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218 results on '"Della Corte, Vincenzo"'

1. Author Correction: The geology and evolution of the Near-Earth binary asteroid system (65803) Didymos

Author

Barnouin, Olivier, Ballouz, Ronald-Louis, Marchi, Simone, Vincent, Jean-Baptiste, Agrusa, Harrison, Zhang, Yun, Ernst, Carolyn M., Pajola, Maurizio, Tusberti, Filippo, Lucchetti, Alice, Daly, R. Terik, Palmer, Eric, Walsh, Kevin J., Michel, Patrick, Sunshine, Jessica M., Rizos, Juan L., Farnham, Tony L., Richardson, Derek C., Parro, Laura M., Murdoch, Naomi, Robin, Colas Q., Hirabayashi, Masatoshi, Kahout, Tomas, Asphaug, Erik, Raducan, Sabina D., Jutzi, Martin, Ferrari, Fabio, Hasselmann, Pedro Henrique Aragao, CampoBagatin, Adriano, Chabot, Nancy L., Li, Jian-Yang, Cheng, Andrew F., Nolan, Michael C., Stickle, Angela M., Karatekin, Ozgur, Dotto, Elisabetta, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Mazzotta Epifani, Elena, Rossi, Alessandro, Gai, Igor, Deshapriya, Jasinghege Don Prasanna, Bertini, Ivano, Zinzi, Angelo, Trigo-Rodriguez, Josep M., Beccarelli, Joel, Ivanovski, Stavro Lambrov, Brucato, John Robert, Poggiali, Giovanni, Zanotti, Giovanni, Amoroso, Marilena, Capannolo, Andrea, Cremonese, Gabriele, Dall’Ora, Massimo, Ieva, Simone, Impresario, Gabriele, Lavagn, Michèle, Modenini, Dario, Palumbo, Pasquale, Perna, Davide, Pirrotta, Simone, Tortora, Paolo, Zannoni, Marco, and Rivkin, Andrew S.

Published
2024
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2. The geology and evolution of the Near-Earth binary asteroid system (65803) Didymos

Author

Barnouin, Olivier, Ballouz, Ronald-Louis, Marchi, Simone, Vincent, Jean-Baptiste, Agrusa, Harrison, Zhang, Yun, Ernst, Carolyn M., Pajola, Maurizio, Tusberti, Filippo, Lucchetti, Alice, Daly, R. Terik, Palmer, Eric, Walsh, Kevin J., Michel, Patrick, Sunshine, Jessica M., Rizos, Juan L., Farnham, Tony L., Richardson, Derek C., Parro, Laura M., Murdoch, Naomi, Robin, Colas Q., Hirabayashi, Masatoshi, Kahout, Tomas, Asphaug, Erik, Raducan, Sabina D., Jutzi, Martin, Ferrari, Fabio, Hasselmann, Pedro Henrique Aragao, CampoBagatin, Adriano, Chabot, Nancy L., Li, Jian-Yang, Cheng, Andrew F., Nolan, Michael C., Stickle, Angela M., Karatekin, Ozgur, Dotto, Elisabetta, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Mazzotta Epifani, Elena, Rossi, Alessandro, Gai, Igor, Deshapriya, Jasinghege Don Prasanna, Bertini, Ivano, Zinzi, Angelo, Trigo-Rodriguez, Josep M., Beccarelli, Joel, Ivanovski, Stavro Lambrov, Brucato, John Robert, Poggiali, Giovanni, Zanotti, Giovanni, Amoroso, Marilena, Capannolo, Andrea, Cremonese, Gabriele, Dall’Ora, Massimo, Ieva, Simone, Impresario, Gabriele, Lavagn, Michèle, Modenini, Dario, Palumbo, Pasquale, Perna, Davide, Pirrotta, Simone, Tortora, Paolo, Zannoni, Marco, and Rivkin, Andrew S.

Published
2024
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3. Momentum Transfer from the DART Mission Kinetic Impact on Asteroid Dimorphos

Author

Cheng, Andrew F., Agrusa, Harrison F., Barbee, Brent W., Meyer, Alex J., Farnham, Tony L., Raducan, Sabina D., Richardson, Derek C., Dotto, Elisabetta, Zinzi, Angelo, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Statler, Thomas S., Chesley, Steven, Naidu, Shantanu P., Hirabayashi, Masatoshi, Li, Jian-Yang, Eggl, Siegfried, Barnouin, Olivier S., Chabot, Nancy L., Chocron, Sidney, Collins, Gareth S., Daly, R. Terik, Davison, Thomas M., DeCoster, Mallory E., Ernst, Carolyn M., Ferrari, Fabio, Graninger, Dawn M., Jacobson, Seth A., Jutzi, Martin, Kumamoto, Kathryn M., Luther, Robert, Lyzhoft, Joshua R., Michel, Patrick, Murdoch, Naomi, Nakano, Ryota, Palmer, Eric, Rivkin, Andrew S., Scheeres, Daniel J., Stickle, Angela M., Sunshine, Jessica M., Trigo-Rodriguez, Josep M., Vincent, Jean-Baptiste, Walker, James D., Wünnemann, Kai, Zhang, Yun, Amoroso, Marilena, Bertini, Ivano, Brucato, John R., Capannolo, Andrea, Cremonese, Gabriele, Dall'Ora, Massimo, Deshapriya, Prasanna J. D., Gai, Igor, Hasselmann, Pedro H., Ieva, Simone, Impresario, Gabriele, Ivanovski, Stavro L., Lavagna, Michèle, Lucchetti, Alice, Epifani, Elena M., Modenini, Dario, Pajola, Maurizio, Palumbo, Pasquale, Perna, Davide, Pirrotta, Simone, Poggiali, Giovanni, Rossi, Alessandro, Tortora, Paolo, Zannoni, Marco, and Zanotti, Giovanni

Subjects
Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract

The NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission performed a kinetic impact on asteroid Dimorphos, the satellite of the binary asteroid (65803) Didymos, at 23:14 UTC on September 26, 2022 as a planetary defense test. DART was the first hypervelocity impact experiment on an asteroid at size and velocity scales relevant to planetary defense, intended to validate kinetic impact as a means of asteroid deflection. Here we report the first determination of the momentum transferred to an asteroid by kinetic impact. Based on the change in the binary orbit period, we find an instantaneous reduction in Dimorphos's along-track orbital velocity component of 2.70 +/- 0.10 mm/s, indicating enhanced momentum transfer due to recoil from ejecta streams produced by the impact. For a Dimorphos bulk density range of 1,500 to 3,300 kg/m$^3$, we find that the expected value of the momentum enhancement factor, $\beta$, ranges between 2.2 and 4.9, depending on the mass of Dimorphos. If Dimorphos and Didymos are assumed to have equal densities of 2,400 kg/m$^3$, $\beta$= 3.61 +0.19/-0.25 (1 $\sigma$). These $\beta$ values indicate that significantly more momentum was transferred to Dimorphos from the escaping impact ejecta than was incident with DART. Therefore, the DART kinetic impact was highly effective in deflecting the asteroid Dimorphos., Comment: accepted by Nature

Published
2023
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4. Multi-instrument analysis of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko coma particles: COPS-GIADA data fusion

Author

Pestoni, Boris, Altwegg, Kathrin, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Hänni, Nora, Longobardo, Andrea, Müller, Daniel R., Rotundi, Alessandra, Rubin, Martin, and Wampfler, Susanne F.

Subjects
Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract

The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has offered scientists the opportunity to study a comet in unprecedented detail. Four instruments of the Rosetta orbiter, namely, the Micro-Imaging Dust Analysis System (MIDAS), the Grain Impact Analyzer and Dust Accumulator (GIADA), the COmetary Secondary Ion Mass Analyser (COSIMA), and the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA) have provided information on cometary dust particles. Cross-instrument comparisons are crucial to characterize cometary dust particles beyond the capabilities of individual sensors, as they are sensitive to different dust components. We present the first comparison between detections of the ROSINA COmet Pressure Sensor (COPS) and GIADA. These two instruments are complementary as the former is sensitive solely to volatiles of icy particles, while the latter measured the dust particle as a whole, including refractories and condensed (semi)volatiles. Our goal is to correlate the particles detected by COPS and GIADA and to assess whether they belong to a common group. We statistically analyzed the in situ data of COPS and GIADA by calculating Pearson correlation coefficients. Among the several types of particles detected by GIADA, we find that COPS particles are significantly correlated solely with GIADA fluffy agglomerates (Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.55 and p-value of $4.6\cdot 10^{-3}$). This suggests that fluffy particles are composed of both refractories and volatiles. COPS volatile volumes, which may be represented by equivalent spheres with a diameter in the range between 0.06 $\mu$m and 0.8 $\mu$m, are similar to the sizes of the fractal particle's subunits identified by MIDAS (i.e., 0.05-0.18 $\mu$m)., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

Published
2023
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5. Determining the dust environment of an unknown comet for a spacecraft fly-by: The case of ESA's Comet Interceptor mission

Author

Marschall, Raphael, Zakharov, Vladimir, Tubiana, Cecilia, Kelley, Michael S. P., van Damme, Carlos Corral, Snodgrass, Colin, Jones, Geraint H., Ivanovski, Stavro L., Postberg, Frank, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Vincent, Jean-Baptiste, Muñoz, Olga, La Forgia, Fiorangela, Levasseur-Regourd, Anny-Chantal, and Team, the Comet Interceptor

