We analyze 2–5 μm spectroscopic observations of the dust coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko obtained with the Visible InfraRed Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS-H) instrument on board Rosetta ...from 3 June to 29 October 2015 at heliocentric distances rh = 1.24–1.55 AU. The 2–2.5 μm color, bolometric albedo, and color temperature were measured using spectral fitting. Data obtained at α = 90° solar phase angle show an increase in bolometric albedo (0.05–0.14) with increasing altitude (0.5–8 km), accompanied by a possible marginal decrease in color and color temperature. Possible explanations include dark particles on ballistic trajectories in the inner coma and radial changes in particle composition. In the phase angle range 50°–120°, phase reddening is significant (0.031%/100 nm deg−1) for a mean color of 2%/100 nm at α = 90°, which might be related to the roughness of the dust particles. Moreover, a decrease in color temperature with decreasing phase angle is also observed at a rate of ~0.3 K deg−1, consistent with the presence of large porous particles, with low thermal inertia, and showing a significant day-to-night temperature contrast. Comparing data acquired at fixed phase angle (α = 90°), a 20% increase in bolometric albedo is observed near perihelion. Heliocentric variations in dust color are not significant in the time period we analyzed. The measured color temperatures vary from 260 to 320 K, and follow a rh−0.6 $r_{\textrm{h}}^{-0.6}$ r h −0.6 variation in the rh = 1.24–1.5 AU range, which is close to the expected rh−0.5 $r_{\textrm{h}}^{-0.5}$ r h −0.5 value.
Context.
The OSIRIS-REx Visible and InfraRed Spectrometer onboard the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer spacecraft obtained many spectra from ...the surface of the near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu, enabling the characterization of this primitive small body. Bennu is spectrally similar to the hydrated carbonaceous chondrites (CCs), but questions remain as to which CCs, or combinations thereof, offer the best analogy to its surface.
Aims.
We aim to understand in more detail the composition and particle size of Bennu’s surface by refining the relationship between this asteroid and various CC meteorites.
Methods.
We used published absorbance and reflectance data to identify new optical constants for various CC meteorites measured in the laboratory at different temperatures. We then used the Hapke model to randomly generate 1000 synthetic spectra in order to find the combinations of these potential meteoritic analogs that best reproduce the spectral features of the asteroid.
Results.
Our investigations suggest that the surface of Bennu, though visibly dominated by boulders and coarse rubble, is covered by small particles (tens to a few hundreds of μm) and that possibly dust or powder covers the larger rocks. We further find that the surface is best modeled using a mixture of heated CM, C2-ungrouped, and, to some extent, CI materials.
Conclusions.
Bennu is best approximated spectrally by a combination of CC materials and may not fall into an existing CC group.
•We analyzed the OSIRIS images in 18 filters in the visible of Baetica region.•We undertook a photometric correction of the images and constructed two spectral slope maps for same illumination ...condition.•We apply Hapke model analysis and derived disk-resolved parametric maps.•We discussed the relation between spatial variegation and hapke parameters.•We discussed the presence of phase reddening/bluing at small phase angles.
