Stability and Evolution of Fallen Particles Around the Surface of Asteroid (101955) Bennu

Amarante, A.; Winter, O. C.; Sfair, R.

doi:10.1029/2019je006272

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Thus, this dynamic mechanism is responsible for retaining a considerable number of particles in the environment near the MD crater. This effect was seen before, for example, around the peaks across asteroid Bennu's surface (Amarante et al 2021). The binary power-gravity feature of Arrokoth could be used to understand this effect, as discussed in the forthcoming paragraphs.…”

Section: Regionmentioning

confidence: 70%

“…Thus, a particle in a retrograde orbit is less affected by perturbing effects from the irregular geopotential of the Arrokoth contact binary. This feature is explained by the particle time length in the proximity of prominence at the surface of each lobe (Amarante et al 2021). Furthermore, ∼ 32% of the initial sample of particles in prograde orbits hit the surface of Arrokoth.…”

Section: The Spherical Cloudmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…focus on the approximated locations where the simulated particles collided. Most of the particles that hit the surface of Arrokoth are placed initially close to the equilibrium point regions, where the use of the mascon model could be considered accurate enough to study its dynamical environment (Amarante et al 2021). This approach has a significant advantage due to the simple conceptual technique and low computational effort.…”

Section: Binary Geopotentialmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This pattern suggests that some peculiar topographic regions on its surface are predisposed to accumulate or lose materials (Amarante and Winter 2020;Winter et al 2020;Moura et al 2020). Therefore, the regions within the body's rotational Roche lobe limit may eventually trap particles from these materials (Amarante et al 2021;Scheeres and Sanchez 2019). A study of particles' fate in the dynamical environment near Arrokoth's surface could then give insights about its surface topographic features for perception of the responsibility that pristine Kuiper Belt objects may have played in the process of the planetary formation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The fate of particles in the dynamical environment around Kuiper Belt object (486958) Arrokoth

Amarante,

Winter

2022

Preprint

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The contact binary Kuiper Belt object (486958) Arrokoth, targeted by New Horizons mission, has a unique slope pattern, which is a result of its irregular bilobate surface shape and high spin period. Thus, some peculiar topographic regions on its surface are predisposed to lose or accumulate material, as a long circular depression feature, an impact crater called Maryland, on its small lobe. The equilibrium points of Arrokoth are also directly related to the structure of the environment near these surface features. In this work, we performed numerical simulations around Arrokoth to explore the fate of particles close to equilibrium points and their dynamical connection with its surface features. Our results suggest that most of these particles in a ring inside the Arrokoth's rotational Roche lobe fall near the equatorial region of the Maryland impact crater or close to the Bright spots area on the large lobe. Also, particles in a spherical cloud orbiting Arrokoth accumulate preferentially near low-mid-latitudes regions close to the longitudes of Maryland crater and Bright spots area. In contrast, a few particles will fall in regions diametrically opposite to them, as in the LL Term boundary on the large lobe. High-latitudes are those more empty of impacts, as in polar sites. In addition, particles larger than a couple of microns are not significantly perturbed by solar radiation pressure in the environment around Arrokoth.

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Section: Regionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Section: The Spherical Cloudmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Binary Geopotentialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The fate of particles in the dynamical environment around Kuiper Belt object (486958) Arrokoth

Amarante,

Winter

2022

Preprint

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“…The dimensionless mass distribution parameters σ for the large and small lobes are also given in Table 1. The results show that the large lobe (σ = 0.36) has a close rotational symmetry about the z-axis like asteroid (101955) Bennu (Amarante et al 2019). The small lobe (σ = 0.65) denotes a parameter value that gives a rotational symmetry between z-axis (σ = 0) and x-axis (σ = 1), as asteroid (21) Lutetia (Aljbaae et al 2017).…”

Section: Elongation and Oblatenessmentioning

confidence: 91%

Surface Dynamics, Equilibrium Points and Individual Lobes of the Kuiper Belt Object (486958) Arrokoth

Amarante,

Winter

2020

Preprint

Self Cite

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The New Horizons space probe led the first close flyby of one of the most primordial and distant objects left over from the formation of the solar system, the contact binary Kuiper Belt object (486958) Arrokoth, which is composed of two progenitors, the lobes nicknamed Ultima and Thule. In the current work, we investigated Arrokoth's surface in detail to identify the location of equilibrium points and also explore each lobe's individual dynamic features. We assume Arrokoth's irregular shape as a homogeneous polyhedra contact binary. We numerically explore its dynamic characteristics by computing its irregular binary geopotential to study its quantities, such as geometric height, oblateness, ellipticity, and zero-power curves. The stability of Arrokoth Hill was also explored through zero-velocity curves. Arrokoth's external equilibrium points have no radial symmetry due to its highly irregular shape. We identified even equilibrium points concerning its shape and spin rate: i.e., four unstable external equilibrium points and three inner equilibrium points, where two points are linearly stable, with an unstable central point that has a slight offset from its centroid. Moreover, the large and small lobes each have five equilibrium points with different topological structures from those found in Arrokoth. Our results also indicate that the equatorial region of Arrokoth's lobes is an unstable area due to the high rotation period, while its polar locations are stable resting sites for surface particles. Finally, the zero-power curves indicate the locations around Arrokoth where massless particles experience enhancing and receding orbital energy.

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The fate of particles in the dynamical environment around Kuiper-Belt object (486958) Arrokoth

Amarante

Winter

2022

Astrophys Space Sci

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Stability and Evolution of Fallen Particles Around the Surface of Asteroid (101955) Bennu

Cited by 7 publications

References 37 publications

The fate of particles in the dynamical environment around Kuiper Belt object (486958) Arrokoth

The fate of particles in the dynamical environment around Kuiper Belt object (486958) Arrokoth

Surface Dynamics, Equilibrium Points and Individual Lobes of the Kuiper Belt Object (486958) Arrokoth

The fate of particles in the dynamical environment around Kuiper-Belt object (486958) Arrokoth

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