List of missions to asteroids & year of launch - Wiki
951 Gaspra (Galileo, NASA, 1989)
243 Ida (Galileo, NASA, 1989)
253 Mathilde (NEAR Shoemaker, NASA, 1996)
433 Eros (NEAR Shoemaker, NASA, 1996)
5535 Annefrank (Stardust, NASA, 1999)
25143 Itokawa (Hayabusa, Japan, 2003)
2867 Steins (Rosetta, ESA, 2004)
21 Lutetia (Rosetta, ESA, 2004)
4 Vesta (Dawn, NASA, 2007)
1 Ceres (Dawn, NASA, 2007)
4179 Toutatis (Chang'e-2, China, 2010)
162173 Ryugu (Hayabusa2, Japan, 2014)
101955 Bennu (OSIRIS-REx, NASA, 2016)
Didymos-Dimorphos (DART, NASA, 2021)
Upcoming asteroid missions : 99942 Apophis, 52246 Donaldjohanson, 3548 Eurybates, 15094 Polymele, 11351 Leucus, 21900 Orus, 617 Patroclus
(Full list of upcoming NASA missions )
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Title - Surface slopes of asteroid pairs as indicators of mechanical properties and cohesion
By - David Polishook & Oded Aharonson, Apr 2019
Summary - By constructing shape models & spin axes of 11 asteroid pairs, whose bodies were disrupted by a fast spin, the critical rotation period at disruption was derived. This led to the conclusion that km-sized asteroid pairs are dense compared to sub-km bodies. Spin barrier for rubble pile asteroids is 2.2 hours.
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Title - Recent formation and likely cometary activity of near-Earth asteroid pair 2019 PR2 - 2019 QR6
By - Petr Fatka et al, Feb 2022
Summary - These asteroids were found to be spectrally similar to D-types, a rare type amongst NEOs and split off from their parent body a mere 300 years ago. Standard models of asteroid pair formation by rotational fission couldn't fully explain the properties of this asteroid pair. So the team developed new models that assumed the original body to be a comet, whose jets of gas could push their orbits into the configuration seen today. Though this is a viable origin story for these objects, in the present day, these bodies don't display any signs of cometary activity.
News - Press release (Youngest Pair of Asteroids), Science Alert
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Title - Cratering on Asteroids from Galileo and NEAR Shoemaker
By - Clark R. Chapman (SWRI), 2002
Summary - This paper studies asteroids Gaspra, Ida (and its moon Dactyl), Mathilde, and Eros. At spatial scales larger than ~100 m, the saturated crater populations on Ida and Eros are similar. Gaspra is undersaturated with such craters, exhibiting a “steep” power-law production function. Mathilde is uniquely dominated by huge craters with diameters similar to the body’s radius. Ida & Eros have similar surface, while Gaspra & Mathilde are dramatically different from Ida and Eros, and even more dramatically different from each other. Moreover, the very high-resolution images of Eros have demonstrated that our theoretical expectations of what an asteroid surface might look like close up were badly wrong.
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Title - Lightcurve Analysis Of 216 Kleopatra
By - Robert Novak & Kevin Alton, 2018
Summary - Dog bone shaped asteroid, 217 km x 94 km x 71 km (Ostro et al., 2000). Large lightcurve amplitude of 0.48 mag, aspect ratio of 1:3, has 2 moons (trinary asteroid).
More lightcurves of asteroid Kleopatra
Detailed resource on Kleopatra
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Title - The Asteroid-Comet Continuum
By - David Jewitt & Henry Hsieh, March 2022
Summary - This paper gives an overview of the current state of knowledge concerning the asteroid-comet continuum (transition objects) and discusses the numerous physical processes behind the activity shown by small bodies in the solar system. Asteroids and comets did not originate in wholly distinct regions of the solar system, as was formerly believed. Comets may be less volatile-rich than the "half rock, half ice mixture" envisioned by Whipple (1950). Paper considers the radial migration of planets. The snow line itself is now understood to be a dynamic entity, which moved in response to time-dependent heating sources in the protoplanetary disk. The following 8 asteroids display evidence for spin-up : (1620) Geographos, (1862) Apollo, (3103) Eger, (25143) Itokawa, (54509) YORP, (161989) Cacus, (1685) Toro, (10115) 1992 SK
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Title - (216) Kleopatra, a low density critically rotating M-type asteroid
By - F. Marchis et al, 2021
Summary - Asteroid Kleopatra has a bulk density of 3.38 g cm−3 & a rotation period 5.4 hours. Such a low density for a supposedly metal-rich body indicates a substantial porosity within the primary. Kleopatra is in a critically rotating state. This paper has a detailed comparison of lightcurves, 3d model, occultation & optical data.
