Astrophysical: Near-Earth objects

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    Apophis Planetary Defense Campaign

    We describe results of a planetary defense exercise conducted during the close approach to Earth by the near-Earth asteroid (99942) Apophis during 2020 December...

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    Expected spectral characteristics of (101955) Bennu and (162173) Ryugu, targets of the OSIRIS-REx and Hayabusa2 missions

    NASA's OSIRIS-REx and JAXA's Hayabusa2 sample-return missions are currently on their way to encounter primitive near-Earth asteroids (101955) Bennu and (162173)...

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    Monitoring and physical characterization of Near Earth Objects

    We describe an ongoing program dedicated to the observation and physical characterization of Near Earth Objects (NEOs) using night facilities of Observatorio...

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    Opposition Observations of 162173 Ryugu: Normal Albedo Map Highlights Variations in Regolith Characteristics

    On 2019 January 8, the Telescopic Optical Navigation Camera (ONC-T) on board the Hayabusa2 spacecraft observed the Cb-type asteroid 162173 Ryugu under near...

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    Photometric Observations of the Binary Near-Earth Asteroid (65803) Didymos in 2015-2021 Prior to DART Impact

    We performed photometric observations of the binary near-Earth asteroid (65803) Didymos in support of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission that...

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    Photometry of the Didymos System across the DART Impact Apparition

    On 2022 September 26, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft impacted Dimorphos, the satellite of binary near-Earth asteroid (65803) Didymos...

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    Regional Photometric Modeling of Asteroid (101955) Bennu

    We present a regional photometric analysis of asteroid (101955) Bennu, using image data from the MapCam color imager of the OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite (OCAMS)...

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    Spectral Rotational Characterization of the Didymos System prior to the DART Impact

    The smallest member of the Didymos binary near-Earth object system (Dimorphos) is the target of the DART/LICIACube mission, the first attempt to change the...

  • Publication
    Spin-driven evolution of asteroids' top-shapes at fast and slow spins seen from (101955) Bennu and (162173) Ryugu

    Proximity observations by OSIRIS-REx and Hayabusa2 provided clues on the shape evolution processes of the target asteroids, (101955) Bennu and (162173) Ryugu...