Subjects
Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Abstract

We present a statistical approach to assess the dust environment for a yet unknown comet (or when its parameters are known only with large uncertainty). This is of particular importance for missions such as ESA's Comet Interceptor mission to a dynamically new comet. We find that the lack of knowledge of any particular comet results in very large uncertainties (~3 orders of magnitude) for the dust densities within the coma. The most sensitive parameters affecting the dust densities are the dust size distribution, the dust production rate and coma brightness, often quantified by Af$\rho$. Further, the conversion of a coma's brightness (Af$\rho$) to a dust production rate is poorly constrained. The dust production rate can only be estimated down to an uncertainty of ~0.5 orders of magnitude if the dust size distribution is known in addition to the Af$\rho$. To accurately predict the dust environment of a poorly known comet, a statistical approach as we propose here needs to be taken to properly reflect the uncertainties. This can be done by calculating an ensemble of comae covering all possible combinations within parameter space as shown in this work., Comment: 27 pages, 15 figures, data available under https://www.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6906815

Published
2022
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6. Performance assessment of an innovative light and compact dust shield for DISC onboard Comet Interceptor/ESA space probes

Author

Della Corte, Vincenzo, Ferretti, Stefano, Piccirillo, Alice Maria, Rotundi, Alessandra, Bertini, Ivano, Cozzolino, Fabio, Ferone, Alessio, Fiscale, Stefano, Longobardo, Andrea, Inno, Laura, Ammannito, Eleonora, Sindoni, Giuseppe, Grappasonni, Chiara, Sylvest, Matthew, Patel, Manish R., Ertel, Hanno, Millinger, Mark, and Rothkaehl, Hanna

Published
2025
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7. The Comet Interceptor Mission

Author

Jones, Geraint H., Snodgrass, Colin, Tubiana, Cecilia, Küppers, Michael, Kawakita, Hideyo, Lara, Luisa M., Agarwal, Jessica, André, Nicolas, Attree, Nicholas, Auster, Uli, Bagnulo, Stefano, Bannister, Michele, Beth, Arnaud, Bowles, Neil, Coates, Andrew, Colangeli, Luigi, Corral van Damme, Carlos, Da Deppo, Vania, De Keyser, Johan, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Edberg, Niklas, El-Maarry, Mohamed Ramy, Faggi, Sara, Fulle, Marco, Funase, Ryu, Galand, Marina, Goetz, Charlotte, Groussin, Olivier, Guilbert-Lepoutre, Aurélie, Henri, Pierre, Kasahara, Satoshi, Kereszturi, Akos, Kidger, Mark, Knight, Matthew, Kokotanekova, Rosita, Kolmasova, Ivana, Kossacki, Konrad, Kührt, Ekkehard, Kwon, Yuna, La Forgia, Fiorangela, Levasseur-Regourd, Anny-Chantal, Lippi, Manuela, Longobardo, Andrea, Marschall, Raphael, Morawski, Marek, Muñoz, Olga, Näsilä, Antti, Nilsson, Hans, Opitom, Cyrielle, Pajusalu, Mihkel, Pommerol, Antoine, Prech, Lubomir, Rando, Nicola, Ratti, Francesco, Rothkaehl, Hanna, Rotundi, Alessandra, Rubin, Martin, Sakatani, Naoya, Sánchez, Joan Pau, Simon Wedlund, Cyril, Stankov, Anamarija, Thomas, Nicolas, Toth, Imre, Villanueva, Geronimo, Vincent, Jean-Baptiste, Volwerk, Martin, Wurz, Peter, Wielders, Arno, Yoshioka, Kazuo, Aleksiejuk, Konrad, Alvarez, Fernando, Amoros, Carine, Aslam, Shahid, Atamaniuk, Barbara, Baran, Jędrzej, Barciński, Tomasz, Beck, Thomas, Behnke, Thomas, Berglund, Martin, Bertini, Ivano, Bieda, Marcin, Binczyk, Piotr, Busch, Martin-Diego, Cacovean, Andrei, Capria, Maria Teresa, Carr, Chris, Castro Marín, José María, Ceriotti, Matteo, Chioetto, Paolo, Chuchra-Konrad, Agata, Cocola, Lorenzo, Colin, Fabrice, Crews, Chiaki, Cripps, Victoria, Cupido, Emanuele, Dassatti, Alberto, Davidsson, Björn J. R., De Roche, Thierry, Deca, Jan, Del Togno, Simone, Dhooghe, Frederik, Donaldson Hanna, Kerri, Eriksson, Anders, Fedorov, Andrey, Fernández-Valenzuela, Estela, Ferretti, Stefano, Floriot, Johan, Frassetto, Fabio, Fredriksson, Jesper, Garnier, Philippe, Gaweł, Dorota, Génot, Vincent, Gerber, Thomas, Glassmeier, Karl-Heinz, Granvik, Mikael, Grison, Benjamin, Gunell, Herbert, Hachemi, Tedjani, Hagen, Christian, Hajra, Rajkumar, Harada, Yuki, Hasiba, Johann, Haslebacher, Nico, Herranz De La Revilla, Miguel Luis, Hestroffer, Daniel, Hewagama, Tilak, Holt, Carrie, Hviid, Stubbe, Iakubivskyi, Iaroslav, Inno, Laura, Irwin, Patrick, Ivanovski, Stavro, Jansky, Jiri, Jernej, Irmgard, Jeszenszky, Harald, Jimenéz, Jaime, Jorda, Laurent, Kama, Mihkel, Kameda, Shingo, Kelley, Michael S. P., Klepacki, Kamil, Kohout, Tomáš, Kojima, Hirotsugu, Kowalski, Tomasz, Kuwabara, Masaki, Ladno, Michal, Laky, Gunter, Lammer, Helmut, Lan, Radek, Lavraud, Benoit, Lazzarin, Monica, Le Duff, Olivier, Lee, Qiu-Mei, Lesniak, Cezary, Lewis, Zoe, Lin, Zhong-Yi, Lister, Tim, Lowry, Stephen, Magnes, Werner, Markkanen, Johannes, Martinez Navajas, Ignacio, Martins, Zita, Matsuoka, Ayako, Matyjasiak, Barbara, Mazelle, Christian, Mazzotta Epifani, Elena, Meier, Mirko, Michaelis, Harald, Micheli, Marco, Migliorini, Alessandra, Millet, Aude-Lyse, Moreno, Fernando, Mottola, Stefano, Moutounaick, Bruno, Muinonen, Karri, Müller, Daniel R., Murakami, Go, Murata, Naofumi, Myszka, Kamil, Nakajima, Shintaro, Nemeth, Zoltan, Nikolajev, Artiom, Nordera, Simone, Ohlsson, Dan, Olesk, Aire, Ottacher, Harald, Ozaki, Naoya, Oziol, Christophe, Patel, Manish, Savio Paul, Aditya, Penttilä, Antti, Pernechele, Claudio, Peterson, Joakim, Petraglio, Enrico, Piccirillo, Alice Maria, Plaschke, Ferdinand, Polak, Szymon, Postberg, Frank, Proosa, Herman, Protopapa, Silvia, Puccio, Walter, Ranvier, Sylvain, Raymond, Sean, Richter, Ingo, Rieder, Martin, Rigamonti, Roberto, Ruiz Rodriguez, Irene, Santolik, Ondrej, Sasaki, Takahiro, Schrödter, Rolf, Shirley, Katherine, Slavinskis, Andris, Sodor, Balint, Soucek, Jan, Stephenson, Peter, Stöckli, Linus, Szewczyk, Paweł, Troznai, Gabor, Uhlir, Ludek, Usami, Naoto, Valavanoglou, Aris, Vaverka, Jakub, Wang, Wei, Wang, Xiao-Dong, Wattieaux, Gaëtan, Wieser, Martin, Wolf, Sebastian, Yano, Hajime, Yoshikawa, Ichiro, Zakharov, Vladimir, Zawistowski, Tomasz, Zuppella, Paola, Rinaldi, Giovanna, and Ji, Hantao

Published
2024
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8. DART Mission Determination of Momentum Transfer: Model of Ejecta Plume Observations

Author

Cheng, Andrew F., Stickle, Angela M., Fahnestock, Eugene G., Dotto, Elisabetta, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Chabot, Nancy L., and Rivkin, Andrew S.

