Surface gravimetry on Dimorphos &amp;#160;

Karatekin, Özgür; Ritter, Birgit; Noeker, Matthias; Umit, E.; Vanransbeeck, Emiel; Alavés, Higinio; Tasev, Elisa; Goli, Marta; waal, Stefaan Van; Goldberg, Hannah

doi:10.5194/egusphere-egu21-15901

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…To date, one gravimetric study was performed on the Moon (Talwani et al, 1973) and one on Mars (Lewis et al, 2019). Currently, the GRAvimeter for small Solar System bodies (GRASS) (Noeker et al, 2021(Noeker et al, , 2022 is being developed for surface gravimetry on the secondary of the asteroid system Dimorphos (Karatekin et al, 2021). Solar System surface gravimetry therefore demands a method well-suitable to account for local topography reduction in the proximity of the surface, avoiding the above mentioned topsurface approximation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The wedge-pentahedra method (WPM): Topographic reduction of local terrain in the context of solar system surface gravimetry and robotic exploration

Noeker

Karatekin²

2022

Front. Space Technol.

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In classical gravimetry, different corrections are applied, e.g. to correct for the measurement elevation above a reference plane and the gravitational attraction of the material lying between the measurement point and reference plane. Additionally, and especially in non-flat regions, a correction for the topography is generally needed. While this contribution is relatively small on spherical celestial objects, it can be more important for irregularly shaped bodies, such as small bodies or some natural satellites. With the surface gravity being much smaller, the relative importance of the topographic correction increases, while the approximation errors of the surface will become larger. In this work, the novel Wedge-Pentahedra Method (WPM) for topographic correction for (near-) surface gravimetric measurements and simulations is presented that allows precise topographic corrections for asteroids and natural satellites. For a first study, the WPM is applied to the Martian moon Phobos. Taking an exemplary surface location, a high-resolution artificial terrain is added to the surrounding, and the gravitational influence of this topography compared to the original surface is assessed. It is found that the influence of topography on the surface gravity of a small body such as Phobos can be in the order of a few percent, making it an important correction not only for surface gravity science, but likewise for landing and surface operations, to best ensure the mission success. Therefore, the here presented WPM opens a manifold of possible future applications in the context of Solar System exploration, regarding both space science and space technology.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The wedge-pentahedra method (WPM): Topographic reduction of local terrain in the context of solar system surface gravimetry and robotic exploration

Noeker

Karatekin²

2022

Front. Space Technol.

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Evidence for multi-fragmentation and mass shedding of boulders on rubble-pile binary asteroid system (65803) Didymos

Pajola,

Tusberti,

Lucchetti

et al. 2024

Nat Commun

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Asteroids smaller than 10 km are thought to be rubble piles formed from the reaccumulation of fragments produced in the catastrophic disruption of parent bodies. Ground-based observations reveal that some of these asteroids are today binary systems, in which a smaller secondary orbits a larger primary asteroid. However, how these asteroids became binary systems remains unclear. Here, we report the analysis of boulders on the surface of the stony asteroid (65803) Didymos and its moonlet, Dimorphos, from data collected by the NASA DART mission. The size-frequency distribution of boulders larger than 5 m on Dimorphos and larger than 22.8 m on Didymos confirms that both asteroids are piles of fragments produced in the catastrophic disruption of their progenitors. Dimorphos boulders smaller than 5 m have size best-fit by a Weibull distribution, which we attribute to a multi-phase fragmentation process either occurring during coalescence or during surface evolution. The density per km2 of Dimorphos boulders ≥1 m is 2.3x with respect to the one obtained for (101955) Bennu, while it is 3.0x with respect to (162173) Ryugu. Such values increase once Dimorphos boulders ≥5 m are compared with Bennu (3.5x), Ryugu (3.9x) and (25143) Itokawa (5.1x). This is of interest in the context of asteroid studies because it means that contrarily to the single bodies visited so far, binary systems might be affected by subsequential fragmentation processes that largely increase their block density per km2. Direct comparison between the surface distribution and shapes of the boulders on Didymos and Dimorphos suggest that the latter inherited its material from the former. This finding supports the hypothesis that some asteroid binary systems form through the spin up and mass shedding of a fraction of the primary asteroid.

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Surface gravimetry on Dimorphos

Cited by 2 publications

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The wedge-pentahedra method (WPM): Topographic reduction of local terrain in the context of solar system surface gravimetry and robotic exploration

The wedge-pentahedra method (WPM): Topographic reduction of local terrain in the context of solar system surface gravimetry and robotic exploration

Evidence for multi-fragmentation and mass shedding of boulders on rubble-pile binary asteroid system (65803) Didymos

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