Small D-type asteroids in the NEO population: new targets for space missions

• Published in: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• Main Authors: Barucci, Maria Antonietta, Perna, D., Popescu, M., Fornasier, S., Doressoundiram, A., Lantz, C., Merlin, F., Fulchignoni, M., Dotto, E., Kanuchova, S
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA (UMR_8109)), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Ephémérides (IMCCE), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Lille-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut d'astrophysique spatiale (IAS), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales Paris (CNES), Observatoire de Paris - Site de Meudon (OBSPM), Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma (OAR), Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Astronomical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovak Academy of Science Bratislava (SAS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2018
• Subjects: [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP]; Tagish; Tagish Lake
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02305052; https://hal.science/hal-02305052/document; https://hal.science/hal-02305052/file/sty532.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sty532

International audience In the framework of the Near Earth Objects (NEOs) observational campaign carried out within the NEOShield-2 project, we identify nine new small D-type asteroids with estimated diameter less than 600 m. The link with meteorites for this class of asteroids is weak and the best fit obtained is with the Tagish Lake meteorite for seven of them. D-type asteroids are believed to contain the most pristine material of the Solar system and could have delivered the pre-biotic material to the Earth. Our results double the known sample of the D-types in the NEO population and triple the candidates of this class for a sample-return mission (at very low ΔV). Our finding increases considerably the number of targets for sample-return mission. A sample-return mission to a D-type asteroid will provide a major progress in understanding the early history of the Solar system and to investigate the origin of life on the Earth.