Subjects
Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract

The NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft will impact the secondary member of the [65803] Didymos binary in order to perform the first demonstration of asteroid deflection by kinetic impact. Determination of the momentum transfer to the target body from the kinetic impact is a primary planetary defense objective, using ground-based telescopic observations of the orbital period change of Didymos and imaging of the DART impact ejecta plume by the LICIACube cubesat, along with modeling and simulation of the DART impact. LICIACube, contributed by the Italian Space Agency, will perform a flyby of Didymos a few minutes after the DART impact, to resolve the ejecta plume spatial structure and to study the temporal evolution. LICIACube ejecta plume images will help determine the vector momentum transfer from the DART impact, by determining or constraining the direction and the magnitude of the momentum carried by ejecta. A model is developed for the impact ejecta plume optical depth, using a point source scaling model of the DART impact. The model is applied to expected LICIACube plume images and shows how plume images enable characterization of the ejecta mass versus velocity distribution. The ejecta plume structure, as it evolves over time, is determined by the amount of ejecta that has reached a given altitude at a given time. The evolution of the plume optical depth profiles determined from LICIACube images can distinguish between strength-controlled and gravity-controlled impacts, by distinguishing the respective mass versus velocity distributions. LICIACube plume images discriminate the differences in plume structure and evolution that result from different target physical properties, mainly strength and porosity, thereby allowing inference of these properties to improve the determination of momentum transfer., Comment: 45 pages, 16 figures. Accepted by Icarus

Published
2020
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9. Models of Rosetta/OSIRIS 67P dust coma phase function

Author

Moreno, Fernando, Guirado, Daniel, Muñoz, Olga, Bertini, Ivano, Tubiana, Cecilia, Guttler, Carsten, Fulle, Marco, Rotundi, Alessandra, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Ivanovski, Stavro, Rinaldi, Giovanna, Bockelee-Morvan, Dominique, Zakharov, Vladimir, Agarwal, Jessica, Mottola, Stefano, Toth, Imre, Frattin, Elisa, Lara, Luisa, Gutierrez, Pedro, Lin, Zhong Yi, Kolokolova, Ludmilla, Sierks, Holger, Naletto, Giampiero, Lamy, Philippe, Rodrigo, Rafael, Koschny, Detlef, Davidsson, Bjorn, Barucci, Maria Antonietta, Bertaux, Jean-Lup, Bodewits, Dennis, Cremonese, Gabriele, Da Deppo, Vania, Debei, Stefano, de Cecco, Mariolino, Deller, Jakob, Fornasier, Sonia, Ip, Wing, Keller, Uwe, Lazzarin, Monica, Lopez-Moreno, Jose Juan, Marzari, Francesco, and Shi, Xian

Subjects
Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract

The phase function of the dust coma of comet 67P has been determined from Rosetta/OSIRIS images \citep{Bertini17}. This function show a deep minimum at phase angles near 100$^\circ$, and a strong backscattering enhancement. These two properties cannot be reproduced by regular models of cometary dust, most of them based on wavelength-sized and randomly-oriented aggregate particles. We show, however, that an ensamble of oriented elongated particles of a wide variety of aspect ratios, with radii $r \gtrsim$10 $\mu$m, and whose long axes are perpendicular to the direction of the solar radiation, are capable of reproducing the observed phase function. These particles must be absorbing, with an imaginary part of the refractive index of about 0.1 to match the expected geometric albedo, and with porosity in the 60-70\% range., Comment: Accepted by Astronomical Journal, September 26th, 2018. 21 pages, 5 figures

Published
2018
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10. The SSDC contribution to the improvement of knowledge by means of 3D data projections of minor bodies

Author

Zinzi, Angelo, Ciarniello, Mauro, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Ivanovski, Stavro, Longobardo, Andrea, Migliorini, Alessandra, Capria, Maria Teresa, Palomba, Ernesto, and Rotundi, Alessandra

Subjects
Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Abstract

The latest developments of planetary exploration missions devoted to minor bodies required new solutions to correctly visualize and analyse data acquired over irregularly shaped bodies. ASI Space Science Data Center (SSDC-ASI, formerly ASDC-ASI Science Data Center) worked on this task since early 2013, when started developing the web tool MATISSE (Multi-purpose Advanced Tool for the Instruments of the Solar System Exploration) mainly focused on the Rosetta/ESA space mission data. In order to visualize very high-resolution shape models, MATISSE uses a Python module (vtpMaker), which can also be launched as a stand-alone command-line software. MATISSE and vtpMaker are part of the SSDC contribution to the new challenges imposed by the "orbital exploration" of minor bodies: 1) MATISSE allows to search for specific observations inside datasets and then analyse them in parallel, providing high-level outputs; 2) the 3D capabilities of both tools are critical in inferring information otherwise difficult to retrieve for non-spherical targets and, as in the case for the GIADA instrument onboard Rosetta, to visualize data related to the coma. New tasks and features adding valuable capabilities to the minor bodies SSDC tools are planned for the near future thanks to new collaborations.

Published
2018
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11. Evidence for the formation of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko through gravitational collapse of a bound clump of pebbles

Author

Blum, Jürgen, Gundlach, Bastian, Krause, Maya, Fulle, Marco, Johansen, Anders, Agarwal, Jessica, von Borstel, Ingo, Shi, Xian, Hu, Xuanyu, Bentley, Mark S., Capaccioni, Fabrizio, Colangeli, Luigi, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Fougere, Nicolas, Green, Simon F., Ivanovski, Stavro, Mannel, Thurid, Merouane, Sihane, Migliorini, Alessandra, Rotundi, Alessandra, Schmied, Roland, and Snodgrass, Colin

Subjects
Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract

The processes that led to the formation of the planetary bodies in the Solar System are still not fully understood. Using the results obtained with the comprehensive suite of instruments on-board ESA's Rosetta mission, we present evidence that comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko likely formed through the gentle gravitational collapse of a bound clump of mm-sized dust aggregates ("pebbles"), intermixed with microscopic ice particles. This formation scenario leads to a cometary make-up that is simultaneously compatible with the global porosity, homogeneity, tensile strength, thermal inertia, vertical temperature profiles, sizes and porosities of emitted dust, and the steep increase in water-vapour production rate with decreasing heliocentric distance, measured by the instruments on-board the Rosetta spacecraft and the Philae lander. Our findings suggest that the pebbles observed to be abundant in protoplanetary discs around young stars provide the building material for comets and other minor bodies., Comment: accepted by MNRAS

Published
2017
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12. Dust Impact Monitor (SESAME-DIM) on board Rosetta/Philae: Millimetric particle flux at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Author

Hirn, Attila, Albin, Thomas, Apáthy, István, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Fischer, Hans-Herbert, Flandes, Alberto, Loose, Alexander, Péter, Attila, Seidensticker, Klaus J., and Krüger, Harald

Subjects
Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract

The Philae lander of the Rosetta mission, aimed at the in situ investigation of comet 67P/C-G, was deployed to the surface of the comet nucleus on 12 Nov 2014 at 2.99 AU heliocentric distance. The Dust Impact Monitor (DIM) as part of the Surface Electric Sounding and Acoustic Monitoring Experiment (SESAME) on the lander employed piezoelectric detectors to detect the submillimetre- and millimetre-sized dust and ice particles emitted from the nucleus. We determine the upper limit of the ambient flux of particles in the measurement range of DIM based on the measurements performed with the instrument during Philae's descent to its nominal landing site Agilkia at distances of about 22 km, 18 km, and 5 km from the nucleus barycentre and at the final landing site Abydos. The geometric factor of the DIM sensor is calculated assuming an isotropic ambient flux of the submillimetre- and millimetre-sized particles. For the measurement intervals when no particles were detected the maximum true impact rate was calculated by assuming Poisson distribution of the impacts, and it was given as the detection limit at a 95% confidence level. Based on measurements performed with DIM, the upper limit of the flux of particles in the measurement range of the instrument was of the order of $10^{-8}-10^{-7}m^{-2}s^{-1}sr^{-1}$ during descent and $1.6\cdot10^{-9}m^{-2}s^{-1}sr^{-1}$ at Abydos on 13 and 14 Nov 2014. Considering particle speeds below escape velocity, the upper limit for the volume density of particles in the measurement range of DIM was constrained to $10^{-11}m^{-3}-10^{-12}m^{-3}$. Results of the calculations performed with the GIPSI tool on the expected particle fluxes during the descent of Philae were compatible with the non-detection of compact particles by the DIM instrument., Comment: 5 figures, 3 tables

Published
2016
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13. A Simple Model for Understanding the DIM Dust Measurement at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Author

Podolak, Morris, Flandes, Alberto, Della Corte, Vincenzo, and Krüger, Harald

Subjects
Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract

We present a simple model for gas and dust flow from 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko that can be used to understand the grain impact observed by the DIM instrument on Philae (Krueger et al. 2015) We show how model results when applied to the GIADA measurements (Rotundi et al. 2015; Della Corte et al. 2015) can be used, in conjunction with the results found by the MIRO (Schloerb et al. 2015) and VIRTIS (De Sanctis et al. 2015) instruments to infer surface properties such as surface temperature and surface ice fraction., Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Planetary and Space Science

Published
2016
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15. The Dimorphos ejecta plume properties revealed by LICIACube

