Some “asteroids” are actually dark comets. I repeat: some asteroids ACTUALLY COMETS: Taylor, A. G. Seligman, D. Z. Holman, M. J. et al. Strong Nongravitational Accelerations and the Potential for Misidentification of Near-Earth Objects a 190 ad85e3 In the Dec… Read More »N, P: When’s an Asteroid Not an Asteroid?
You didn’t think a mini-moon (Temporarily-Captured Flyby, or TCF) would go by uncommented? I generally stay away from citing arXiv, since it’s basically uncontrolled. But the response time for Mini-Moon 2024 PT5 is too short for a refereed journal, so… Read More »Note, Pa-pre: Mini-moon 2024 PT5
The December Acta Astronautica (vol. 225) is a good one for orbital mechanics/flight dynamics people: Lantoine, G. Cox, A. Sweetser, T. et al. Trajectory & maneuver design of the NEA Scout solar sail mission p 77 .08.039Cohen, A. N. Lubin, P.… Read More »Note, Paper: Acta As. Path to Asts.
Lots of stuff (as one might expect from the title) in PSJ (Planetary Science Journal): Rivera-Valentin, E. G. et al. Radar Circular Polarization Ratio of Near-Earth Asteroids: Links to Spectral Taxonomy and Surface Processes art 232 ad7df1Poston, M. J. et al.… Read More »Note, Paper: (Minor) PSJ
Let’s call these three MNRAS issues “October,” an arbitrary line: Volume 533, Issue 4, October Rodríguez Rodríguez, J. Díez Alonso, E. Iglesias Álvarez, S. et al. Light-curve analysis and shape models of NEAs 7335, 7822, 154244, and 159402 Pg 4160 … Read More »Note, Paper: MN-chanics
In the October Astronomy and Astrophysics (vol. 690… a big one this month): Wang, Z. Lin, H. Ye, B. et al. Near-infrared spectral behavior of space-weathered olivine with varying iron content A138 10.1051/0004-6361/202450888 Beniyama, J. Sergeyev, A. V. Tholen, D.… Read More »Note, Paper: Albedos and Athor-phys
The RAMSES mission is (unofficially) going forward. The prime contractor, OHB Italia, has been awarded funding– many millions of Euros. RAMSES, if you aren’t in the loop, is a mission to scout out potentially-hazardous asteroid (PHA) 99942 Apophis before its… Read More »RAMSES’ important figure
Yes, an incoming impactor was detected before impact. Object 2024 UQ was spotted (by the ATLAS telescope system) and reported back to the NEOCP (the Minor Planet Center‘s Confirmation Page). A trajectory solution determined that the object was likely to… Read More »Pre-detection of Impacting Meteor 2024 UQ
And now for a little change of venue. With the obvious exception of “mini-moons” (TCOs and TCFs) asteroid targets are in heliocentric orbits, and often at ranges measured in AUs. Round-trip light time is a few minutes, and it’s unrealistic… Read More »Note, Paper: A-Robot
In the October issue of Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics (vol. 47 #10): Fodde, I. Feng, J. Vasile, M. et al. Design of Robust Ballistic Landings on the Secondary of a Bina… p. 2041 1.G007786Yang, H. Hu, J. Li,… Read More »Note, Paper: Fall is for touchdowns