Title

THE ORIGIN OF ASTEROID 162173 (1999 JU(3))

Authors

Authors

H. Campins; J. de Leon; A. Morbidelli; J. Licandro; J. Gayon-Markt; M. Delbo;P. Michel

Comments

Authors: contact us about adding a copy of your work at STARS@ucf.edu

Abbreviated Journal Title

Astron. J.

Keywords

minor planets, asteroids: general; minor planets, asteroids: individual; (162173, 1999 JU3); NEAR-EARTH OBJECTS; SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY; PHASE-II; BELT; TARGET; JU3; MISSION; SIZE; DISTRIBUTIONS; FAMILIES; Astronomy & Astrophysics

Abstract

Near-Earth asteroid (162173) 1999 JU(3) (henceforth JU(3)) is a potentially hazardous asteroid and the target of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hayabusa-2 sample return mission. JU(3) is also a backup target for two other sample return missions: NASA's OSIRIS-REx and the European Space Agency's Marco Polo-R. We use dynamical information to identify an inner-belt, low-inclination origin through the v(6) resonance, more specifically, the region with 2.15 AU < a < 2.5 AU and i < 8 degrees. The geometric albedo of JU(3) is 0.07 +/- 0.01, and this inner-belt region contains four well-defined low-albedo asteroid families (Clarissa, Erigone, Polana, and Sulamitis), plus a recently identified background population of low-albedo asteroids outside these families. Only two of these five groups, the background and the Polana family, deliver JU(3)-sized asteroids to the v(6) resonance, and the background delivers significantly more JU(3)-sized asteroids. The available spectral evidence is also diagnostic; the visible and near-infrared spectra of JU(3) indicate it is a C-type asteroid, which is compatible with members of the background, but not with the Polana family because it contains primarily B-type asteroids. Hence, this background population of low-albedo asteroids is the most likely source of JU(3).

Journal Title

Astronomical Journal

Volume

146

Issue/Number

2

Publication Date

1-1-2013

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

6

WOS Identifier

WOS:000321841100008

ISSN

0004-6256

Share

COinS