(21) Lutetia has been visited by Rosetta mission on July 2010 and observed with a phase angle ranging from 0.15° to 156.8°. The Baetica region, located at the north pole has been extensively observed by OSIRIS cameras system. Baetica encompass a region called North Pole Crater Cluster (NPCC), shows a cluster of superposed craters which presents signs of variegation at the small phase angle images. For studying the location, we used 187 images distributed throughout 14 filter recorded by the NAC (Narrow Angle Camera) and WAC (Wide Angle Camera) of the OSIRIS system on-board Rosetta taken during the fly-by. Then, we photometrically modeled the region using Minnaert disk-function and Akimov phase function to obtain a resolved spectral slope map at phase angles of 5° and 20°. We observed a dichotomy between Gallicum and Danuvius-Sarnus Labes in the NPCC, but no significant phase reddening (-0.04±0.045%μm-1deg-1). In the next step, we applied the Hapke (Hapke, B. 2008. Icarus 195, 918–926; Hapke, B. 2012. Theory of Reflectance and Emittance Spectroscopy, second ed. Cambridge University Press) model for the NAC F82+F22 (649.2nm), WAC F13 (375nm) and WAC F17 (631.6nm) and we obtained normal albedo maps and Hapke parameter maps for NAC F82+F22. On Baetica, at 649.2nm, the geometric albedo is 0.205±0.005, the average single-scattering albedo is 0.181±0.005, the average asymmetric factor is -0.342±0.003, the average shadow-hiding opposition effect amplitude and width are 0.824±0.002 and 0.040±0.0007, the average roughness slope is 11.45°±3° and the average porosity is 0.85±0.002. We are unable to confirm the presence of coherent-backscattering mechanism. In the NPCC, the normal albedo variegation among the craters walls reach 8% brighter for Gallicum Labes and 2% fainter for Danuvius Labes. The Hapke parameter maps also show a dichotomy at the opposition effect coefficients, single-scattering albedo and asymmetric factor, that may be attributed to the maturation degree of the regolith or to compositonal variation. In addition, we compared the Hapke (Hapke, B. 2008. Icarus 195, 918–926; Hapke, B. 2012. Theory of Reflectance and Emittance Spectroscopy, second ed. Cambridge University Press) and Hapke (Hapke, B. 1993. Theory of Reflectance and Emittance Spectroscopy) parameters with laboratory samples and other small Solar System bodies visited by space missions.
Context. Starting from late June 2018, the JAXA asteroid sample return mission Hayabusa2 acquired a large quantity of resolved images and spectra of the surface of the asteroid (162173) Ryugu. Aims. ...By studying the visible and near-infrared spectral behavior across the surface of Ryugu using a statistical analysis, we aim to distinguish spectral homogeneous groups and to detect the small heterogeneities. This allows us to better constrain the surface composition variations. Methods. In order to isolate and interpret the difference in the asteroid surface spectral behavior, we applied the G-mode multivariate statistical analysis to a set of pixels containing information of (i) the visible ONC-T spectrophotometry, and (ii) the near-infrared NIRS3 spectra thereby obtaining automatic statistical clustering at different confidence levels. Results. The analysis of both ONC-T and NIRS3 data allows us to highlight small spectral variations on the Ryugu surface. At a 3σ confidence level, only two groups are evident, while going down to 2σ more groups are obtained with differences in spectral slope and band depth. Conclusions. The identified groups have been associated with main morphological surface features. The spectral slope variations that characterize the small groups obtained by ONC-T data analysis, are interpreted as a consequence of space weathering with the presence of more or less fresh material and/or the different grain sizes of the regolith. The variations found analyzing the NIRS3 data are attributed to slightly different contents of hydrated material and different regolith sizes. The distribution on the Ryugu surface of the groups obtained by the analysis of the two instruments indicates a clear spectral dichotomy both between the east and west, and the north and south hemispheres. Small sized regolith grains associated to the redder spectra seem concentrated in the southwestern part of the body.
The OSIRIS-REx Visible and InfraRed Spectrometer (OVIRS) onboard the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft detected ~3.4-μm ...absorption features indicative of carbonates and organics on near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu. We apply a Kolmogorov-Smirnov similarity test to OVIRS spectra of Bennu and laboratory spectra of minerals to categorize 3.4-μm features observed on Bennu as representing either carbonates or organics. Among the 15,585 spectra acquired by OVIRS during high-resolution (4 to 9 m/spectrum footprint) reconnaissance observations of select locations on Bennu's surface, we find 544 spectral matches with carbonates and 245 spectral matches with organics (total of 789 high-confidence spectral matches). We map the locations of these matches and characterize features of Bennu's surface using corresponding image data. Image data are used to quantitatively characterize the albedo within each spectrometer footprint. We find no apparent relationships between spectral classification and surface morphological expression, and we find no correlation between carbon species classification and other spectral properties such as slope or band depth. This suggests either that carbonates and organics are ubiquitous across the surface of Bennu, independent of surface features (consistent with findings from laboratory studies of carbonaceous chondrites), or that the observations do not have the spatial resolution required to resolve differences. However, we find more organic spectral matches at certain locations, including the site from which the OSIRIS-REx mission collected a sample, than at others. Higher concentrations of organics may be explained if these materials have been more recently exposed to surface alteration processes, perhaps by recent crater formation.
