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

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      Designed as the first mission to explore the ultra-high energy universe from space, JEM-EUSO observes the Earth's atmosphere at night to record the ultraviolet tracks generated by the extensive air showers. We present the expected geometrical aperture and annual exposure in the nadir and tilt modes for ultra-high energy cosmic rays observation as a
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      Advertised on:

      11
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    • The JEM-EUSO observation in cloudy conditions
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    • Performances of JEM-EUSO: angular reconstruction. The JEM-EUSO Collaboration
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    • Performances of JEM-EUSO: energy and X max reconstruction
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    • Ultra high energy photons and neutrinos with JEM-EUSO
      Ultra high energy photons and neutrinos are carriers of very important astrophysical information. They may be produced at the sites of cosmic ray acceleration or during the propagation of the cosmic rays in the intergalactic medium. In contrast to charged cosmic rays, photon and neutrino arrival directions point to the production site because they
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    • JEM-EUSO: Meteor and nuclearite observations
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    • The Rotation Period of C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)
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    • Physical properties of the extreme Centaur and super-comet candidate 2013 AZ60
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      6
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    • First EURONEAR NEA discoveries from La Palma using the INT
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    • Possible ring material around centaur (2060) Chiron
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      4
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    • The binary near-Earth Asteroid (175706) 1996 FG3 - An observational constraint on its orbital evolution
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    • The infrared camera prototype characterization for the JEM-EUSO space mission
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      6
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    • Blending the distinctions among groups of minor bodies: a portrait of the Centaur-comet "transition" object P/2010 C1 (Scotti)
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    • Rotationally resolved spectroscopy of (20000) Varuna in the near-infrared
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      Emery, J. P. et al.

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      2
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