The development of the Surface Albedo Treatment System (SATS) onboard a spacecraft mission to the near earth asteroid (NEA) Apophis in 2012 is an innovative concept of deflecting NEAs from possible impact with the Earth through altering the Yarkovsky effect, a non-secular force in the solar system due to uneven surface thermal emission most profoundly affecting small rotating bodies subjected to sunlight. Though this force is small, its magnitude can be dramatic if extended over a period of time and if it uses the close approach of an asteroid near Earth to magnify the perturbation. The payload dispenses colored powder called albedo changing particles (ACPs) onto the surface changing its albedo and indirectly the surface temperature which changes the Yarkovsky effect. This study gives an in-depth description of both computational and experimental parts of the design of this system with primary focus on initial ground test setup. The initial experiments proposed to design the SATS is outlined in detail and justified by the mission criterion of interest as well as modeling the actual dispersal on the surface.

The apparent rarity of taxonomic A-class asteroids poses a significant paradox for understanding asteroid differentiation and the dynamical evolution of the early solar system. Based on results from asteroid taxonomic surveys, and on the abundances and mineralogy of different achondrite meteorites, it appears that olivine-dominated mantle remnants are missing from both the asteroid population and in meteorite collections. Several scenarios to explain this paradox have been proposed: (1) olivine mantle material has been stripped away by collisions and only remains as small fragments (< ~5 km), (2) A-class asteroids are abundant but have been altered in some way masking their presence, or (3) differentiated asteroids did not form thick olivine-rich mantles. We have approached these questions through the collection of taxonomic and observational data on known A-class asteroids, and the geochemical characterization of olivine grains from pallasite and ureilite igneous meteorites. Examination of four taxonomic surveys reveals discrepancies in the classification of A-class objects. Recent data with spectral coverage to 2.45 μm have reclassified some asteroids previously thought to belong to the class. Data complied from these taxonomies reveal only 17 A-class asteroids out of ~2100 individual objects surveyed (<1%). Physical and orbital characteristics of A-class asteroids indicate that the majority are small (<13 km) collisional fragments that reside in orbits interior to, or within the inner main-belt. Photometric observations of five A-class asteroids obtained during this study have constrained the rotational periods of, 246 Asporina, 289 Nenetta, 446 Aeternitas, 1600 Vyssotsky, and the Mars-crossing asteroid 1951 Lick. Robust photometric data for 446 Aeternitas collected over three apparitions yielded a precise rotation period (15.737496 ± 0.000005 h) and a pole orientation of Β = 49º, and λ = 342º. A shape model produced from these data revealed that 446 Aeternitas has a distinctly angular shape suggestive of a collisional fragment. Olivine compositions between our pallasite meteorites span a narrow range (Fa10.5 - Fa13.4), while the ureilite olivine compositions, generally more fayalitic, display wide variations in the eight examined meteorites (Fa8.5 - Fa22.1). Major and trace element behavior in olivines from pallasite meteorites is consistent with a model of slow, in situ cooling and crystallization, allowing for near-equilibrium exchange between crystallizing olivines and coexisting silicate and FeNi melt, preserving near-uniform olivine major element compositions, and limited trace element variation. Trace element signatures of ureilite silicates (olivine and pigeonite) show large variations, consistent with residual solids from fractional melting processes. Ureilite olivines are uniformly more enriched in both compatible lithophile and siderophile elements (Ca, Li, Sc, V, Cr, Ni, and Mn) than pallasite olivines. corroborating models for ureilite petrogenesis as low-degree partial melting residues in the absence of an FeNi melt phase. Uniformity of elemental signatures among different pallasites point to a chemically homogeneous parent body.

We investigate the photometric accuracy of the sparse data from astrometric surveys available on AstDyS. We use data from seven surveys with the best accu- racy in combination with relative lightcurves in the lightcurve inversion method to derive ∼300 new asteroid physical models (i.e., convex shapes and rotational states). We introduce several reliability tests that we use on all new asteroid mod- els. We investigate rotational properties of our MBAs sample (∼450 models here or previously derived by the lightcurve inversion), especially the spin vector dis- tribution. It is clear that smaller asteroids (D 30 km) have strongly anisotropic spin vector distribution even when we remove the bias of the lightcurve inversion, the poles are clustered towards ecliptic poles. We explain this anisotropy as a re- sult of non-gravitational torques (YORP effect) acting on these objects, because without accounting these torques, we were not able to create such anisotropic dis- tribution by our model of the spin evolution. We also estimate sizes for 41 and 10 asteroids by scaling their models to fit the adaptive optics profiles and occultation observations, respectively.