•OSIRIS-REx target asteroid 101955 Bennu contains organics and carbonates.•Spectra of regions on Bennu show features similar to laboratory meteorite spectra that contain organics.•These detections of organics and carbonates are not correlated with surface features such as craters or boulders.•Bennu expresses more carbonate-like spectra than organic-like spectra.•Organics and carbonates are mixed below the spatial resolution of the OSIRIS-REx Visual InfraRed Spectrometer, OVIRS.
Aims. The Rosetta-OSIRIS images acquired at small phase angles in three wavelengths during the fly-by of the spacecraft on 9–10 April 2016 provided a unique opportunity to study the opposition effect ...on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P). Our goal is to study phase curves of the nucleus at small phase angles for a variety of surface structures to show the differences in their opposition effect and to determine which surface properties cause the differences. Methods. We used OSIRIS NAC images that cover the Ash-Khepry-Imhotep region to extract the phase curve, that is, the reflectance of the surface as a function of phase angle. We selected six regions of interest (ROIs) and derived the phase curves for each ROI. We fit a linear-exponential function to the phase curves. The resulting model parameters were then interpreted by spectrophotometric, geomorphological, and phase-ratio analyses, and by investigating the influence of structural and textural properties of the surface. Results. We find evidence for the opposition effect (deviation of the phase curve from linear behavior) in phase curves for all areas. We found an anticorrelation between the phase ratio and reflectance in a small phase angle range. This provides evidence for the shadow-hiding effect. We conclude that the decrease in the slope of the phase ratio versus reflectance indicates a decrease in the proportion of shadowed regions and reduces the contribution of the shadow-hiding effect. Large uncertainties in the determination of the opposition effect parameters with respect to wavelength do not allow us to conclusively claim coherent backscattering in the opposition effect phenomenon. Based on the two analyses, we conclude that the opposition effect of comet 67P in the Ash-Khepry-Imhotep region is mainly affected by shadow-hiding.
Abstract
On 2022 September 26, the DART spacecraft will impact the surface of Dimorphos, the ∼160 m size satellite of the binary near-Earth asteroid (NEA) (65803) Didymos. What will be observed on ...the surfaces of both asteroids and at the DART impact site is largely unknown, beyond the details of Didymos revealed by previous Arecibo and Goldstone radar observations. We present here the expected DART and LICIACube observations of the Didymos system and discuss the planned mapping strategies. By searching similar geological features and processes identified on other NEAs, we constrain the impact conditions that DART might encounter at Dimorphos, assessing both the asteroid’s surface and interior structure.
Abstract The ASI cubesat LICIACube has been part of the first planetary defense mission DART, having among its scopes to complement the DRACO images to better constrain the Dimorphos shape. LICIACube ...had two different cameras, LEIA and LUKE, and to accomplish its goal, it exploited the unique possibility of acquiring images of the Dimorphos hemisphere not seen by DART from a vantage point of view, in both time and space. This work is indeed aimed at constraining the tridimensional shape of Dimorphos, starting from both LUKE images of the nonimpacted hemisphere of Dimorphos and the results obtained by DART looking at the impacted hemisphere. To this aim, we developed a semiautomatic Computer Vision algorithm, named VADER, able to identify objects of interest on the basis of physical characteristics, subsequently used as input to retrieve the shape of the ellipse projected in the LUKE images analyzed. Thanks to this shape, we then extracted information about the Dimorphos ellipsoid by applying a series of quantitative geometric considerations. Although the solution space coming from this analysis includes the triaxial ellipsoid found by using DART images, we cannot discard the possibility that Dimorphos has a more elongated shape, more similar to what is expected from previous theories and observations. The result of our work seems therefore to emphasize the unique value of the LICIACube mission and its images, making even clearer the need of having different points of view to accurately define the shape of an asteroid.
