• 천문학회보
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• 제46권1호
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• pp.45.2-46
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• 2021

The Hayabusa 2 mission target asteroid (162173) Ryugu is a near-Earth, carbonaceous (C-type) asteroid. Before the arrival, this asteroid is expected to be covered with mm- to cm- sized grains through the thermal infrared observations [1]. These grains are widely understood to be formed by past impacts with other celestial bodies and fractures induced by thermal fatigue [2]. However, the close-up images by the MASCOT lander showed lumpy boulders but no abundant fine grains [3]. Morota et al. suggested that there would be submillimeter particles on the top of these boulders but not resolved by Hayabusa 2's onboard instruments [4]. Hence, we conducted polarimetry of Ryugu to investigate microscopic grain sizes on its surface. Polarimetry is a powerful tool to estimate physical properties such as albedo and grain size. Especially, it is known that the maximum polarization degree (Pmax) and the geometric albedo (pV) show an empirical relationship depending on surface grain sizes [5]. We observed Ryugu from UT 2020 November 30 to December 10 at large phase angles (ranging from 78.5 to 89.7 degrees) to derive Pmax. We modified TRIPOL (Triple Range Imager and POLarimeter, [6]) to attach to the 1.8-m telescope at the Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory (BOAO). With this instrument, we observed the asteroid and determined linear polarization degrees at the Rc-band filter. We obtained sufficient data sets from 7 nights at this observatory to determine the Pmax value, and collaborated with other observatories in Japan (i.e., Hokkaido University, Higashi-Hiroshima, and Nishi-Harima) to acquire linear polarization degrees of the asteroid from total 24 nights observations with large phase angle coverage (From 28 to 104 degrees). The observational results have been published in Kuroda et al. (2021) [7]. We thus found the dominance of submillimeter particles on the surface of Ryugu from the comparison with other meteorite samples from the campaign observation. In this presentation, we report our activity to modify the TRIPOL for the 1.8-m telescope and the polarimetric performance. We also examine the rotational variability of the polarization degree using the TRIPOL data.

• 천문학회보
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• 제43권1호
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• pp.71.3-71.3
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• 2018

Asteroids represent a significant resource for space exploration and scientific research. Various scientific missions have already performed and planned to investigate and understand the characteristics of asteroids. This talk introduces many space missions to asteroids. Representing missions to asteroids are the NASA's NEAR, Deep Space-1, Dawn, OSIRIS-Rex, SCOUT, DART, and ESA's Rosetta, and JAXA's Hayabusa 1 and 2, and DESTINY+ missions, and others. Although it is a very rare event, the possibility of Earth-crossing asteroids (ECAs) colliding with the Earth can never also be ignored. Numerous mitigation concepts also have been proposed to deflect ECAs in preparing for the disasters which might occur in future days. In the early studies for mitigation schemes, most of analyses were centered on to deflect ECAs with impacting the energy to the object to change its orbit. This talk also introduces many methods to deflect the orbit of ECAs, and shows spacecraft trajectories to asteroids.

• 천문학회보
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• 제39권2호
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• pp.96.1-96.1
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• 2014

The rotation of asteroids can help reveal not only the fundamental characteristics of asteroids but also the origin and evolution of our Solar System. From the photometric observations for NEA 162173 (1999 JU3) and Maria family asteroids using 0.5 m- to 2 m- class telescopes at 10 observatories in the northern hemisphere, I obtained a total of 260 lightcurves for 97 asteroids and derived synodic rotational periods for 51 objects, including newly obtained periods of 34 asteroids. For the sake of efficiency, I developed an observation scheduler, SMART (Scheduler for Measuring Asteroid RoTation) and a photometric analysis software subsystem, ASAP (Asteroid Spin Analysis Package). Based on the lightcurve analysis of NEA 162173 (1999 JU3) and Maria family asteroids, 1) I present the rotational and observational characteristics of 1999 JU3 and provided the Hayabusa-2 Science team with the information on pole orientations, 2) I investigated correlations among rotational periods, amplitudes of lightcurves, and sizes, and conclude that the rotational properties of old-type family asteroids have been changed considerably by the YORP effect. 3) Finally, I found the Yarkovsky footprints on the Maria asteroid family and estimated that approximately 37 to 75 Maria family asteroids larger than 1 km have entered the near-Earth space every 100 Myr. This study should reveal the collisional history and transport route of the members from the resonance region to the near Earth space, for the first time.

