Statistical results on discovered near-Earth asteroids

1999 ◽  
Vol 173 ◽  
pp. 81-86
Author(s):  
S. Berinde

AbstractThe first part of this paper gives a recent overview (until July 1st, 1998) of the Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) database stored at Minor Planet Center. Some statistical interpretations point out strong observational biases in the population of discovered NEAs, due to the preferential discoveries, depending on the objects’ distances and sizes. It is known that many newly discovered NEAs have no accurately determinated orbits because of the lack of observations. Consequently, it is hard to speak about future encounters and collisions with the Earth in terms of mutual distances between bodies. Because the dynamical evolution of asteroids’ orbits is less sensitive to the improvement of their orbital elements, we introduced a new subclass of NEAs named Earth-encounter asteroids in order to describe more reliably the potentially dangerous bodies as impactors with the Earth. So, we pay attention at those asteroids having an encounter between their orbits and that of the Earth within 100 years, trying to classify these encounters.

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (S318) ◽  
pp. 142-143
Author(s):  
Julio A. Fernández ◽  
Andrea Sosa

AbstractWe analyze the dynamics and activity observed in bodies approaching the Earth (perihelion distancesq< 1.3 au) in short-period orbits (P< 20 yr), which essentially are near-Earth Jupiter Family Comets (NEJFCs) and near-Earth asteroids (NEAs). In the general definition, comets are “active”, i.e. they show some coma, while asteroids are “inactive”, i.e. they only show a bare nucleus. Besides their activity, NEJFCs are distinguished from NEAs by their dynamical evolution: NEJFCs move on unstable orbits subject to frequent close encounters with Jupiter, whereas NEA orbits are much more stable and tend to avoid close encounters with Jupiter. However, some JFCs are found to move on stable, asteroidal-type orbits, so the question arises if these objects are asteroids that have become active, perhaps upon approach to the Sun. In this sense they may be regarded as the counterparts of the main-belt comets (Hsieh & Jewitt 2006). On the other hand, some seemingly inert NEAs move on unstable, comet-type orbits, so the question about what is a comet and what is an asteroid has become increasingly complex.


Universe ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Maddalena Mochi ◽  
Giacomo Tommei

The solar system is populated with, other than planets, a wide variety of minor bodies, the majority of which are represented by asteroids. Most of their orbits are comprised of those between Mars and Jupiter, thus forming a population named Main Belt. However, some asteroids can run on trajectories that come close to, or even intersect, the orbit of the Earth. These objects are known as Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) or Near Earth Objects (NEOs) and may entail a risk of collision with our planet. Predicting the occurrence of such collisions as early as possible is the task of Impact Monitoring (IM). Dedicated algorithms are in charge of orbit determination and risk assessment for any detected NEO, but their efficiency is limited in cases in which the object has been observed for a short period of time, as is the case with newly discovered asteroids and, more worryingly, imminent impactors: objects due to hit the Earth, detected only a few days or hours in advance of impacts. This timespan might be too short to take any effective safety countermeasure. For this reason, a necessary improvement of current observation capabilities is underway through the construction of dedicated telescopes, e.g., the NEO Survey Telescope (NEOSTEL), also known as “Fly-Eye”. Thanks to these developments, the number of discovered NEOs and, consequently, imminent impactors detected per year, is expected to increase, thus requiring an improvement of the methods and algorithms used to handle such cases. In this paper we present two new tools, based on the Admissible Region (AR) concept, dedicated to the observers, aiming to facilitate the planning of follow-up observations of NEOs by rapidly assessing the possibility of them being imminent impactors and the remaining visibility time from any given station.


2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Černis ◽  
I. Wlodarczyk ◽  
J. Zdanavičius

AbstractWe present the statistics of the asteroids observed and discovered at the Molėtai Observatory, Lithuania, in 2008–2009 within the project for astrometric observations of the near-Earth objects (NEOs), the main belt asteroids and comets. CCD observations of the asteroids were obtained with the 35/51-cm Maksutov-type meniscus telescope. In the Minor Planet Circulars and the Minor Planet Electronic Circulars (2008–2009), 11 900 astrometric positions of 2522 asteroids were published. Among them 95 were new asteroids, including four belonging to the Trojan group: (352655) 2008QX28, 2008 SE8, (353194) 2009 SM100 and (264068) 2009 SQ148. For the asteroids discovered at Molėtai their precise orbits are calculated. Because of short observational arc, a few asteroids have low-precision orbits and some asteroids are considered lost. For the three Main Belt asteroids with low-precision orbital elements, 2008 QP32, 2008 SD8 and 2008 SG150, we present their ephemerides for 2017. They can be brighter than 20 mag.


The equations of motion of a satellite are given in a general form, account being taken of the precession and nutation of the earth. The main part of the paper deals with the motion arising from the gravitational field of the earth, expressed as a general expansion in spherical harmonics. By evaluating the partial derivatives in Lagrange’s planetary equations, • expressions are obtained for the rates of change of the orbital elements. Particular consideration is given to the form of the expressions for the secular terms arising from the first four zonal harmonics.


