Some things in AJ (Astronomical Journal) for May (vol. 169 #5):
Vokrouhlický, D. Nesvorný, D. Broz, M. et al. Orbital and Absolute Magnitude Distribution of Hilda Population 242 adbe7b
Hora, J. L. Allen, A. J. Trilling, D. E. et al. Infrared Fluxes and Lightcurves of Near-Earth Objects: The Full Spitzer Sample 256 adbf99
Beniyama, J. Müller, T. G. Delbo, M. et al. Size Constraint on Hayabusa2 Extended Mission Rendezvous Target 1998 KY26 via VLT/VISIR Nondetection 264 adc682
The Hildas are a population of resonant asteroids at the outer edge of the Main Belt. When Jupiter goes around the Sun twice, each Hilda goes around three times. This dance is gravitationally stable, so a Hilda may be primordial- as old as the Solar System itself. And, like other outer Main Belt objects, Hildas are widely suspected of harboring water ice, organics, and other volatiles; in fact, Jupiter-trapped asteroids may be stabilized comets. Vokrouhlický et al. study this rather curious population.
RIP Spitzer Space Telescope. While officially a “facility observatory” (not dedicated to any single line of research), infrared is useful on asteroids. Given the multiyear dataset of Spitzer observations (longer than mission planners had expected), we now have a rich resource. Hora et al. try to sift through the numbers to find things relevant to near-Earth asteroids, and thus Earth.
Near-Earth asteroids include 1998 KY26, to be visited (…eventually…) by the former Hayabusa2 probe (now Hayabusa2#, that’s pronounced “hayabusa too sharp”). We already know KY26 is smaller than any asteroid yet visited by a probe; Beniyama et al. find (in a roundabout way) that, yes, it’s quite small.