Author

Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Física, Ingeniería de Sistemas y Teoría de la Señal, Universidad de Alicante. Instituto Universitario de Física Aplicada a las Ciencias y las Tecnologías, Dotto, Elisabetta, Deshapriya, J. D. Prasanna, Gai, Igor, Hasselmann, Pedro H., Mazzotta Epifani, Elena, Poggiali, Giovanni, Rossi, Alessandro, Zanotti, Giovanni, Zinzi, Angelo, Bertini, Ivano, Brucato, John Robert, Dall’Ora, Massimo, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Ivanovski, Stavro, Lucchetti, Alice, Pajola, Maurizio, Amoroso, Marilena, Barnouin, Olivier, Campo Bagatin, Adriano, Capannolo, Andrea, Caporali, S., Ceresoli, M., Chabot, Nancy, Cheng, Andy F., Cremonese, Gabriele, Fahnestock, Eugene G., Farnham, Tony, Ferrari, Fabio, Gomez Casajus, L., Gramigna, E., Hirabayashi, Masatoshi, Ieva, Simone, Impresario, Gabriele, Jutzi, Martin, Lasagni Manghi, R., Lavagna, Michèle, Li, Jian-Yang, Lombardo, M., Modenini, Dario, Palumbo, Pasquale, Perna, Davide, Pirrotta, Simone, Raducan, Sabina D., Richardson, Derek C., Rivkin, Andy, Stickle, Angela M., Sunshine, Jessica M., Tortora, Paolo, Tusberti, Filippo, Zannoni, Marco, Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Física, Ingeniería de Sistemas y Teoría de la Señal, Universidad de Alicante. Instituto Universitario de Física Aplicada a las Ciencias y las Tecnologías, Dotto, Elisabetta, Deshapriya, J. D. Prasanna, Gai, Igor, Hasselmann, Pedro H., Mazzotta Epifani, Elena, Poggiali, Giovanni, Rossi, Alessandro, Zanotti, Giovanni, Zinzi, Angelo, Bertini, Ivano, Brucato, John Robert, Dall’Ora, Massimo, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Ivanovski, Stavro, Lucchetti, Alice, Pajola, Maurizio, Amoroso, Marilena, Barnouin, Olivier, Campo Bagatin, Adriano, Capannolo, Andrea, Caporali, S., Ceresoli, M., Chabot, Nancy, Cheng, Andy F., Cremonese, Gabriele, Fahnestock, Eugene G., Farnham, Tony, Ferrari, Fabio, Gomez Casajus, L., Gramigna, E., Hirabayashi, Masatoshi, Ieva, Simone, Impresario, Gabriele, Jutzi, Martin, Lasagni Manghi, R., Lavagna, Michèle, Li, Jian-Yang, Lombardo, M., Modenini, Dario, Palumbo, Pasquale, Perna, Davide, Pirrotta, Simone, Raducan, Sabina D., Richardson, Derek C., Rivkin, Andy, Stickle, Angela M., Sunshine, Jessica M., Tortora, Paolo, Tusberti, Filippo, and Zannoni, Marco

Abstract

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) had an impact with Dimorphos (a satellite of the asteroid Didymos) on 26 September 20221. Ground-based observations showed that the Didymos system brightened by a factor of 8.3 after the impact because of ejecta, returning to the pre-impact brightness 23.7 days afterwards2. Hubble Space Telescope observations made from 15 minutes after impact to 18.5 days after, with a spatial resolution of 2.1 kilometres per pixel, showed a complex evolution of the ejecta3, consistent with other asteroid impact events. The momentum enhancement factor, determined using the measured binary period change4, ranges between 2.2 and 4.9, depending on the assumptions about the mass and density of Dimorphos5. Here we report observations from the LUKE and LEIA instruments on the LICIACube cube satellite, which was deployed 15 days in advance of the impact of DART. Data were taken from 71 seconds before the impact until 320 seconds afterwards. The ejecta plume was a cone with an aperture angle of 140 ± 4 degrees. The inner region of the plume was blue, becoming redder with increasing distance from Dimorphos. The ejecta plume exhibited a complex and inhomogeneous structure, characterized by filaments, dust grains and single or clustered boulders. The ejecta velocities ranged from a few tens of metres per second to about 500 metres per second.

Published
2024

16. Fast boulder fracturing by thermal fatigue detected on stony asteroids

Author

Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Física, Ingeniería de Sistemas y Teoría de la Señal, Universidad de Alicante. Instituto Universitario de Física Aplicada a las Ciencias y las Tecnologías, Lucchetti, Alice, Cambioni, Saverio, Nakano, Ryota, Barnouin, Olivier, Pajola, Maurizio, Penasa, L., Tusberti, Filippo, Ramesh, K. T., Dotto, Elisabetta, Ernst, Carolyn, Daly, R. Terik, Mazzotta Epifani, Elena, Hirabayashi, Masatoshi, Parro, Laura M., Poggiali, Giovanni, Campo Bagatin, Adriano, Ballouz, Ronald-Louis, Chabot, Nancy, Michel, Patrick, Murdoch, Naomi, Vincent, Jean-Baptiste, Karatekin, Ozgür, Rivkin, Andy, Sunshine, Jessica M., Kohout, Tomas, Deshapriya, J. D. Prasanna, Hasselmann, Pedro H., Ieva, Simone, Beccarelli, Joel, Ivanovski, Stavro, Rossi, Alessandro, Ferrari, Fabio, Rossi, C., Raducan, Sabina D., Steckloff, Jordan, Schwartz, Stephen R., Brucato, John Robert, Dall’Ora, Massimo, Zinzi, Angelo, Cheng, Andy F., Amoroso, Marilena, Bertini, Ivano, Capannolo, Andrea, Caporali, S., Ceresoli, M., Cremonese, Gabriele, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Gai, Igor, Gomez Casajus, L., Gramigna, E., Impresario, Gabriele, Lasagni Manghi, R., Lavagna, Michèle, Lombardo, M., Modenini, Dario, Palumbo, Pasquale, Perna, Davide, Pirrotta, Simone, Tortora, Paolo, Zannoni, Marco, Zanotti, Giovanni, Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Física, Ingeniería de Sistemas y Teoría de la Señal, Universidad de Alicante. Instituto Universitario de Física Aplicada a las Ciencias y las Tecnologías, Lucchetti, Alice, Cambioni, Saverio, Nakano, Ryota, Barnouin, Olivier, Pajola, Maurizio, Penasa, L., Tusberti, Filippo, Ramesh, K. T., Dotto, Elisabetta, Ernst, Carolyn, Daly, R. Terik, Mazzotta Epifani, Elena, Hirabayashi, Masatoshi, Parro, Laura M., Poggiali, Giovanni, Campo Bagatin, Adriano, Ballouz, Ronald-Louis, Chabot, Nancy, Michel, Patrick, Murdoch, Naomi, Vincent, Jean-Baptiste, Karatekin, Ozgür, Rivkin, Andy, Sunshine, Jessica M., Kohout, Tomas, Deshapriya, J. D. Prasanna, Hasselmann, Pedro H., Ieva, Simone, Beccarelli, Joel, Ivanovski, Stavro, Rossi, Alessandro, Ferrari, Fabio, Rossi, C., Raducan, Sabina D., Steckloff, Jordan, Schwartz, Stephen R., Brucato, John Robert, Dall’Ora, Massimo, Zinzi, Angelo, Cheng, Andy F., Amoroso, Marilena, Bertini, Ivano, Capannolo, Andrea, Caporali, S., Ceresoli, M., Cremonese, Gabriele, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Gai, Igor, Gomez Casajus, L., Gramigna, E., Impresario, Gabriele, Lasagni Manghi, R., Lavagna, Michèle, Lombardo, M., Modenini, Dario, Palumbo, Pasquale, Perna, Davide, Pirrotta, Simone, Tortora, Paolo, Zannoni, Marco, and Zanotti, Giovanni

Abstract

Spacecraft observations revealed that rocks on carbonaceous asteroids, which constitute the most numerous class by composition, can develop millimeter-to-meter-scale fractures due to thermal stresses. However, signatures of this process on the second-most populous group of asteroids, the S-complex, have been poorly constrained. Here, we report observations of boulders’ fractures on Dimorphos, which is the moonlet of the S-complex asteroid (65803) Didymos, the target of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) planetary defense mission. We show that the size-frequency distribution and orientation of the mapped fractures are consistent with formation through thermal fatigue. The fractures’ preferential orientation supports that these have originated in situ on Dimorphos boulders and not on Didymos boulders later transferred to Dimorphos. Based on our model of the fracture propagation, we propose that thermal fatigue on rocks exposed on the surface of S-type asteroids can form shallow, horizontally propagating fractures in much shorter timescales (100 kyr) than in the direction normal to the boulder surface (order of Myrs). The presence of boulder fields affected by thermal fracturing on near-Earth asteroid surfaces may contribute to an enhancement in the ejected mass and momentum from kinetic impactors when deflecting asteroids.

