In light of the Lucy mission’s asteroid flyby tomorrow (1:51 PM EDT), it’s time for another batch of papers from Planetary Science Journal. In volume 6:
Runyon, K. D. Durda, D. D. Klein, V. et al. Methods for Experimental Planetary Geology in Reduced-gravity Parabolic Flight: A Case Study of Researching Impact Crater Ejecta 58 adb74c
Marchi, S. Vokrouhlický, D. Nesvorný, D. et al. A Pre-Flyby View on the Origin of Asteroid Donaldjohanson, a Target of the NASA Lucy Mission 59 adb4f4
Marciniak, A. Choukroun, A. Perła, J. et al. Thermophysical Model of (269) Justitia-Main Belt Asteroid Possibly Implanted from Trans-Neptunian Region 60 adb28b
Buie, M. W. AlMazmi, H. Hayne, P. et al. Occultation-based Size and Shape of (269) Justitia 61 adb28c
Sanchez, J. A. Reddy, V. Le Corre, L. et al. Spectral Effects of Shock Darkening on Ordinary Chondrite and Howardite, Eucrite, and Diogenite Meteorites 69 adb95d
Myers, S. A. Howell, E. S. Fernández, Y. R. et al. NEOWISE Data Processing and Color Corrections for Near-Earth Asteroid Observations 80 adbc9f
Nugent, C. R. Bauer, J. M. Benitez. O. et al. Reprocessing the NEAT Data Set: Preliminary Results 82 adbca1
Makadia, R. Farnocchia, D. Chesley, S. et al. Gauss-Radau Small-body Simulator (GRSS) : An Open-source Library for Planetary Defense 85 adbc88
Ah, experimental astronomy. Where the rubber hits the (massively downscaled) road.
As I write, the Lucy probe is closing in on Main-Belt asteroid Donaldjohanson. Marchi et al. summarize our prior (remote sensing- very remote) observations of the body.
The Emirates Mission to explore the Asteroid Belt is to finally orbit and land on Main-Belter Justitia, a curious object. Justitia is the reddest thing in the inner Belt; deep red is normally a sign of organics, which are prevalent in the outer Solar System. Yet Justitia is in the inner Solar System, where exposed organics should have been destroyed. Before the Emirati mission, Marciniak et al. and Buie et al. try to fit some puzzle pieces.
Also in the inner Belt: curious object (4) Vesta. We have samples (the HED meteorites), and data from the Dawn probe. Yet some pieces do not fit; are there other Vesta-like asteroids, and ones that are Vesta-like but don’t look the part? One explanation is various weathering effects, like shock darkening. Sanchez et al. try that option.
RIP, NEOWISE mission. Before burning up in the atmosphere, the observatory took two-color data on asteroids crossing its field of view. This information could give us some indications of those bodies, if we’re reading properly. Myers et al. go over the data.
Similarly, Nugent et al. go through the dataset of the NEAT (Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking) program. Is there valuable wisdom going unnoticed in such deep datasets?
And, one or two steps from datasets: data processing algorithms. Computational astronomy has clearly emerged, since the proliferation of ultrafast computers. Specifically for planetary defense, threat assessment has taken off with computational abilities. Makadia et al. describe their planetary-defense code (with a link to the code).