Astrophysical: Asteroids

  • Publication
    The stellar occultation by (319) Leona on 2023 September 13 in preparation for the occultation of Betelgeuse
    On 2023 December 12, the star α Orionis will be occulted by asteroid (319) Leona. This represents an extraordinary and unique opportunity to analyse the...
  • Publication
    The TROY project. II. Multi-technique constraints on exotrojans in nine planetary systems
    Context. Co-orbital bodies are the byproduct of planet formation and evolution, as we know from the solar system. Although planet-size co-orbitals do not exists...
  • Publication
    The Veritas and Themis asteroid families: 5-14 μm spectra with the Spitzer Space Telescope
    Spectroscopic investigations of primitive asteroid families constrain family evolution and composition and conditions in the solar nebula, and reveal...
  • Publication
    The visible and near-infrared spectra of asteroids in cometary orbits
    Context. Dynamical and albedo properties suggest that asteroids in cometary orbits (ACOs) are dormant or extinct comets. Their study provides new insights for...
  • Publication
    Thermal properties of slowly rotating asteroids: results from a targeted survey
    Context. Earlier work suggests that slowly rotating asteroids should have higher thermal inertias than faster rotators because the heat wave penetrates deeper...
  • Publication
    Thermophysical modeling of asteroids from WISE thermal infrared data - Significance of the shape model and the pole orientation uncertainties
    In the analysis of thermal infrared data of asteroids by means of thermophysical models (TPMs) it is a common practice to neglect the uncertainty of the shape...
  • Publication
    Thermophysical properties of near-Earth asteroid (341843) 2008 EV5 from WISE data
    Aims: We derive the thermal inertia of 2008 EV5, the baseline target for the Marco Polo-R mission proposal, and infer information about the size of the...
  • Publication
    Three-axial shape distributions of pebbles, cobbles and boulders smaller than a few meters on asteroid Ryugu
    Over a broad size range, the shapes of impact fragments from catastrophic disruptions are distributed around the mean axial ratio 2: √2: 1, irrespective of...
  • News
    Touching an asteroid and coming back: OSIRIS-REx and Bennu
    This Tuesday October 20th at around 23.12 hr (Canary time) the NASA space probe OSIRIS-REx will make its first attempt to collect samples from the asteroid...