abstract: Affect is a domain of psychology that includes attitudes, emotions, interests, and values. My own affect influenced the choice of topics for my dissertation. After examining asteroid interiors and the Moon’s thermal evolution, I discuss the role of affect in online science education. I begin with asteroids, which are collections of smaller objects held together by gravity and possibly cohesion. These “rubble-pile” objects may experience the Brazil Nut Effect (BNE). When a collection of particles of similar densities, but of different sizes, is shaken, smaller particles will move parallel to the local gravity vector while larger objects will do the opposite. Thus, when asteroids are shaken by impacts, they may experience the BNE as possibly evidenced by large boulders seen on their surfaces. I found while the BNE is plausible on asteroids, it is confined to only the outer layers. The Moon, which formed with a Lunar Magma Ocean (LMO), is the next topic of this work. The LMO is due to the Moon forming rapidly after a giant impact between the proto-Earth and another planetary body. The first 80% of the LMO solidified rapidly at which point a floatation crust formed and slowed solidification of the remaining LMO. Impact bombardment during this cooling process, while an important component, has not been studied in detail. Impacts considered here are from debris generated during the formation of the Moon. I developed a thermal model that incorporates impacts and find that impacts may have either expedited or delayed LMO solidification. Finally, I return to affect to consider the differences in attitudes towards science between students enrolled in fully-online degree programs and those enrolled in traditional, in-person degree programs. I analyzed pre- and post-course survey data from the online astrobiology course Habitable Worlds. Unlike their traditional program counterparts, students enrolled in online programs started the course with better attitudes towards science and also further changed towards more positive attitudes during the course. Along with important conclusions in three research fields, this work aims to demonstrate the importance of affect in both scientific research and science education. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Geological Sciences 2017

Les astéroïdes sont des vestiges datant de la formation de notre Système stellaire. Ils nous offrent une opportunité unique de comprendre la mécanique de formation d'un système planétaire habité, le Système Solaire. Une méthode de caractérisation de ces petits corps couramment utilisé est la spectroscopie en réflectance, qui permet à, depuis la Terre ou lors de missions spatiales, d'obtenir des informations sur la minéralogie de ces objets. L'objet de cette thèse est de participer à une meilleure compréhension de cette technique de caractérisation, ainsi que d'étudier, via les météorites, les processus d'altérations ayant modifiés la composition initiale. Pour ce faire nous avons utilisé différentes méthodes d'analyses sur des chondrites carbonées (qui proviennent d'astéroïdes primitifs) afin de caractériser leur chimie et leur minéralogie. Nous avons ainsi étudié les phases hydratées, la teneur en eau, la structure des silicates et l'état d'oxydation du fer de ces météorites. Toutes ces analyses combinées nous ont permis de mieux comprendre l'évolution de la minéralogie en fonction des processus d'altérations hydrothermaux. Ces études ont également permis d'apporter des contraintes quantitatives et qualitatives sur les caractéristiques contrôlant les spectres en réflectance de ces mêmes météorites. Nous avons étudié et comparé de nombreux paramètres entre eux pour permettre de quantifier l'eau et proposons celui qui nous semble le plus adapté pour quantifier les phases hydratés à la surface des petits corps sombres du Système Solaire. / Asteroids are relics from the early Solar System. Some of them are extremely primitive and can help in understanding the mechanic of Solar System formation, and ultimately the scenario that led to the formation of a habited planetary system. Reflectance spectroscopy is now a classical and useful method to analyze asteroid composition from the Earth or during space mission. In this PhD thesis, we tried to improve our understanding of the spectral properties of asteroids by looking at naturally delivered fragments, meteorites. We have used different analytical methods on carbonaceous chondrites (pieces of primitive asteroids) to characterized their chemical and mineralogical composition. We studied the nature of hydrated phases, water budget, phyllosilicate structures and the speciation of iron on these meteorites. All these analyses permit an improved understanding of the transformation of the mineralogy by parent body (asteroidal) alteration. Furthermore, these analyses provide quantitative and qualitative constraints to understand the factors controlling the reflectance measurement performed on the same meteorite. We compared different analytical parameters to quantify the water abundance and suggest a method to quantify hydrated phases on dark asteroids.