Published
2024

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

Author

Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Física, Ingeniería de Sistemas y Teoría de la Señal, Universidad de Alicante. Instituto Universitario de Física Aplicada a las Ciencias y las Tecnologías, Pajola, Maurizio, Tusberti, Filippo, Lucchetti, Alice, Barnouin, Olivier, Cambioni, Saverio, Ernst, Carolyn, Dotto, Elisabetta, Daly, R. Terik, Poggiali, Giovanni, Hirabayashi, Masatoshi, Nakano, Ryota, Mazzotta Epifani, Elena, Chabot, Nancy, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Rivkin, Andy, Agrusa, Harrison F., Zhang, Yun, Penasa, L., Ballouz, Ronald-Louis, Ivanovski, Stavro, Murdoch, Naomi, Rossi, Alessandro, Robin, Colas Q., Ieva, Simone, Vincent, Jean-Baptiste, Ferrari, Fabio, Raducan, Sabina D., Campo Bagatin, Adriano, Parro, Laura M., Benavídez, Paula Gabriela, Tancredi, Gonzalo, Karatekin, Ozgür, Trigo-Rodríguez, Josep M., Sunshine, Jessica M., Farnham, Tony, Asphaug, Erik, Deshapriya, J. D. Prasanna, Hasselmann, Pedro H., Beccarelli, Joel, Schwartz, Stephen R., Abell, Paul, Michel, Patrick, Cheng, Andy F., Brucato, John Robert, Zinzi, Angelo, Amoroso, Marilena, Pirrotta, Simone, Impresario, Gabriele, Bertini, Ivano, Capannolo, Andrea, Caporali, S., Ceresoli, M., Cremonese, Gabriele, Dall’Ora, Massimo, Gai, Igor, Gomez Casajus, L., Gramigna, E., Lasagni Manghi, R., Lavagna, Michèle, Lombardo, M., Modenini, Dario, Palumbo, Pasquale, Perna, Davide, Tortora, Paolo, Zannoni, Marco, Zanotti, Giovanni, Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Física, Ingeniería de Sistemas y Teoría de la Señal, Universidad de Alicante. Instituto Universitario de Física Aplicada a las Ciencias y las Tecnologías, Pajola, Maurizio, Tusberti, Filippo, Lucchetti, Alice, Barnouin, Olivier, Cambioni, Saverio, Ernst, Carolyn, Dotto, Elisabetta, Daly, R. Terik, Poggiali, Giovanni, Hirabayashi, Masatoshi, Nakano, Ryota, Mazzotta Epifani, Elena, Chabot, Nancy, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Rivkin, Andy, Agrusa, Harrison F., Zhang, Yun, Penasa, L., Ballouz, Ronald-Louis, Ivanovski, Stavro, Murdoch, Naomi, Rossi, Alessandro, Robin, Colas Q., Ieva, Simone, Vincent, Jean-Baptiste, Ferrari, Fabio, Raducan, Sabina D., Campo Bagatin, Adriano, Parro, Laura M., Benavídez, Paula Gabriela, Tancredi, Gonzalo, Karatekin, Ozgür, Trigo-Rodríguez, Josep M., Sunshine, Jessica M., Farnham, Tony, Asphaug, Erik, Deshapriya, J. D. Prasanna, Hasselmann, Pedro H., Beccarelli, Joel, Schwartz, Stephen R., Abell, Paul, Michel, Patrick, Cheng, Andy F., Brucato, John Robert, Zinzi, Angelo, Amoroso, Marilena, Pirrotta, Simone, Impresario, Gabriele, Bertini, Ivano, Capannolo, Andrea, Caporali, S., Ceresoli, M., Cremonese, Gabriele, Dall’Ora, Massimo, Gai, Igor, Gomez Casajus, L., Gramigna, E., Lasagni Manghi, R., Lavagna, Michèle, Lombardo, M., Modenini, Dario, Palumbo, Pasquale, Perna, Davide, Tortora, Paolo, Zannoni, Marco, and Zanotti, Giovanni

Abstract

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.

Published
2024

18. The geology and evolution of the Near-Earth binary asteroid system (65803) Didymos

Author

Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Física, Ingeniería de Sistemas y Teoría de la Señal, Universidad de Alicante. Instituto Universitario de Física Aplicada a las Ciencias y las Tecnologías, Barnouin, Olivier, Ballouz, Ronald-Louis, Marchi, Simone, Vincent, Jean-Baptiste, Agrusa, Harrison F., Zhang, Yun, Ernst, Carolyn, Pajola, Maurizio, Tusberti, Filippo, Lucchetti, Alice, Daly, R. Terik, Palmer, Eric E., Walsh, Kevin J., Michel, Patrick, Sunshine, Jessica M., Rizos, Juan L., Farnham, Tony, Richardson, Derek C., Parro, Laura M., Murdoch, Naomi, Robin, Colas Q., Hirabayashi, Masatoshi, Kahout, Tomas, Asphaug, Erik, Raducan, Sabina D., Jutzi, Martin, Ferrari, Fabio, Hasselmann, Pedro H., Campo Bagatin, Adriano, Chabot, Nancy, Li, Jian-Yang, Cheng, Andy F., Nolan, Michael C., Stickle, Angela M., Karatekin, Ozgür, Dotto, Elisabetta, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Mazzotta Epifani, Elena, Rossi, Alessandro, Gai, Igor, Deshapriya, J. D. Prasanna, Bertini, Ivano, Zinzi, Angelo, Trigo-Rodríguez, Josep M., Beccarelli, Joel, Ivanovski, Stavro, Brucato, John Robert, Poggiali, Giovanni, Zanotti, Giovanni, Amoroso, Marilena, Capannolo, Andrea, Cremonese, Gabriele, Dall’Ora, Massimo, Ieva, Simone, Impresario, Gabriele, Lavagna, Michèle, Modenini, Dario, Palumbo, Pasquale, Perna, Davide, Pirrotta, Simone, Tortora, Paolo, Zannoni, Marco, Rivkin, Andy, Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Física, Ingeniería de Sistemas y Teoría de la Señal, Universidad de Alicante. Instituto Universitario de Física Aplicada a las Ciencias y las Tecnologías, Barnouin, Olivier, Ballouz, Ronald-Louis, Marchi, Simone, Vincent, Jean-Baptiste, Agrusa, Harrison F., Zhang, Yun, Ernst, Carolyn, Pajola, Maurizio, Tusberti, Filippo, Lucchetti, Alice, Daly, R. Terik, Palmer, Eric E., Walsh, Kevin J., Michel, Patrick, Sunshine, Jessica M., Rizos, Juan L., Farnham, Tony, Richardson, Derek C., Parro, Laura M., Murdoch, Naomi, Robin, Colas Q., Hirabayashi, Masatoshi, Kahout, Tomas, Asphaug, Erik, Raducan, Sabina D., Jutzi, Martin, Ferrari, Fabio, Hasselmann, Pedro H., Campo Bagatin, Adriano, Chabot, Nancy, Li, Jian-Yang, Cheng, Andy F., Nolan, Michael C., Stickle, Angela M., Karatekin, Ozgür, Dotto, Elisabetta, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Mazzotta Epifani, Elena, Rossi, Alessandro, Gai, Igor, Deshapriya, J. D. Prasanna, Bertini, Ivano, Zinzi, Angelo, Trigo-Rodríguez, Josep M., Beccarelli, Joel, Ivanovski, Stavro, Brucato, John Robert, Poggiali, Giovanni, Zanotti, Giovanni, Amoroso, Marilena, Capannolo, Andrea, Cremonese, Gabriele, Dall’Ora, Massimo, Ieva, Simone, Impresario, Gabriele, Lavagna, Michèle, Modenini, Dario, Palumbo, Pasquale, Perna, Davide, Pirrotta, Simone, Tortora, Paolo, Zannoni, Marco, and Rivkin, Andy

Abstract

Images collected during NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission provide the first resolved views of the Didymos binary asteroid system. These images reveal that the primary asteroid, Didymos, is flattened and has plausible undulations along its equatorial perimeter. At high elevations, its surface is rough and contains large boulders and craters; at low elevations its surface is smooth and possesses fewer large boulders and craters. Didymos’ moon, Dimorphos, possesses an intimate mixture of boulders, several asteroid-wide lineaments, and a handful of craters. The surfaces of both asteroids include boulders that are large relative to their host body, suggesting that both asteroids are rubble piles. Based on these observations, our models indicate that Didymos has a surface cohesion ≤ 1 Pa and an interior cohesion of ∼10 Pa, while Dimorphos has a surface cohesion of <0.9 Pa. Crater size-frequency analyzes indicate the surface age of Didymos is 40–130 times older than Dimorphos, with likely absolute ages of ∼ 12.5 Myr and <0.3 Myr, respectively. Solar radiation could have increased Didymos’ spin rate leading to internal deformation and surface mass shedding, which likely created Dimorphos.

Published
2024

19. VADER: Probing the Dark Side of Dimorphos with LICIACube LUKE

Author

Universidad de Alicante. Instituto Universitario de Física Aplicada a las Ciencias y las Tecnologías, Zinzi, Angelo, Hasselmann, Pedro H., Della Corte, Vincenzo, Deshapriya, J. D. Prasanna, Gai, Igor, Lucchetti, Alice, Pajola, Maurizio, Rossi, Alessandro, Dotto, Elisabetta, Mazzotta Epifani, Elena, Daly, R. Terik, Hirabayashi, Masatoshi, Farnham, Tony, Ernst, Carolyn, Ivanovski, Stavro, Li, Jian-Yang, Parro, Laura M., Amoroso, Marilena, Beccarelli, Joel, Bertini, Ivano, Brucato, John Robert, Capannolo, Andrea, Caporali, S., Ceresoli, M., Cremonese, Gabriele, Dall’Ora, Massimo, Gomez Casajus, L., Gramigna, E., Ieva, Simone, Impresario, Gabriele, Lasagni Manghi, R., Lavagna, Michèle, Lombardo, M., Modenini, Dario, Negri, B., Palumbo, Pasquale, Perna, Davide, Pirrotta, Simone, Poggiali, Giovanni, Tortora, Paolo, Tusberti, Filippo, Zannoni, Marco, Zanotti, Giovanni, Universidad de Alicante. Instituto Universitario de Física Aplicada a las Ciencias y las Tecnologías, Zinzi, Angelo, Hasselmann, Pedro H., Della Corte, Vincenzo, Deshapriya, J. D. Prasanna, Gai, Igor, Lucchetti, Alice, Pajola, Maurizio, Rossi, Alessandro, Dotto, Elisabetta, Mazzotta Epifani, Elena, Daly, R. Terik, Hirabayashi, Masatoshi, Farnham, Tony, Ernst, Carolyn, Ivanovski, Stavro, Li, Jian-Yang, Parro, Laura M., Amoroso, Marilena, Beccarelli, Joel, Bertini, Ivano, Brucato, John Robert, Capannolo, Andrea, Caporali, S., Ceresoli, M., Cremonese, Gabriele, Dall’Ora, Massimo, Gomez Casajus, L., Gramigna, E., Ieva, Simone, Impresario, Gabriele, Lasagni Manghi, R., Lavagna, Michèle, Lombardo, M., Modenini, Dario, Negri, B., Palumbo, Pasquale, Perna, Davide, Pirrotta, Simone, Poggiali, Giovanni, Tortora, Paolo, Tusberti, Filippo, Zannoni, Marco, and Zanotti, Giovanni

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.