Using data acquired by the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer) mission, we investigate spectral properties of craters on the ...near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu. We compare Bennu's craters with its global average by means of four spectral parameters: (a) minimum position of the band at 2.7 μm, (b) depth of the hydrated phyllosilicate absorption band at 2.7 μm, (c) normalized spectral slope from 0.55 to 2.0 μm, and (d) reflectance factor at 0.55 μm. We examine 45 craters using spectral data obtained under various observing conditions. For 20 craters, we find a shortward shift of the 2.7-μm band minimum relative to the global 2.7-μm band minimum, which we attribute to the presence of relatively fresh (less space-weathered) material excavated from the sub-surface by crater-forming impacts. For three craters, we find an anti-correlation between spectral slopes and reflectance factor for a series of spectra acquired during a specific scan, where we observe that spectra become redder and darker towards the center of the crater. We attribute this to the presence of fine-particulate regolith. Localized spectral heterogeneities are apparent inside a prominent equatorial crater on Bennu, which is one of the asteroid's oldest geological features. We propose that such local spectral heterogeneities could be used as a tracer of mass movement on Bennu. We show that younger craters are redder, brighter, and have deeper 2.7-μm bands. Comparing global average spectral values of Bennu and crater frequency distributions as a function of the chosen spectral parameters, we find that craters evolve to assume the global average spectral properties of Bennu. A positive correlation identified between the reflectance factor and 2.7-μm band depth suggests that brighter craters tend to be more hydrated. Finally, we put into context, the results from the Small Carry-on Impactor experiment by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft, which created an artificial crater on the near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu.
•The shortward shift of the 2.7-μm band inside craters indicates the presence of freshly excavated sub-surface material.•A scan-dependentant anti-correlation between REFF0.55 μm and spectral slopes hints at the presence of fine particulates.•Younger craters are brighter and have deeper 2.7-μm hydration bands and redder spectral slopes.•Nightingale crater, the primary sample site of the OSIRIS-REx mission, is the reddest and the darkest crater
Asteroids were likely a major source of volatiles and water to early Earth. Quantifying the hydration of asteroids is necessary to constrain models of the formation and evolution of the Solar System ...and the origin of Life on Earth. The OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer) mission showed that near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu contains widespread, abundant hydrated phyllosilicates, indicated by a ubiquitous absorption at ~ 2.7 μm. The objective of this work is to quantify the hydration—that is, the hydrogen content—of phyllosilicates on Bennu's surface and investigate how this hydration varies spatially. We analyse spectral parameters (normalized optical path length, NOPL; effective single-scattering albedo, ESPAT; and Gaussian modeling) computed from the hydrated phyllosilicate absorption band of spatially resolved visible–near-infrared spectra acquired by OVIRS (the OSIRIS-REx Visible and InfraRed Spectrometer). We also computed the same spectral parameters using laboratory-measured spectra of meteorites including CMs, CIs, and the ungrouped C2 Tagish Lake. We estimate the mean hydrogen content of water and hydroxyl groups in hydrated phyllosilicates on Bennu's surface to be 0.71 ± 0.16 wt%. This value is consistent with the hydration range of some aqueously altered meteorites (CMs, C2 Tagish Lake), but not the most aqueously altered group (CIs). The sample collection site of the OSIRIS-REx mission has slightly higher hydrogen content than average. Spatial variations in hydrogen content on Bennu's surface are linked to geomorphology, and may have been partially inherited from its parent body.
•Hydrated phyllosilicate OH−, H2O hydrogen (H) content is estimated.•First spatially resolved H content quantified, on asteroid (101955) Bennu.•H content variation is associated with asteroid Bennu geomorphology.•Bennu mean H content is similar to CMs and Tagish Lake.•Our results will be compared to Bennu's samples.
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