Submitted by Tamires dos Santos de Moura null (tamiresmoura@hotmail.com) on 2016-08-26T16:55:16Z No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao.pdf: 3467990 bytes, checksum: 5dda701bb1d00619df06b7d38eef0bc1 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Paula Grisoto (grisotoana@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2016-08-29T20:39:29Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 moura_ts_me_guara.pdf: 3467990 bytes, checksum: 5dda701bb1d00619df06b7d38eef0bc1 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-29T20:39:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 moura_ts_me_guara.pdf: 3467990 bytes, checksum: 5dda701bb1d00619df06b7d38eef0bc1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-07-14 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Tendo em vista que asteroides são objetos remanescentes dos primórdios do Sistema Solar, estamos interessados na composição deles. Existem missões que estão sendo analisadas com a finalidade de enviar sondas em direção a asteroides do grupo Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs), que representa uma das mais peculiares classes de objetos no Sistema Solar visto que suas órbitas podem se aproximar ou até mesmo cruzar a terrestre. Esse grupo é considerado representativo da população de asteroides, uma vez que podem fornecer informações sobre a mistura química a partir da qual os planetas teriam se formado a bilhões de anos atrás, possibilitando a compreensão da origem e evolução do Sistema Solar e quem sabe até a origem da vida na Terra. Dessa forma, um estudo detalhado a fim de compreender a superfície, a composição e a estrutura interna de um NEA será um grande passo para a Ciência. Nessa pesquisa, inicialmente reproduzimos os dados do potencial gravitacional pelo método dos poliedros para o asteroide 2063 Bacchus, um NEA, a fim de validar os resultados encontrados em Moura (2014). O método dos poliedros fornece uma precisão muito boa da forma irregular do corpo. Por meio de estudo dos modelos de potenciais gravitacionais para corpos não esféricos e implementação de rotinas computacionais foi realizada uma breve análise em relação ao formato do asteroide 2063 Bacchus, bem como das suas superfícies equipotenciais e curvas de velocidade zero. Os objetivos dessa dissertação são realizar um estudo detalhado a respeito dos pontos de equilíbrio no campo gravitacional de 2063 Bacchus, bem como da estabilidade desses pontos levando em consideração os autovalores da equação característica. Além disso, alteramos os valores do período de rotação e da densidade desse objeto a fim de verificar como a localização e a estabilidade dos pontos de equilíbrio alteram quando um parâmetro é mudado. A motivação principal é realizar um estudo o mais realista possível e, dessa forma, observar também como os pontos de equilíbrio se comportam quando introduzimos o efeito da força de pressão de radiação solar que, nesse caso, passam a ser chamados de pontos equivalentes. O trabalho possibilita ampliação do conhecimento não somente para o caso de asteroides, mas também para outros corpos não esféricos como cometas, contribuindo para o desenvolvimento de estudos direcionados a origem e evolução do Sistema Solar. / Given that asteroids are remnant objects of the Solar system beginnings, we are interested in their composition. There are missions that are being analyzed with the purpose of sending probes toward asteroids from the group Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs), which is one of the most peculiar classes of objects in the solar system because their orbits can approach or even cross the Earth’s orbit. This group is considered representative of the population of asteroids, since they can provide information about the chemical mixture from which the planets would have been formed billions of years ago, enabling the understanding of the origin and evolution of the Solar System and maybe even on the origin of life on Earth. Thus a detailed study in order to understand the surface, the composition and internal structure of a NEA will be a big step for Science. In this research, initially we reproduce the data of the gravitational potential by the method of polyhedra for asteroid 2063 Bacchus, a NEA, in order to validate the results found Moura (2014). The method of polyhedra provides a very good accuracy of the irregular shape of the body. Through study of gravitational potential designs for non-spherical bodies and computational routines implementing a brief analysis was performed with respect to the asteroid shape of 2063 Bacchus, as well as its equipotential surfaces and zero-velocity curves. The objectives of this work are to conduct a detailed study on the equilibrium points in the gravitational field of 2063 Bacchus, and the stability of these points taking into account the eigenvalues of the characteristic equation. In addition, we varied the values of the rotation period and density of the object in order to see how the location and stability of equilibrium points changed when a parameter is altered. The main motivation is to achieve a more realistic study and thus, also observe how the equilibrium points behave when we introduce the effect of solar radiation pressure force. The new points are called equivalent points. The work enables expansion of the knowledge, not only in the case of asteroids, but also to other non-spherical bodies like comets, contributing to the development of studies addressing the origin and evolution of the solar system.

