Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Ostro, S. J..
We obtained echoes from five NEA's during this period. The following table presents our astrometric results. Each entry gives the time delay or Doppler frequency for echoes from the target's center of mass, received at the specified UTC epoch.
The Near-Earth Asteriod Rendezvous (NEAR) flyby of 253 Mathilde on June 27, 1997, should produce a mass estimate accurate to about 6%. However, a volume determination from flyby imaging may have uncertainties > 75%; anticipated lightcurve data might reduce the volume uncertainty to between 30% and 50%.
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We use a radar-derived physical model of 4769 Castalia (1989 PB) to investigate close orbit dynamics around that kilometer- sized, uniformly rotating asteroid. Our methods of analysis provide a basis for systematic studies of particle dynamics close to any uniformly rotating asteroid. We establish that a Jacobi integral exists for particles orbiting this asteroid, examine the attendant zero-velocity surfaces, find families of periodic orbits, and determine their stability. All synchronous orbits and direct orbits within approx. 3 mean radii of Castalia are unstable and are subject to impact or escape from Castalia. Retrograde orbits are mostly stable and allow particles to orbit close to the asteroid surface. We derive a model which allows us to predict the escape conditions of a particle in orbit about Castalia and the (temporary) capture conditions for a hyperbolic interloper. Orbits within 1.5 km of Castalia are subject to immediate ejection from the system. Hyperbolic orbits with a V(sub infinity) less than 0.4 m/sec can potentially be captured by Castalia if their periapsis radius Is within approx. 2 km. For Castalia this capture region is small, but the results also apply to larger asteroids whose capture regions would also be larger. We determine bounds on ejecta speeds which either ensure ejecta escape or re-impact as functions of location on Castalia's surface. The speeds that ensure escape range from 0.28 to 0.84 m/sec and the speeds that ensure re-impact range from 0 to 0.18 m/sec. Speeds between these two bounds lead either to escape, re-impact, or potentially finite-time stable orbits. We develop a simple criterion which can establish whether a particle could have been ejected from the asteroid in the past and if it will impact the surface in the future.
From Intro.: Radar, the most powerful groundbased technique for post-discovery investigation of NEOs, can contribute a great deal to their exploration as well as to identification and mitigation of hazardous objects. My intentions in this article are to review the current state of NEO radar reconnaissance, examine the imminent prospects for this work as upgraded instrumentation becomes available, and propose construction of a next-generation radar telescope that, unlike any existing radar instrument, would be optimized for, and dedicated to, NEO radar.
Radar echoes can furnish high-resolution images of near-Earth asteroids, reveal their rotation states and metal abundances, and improve the accuracy of trajectory predictions a thousandfold, a capability that is important for asteroids making very close Earth approaches and that can dramatically reduce the cost and risk of spacecraft missions.
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Radar is a very powerful groundbased technique for post-discovery reconnaissance of NEOs and is likely to play a central role in investigating these fantastic worlds during the foreseeable future. Delay- Doppler measurements are orthogonal to optical angle measurements, typically have a fractional precision between 10^-5 and 10^-9, and consequently are invaluable for refining orbits and prediction ephemerides.
Major improvements currently underway to the Arecibo 305 m antenna and 13 cm wavelength radar system will currently increase the radar system's sensitivity by a factor of about 20. Recent upgrades to the Goldstone 3.5 cm wavelength radar system have also improved its sensitivity. While the Arecibo system will have significantly greater sensitivity than Goldstone, the Arecibo antenna's limited declination coverage of -2(deg) to +38(deg) means that the Goldstone system will be important for the investigation of near-Earth objects with declinations outside this range. Over one hundred mainbelt and near-Earth asteroids per year will be observable with the new Arecibo system, and there will be a number of good imaging opportunities each year. While only a few imaging opportunities are predicted for comets over the next 10 years, the system will be able to respond to unexpected cometary opportunities. We are currently investigating the applicability of VLBI techniques to the direct synthesis of images of asteroids and comets illuminated by a radar signal.
Arecibo lambda 13 cm radar spectra of the main belt asteroids 7 Iris, 9 Metis, 12 Victoria, 216 Kleopatra, and 654 Zelinda exhibit evidence for large-scale topography. These asteroids range in diameter from 113 to 200 km and include members of the S,C, and M classes. Radar.
A 167-parameter, 3-D shape model of Castalia, obtained from inversion of delay-Doppler images, constrained the object's subradar latitude on the date of the observations by defining an annular sky region that contains Castalia's pole. We have used the shape model and nominal Hapke parameters for S asteroids to model Castalia lightcurves obtained at Table Mountain Observatory on August 23-25, 1989, at solar phase angles ranging from 58(deg) to 90(deg). This investigation defines the projected pole's azimuthal orientation around the radar line of sight and therefore yields a least-squares estimate of the orientation of Castalia's north or south pole; there is insufficient geometric leverage to distinguish the rotation sense or to estimate values of Hapke parameters. The model lightcurves match the TMO data surprisingly well, given the modest number of shape parameters in the model and the fact that part of the asteroid was not seen by the radar.