News - Sci-News
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Title - Mathilde: Size, Shape, and Geology
By - PC Thomas et al, 1999
Summary - Asteroid Mathilde has low mean density of 1.3 g cm−3, has 4 craters with diameters equal to or greater than Mathilde’s mean radius. Such large craters imply strength of material. Despite the large lightcurve amplitude of 0.45 mag, its shape is not elongated at all but is irregular. For context, Kleopatra at 0.48 mag is very elongated with aspect ratio of 1:3.
Extremely slow rotation of 17.4 days
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Title - Human Exploration of Near-Earth Objects Accessibility Study
By - Paul Abell et al, 2011
Summary - Apart from the human missions to asteroids, the paper also covers spin rates, surface/internal structure vs. diameter, rubble pile spin barrier, dormant/inactive comets etc.
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Title - First observation of a quadruple asteroid. Detection of a third moon around asteroid (130) Elektra.
By - Anthony Berdeu et al, Jan 2022
General Info - Peanut shaped asteroid "130 Elektra" is the first known quadruple asteroid in the solar system. Its dimensions are 262 × 205 × 164 km, rotation period is 5.2 hours, its density is 1.3 g/cm³ & its lightcurve forms a double sinusoid. Moon 1 was spotted in 2003, is 6 km wide, orbits every 5 days, at a distance of about 1,300 km. Moon 2 was spotted in 2014, is 2 km wide, orbits every 1.2 days, at a distance of about 500 km. Moon 3 was spotted in 2022, is 1.6 km wide, orbits every 16 hours, at a distance of about 344 km.
News - ESO, Video of asteroid Elektra & its 3 moons, New Atlas, SyFy
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Title - Distinguishing the Origin of Asteroid (16) Psyche
By - Linda T. Elkins-Tanton et al, April 2022
General Info - This paper describes the possible solar system regions of origin for Psyche, prior to its likely implantation into the asteroid belt, the physical and chemical processes that can enrich metal in an asteroid, and possible meteoritic analogs.
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Title - Morphological Diversity of Impact Craters on Asteroid(16) Psyche: Insight From Numerical Models
By - SD Raducan et al, 2020 (Davison, Collins)
Summary -
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Title - Discovery of Dust Emission Activity Emanating from Main-belt Asteroid 2015 FW412
By - Colin Chandler et al, 2023
Summary -
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Title - The main-belt comets: The Pan-STARRS1 perspective
By - Henry Hsieh et al, 2014
Summary -
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Title - The Active Asteroids
By - David Jewitt, Henry Hsieh, Jessica Agarwal, 2015
Summary - Active asteroids are rare (around 40) bodies that are found in orbits not normally associated with comets, yet they display comet-like activity such as a tail or coma. They eject dust, producing transient, comet-like comae and tails. The causes of activity in this newly-identified population are many and varied. They include impact ejection and disruption, rotational instabilities, electrostatic repulsion, radiation pressure sweeping, dehydration stresses and thermal fracture, in addition to the sublimation of asteroidal ice.
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Title - Active asteroid 354P/2010 A2: Slow rotation of the largest fragment
By - Yoonyoung Kim et al, 2017
Summary - The largest fragment has a double-peaked period of 11.36 hours spinning much slower than its critical spin period. It is a highly elongated object (a/b > 1.94). Each of the fragments has a coma. Largest fragment has a lightcurve amplitude of 0.72 mag. In addition to the large fragment, there are 10 other fragments.
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Title - 17 asteroid papers from LPSC 2023
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Title - Sodium Brightening of (3200) Phaethon near Perihelion
By - Qicheng Zhang et al, 2023
Summary - Asteroid (3200) Phaethon brightens and grows a tail like a comet near the Sun. Activity is not from comet-like dust, as previously assumed, but from sodium atoms escaping the asteroid under intense solar heating.
News - Tweet by main author,
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