We study asteroidal breakups, i.e. fragmentations of targets, subsequent gravitational reaccumulation and formation of small asteroid families. We fo- cused on parent bodies with diameters Dpb = 10 km. Simulations were per- formed with a smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code combined with an efficient N-body integrator. We assumed various projectile sizes, impact veloci- ties and angles (125 runs in total). Resulting size-frequency distributions are sig- nificantly different from results of scaled-down simulations with Dpb = 100 km targets (Durda et al. 2007). We thus derive new parametric relations describing fragment distributions, suitable for Monte-Carlo collisional models. We also characterize velocity fields and angular distributions of fragments, which can be used in N-body simulations of asteroid families. Finally, we discuss several uncertainties related to SPH simulations.

Many topics in planetary studies demand an estimate of the collision probability of two objects moving on nearly Keplerian orbits. In the classic works of Opik and Wetherill, the collision probability was derived by linearizing the motion near the collision points, and there is now a vast amount of literature using their method. We present here a simpler and more physically motivated derivation for non-tangential collisions in Keplerian orbits, as well as for tangential collisions that were not previously considered. Our formulas have the added advantage of being manifestly symmetric in the parameters of the two colliding bodies. In common with the Opik-Wetherill treatments, we linearize the motion of the bodies in the vicinity of the point of orbit intersection (or near the points of minimum distance between the two orbits) and assume a uniform distribution of impact parameter within the collision radius. We point out that the linear approximation leads to singular results for the case of tangential encounters. We regularize this singularity by use of a parabolic approximation of the motion in the vicinity of a tangential encounter.

Mean motion resonances (MMRs) play an important role in the formation and evolution of planetary systems and have significantly influenced the orbital properties and distribution of planets and minor planets in the solar system and in. exoplanetary systems. Most previous theoretical analyses have focused on the low- to moderate-eccentricity regime, but with new discoveries of high-eccentricity resonant minor planets and even exoplanets, there is increasing motivation to examine MMRs in the high-eccentricity regime. Here we report on a study of the high-eccentricity regime of MMRs in the circular planar restricted three-body problem. Numerical analyses of the 2: 1 and the 3: 2 interior resonances are carried out for a wide range of planet-to-star mass ratio mu, and for a wide range of eccentricity of the test particle. The surface-of-section technique is used to study the phase space structure near resonances. We find that new stable libration zones appear at higher eccentricity at libration centers that are. shifted from those at low eccentricities. We provide physically intuitive explanations for these transitions in phase space, and we present novel results on the mass and eccentricity dependence of the resonance widths. Our results show that MMRs have sizable libration zones at high eccentricities, comparable to those at lower eccentricities.

The first transiting planetesimal orbiting a white dwarf was recently detected in K2 data of WD 1145+017 and has been followed up intensively. The multiple, long and variable transits suggest the transiting objects are dust clouds, probably produced by a disintegrating asteroid. In addition, the system contains circumstellar gas, evident by broad absorption lines, mostly in the u' band, and a dust disc, indicated by an infrared excess. Here we present the first detection of a change in colour of WD 1145+017 during transits, using simultaneous multiband fast-photometry ULTRACAM measurements over the u'g'r'i' bands. The observations reveal what appears to be 'bluing' during transits; transits are deeper in the redder bands, with a u' - r' colour difference of up to similar to-0.05 mag. We explore various possible explanations for the bluing, including limb darkening or peculiar dust properties. 'Spectral' photometry obtained by integrating over bandpasses in the spectroscopic data in and out of transit, compared to the photometric data, shows that the observed colour difference is most likely the result of reduced circumstellar absorption in the spectrum during transits. This indicates that the transiting objects and the gas share the same line of sight and that the gas covers the white dwarf only partially, as would be expected if the gas, the transiting debris and the dust emitting the infrared excess are part of the same general disc structure (although possibly at different radii). In addition, we present the results of a week-long monitoring campaign of the system using a global network of telescopes.