper Telescope (Mt Bigelow, USA) and the 10 m Southern African Large Telescope (SALT; Sutherland, South Africa) during the object's recent favourable apparition in 2011-12. During the earlier 2008 apparition, a spectrum of the object in the 6000-9000 Angstrom region was obtained with the 4.2 m William Herschel Telescope (WHT; Canary Islands, Spain). Interpretation of the observational results was aided by numerical simulations of 1000 dynamical clones of 2000 FJ10 up to 106 yr in the past and in the future. Results: The asteroid's spectrum and colours determined by our observations suggest a taxonomic classification within the S-complex although other classifications (V, D, E, M, P) cannot be ruled out. On this evidence, it is unlikely to be a primitive, relatively unaltered remnant from the early history of the solar system and thus a low priority target for robotic sample return. Our photometry placed a lower bound of 2 h to the asteroid's rotation period. Its absolute magnitude was estimated to be 21.54 ± 0.1 which, for a typical S-complex albedo, translates into a diameter of 130 ± 20 m. Our dynamical simulations show that it has likely been an Amor for the past 105 yr. Although currently not Earth-crossing, it will likely become so during the period 50-100 kyr in the future. It may have arrived from the inner or central main belt >1 Myr ago as a former member of a low-inclination S-class asteroid family. Its relatively slow rotation and large size make it a suitable destination for a human mission. We show that ballistic Earth-190491-Earth transfer trajectories with ΔV <2 km s-1 at the asteroid exist between 2052 and 2061. Based on observations made with the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT).

Spitzer observations of the asteroid-comet transition object and potential spacecraft target 107P (4015) Wilson-Harrington

Context: Near-Earth asteroid-comet transition object 107P/ (4015) Wilson-Harrington is a possible target of the joint European Space Agency (ESA) and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Marco Polo sample return mission. Physical studies of this object are relevant to this mission, and also to understanding its asteroidal or cometary nature. Aims: Our aim is to obtain significant new constraints on the surface thermal properties of this object. Methods: We present mid-infrared photometry in two filters (16 and 22 μm) obtained with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope on February 12, 2007, and results from the application of the Near Earth Asteroid Thermal Model (NEATM). We obtained high S/N in two mid-IR bands allowing accurate measurements of its thermal emission. Results: We obtain a well constrained beaming parameter (η = 1.39±0.26) and obtain a diameter and geometric albedo of D = 3.46±0.32 km, and pV = 0.059±0.011. We also obtain similar results when we apply this best-fitting thermal model to single-band mid-IR photometry reported by Campins et al. (1995, P&SS, 43, 733), Kraemer et al. (2005, AJ, 130, 2363) and Reach et al. (2007, Icarus, 191, 298). Conclusions: The albedo of 4015 Wilson-Harrington is low, consistent with those of comet nuclei and primitive C-, P-, D-type asteorids. We establish a rough lower limit for the thermal inertia of W-H of 60 Jm-2s-0.5 K-1 when it is at r = 1 AU, which is slightly over the limit of 30 Jm-2 s-0.5 K-1 derived by Groussin et al. (2009, Icarus, 199, 568) for the thermal inertia of the nucleus of comet 22P/Kopff.

Dynamic picture of the inner asteroid belt: implications for the density, size and taxonomic distributions of real objects

In this paper, we construct a dynamic portrait of the inner asteroidal belt. We use information about the distribution of test particles, which were initially placed on a perfectly rectangular grid of initial conditions, after 4.2 Myr of gravitational interactions with the Sun and five planets, from Mars to Neptune. Using the spectral analysis method introduced by Michtchenko et al., the asteroidal behaviour is illustrated in detail on the dynamical, averaged and frequency maps. On the averaged and frequency maps, we superpose information on the proper elements and proper frequencies of real objects, extracted from the data base, AstDyS, constructed by Milani and Knezevic. A comparison of the maps with the distribution of real objects allows us to detect possible dynamical mechanisms acting in the domain under study; these mechanisms are related to mean-motion and secular resonances. We note that the two- and three-body mean-motion resonances and the secular resonances (strong linear and weaker non-linear) have an important role in the diffusive transportation of the objects. Their long-lasting action, overlaid with the Yarkovsky effect, may explain many observed features of the density, size and taxonomic distributions of the asteroids.

On the stability of the satellites of asteroid 87 Sylvia

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)