Published
2024

20. Micrometeorite collections: a review and their current status.

Author

van Ginneken, Matthias, Wozniakiewicz, Penelope J., Brownlee, Donald E., Debaille, Vinciane, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Delauche, Lucie, Duprat, Jean, Engrand, Cecile, Folco, Luigi, Fries, Marc, Gattacceca, Jérôme, Genge, Matthew J., Goderis, Steven, Gounelle, Matthieu, Harvey, Ralph P., Jonker, Guido, Krämer Ruggiu, Lisa, Larsen, Jon, Lever, James H., and Noguchi, Takaaki

Subjects
SPHERULES (Geology), GLACIAL drift, SURFACE of the earth, COSMIC dust, INTERPLANETARY medium
Abstract

Micrometeorites are estimated to represent the main part of the present flux of extraterrestrial matter found on the Earth's surface and provide valuable samples to probe the interplanetary medium. Here, we describe large and representative collections of micrometeorites currently available to the scientific community. These include Antarctic collections from surface ice and snow, as well as glacial sediments from the eroded top of nunataks—summits outcropping from the icesheet—and moraines. Collections extracted from deep-sea sediments (DSS) produced a large number of micrometeorites, in particular, iron-rich cosmic spherules that are rarer in other collections. Collections from the old and stable surface of the Atacama Desert show that finding large numbers of micrometeorites is not restricted to polar regions or DSS. The advent of rooftop collections marks an important step into involving citizen science in the study of micrometeorites, as well as providing potential sampling locations over all latitudes to explore the modern flux. We explore their strengths of the collections to address specific scientific questions and their potential weaknesses. The future of micrometeorite research will involve the finding of large fossil micrometeorite collections and benefit from recent advances in sampling cosmic dust directly from the air. This article is part of the theme issue 'Dust in the Solar System and beyond'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2024
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22. A Light Dust Shield, Including Aerogel, for Space Applications: The Study Case for Disc – Part of the Payload Selected for the Esa/Comet Interceptor Space Mission

Author

Piccirillo, Alice Maria, primary, Della Corte, Vincenzo, additional, Rotundi, Alessandra, additional, Inno, Laura, additional, Bertini, Ivano, additional, Cozzolino, Fabio, additional, Ferone, Alessio, additional, Fiscale, Stefano, additional, Longobardo, Andrea, additional, Ferretti, Stefano, additional, Ammannito, Eleonora, additional, Grappasonni, Chiara, additional, Sindoni, Giuseppe, additional, Emerland, Zoe, additional, Sylvest, Matthew, additional, Patel, Manish R., additional, Ertel, Hanno, additional, Millinger, Mark, additional, and Rothkael, Hanna, additional

Published
2024
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26. Design of the EnVisS instrument optical head

Author

Tofani, Beatrice, primary, Gabrieli, Riccardo, additional, Impiccichè, Giuseppe, additional, Graziosi, Chiara, additional, Tommasi, Leonardo, additional, Labate, Demetrio, additional, Belli, Fabio, additional, Cicciarelli, Chiara, additional, Pernechele, Claudio, additional, Zuppella, Paola, additional, Chioetto, Paolo, additional, Nordera, Simone, additional, Jones, Geraint H., additional, Brydon, George, additional, Stankov, Anamarija, additional, Della Corte, Vincenzo, additional, and Da Deppo, Vania, additional

Published
2023
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27. Exploring the Development of Astrobiology Scientific Research Through Bibliometric Network Analysis: A Focus on Biomining and Bioleaching

Author

Tonietti, Luca, primary, Barosa, Bernardo, additional, Pioltelli, Emiliano, additional, Giovannelli, Donato, additional, Covone, Giovanni, additional, Di Donato, Paola, additional, Cordone, Angelina, additional, Inno, Laura, additional, Magliano, Christian, additional, Fiscale, Stefano, additional, Muscari Tomajoli, Maria Teresa, additional, Napolitano, Gaetana, additional, Piccirillo, Alice Maria, additional, Della Corte, Vincenzo, additional, Santomartino, Rosa, additional, and Rotundi, Alessandra, additional

Published
2023
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28. Momentum transfer from the DART mission kinetic impact on asteroid Dimorphos

Author

Cheng, Andrew F., primary, Agrusa, Harrison F., additional, Barbee, Brent W., additional, Meyer, Alex J., additional, Farnham, Tony L., additional, Raducan, Sabina D., additional, Richardson, Derek C., additional, Dotto, Elisabetta, additional, Zinzi, Angelo, additional, Della Corte, Vincenzo, additional, Statler, Thomas S., additional, Chesley, Steven, additional, Naidu, Shantanu P., additional, Hirabayashi, Masatoshi, additional, Li, Jian-Yang, additional, Eggl, Siegfried, additional, Barnouin, Olivier S., additional, Chabot, Nancy L., additional, Chocron, Sidney, additional, Collins, Gareth S., additional, Daly, R. Terik, additional, Davison, Thomas M., additional, DeCoster, Mallory E., additional, Ernst, Carolyn M., additional, Ferrari, Fabio, additional, Graninger, Dawn M., additional, Jacobson, Seth A., additional, Jutzi, Martin, additional, Kumamoto, Kathryn M., additional, Luther, Robert, additional, Lyzhoft, Joshua R., additional, Michel, Patrick, additional, Murdoch, Naomi, additional, Nakano, Ryota, additional, Palmer, Eric, additional, Rivkin, Andrew S., additional, Scheeres, Daniel J., additional, Stickle, Angela M., additional, Sunshine, Jessica M., additional, Trigo-Rodriguez, Josep M., additional, Vincent, Jean-Baptiste, additional, Walker, James D., additional, Wünnemann, Kai, additional, Zhang, Yun, additional, Amoroso, Marilena, additional, Bertini, Ivano, additional, Brucato, John R., additional, Capannolo, Andrea, additional, Cremonese, Gabriele, additional, Dall’Ora, Massimo, additional, Deshapriya, Prasanna J. D., additional, Gai, Igor, additional, Hasselmann, Pedro H., additional, Ieva, Simone, additional, Impresario, Gabriele, additional, Ivanovski, Stavro L., additional, Lavagna, Michèle, additional, Lucchetti, Alice, additional, Epifani, Elena M., additional, Modenini, Dario, additional, Pajola, Maurizio, additional, Palumbo, Pasquale, additional, Perna, Davide, additional, Pirrotta, Simone, additional, Poggiali, Giovanni, additional, Rossi, Alessandro, additional, Tortora, Paolo, additional, Zannoni, Marco, additional, and Zanotti, Giovanni, additional

Published
2023
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30. Before the DART impact: LICIACube - The Light Italian Cubesat for Imaging of Asteroids

Author

Ivanovski, Stavro Lambrov, Dotto, Elisabetta, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Ieva, Simone, Amoroso, Marilena, Bertini, Ivano, Brucato, John, Capannolo, Andrea, Cotugno, Biaggio, Cremonese, Gabriele, Dall Ora, Massimo, Don, Prasanna Deshapriya Jasinghege, Di Tana, Valerio, Gai, Igor, Hasselmann, Pedro Henrique, Impresario, Gabriele, Lavagna, Michèle, Lucchetti, Alice, Mazzotta Epifani, Elena, and Meneghin, Andrea

