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Photometric Observations of the Binary Near-Earth Asteroid (65803) Didymos in 2015-2021 Prior to DART Impact
Carry, B.; Souami, D.; Dotto, E. +24 more
We performed photometric observations of the binary near-Earth asteroid (65803) Didymos in support of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission that will test the Kinetic Impactor technology for diverting dangerous asteroids. It will hit the Didymos secondary, called Dimorphos, on 2022 September 26. We observed Didymos with 11 telescopes…
International Asteroid Warning Network Timing Campaign: 2019 XS
Popescu, Marcel; Granvik, Mikael; Chambers, Kenneth C. +69 more
As part of the International Asteroid Warning Network's observational exercises, we conducted a campaign to observe near-Earth asteroid 2019 XS around its close approach to Earth on 2021 November 9. The goal of the campaign was to characterize errors in the observation times reported to the Minor Planet Center, which become an increasingly importa…
Thermal Properties of 1847 WISE-observed Asteroids
Masiero, Joseph R.; Tholen, David J.; Hung, Denise +1 more
We present new thermophysical model fits of 1847 asteroids, deriving thermal inertia, diameter, and Bond and visible geometric albedo. We use thermal flux measurements obtained by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) during its fully cryogenic phase, when both the 12 µm (W3) and 22 µm (W4) bands were available. We take shape …
The Diverse Shapes of Dwarf Planet and Large KBO Phase Curves Observed from New Horizons
Buratti, Bonnie J.; Singer, Kelsi N.; Stern, S. Alan +15 more
Observing dwarf planets and other large Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) from vantage points between 8 and 47 au from the Sun, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has found diversity in the shapes of their solar phase curves. Here we extend solar phase angle coverage of dwarf planets (136199) Eris, (136472) Makemake, and (136108) Haumea; large KBOs (28978) I…
A Snowball in Hell: The Potential Steam Atmosphere of TOI-1266c
Batalha, Natasha E.; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Hedges, Christina +4 more
TOI-1266c is a recently discovered super-Venus in the radius valley orbiting an early M dwarf. However, its notional bulk density (~2.2 g cm-3) is consistent with a large volatile fraction, suggesting that it might have volatile reservoirs that have survived billions of years at more than twice Earth's insolation. On the other hand, the…
The LCO Outbursting Objects Key Project: Overview and Year 1 Status
Bannister, Michele T.; Schwamb, Megan E.; Bodewits, Dennis +32 more
The LCO Outbursting Objects Key (LOOK) Project uses the telescopes of the Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) Network to (1) systematically monitor a sample of previously discovered over the whole sky, to assess the evolutionary state of these distant remnants from the early solar system, and (2) use alerts from existing sky surveys to rapidly respond t…
Orbits and Occultation Opportunities of 15 TNOs Observed by New Horizons
Singer, Kelsi N.; Stern, S. Alan; Fraser, Wesley C. +10 more
We present high-precision orbits for 15 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) that have been observed by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft at distances from 0.092 to 2.2 au. We also give predictions of 66 future opportunities to observe stellar occultations by them in late 2021-2029, eight of which are possible to observe from the United States. Observation…
Dust Evolution in the Coma of Distant, Inbound Comet C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS)
Kolokolova, Ludmilla; Zhang, Qicheng; Ye, Quanzhi +1 more
C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS) is an Oort Cloud comet previously observed to be active at heliocentric distances r > 20 au on what is likely its first passage through the inner solar system. We observed the comet on 2021 March 19-20 at r = 6.82 au preperihelion and 8.°35 phase angle with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and obtained high spatial resolu…
Physical Characterization of 2015 JD1: A Possibly Inhomogeneous Near-Earth Asteroid
Granvik, Mikael; Gustafsson, Annika; Chandler, Colin Orion +7 more
The surfaces of airless bodies such as asteroids are exposed to many phenomena that can alter their physical properties. Bennu, the target of the OSIRIS-REx mission, has demonstrated how complex the surface of a small body can be. In 2019 November, the potentially hazardous asteroid 2015 JD1 experienced a close approach of 0.033 1 au fr…
On the Hydrosphere Stability of TESS Targets: Applications to 700 d, 256 b, and 203 b
Kennefick, Julia; Bonney, Paul
A main determinant of the habitability of exoplanets is the presence of stable liquid surface water. In an era of abundant possible targets, the potential to find a habitable world remains a driving force in prioritization. We present here a data-forward method to investigate the likelihood of a stable hydrosphere on the timescales of the formatio…