2020 ◽  
Vol 501 (1) ◽  
pp. 1215-1227 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Gardiol ◽  
D Barghini ◽  
A Buzzoni ◽  
A Carbognani ◽  
M Di Carlo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Two meteorite pieces have been recovered in Italy, near the town of Cavezzo (Modena), on 2020 January 4th. The associated fireball was observed on the evening of New Year’s Day 2020 by eight all-sky cameras of the PRISMA fireball network, a partner of FRIPON. The computed trajectory had an inclination angle of approximately 68° and a velocity at infinity of 12.8 km s−1. Together with the relatively low terminal height, estimated as 21.5 km, those values were indicating the significant possibility of a meteorite dropping event, as additionally confirmed by the non-zero residual total mass. The strewn-field was computed taking into account the presence of two bright light flashes, revealing that the meteoroid had been very likely subject to fragmentation. Three days after the event, two samples, weighing 3.1 and 52.2 g, were collected as a result of a dedicated field search and thanks to the involvement of the local people. The two pieces were immediately recognized as freshly fallen fragments of meteorite. The computed orbital elements, compared with the ones of known Near-Earth Asteroids from the NEODyS database, are compatible with one asteroid only; 2013 VC10. The estimated original mass of the meteoroid, 3.5 kg, and size, approximately 13 cm, is so far the smallest among the current 35 cases in which meteorites were recovered from precise strewn-field computation thanks to observational data. This result demonstrates the effectiveness of accurate processing of fireball network data even on challenging events generated by small size meteoroids.


2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Černis ◽  
I. Wlodarczyk ◽  
I. Eglitis

AbstractThe paper presents statistics of the asteroids observed and discovered at the Baldone Observatory, Latvia, in 2008–2013 within the project for astrometric observations of the near-Earth objects (NEOs), the main belt asteroids and comets. CCD observations of the asteroids were obtained with the 0.80/1.20 m, f/3 Schmidt telescope and a ST-10XME 15 × 10 mm CCD camera. In the Minor Planet Circulars and the Minor Planet Electronic Circulars (2008–2013) we published 3511 astrometric positions of 826 asteroids. Among them, 43 asteroids were newly discovered at Baldone. For 36 of these asteroids the precise orbits are calculated. Because of short observational arc and small number of observations, a few asteroids have low-precision orbits and their tracks have been lost. For seven objects with poorly known orbits we present their ephemerides for 2015–2016. The orbits and the evolution of orbital elements of two asteroids, (428694) 2008 OS9 from the Apollo group and the Centaur (330836) Orius (2009 HW77), are recalculated including new observations obtained after 2011.


1992 ◽  
Vol 152 ◽  
pp. 315-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Štohl ◽  
V. Porubčan

Unusually long activity of the Taurid meteor complex, extending over 3-5 months according to new estimations based on various orbital similarity criteria, has been evoking controversies about the possible origin and dynamical evolution of this unique complex of meteor streams. It even casts doubts on the reality of the extension of the complex. In the present paper orbital elements and the extension of the Taurid meteor complex are re-examined on the bases of the most precise photographic meteor orbits available from the IAU Meteor Data Center in Lund. The results are evaluated and discussed from the viewpoint of various proposals on the origin and dynamical evolution of the complex.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (A30) ◽  
pp. 40-40
Author(s):  
Remziye Canbay ◽  
Fulin Gursoy

AbstractIn this study, the main belt asteroid (44) Nysa, which is also a known member of the Nysian asteroid family, was observed by IST60 telescope. The orbital elements were compared with MPO(Minor Planet Center) and NASA Horizons Web-Interface results.


2019 ◽  
Vol 492 (3) ◽  
pp. 4546-4552
Author(s):  
Dmitrii E Vavilov

ABSTRACT This paper presents a robust linear method for impact probability estimation of near-Earth asteroids with the Earth. This method is a significantly modified and improved method, which uses a special curvilinear coordinate system associated with the nominal orbit of an asteroid. One of the coordinates of this system is the mean anomaly in the osculating orbit of an asteroid. A normal distribution of errors of coordinates and velocities of this system is assumed. Because of the usage of the curvilinear coordinate system, the fact that the confidence region is curved and stretched mainly along the nominal asteroid orbit is taken into account. On the main axis of the curvilinear confidence ellipsoid the virtual asteroid, which is the closest to the Earth, is found. The part of the curvilinear confidence ellipsoid, around the found virtual asteroid, is obtained and mapped on to its target plane. The impact probability is calculated as the probability of the asteroid being in the region of the found virtual asteroid multiplied by the probability of a collision of the found virtual asteroid with the Earth. This approach is shown to give more accurate and trustworthy results than the target plane method.


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