Episodes of particle ejection from the surface of the active asteroid (101955) Bennu
Status PubMed-not-MEDLINE Language English Country United States Media print
Document type Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
PubMed
31806784
DOI
10.1126/science.aay3544
PII: 366/6470/eaay3544
Knihovny.cz E-resources
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. MeSH
Active asteroids are those that show evidence of ongoing mass loss. We report repeated instances of particle ejection from the surface of (101955) Bennu, demonstrating that it is an active asteroid. The ejection events were imaged by the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer) spacecraft. For the three largest observed events, we estimated the ejected particle velocities and sizes, event times, source regions, and energies. We also determined the trajectories and photometric properties of several gravitationally bound particles that orbited temporarily in the Bennu environment. We consider multiple hypotheses for the mechanisms that lead to particle ejection for the largest events, including rotational disruption, electrostatic lofting, ice sublimation, phyllosilicate dehydration, meteoroid impacts, thermal stress fracturing, and secondary impacts.
Department of Aerospace Engineering University of Maryland College Park MD USA
Department of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences Northern Arizona University Flagstaff AZ USA
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences University of Tennessee Knoxville TN USA
Department of Geology Rowan University Glassboro NJ USA
Department of Geosciences University of Arizona Tucson AZ USA
Department of Physics University of Central Florida Orlando FL USA
Institute of Astronomy Charles University Prague Czech Republic
Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA USA
KinetX Aerospace Simi Valley CA USA
London Stereoscopic Company London UK
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory University of Arizona Tucson AZ USA
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt MD USA
Planetary Science Institute Tucson AZ USA
School of Physical Sciences Open University Milton Keynes UK
SETI Institute Mountain View CA USA
Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences University of Colorado Boulder CO USA
Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History Washington DC USA
Southwest Research Institute Boulder CO USA
The Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science York University Toronto ON Canada
Université Côte d'Azur Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur CNRS Laboratoire Lagrange Nice France
References provided by Crossref.org
Fast boulder fracturing by thermal fatigue detected on stony asteroids
Meteoroid Impacts as a Source of Bennu's Particle Ejection Events
Near-infrared observations of active asteroid (3200) Phaethon reveal no evidence for hydration