• 천문학회보
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• 제43권1호
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• pp.72.2-72.2
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• 2018

The Opposition Effect (OE) is an enhancement of the brightness of a reflecting light as the phase angle (the Sun-target-observer angle) approaches zero. The mechanisms have been studied both theoretically and experimentally and nowadays recognized that there are two major mechanisms, namely, coherent backscattering OE (CBOE) and shadow hiding OE (SHOE). From data analyses of an S-type asteroid Itokawa taken with the Hayabusa spacecraft onboard camera, it is suggested that the CBOE would be dominant at phase angle smaller than ~ 1.4 deg, while SHOE dominates at larger phase angles (M. Lee & M. Ishiguro, under review). The study on the physical parameters which affect the OE, such as size and composition, will lead us to find a way to disentangle each of them from observation. The experiments in lab, however, faces two major difficulties: (a) the detector blocks the incident light if phase angle is nearly zero and (b) incident and emission angles must be controlled with high angular resolution to prevent blurring of OEs at different phase angles in one measurement. In this presentation, we introduce a new apparatus which has been installed at Seoul National University to investigate the OE in our lab, and summarize the initial results. It will be a valuable starting point to establish infrastructure in Korea, and will shed light on the investigation of OE physics using laboratory simulants.

• 천문학회보
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• 제43권1호
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• pp.71.2-71.2
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• 2018

태양계 질량의 대부분은 플라즈마, 기체, 또는 액체 상태로 존재하며, 극히 일부만이 고체 즉 암석과 광물로 존재한다. 하지만, 반응 특히 혼합(mixing)이 일어나는 속도가 매우 느린 고체의 특성상 태양계의 탄생과 진화 과정의 기록은 고체태양계 물질에 더 잘 보관되어 있다. 지구를 제외한 고체 태양계 물질을 확보하기 위해서는 지구로 낙하한 암석인 운석(meteorites)을 발견하거나, 우주로 나가 시료를 가져와야 한다. 아폴로 미션(Apollo mission)에 의한 월석(lunar rocks) 채취(Papike et al., 1998), 하야부사 미션(Hayabusa mission)에 의한 소행성(asteroid) 시료 채취(Nakamura et al., 2011), 스타더스트 미션(Stardust mission)에 의한 혜성 시료 채취(Zolensky et al., 2006) 등이 후자에 속한다. 능동적으로 가져온 시료는 아직까지는 그 종류와 양에서 운석에 비해 매우 부족하므로 현재까지 우리가 알고 있는 고체 태양계에 관한 대부분은 운석 연구를 통해 얻어졌다. 운석은 크게 미분화운석 즉 콘드라이트(chondrites)와 분화운석(differentiated meteorites)으로 구분한다. 분화운석 중 일부는 달운석(lunar meteorites) 또는 화성운석(martian meteorites)이며, 나머지 분화운석과 콘드라이트는 암석-지구화학적 특징과 성인적 연관성에 의해 다양한 그룹으로 세분되는데 각 그룹은 하나의, 또는 둘 이상의 매우 유사한, 소행성에서 유래한 것으로 해석된다(Krot et al., 2014; 최변각 2009). 다양한 종류의 운석과 구성 광물에 포함된 기록으로는 (1) 태양계 이전 존재한 항성의 대기에서 생성된 광물, 즉 선태양계 광물(presolar grains), (2) 태양계 성운 탄생과 각 진화 단계의 정확한 시기, (3) 태양계 성운의 화학조성-동위원소 조성, 온도-압력 조건 등을 포함한 물리-화학적 특징, (4) 가스-먼지로부터 미행성, 소행성, 행성으로의 진화 과정, (5) 행성 진화의 열원, (6) 소행성 핵의 생성 과정 등이 있다. 강연에서는 이들을 간략히 살펴보고자 한다. 운석연구 등을 통해 태양계 생성과 진화과정에 관한 다양한 정보가 축적되었지만, 앞으로 연구할 것들이 더 많다. 또한 태양계 물질 중에는 운석의 형태로 지구로 들어왔거나 앞으로 들어올 수 있는 것도 있지만 그렇지 않은 것도 있다. 가스나 기체의 경우가 그러할 것이며, 고체지만 결합이 약해 일부라도 원형을 유지한 채 대기권을 통과 할 수 없는 것도 있을 것이다. 또 공전궤도나 중력 등 물리적 이유로 지구권 진입이 불가능한 것도 있다. 이러한 태양계 구성원에는 우리가 아직까지 얻지 못한 정보들이 다량 보존되어 있을 것이다. 미래의 태양계탐사가 기대되는 이유 중 하나이다.

