| 1. |
- Schwamb, Megan E., et al.
(author)
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A Software Roadmap for Solar System Science with the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope
- 2019
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In: Research Notes of the AAS. - : Institute of Physics (IOP). - 2515-5172. ; 3:3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The 8.4 m Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will provide an unprecedented view of the Solar System (Ivezić et al. 2008; LSST Science Collaboration et al. 2009). LSST will detect millions of asteroids and tens of thousands of distant Solar System bodies, within approximately 16 and 24.5 mag (in r-band). Over a ten year period, most of these minor planets will receive hundreds of observations divided between 6 filters (ugrizy). What specifically LSST project will deliver for Solar System detections will soon be updated in the LSST Data Products Definition Document (DPDD; Jurić et al. 2013). A preliminary version of the new LSST Solar System data products schema is available at http://ls.st/ssd and http://ls.st/oug.The LSST Solar System Science Collaboration (SSSC; http://www.lsstsssc.org) produced a science roadmap (Schwamb et al. 2018) which outlines the collaboration's highest ranked research priorities utilizing LSST. To achieve these science goals, the SSSC has identified crucial software products and tools that will be required but will not be provided by the LSST project. These will have to be developed by the SSSC and the broader planetary community. To spur this effort, we present below this list of LSST community software development tasks.
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| 2. |
- Schwamb, Megan E., et al.
(author)
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Tuning the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Observing Strategy for Solar System Science
- 2023
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In: Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. - : Iop Publishing Ltd. - 0067-0049 .- 1538-4365. ; 266:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is expected to start the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) in early to mid-2025. This multiband wide-field synoptic survey will transform our view of the solar system, with the discovery and monitoring of over five million small bodies. The final survey strategy chosen for LSST has direct implications on the discoverability and characterization of solar system minor planets and passing interstellar objects. Creating an inventory of the solar system is one of the four main LSST science drivers. The LSST observing cadence is a complex optimization problem that must balance the priorities and needs of all the key LSST science areas. To design the best LSST survey strategy, a series of operation simulations using the Rubin Observatory scheduler have been generated to explore the various options for tuning observing parameters and prioritizations. We explore the impact of the various simulated LSST observing strategies on studying the solar system's small body reservoirs. We examine what are the best observing scenarios and review what are the important considerations for maximizing LSST solar system science. In general, most of the LSST cadence simulations produce +/- 5% or less variations in our chosen key metrics, but a subset of the simulations significantly hinder science returns with much larger losses in the discovery and light-curve metrics.
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| 3. |
- Chesley, Steven R., et al.
(author)
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Development of a Realistic Set of Synthetic Earth Impactor Orbits
- 2019
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In: 2019 IEEE Aerospace Conference. - : IEEE.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present a refined method for creating orbits of fictitious Earth impactors that are representative of the actual impactor population. Such orbits are crucial inputs to a variety of investigations, such as those that seek to discern how well and how early a particular asteroid survey can detect impactors, or to understand the progression of impact probability as an object is tracked after discovery. We will describe our method, which relies on Öpik's b-plane formalism, and place it in context with previous approaches. While the Öplk framework assumes the restricted three body problem with a circular Earth orbit, our final synthetic impactors are differentially corrected to ensure an impact in the N-body dynamics of the solar system. We also test the validity of the approach through brute force numerical tests, demonstrating that the properties of our synthetic impactor population are consistent with the underlying Near-Earth Object (NEO) population from which it is derived. The impactor population is, however, distinct from the NEO population, not only by virtue of the proximity of the asteroid orbit to that of the Earth, but also because low encounter velocities are strongly favored. Thus the impacting population has an increased prominence of low inclination and low eccentricity orbits, and Earth-like orbits in particular, as compared to the NEO population as a whole.
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| 4. |
- Farnocchia, Davide, et al.
(author)
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(523599) 2003 RM: The Asteroid that Wanted to be a Comet
- 2023
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In: The Planetary Science Journal. - : Institute of Physics (IOP). - 2632-3338. ; 4:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report a statistically significant detection of nongravitational acceleration on the subkilometer near-Earth asteroid (523599) 2003 RM. Due to its orbit, 2003 RM experiences favorable observing apparitions every 5 yr. Thus, since its discovery, 2003 RM has been extensively tracked with ground-based optical facilities in 2003, 2008, 2013, and 2018. We find that the observed plane-of-sky positions cannot be explained with a purely gravity-driven trajectory. Including a transverse nongravitational acceleration allows us to match all observational data, but its magnitude is inconsistent with perturbations typical of asteroids such as the Yarkovsky effect or solar radiation pressure. After ruling out that the orbital deviations are due to a close approach or collision with another asteroid, we hypothesize that this anomalous acceleration is caused by unseen cometary outgassing. A detailed search for evidence of cometary activity with archival and deep observations from the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System and the Very Large Telescope does not reveal any detectable dust production. However, the best-fitting H2O sublimation model allows for brightening due to activity consistent with the scatter of the data. We estimate the production rate required for H2O outgassing to power the acceleration and find that, assuming a diameter of 300 m, 2003 RM would require Q(H2O) similar to 10(23) molec s(-1) at perihelion. We investigate the recent dynamical history of 2003 RM and find that the object most likely originated in the mid-to-outer main belt (similar to 86% probability) as opposed to from the Jupiter-family comet region (similar to 11% probability). Further observations, especially in the infrared, could shed light on the nature of this anomalous acceleration.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Nesvorný, David, et al.
(author)
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NEOMOD: A New Orbital Distribution Model for Near-Earth Objects
- 2023
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In: Astronomical Journal. - : Institute of Physics (IOP). - 0004-6256 .- 1538-3881. ; 166:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are a transient population of small bodies with orbits near or in the terrestrial planet region. They represent a mid-stage in the dynamical cycle of asteroids and comets, which starts with their removal from the respective source regions—the main belt and trans-Neptunian scattered disk—and ends as bodies impact planets, disintegrate near the Sun, or are ejected from the solar system. Here we develop a new orbital model of NEOs by numerically integrating asteroid orbits from main-belt sources and calibrating the results on observations of the Catalina Sky Survey. The results imply a size-dependent sampling of the main belt with the ν 6 and 3:1 resonances producing ≃30% of NEOs with absolute magnitudes H = 15 and ≃80% of NEOs with H = 25. Hence, the large and small NEOs have different orbital distributions. The inferred flux of H < 18 bodies into the 3:1 resonance can be sustained only if the main-belt asteroids near the resonance drift toward the resonance at the maximal Yarkovsky rate (≃2 × 10−4 au Myr−1 for diameter D = 1 km and semimajor axis a = 2.5 au). This implies obliquities θ ≃ 0° for a < 2.5 au and θ ≃ 180° for a > 2.5 au, both in the immediate neighborhood of the resonance (the same applies to other resonances as well). We confirm the size-dependent disruption of asteroids near the Sun found in previous studies. An interested researcher can use the publicly available NEOMOD Simulator to generate user-defined samples of NEOs from our model.
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