Abstract

Introduction: In late September 2022 the NASA mission DART will perform the first test of the kinetic impactor technique conceived to deflect an asteroid en route to Earth. With a mass of 650 kg and an impact velocity of about 6.6 km/s, DART is expected to change the binary orbital period of Dimorphos, the 160-m moon of Didymos Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA), by about 10 min, an effect that can be easily measured by ground-based telescopes [1] [2]. LICIACube: LICIACube (Light Italian Cubesat for Imaging of Asteroids) is the first purely Italian spacecraft to be operated in deep space. It is a 6U cubesat platform developed by the Argotec company and managed by the Italian Space Agengy (ASI) with the aim to contribute in the NASA DART Planetary Defence objective and to perform autonomous science at the asteroid [3]. LICIACube has been launched together with DART on November 2021: after a 10-months interplanetary cruise it will be released 10 days before the foreseen DART impact on Dimorphos and it will be guided along its fly-by trajectory with a closest approach (CA) of around 55 km from the Dimorphos’ surface (Fig. 1). Figure 1 – The nominal LICIACube mission LICIACube is equipped with two different payloads named LEIA (Liciacube Explorer Imaging for Asteroid) and LUKE (Liciacube Unit Key Explorer) (Fig. 2). High-resolution images, obtained by LEIA at the CA (up to 1.5 m/px) will allow us to study the surface morphology of Dimorphos and the presence of boulders/large blocks on its surface. The LUKE data (up to 8 m/px at CA, with a RGB filter system) will give us also the opportunity to investigate the composition of Dimorphos throughout spectrophotometric analyses. It will then be possible to map the surface composition of the object and to derive the surface heterogeneity at the observed scale. After imaging the DART impact, during the fly-by the two instruments will allow us to investigate the nature of the target, explore the difference between the impact and non-impact regions, and to study the nature and the evolution of the produced plume, in order to deeply investigate the composition and the structure of the material composing a small double NEA. Figure 2 – LICIACube and its payload After the Dimorphos fly-by, LICIACube will download the obtained images directly to Earth: the LICIACube Ground Segment has a complex architecture based on the Argotec Mission Control Centre, antennas of the NASA Deep Space Network and data archiving and processing, managed at the ASI Space Science Data Center. Acknowledgements: The LICIACube team acknowledges financial support from Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI, contract No. 2019-31-HH.0 CUP F84I190012600). References: [1] Rivkin A.S. et al., (2021) PSJ, in press. [2] Cheng A. F., et al. (2018) PSS, 157, 104. [3] Dotto E., et al. (2021) PSS 199, 105185.

Published
2022

31. Analysis of dust shield and detection system response to hypervelocity impacts for Comet Interceptor Dust Impact Sensor and Counter

Author

Ferretti, Stefano, primary, Della Corte, Vincenzo, additional, Piccirillo, Alice Maria, additional, Rothkaehl, Hanna, additional, Sylvest, Matthew, additional, Patel, Manish, additional, Ertel, Hanno, additional, Millinger, Mark, additional, Bertini, Ivano, additional, Fiscale, Stefano, additional, Longobardo, Andrea, additional, Inno, Laura, additional, Rotundi, Alessandra, additional, Ammannito, Eleonora, additional, and Sindoni, Giuseppe, additional

Published
2022
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33. Characterization of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko cometary activity

Author

Longobardo, Andrea, primary, Kim, Minjae, additional, Pestoni, Boris, additional, Cottin, Hervé, additional, Guttler, Carsten, additional, Ivanovski, Stavro, additional, Mannel, Thurid, additional, Merouane, Sihane, additional, Rinaldi, Giovanna, additional, Rubin, Martin, additional, Tubiana, Cecilia, additional, Zakharov, Vladimir, additional, Deshapriya, Prasanna, additional, Dirri, Fabrizio, additional, Ciarniello, Mauro, additional, Della Corte, Vincenzo, additional, Fulle, Marco, additional, Palomba, Ernesto, additional, and Rotundi, Alessandra, additional

Published
2022
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35. Exploring the Development of Astrobiology Scientific Research through Bibliometric Network Analysis: A Focus on Biomining and Bioleaching.

Author

Tonietti, Luca, Barosa, Bernardo, Pioltelli, Emiliano, Giovannelli, Donato, Covone, Giovanni, Di Donato, Paola, Cordone, Angelina, Inno, Laura, Magliano, Christian, Fiscale, Stefano, Muscari Tomajoli, Maria Teresa, Napolitano, Gaetana, Piccirillo, Alice Maria, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Santomartino, Rosa, and Rotundi, Alessandra

Subjects
BIBLIOMETRICS, BACTERIAL leaching, SCIENTIFIC literature, EXTRATERRESTRIAL life, ASTROBIOLOGY, SPACE exploration, ASTROPHYSICAL radiation
Abstract

Our understanding of the diversity of life on our planet and the possibility of finding or sustaining life elsewhere in the universe plays a central role in supporting human space settlement and exploration. Astrobiology and its outcomes require a multidisciplinary and comprehensive approach, in which the microbial, geological, chemical, astronomical, and physical domains of research are interlinked. An example of the applications of astrobiology and space microbiology is the use of extremophiles for in situ resource utilization through biomining and bioleaching. To better understand the multidisciplinary research landscape in this area, we quantitatively reviewed the global scientific literature on astrobiology, with a focus on biomining and bioleaching through bibliometric network analysis, investigating patterns and trends in its development over time. The network analysis of keyword co-occurrence highlights different connecting and overlapping clusters, illustrating the multidisciplinary character of astrobiology. Temporal analyses show a recent focus on topics related to microbiology and geomicrobiology, emphasizing the role that these fields will play in future astrobiology research. In conclusion, astrobiology, biomining, and bioleaching research are currently addressing the recognition of these techniques as valuable tools for biotechnological applications, expected to play a crucial role in long-term human space exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2023
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36. Design of the EnVisS instrument optical head

Author

Minoglou, Kyriaki, Karafolas, Nikos, Cugny, Bruno, Tofani, Beatrice, Gabrieli, Riccardo, Impiccichè, Giuseppe, Graziosi, Chiara, Tommasi, Leonardo, Labate, Demetrio, Belli, Fabio, Cicciarelli, Chiara, Pernechele, Claudio, Zuppella, Paola, Chioetto, Paolo, Nordera, Simone, Jones, Geraint, Brydon, George, Stankov, Anamarija, Della Corte, Vincenzo, and Da Deppo, Vania

Published
2023
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37. Ghost analysis of the EnVisS camera for the Comet Interceptor ESA mission

Author

Nordera, Simone, primary, Da Deppo, Vania, additional, Zuppella, Paola, additional, Chioetto, Paolo, additional, Della Corte, Vincenzo, additional, Pernechele, Claudio, additional, Barozzi, Umberto, additional, Gabrieli, Riccardo, additional, Impiccichè, Giuseppe, additional, Labate, Demetrio, additional, Tofani, Beatrice, additional, and Tommasi, Leonardo, additional

Published
2022
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38. Expected Investigation of the (65803) Didymos–Dimorphos System Using the RGB Spectrophotometry Data Set from the LICIACube Unit Key Explorer (LUKE) Wide-angle Camera

Author

Poggiali, Giovanni, primary, Brucato, John R., additional, Hasselmann, Pedro H., additional, Ieva, Simone, additional, Perna, Davide, additional, Pajola, Maurizio, additional, Lucchetti, Alice, additional, Deshapriya, Jasinghege D. P., additional, Della Corte, Vincenzo, additional, Mazzotta Epifani, Elena, additional, Rossi, Alessandro, additional, Ivanovski, Stavro L., additional, Zinzi, Angelo, additional, Meneghin, Andrea, additional, Amoroso, Marilena, additional, Pirrotta, Simone, additional, Impresario, Gabriele, additional, Dotto, Elisabetta, additional, Bertini, Ivano, additional, Capannolo, Andrea, additional, Cremonese, Gabriele, additional, Cotugno, Biagio, additional, Dall’Ora, Massimo, additional, Di Tana, Valerio, additional, Gai, Igor, additional, Lavagna, Michèle, additional, Miglioretti, Federico, additional, Modenini, Dario, additional, Palumbo, Pasquale, additional, Simioni, Emanuele, additional, Simonetti, Simone, additional, Tortora, Paolo, additional, Zannoni, Marco, additional, and Zanotti, Giovanni, additional

Published
2022
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41. The SSDC Role in the LICIACube Mission: Data Management and the MATISSE Tool

Author

Zinzi, Angelo, primary, Della Corte, Vincenzo, additional, Ivanovski, Stavro L., additional, Lucchetti, Alice, additional, Mazzotta Epifani, Elena, additional, Miglioretti, Federico, additional, Pajola, Maurizio, additional, Rossi, Alessandro, additional, Barnouin, Olivier, additional, Espiritu, Raymond C., additional, Dotto, Elisabetta, additional, Amoroso, Marilena, additional, Bertini, Ivano, additional, Brucato, John R., additional, Capannolo, Andrea, additional, Cremonese, Gabriele, additional, Cotugno, Biagio, additional, Dall’Ora, Massimo, additional, Deshapriya, Jasinghege D. P., additional, Di Tana, Valerio, additional, Gai, Igor, additional, Hasselmann, Pedro H. A., additional, Ieva, Simone, additional, Impresario, Gabriele, additional, Lavagna, Michèle, additional, Meneghin, Andrea, additional, Modenini, Dario, additional, Perna, Davide, additional, Pirrotta, Simone, additional, Poggiali, Giovanni, additional, Palumbo, Pasquale, additional, Simioni, Emanuele, additional, Simonetti, Simone, additional, Tortora, Paolo, additional, Zannoni, Marco, additional, and Zanotti, Giovanni, additional

Published
2022
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42. A New Orbiting Deployable System for Small Satellite Observations for Ecology and Earth Observation