• 한국지반공학회논문집
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• 제38권9호
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• pp.19-33
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• 2022

우주 행성 지반 탐사 미션은 1970년대에 활발하게 이루어졌으나 1990~2000년대에는 예산 문제로 쇠퇴기를 맞았다. 그러나 미래에 지구 자원 고갈에 대비하고 헬륨-3 및 희토류와 같이 우주에는 풍부하지만 지구에는 부족한 자원을 탐사하기 위해서는 우주 자원 탐사는 필수적이다. 또한, 우주 기술 발전은 미래 산업 발전의 원동력이 된다. 따라서 우주 자원 탐사 및 활용을 위해 최근 10년 동안 우주 행성 탐사를 위한 선진국 간의 기술 경쟁이 다시 가속화되고 있다. 이 우주 행성 자원 탐사/채굴 및 기지 건설 미션을 위해서는 지반 탐사가 필요하며 현재까지 달에 대한 탐사 미션으로는 Apollo 미션과 LUNA 미션, Chang'E 미션 등이 있고 해당 미션에서 유인 및 로버를 활용한 무인 시추 미션을 수행하였다. 화성 미션으로는 Viking, Spirit/Opportunity, Phoenix, Perseverance 미션, 소행성 탐사 미션은 하야 부사(Hyabusa) 미션이 있었다. 본 논문에서는 현재까지 수행된 우주 행성 광물 자원 탐사 기술에 대해 서술하고 향후 우리나라의 기술과제에 대하여 서술하였다.

• 천문학회보
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• 제46권1호
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• pp.46.1-46.1
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• 2021

Hydrated asteroids get widespread attention for the evolution of water in the Solar System, especially thanks to the recent successes of the Hayabusa2 and OSIRIS-REx space missions. The target asteroids of these missions are believed to be fragments that have experienced aqueous alteration in their parent bodies [3]. Although hydrated asteroids have been studied well via spectroscopy, focusing on the 0.7 um or the 2.7 um absorption bands [2, 3, 4], polarimetric properties of these asteroids have rarely been investigated. In this study, we conducted a polarimetric observation of 18 C-complex main-belt asteroids with the 1.6-m Pirka telescope at the Nayoro Observatory of Hokkaido University, Japan. We used a polarimetric imaging mode of the Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI) with the standard Rc-band filter (the central wavelength at 0.64 um) [5]. As a result, we found that all of these hydrated asteroids indicate deep negative branches of their polarimetric profiles. Accordingly, the hydrated asteroids have the polarization minima (Pmin), whose values are significantly lower than any other taxonomic types of asteroids (including C-group asteroids). Because Pmin depends on albedo, particle size, and porosity of the surface materials [1], we suspect that hydrated asteroids are distinctive from other asteroids in terms of these physical properties. In this presentation, we introduce our polarimetric observation and findings. We discuss why hydrated asteroids indicate such low Pmin values, comparing Pmin with spectral features at 0.7 um and 2.7 um based on the observation results.

