All posts in category Asteroid

Origin of Terraces on Asteroid (101955) Bennu

Post contributed by Dr. Olivier S. Barnouin, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, USA

The OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer) spacecraft successfully sampled the surface of the asteroid (101955) Bennu on October 20, 2020.  The sampling event revealed that Bennu’s surface was very weak and easy to displace. But this outcome was not necessarily evident when OSIRIS-REx first arrived at Bennu, given the asteroid’s very rocky surface and apparent lack of fine sand-sized surface material, or regolith (Image 1), until we began analyzing Bennu’s landscape in detail.

Image 1. Movie of high resolution (40 cm) digital terrain model of Bennu showing its rough, rubbly surface. Bennu’s diameter is ~500m. In this movie, the sun is held fixed at at 20 sub-longitude. Movie generated with Small Body Mapping Tool (sbmt.jhuapl.edu). Credit CSA/NASA/UA/APL.

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by fegbutcher on January 1, 2023  •  Permalink
Posted in Asteroid
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Posted by fegbutcher on January 1, 2023

https://planetarygeomorphology.wordpress.com/2023/01/01/origin-of-terraces-on-asteroid-101955-bennu/

Cryovolcanic flows on Ceres

Post contributed by Dr. Katrin Krohn, German Aerospace Center, Institute of Planetary Research

The dwarf planet Ceres is a weakly differentiated body with a shell dominated by an ice-rock mixture and ammoniated phyllosilicates, which has a variety of flow features visible on its surface. Flow features are common features on planetary surfaces and they indicate the emplacement of viscous material. Many of the observed flows on Ceres originate from distinct sources within crater interiors and on crater flanks.

Haulani_IAG

Image 1: LAMO FC mosaic of Haulani crater. A: Well-defined smooth lobes (LAMO FC21A0049392_16002071420F1F.IMG). B: Multiple flow stages on western crater flank (FC21A0046469_15350155540F1C.IMG).

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by suja82 on April 30, 2017  •  Permalink
Posted in Asteroid, Ceres
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Posted by suja82 on April 30, 2017

https://planetarygeomorphology.wordpress.com/2017/04/30/cryovolcanic-flows-on-ceres/

Transient flow of water on Vesta suggested by gullies and lobate deposits.

Post contributed by Jennifer Scully, Dept. of Earth, Planetary & Space Sciences, University of California Los Angeles

Vesta is the second most massive asteroid in the asteroid belt, with a mean diameter of 526 km (e.g. Russell et al., 2012). High resolution images from the Dawn Mission have detected curvilinear and linera gully forms and lobate deposits in craters and on steep slopes on its surface (Scully et al., 2015).

Image 1: (a) Fonteia crater, which contains linear gullies. (b) Unmapped version and (c) mapped version of linear gullies. White arrows highlight an example linear gully in (b).

Image 1: (a) Fonteia crater, which contains linear gullies. (b) Unmapped version and (c) mapped version of linear gullies. White arrows highlight an example linear gully in (b).

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by Mary Bourke on January 30, 2015  •  Permalink
Posted in Asteroid, Vesta

Posted by Mary Bourke on January 30, 2015

https://planetarygeomorphology.wordpress.com/2015/01/30/transient-flow-of-water-on-vesta-suggested-by-gullies-and-lobate-deposits/

Unconsolidated Gravels on Asteroid Itokawa

Posted by Dr. Hirdy Miyamoto,    

(Re-posted from IAG Image of the Month, November 2007)

In November 2005, the Hayabusa spacecraft performed touchdown rehearsals, imaging navigation tests, and two touchdowns on Itokawa, which is by far the smallest asteroid ever studied at high resolution.

Asteroid Itokawa

Image courtesy ISAS/JAXA and University of Tokyo

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by Mary Bourke on August 8, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Mary Bourke on August 8, 2013

https://planetarygeomorphology.wordpress.com/2013/08/08/unconsolidated-gravels-on-asteroid-itokawa/

A “Rubble-pile” Asteroid

Posted by Hirdy Miyamoto, University of Tokyo, Japan.

(Re-posted from IAG Image of the Month, August, 2007)

This image of asteroid 25143 Itokawa, photographed by the Japanese Hayabusa spacecraft during a two-month encounter, September-December, 2005, is suggestive of the “rubble-pile” conception of asteroid formation and structure.

Asteroid 25143 Itokawa

Asteroid 25143 Itokawa. Image courtesy ISAS/JAXA Japanese space agency.

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by Mary Bourke on July 19, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Mary Bourke on July 19, 2013

https://planetarygeomorphology.wordpress.com/2013/07/19/a-rubble-pile-asteroid/

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