Author

Martellato, Elena, primary, Piccirillo, Alice Maria, additional, Ferraioli, Giampaolo, additional, Rotundi, Alessandra, additional, Della Corte, Vincenzo, additional, Palumbo, Pasquale, additional, Alcaras, Emanuele, additional, Appolloni, Luca, additional, Aulicino, Giuseppe, additional, Bertini, Ivano, additional, Capozzi, Vincenzo, additional, Catucci, Elena, additional, Dionnet, Zelia, additional, Di Palma, Pasquale, additional, Esposito, Flavio, additional, Ferrentino, Emanuele, additional, Innac, Anna, additional, Inno, Laura, additional, Pennino, Silvia, additional, Saviano, Simona, additional, Tirimberio, Giuseppina, additional, Campopiano, Stefania, additional, Chianese, Elena, additional, Franzese, Pier Paolo, additional, Fusco, Giannetta, additional, Gaglione, Salvatore, additional, Iadicicco, Agostino, additional, Nunziata, Ferdinando, additional, Parente, Claudio, additional, Piscopo, Vincenzo, additional, Riccio, Angelo, additional, Russo, Giovanni Fulvio, additional, and Zambianchi, Enrico, additional

Published
2022
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44. BC-SIM-TR-018 HRIC ICO2 REPORT

Author

DELLA CORTE, VINCENZO, ZUSI, MICHELE, SIMIONI, EMANUELE, CAPACCIONI, FABRIZIO, CAPRIA, MARIA TERESA, Doressundiram, alain, Langevin, Yves, PALUMBO, PASQUALE, Vincedon, Mathieu, CREMONESE, Gabriele, SCHIPANI, Pietro, and BRUCATO, John Robert

Abstract

The present document has been issued to describe the Instrument Check Out Phase (ICO#2) Tests of HRIC, channel of the Spectrometers and Imagers for MPO BepiColombo Integrated Observatory SYStem (SIMBIO-SYS).

Published
2022
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45. BC-SIM-TR-028 SIMBIO-SYS ICO#03 Interchannel Test Report

Author

ZUSI, MICHELE, SIMIONI, Emanuele, DELLA CORTE, VINCENZO, POLITI, ROMOLO, CREMONESE, Gabriele, CAPACCIONI, FABRIZIO, Doressoundiram, Alain, PALUMBO, PASQUALE, RE, Cristina, Vincendon, Mathieu, FONTE, SERGIO, and SCHIPANI, Pietro

Abstract

Alla mia meravigliosa famiglia, This document contains the results and the discussion on the interchannel test performed during the Instrument Check Out Phase (ICO#3) of the Spectrometers and Imagers for MPO BepiColombo Integrated Observatory SYStem (SIMBIO-SYS).

Published
2022

47. SIMBIO-SYS Checkout#03 Test Summary

Author

ZUSI, MICHELE, SIMIONI, EMANUELE, DELLA CORTE, VINCENZO, CICCHETTI, ANDREA, POLITI, ROMOLO, CAPRIA, MARIA TERESA, CAPACCIONI, FABRIZIO, Doressoundiram, Alain, Langevin, Yves, PALUMBO, PASQUALE, Vincendon, Mathieu, CREMONESE, Gabriele, FONTE, SERGIO, and SCHIPANI, Pietro

Abstract

Alla mia splendida famiglia, In this document we describe all the tests to be performed during the Instrument CheckOut (ICO) # 03 for the Spectrometers and Imagers for MPO BepiColombo Integrated Observatory SYStem (SIMBIO-SYS).

Published
2022

48. Determining the dust environment of an unknown comet for a spacecraft flyby: The case of ESA's Comet Interceptor mission

Author

Marschall, Raphael, Zakharov, Vladimir, Tubiana, Cecilia, Kelley, Michael S. P., van Damme, Carlos Corral, Snodgrass, Colin, Jones, Geraint H., Ivanovski, Stavro L., Postberg, Frank, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Vincent, Jean-Baptiste, Muñoz, Olga, La Forgia, Fiorangela, Levasseur-Regourd, Anny-Chantal, Comet Interceptor Team, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España), European Commission, and European Research Council

Subjects
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP), Acceleration of particles, 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik::520 Astronomie::520 Astronomie und zugeordnete Wissenschaften, FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Comets: general, Space and Planetary Science, astro-ph.EP, ESA’s Comet Interceptor mission, comets, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), astro-ph.IM, Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics, Comet interceptor
Abstract

This is an Open Access article, published by EDP Sciences, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited., Context. An assessment of the dust environment of a comet is needed for data analysis and planning spacecraft missions, such as ESA’s Comet Interceptor (CI) mission. The distinctive feature of CI is that the target object will be defined shortly before (or even after) launch; as a result, the properties of the nucleus and dust environment are poorly constrained, and therefore make the assessment of the dust environment challenging. Aims. The main goal of the work is to provide realistic estimations of a dust environment based on very general parameters of possible target objects. Methods. Contemporary numerical models of a dusty-gas coma were used to obtain spatial distribution of dust for a given set of parameters. By varying parameters within a range of possible values, we obtained an ensemble of possible dust distributions. Then, this ensemble was statistically evaluated in order to define the most probable cases and hence reduce the dispersion. This ensemble can not only be used to estimate the likely dust abundance along a flyby trajectory of a spacecraft, for example, but also to quantify the associated uncertainty. Results. We present a methodology of the dust environment assessment for the case when the target comet is not known beforehand (or when its parameters are known with large uncertainty). We provide an assessment of dust environment for the CI mission. We find that the lack of knowledge of any particular comet results in very large uncertainties (~3 orders of magnitude) for the dust densities within the coma. The most sensitive parameters affecting the dust densities are the dust size distribution, the dust production rate, and coma brightness, often quantified by Afρ. Further, the conversion of a coma’s brightness (Afρ) to a dust production rate is poorly constrained. The dust production rate can only be estimated down to an uncertainty of ~0.5 orders of magnitude if the dust size distribution is known in addition to the Afρ. Conclusions. To accurately predict the dust environment of a poorly known comet, a statistical approach needs to be taken to properly reflect the uncertainties. This can be done by calculating an ensemble of comae covering all possible combinations within parameter space as shown in this work. © R. Marschall et al. 2022., We acknowledge the support from the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) through the team “Closing The Gap Between Ground Based And In-Situ Observations Of Cometary Dust Activity: Investigating Comet 67P To Gain A Deeper Understanding Of Other Comets”. R.M. acknowledges the support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) under the grant P2BEP2_184482, and funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement no. 101019380). VDC acknowledges the support by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) within the ASI-INAF agreements I/032/05/0, I/024/12/0 and 2020-4-HH.0., With funding from the Spanish government through the Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence accreditation SEV-2017-0709.

Published
2022

49. First spectral characterization at different rotational phases for the first target of a kinetic impactor mission: (65803) Didymos

Author

Ieva, Simone, Mazzotta Epifani, Elena, Perna, Davide, Dall'Ora, Massimo, Petropoulou, Vasiliki, Deshapriya, J. D. P., Hasselmann, Pedro Henrique, Rossi, Alessandro, Poggiali, Giovanni, Brucato, John R., Pajola, Maurizio, Lucchetti, Alice, Ivanovski, Stavro, Palumbo, Pasquale, Della Corte, Vincenzo, Zinzi, Angelo, Rivkin, Andrew, Thomas, Cristina, de Leon, Julia, Dotto, Elisabetta, Amoroso, Marilena, Bertini, Ivano, Capannolo, Andrea, Cotugno, Biagio, Cremonese, Gabriele, Di Tana, Valerio, Gai, Igor, Impresario, Gabriele, Lavagna, Michèle Roberta, Meneghin, Andrea, Miglioretti, Federico, Modenini, Dario, Pirrotta, Simone, Emanuele, Simioni, Simonetti, Simone, Tortora, Paolo, Zannoni, Marco, and Zanotti, Giovanni

Published
2022

50. BC-SIM-TN-013 STC Inflight Dark Calibration

Author

SIMIONI, Emanuele, Da Deppo, Vania, ZUSI, MICHELE, BALESTRA, Andrea, POLITI, ROMOLO, DELLA CORTE, VINCENZO, SLEMER, Alessandra, CREMONESE, Gabriele, CAPACCIONI, FABRIZIO, RE, Cristina, Doressoundiram, Alain, PALUMBO, PASQUALE, Vincendon, Mathieu, PERNECHELE, Claudio, and FONTE, SERGIO

Abstract

Un ringraziamento va ad ASI per il supporto per il progetto., In this document, we reported the history of the tests performed on the STC detector in the first two years of the BepiColombo’s cruise phase. The scope of these tests was to monitor the dark current behavior of the STC channel’s detector. A detailed description is provided for each test phase: data acquired, the deducted results and conclusions. The STC Channel is part of SIMBIO-SYS, a scientific payload of the BepiColombo ESA-JAXA mission to Mercury. During the NECP (Near-Earth Commissioning Phase ), all the initial commissioning activities were completed and the three channels of SIMBIO-SYS have operated properly demonstrating that all the channels and subsystems worked nominally. Since then, every six months different instrument checkouts have been carried-out to check the performance of the three SIMBIO-SYS channels and improve their calibration. This document reports the conclusion on the Dark calibration of STC Channel due to the analysis of the ICOs tests.

Published
2022

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