• 천문학회보
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• 제45권1호
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• pp.45.2-46
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• 2020

Various processes, such as space weathering and granular convection, are occurring on asteroids' surfaces. Estimation of the surface exposure timescale is essential for understanding these processes. The Hayabusa mission target asteroid, (25143) Itokawa (Sq-type) is the only asteroid whose age is estimated from remote sensing observations as well as sample analyses in laboratories. There is, however, an unignorable discrepancy between the timescale derived from these different techniques. The ages estimated based on the solar flare track density and the weathered rim thickness of regolith samples range between 102 and 104 years [1][2]. On the contrary, the ages estimated from the crater size distributions and the spectra cover from 106 to 107 years [3][4]. It is important to notice that there is a common drawback of both age estimation methods. Since the evidence of regolith migration is found on the surface of Itokawa [5], the surficial particles would be rejuvenated by granular convection. At the same time, it is expected that the erasure of craters by regolith migration would affect the crater size distribution. We propose a new technique to estimate surface exposure age, focusing on the bright mottles on the large boulders. Our technique is less prone to the granular convection. These mottles are expected to be formed by impacts of mm to cm-sized interplanetary particles. Together with the well-known flux model of interplanetary dust particles (e.g., Grün, 1985 [6]), we have investigated the timescale to form such mottles before they become dark materials again by the space weathering. In this work, we used three AMICA (Asteroid Multi-band Imaging Camera) v-band images. These images were taken on 2005 November 12 during the close approach to the asteroid. As a result, we found the surface exposure timescales of these boulders are an order of 106 years. In this meeting, we will introduce our data analysis technique and evaluate the consistency among previous research for a better understanding of the evolution of this near-Earth asteroid.

• 천문학회보
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• 제46권2호
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• pp.58.1-59
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• 2021

Exploration of asteroids' internal structure is essential for understanding their evolutional history. It also provides a fundamental information about the history of coalescence and collision of the solar system. Among several models of the internal structures, the rubble-pile model, confirmed by the near-Earth asteroid (25143) Itokawa by Hayabusa mission [1], is now widely regarded as the most common to asteroids with size ranging from 200 m to 10 km [2]. On the contrary, monolithic and core-mantle structures are also possible for small asteroids [3]. It is, however, still challenging to look through the interior of a target object using remote-sensing devices. In this presentation, we introduce our ongoing research conducted at Seoul National and propose an idea to infer the internal structure of Apophis using available instruments. Itokawa's research provides an important benchmark for Apophis exploration because both asteroids have similar size and composition [4][5]. We have conducted research on Itokawa's evolution in terms of collision and space weathering. Space weathering is the surface alteration process caused by solar wind implantation and micrometeorite bombardment [6]. Meanwhile, resurfacing via a collision acts as a counter-process of space weathering by exposing fresh materials under the matured layer and lower the overall degree of space weathering. Therefore, the balance of these two processes determine the space weathering degrees of the asteroid. We focus on the impact evidence on the boulder surface and found that space weathering progresses in only 100-10,000 years and modifies the surface optical properties (Jin & Ishiguro, KAS 2020 Fall Meeting). It is important to note that the timescale is significantly shorter than the Itokawa's age, suggesting that the asteroid can be totally processed by space weathering. Accordingly, our result triggers a further discussion about why Itokawa indicates a moderately fresh spectrum (Sq-type denotes less matured than S-type). For example, Itokawa's smooth terrains show a weaker degree of space weathering than other S-type asteroids [7]. We conjecture that the global seismic shaking caused by collisions with >1 mm-sized interplanetary dust particles induces granular convection, which hinders the progression of space weathering [8]. Note that the efficiency of seismic wave propagation is strongly dependent on the internal structure of the asteroid. Finally, we consider possible approaches to investigate Apophis's internal structure. The first idea is studying the space weathering age, as conducted for Itokawa. If Apophis indicates a younger age, the internal structure would have more voids [9]. In addition, the 2029 close encounter with Earth provides a rare natural opportunity to witness the contrast between before and after the event. If the asteroid exhibits a slight change in shape and space weathering degree, one can determine the physical structure of the internal materials (e.g., rubble-pile monolithic, thick or thin regolith layer, the cohesion of the materials). We will also consider a possible science using a seismometer.