25143 Itokawa
 Greyscale (black & white) image of 25143 Itokawa as observed by Hayabusa, provided by JAXA. | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | LINEAR |
| Discovery date | 26 September 1998 |
| Designations | |
| Named after | Hideo Itokawa |
| Alternative names | 1998 SF36 |
| Minor planet category |
Apollo asteroid, Mars-crosser asteroid |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 18 August 2005 (JD 2453600.5) | |
| Aphelion | 1.695 AU (253.520 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 0.953 AU (142.568 Gm) |
| Semi-major axis | 1.324 AU (198.044 Gm) |
| Eccentricity | 0.280 |
| Orbital period | 1.52 a (556.355 d) |
| Average orbital speed | 25.37 km/s |
| Mean anomaly | 294.502° |
| Inclination | 1.622° |
| Longitude of ascending node | 69.095° |
| Argument of perihelion | 162.760° |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 535 × 294 × 209 m[2] |
| Mass | (3.51±0.105)×1010 kg,[2] (3.58±0.18)×1010 kg[3] |
| Mean density | 1.9 ±0.13 g/cm³,[2] 1.95 ± 0.14 g/cm³[3] |
| Equatorial surface gravity | ~0.0001 m/s² |
| Escape velocity | ~0.0002 km/s |
| Rotation period | 0.5055 d (12.132 h)[4] |
| Albedo | 0.53 |
| Temperature | ~206 K |
| Spectral type | S |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 19.2 |
|
| |
_Itokawa.ogg.jpg)
25143 Itokawa (/ˌiːtoʊˈkɑːwə/; Japanese: イトカワ [itokawa]) is an Apollo and Mars-crosser asteroid. It was the first asteroid to be the target of a sample return mission, the Japanese space probe Hayabusa.
Discovery and naming
The asteroid was discovered in 1998 by the LINEAR project and was given the provisional designation 1998 SF36. In August 2003,[5] it was officially named after Hideo Itokawa, a Japanese rocket scientist.
Description
Itokawa is an S-type asteroid. Radar imaging by Goldstone in 2001 observed an ellipsoid 630 ± 60 m long and 250 ± 30 m wide.[6][7]
The Hayabusa mission confirmed these findings and also suggested that Itokawa may be a contact binary formed by two or more smaller asteroids that have gravitated toward each other and stuck together. The Hayabusa images show a surprising lack of impact craters and a very rough surface studded with boulders, described by the mission team as a 'rubble pile'.[8] Furthermore, the density of the asteroid is too low for it to be made from solid rock. This would mean that Itokawa is not a monolith but rather a 'rubble pile' formed from fragments that have cohered over time. Based on Yarkovsky–O'Keefe–Radzievskii–Paddack effect measurements, a small section of Itokawa is estimated to have a density of 2.9 g/cm³, whereas a larger section is estimated to have a density of 1.8 g/cm³.[9]
Exploration
In 2000, it was selected as the target of Japan's Hayabusa mission. The probe arrived in the vicinity of Itokawa on 12 September 2005 and initially "parked" in an asteroid–Sun line at 20 km (12 mi), and later 7 km (4.3 mi), from the asteroid (Itokawa's gravity was too weak to provide an orbit, so the spacecraft adjusted its orbit around the Sun until it matched the asteroid's). Hayabusa landed on 20 November for thirty minutes, but it failed to operate a device designed to collect soil samples. On 25 November, a second landing and sampling sequence was attempted. The sample capsule was returned to Earth and landed at Woomera, South Australia on 13 June 2010, around 13:51 UTC (23:21 local). On 16 November 2010, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency reported that dust collected during Hayabusa's voyage was indeed from the asteroid.[10]
Surface features
Names of major surface features were proposed by Hayabusa scientists and accepted by the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature of the International Astronomical Union. Also, the Hayabusa science team is using working names for smaller surface features.[11][12] The following tables list the names of geological features on the asteroid.[13] No naming conventions have been disclosed for surface features on Itokawa.
Craters
| Crater | Named after |
|---|---|
| Catalina | Catalina Observatory which performs Catalina Sky Survey |
| Fuchinobe | Fuchinobe in Sagamihara, Japan |
| Gando | Gando, Canary Islands |
| Hammaguira | Hammaguira French Special Weapons Test Centre, Hammaguir |
| Kamisunagawa | Kamisunagawa, Hokkaidō |
| Kamoi | Kamoi, Yokohama |
| Komaba | Komaba in Meguro, Tokyo |
| Laurel | Laurel, Maryland |
| Miyabaru | Radar site of the Uchinoura Space Center in Japan. |
| San Marco | San Marco platform, an old oil platform near Kenya that served as a launch pad for Italian spacecraft. |
Regiones
Regiones (geologically distinct areas) on Itokawa.
| Regio | Named after |
|---|---|
| Arcoona Regio | Arcoona, Australia |
| LINEAR Regio | Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research |
| MUSES-C Regio | MUSES-C, name of the Hayabusa probe prior to launch. |
| Ohsumi Regio | Ōsumi Peninsula |
| Sagamihara Regio | Sagamihara, a town in Japan where Institute of Space and Astronautical Science is located. |
| Uchinoura Regio | Uchinoura, a town in Japan (now part of Kimotsuki), the location of Uchinoura Space Center, Hayabusa launch site. |
| Yoshinobu Regio | Launch site in the Tanegashima Space Center, Japan. |
Analysis of particles reported in August 2011
_Itokawa.jpg)
The 26 August 2011, issue of Science devoted six articles to findings based on dust that Hayabusa had collected from Itokawa.[14] Scientists' analysis suggested that Itokawa was probably made up from interior fragments of a larger asteroid that broke apart.[15] Dust collected from the asteroid surface was believed to have been exposed there for about eight million years.[14]
Scientists used varied techniques of chemistry and mineralogy to analyze the dust from Itokawa.[15] Itokawa's composition was found to match the common type of meteorites known as "low-total-iron, low metal ordinary chondrites".[16] Another team of scientists determined that the dark iron color on the surface of Itokawa was the result of abrasion by micrometeoroids and high-speed particles from the Sun which had converted the normally whitish iron oxide coloring.[16]
References
- ↑ "The Anatomy of an Asteroid". ESO Press Release. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Akira Fujiwara, et al., The Rubble-Pile Asteroid Itokawa as Observed by Hayabusa, Science, Vol. 312. no. 5778, pp. 1330 – 1334, 2 June 2006
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Shinsuke Abe, et al., Mass and Local Topography Measurements of Itokawa by Hayabusa, Science, Vol. 312. no. 5778, pp. 1344 – 1347, 2 June 2006
- ↑ M. Kaasalainen, et al., CCD photometry and model of MUSES-C target (25143) 1998 SF36, Astronomy and Astrophysics, v.405, p.L29-L32 (2003)
- ↑ "Official Approval of Names on ITOKAWA by IAU". Press Release of JAXA. 3 March 2009.
- ↑ Ostro, S. J.; Benner, L. A. M.; Nolan, M. C.; Giorgini, J. D.; Jurgens, R. F.; Rose, R.; Yeomans, D. K. "Radar Observations of Asteroid 25143 (1998 SF36)". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society 33: 1117. Bibcode:2001DPS....33.4113O.
- ↑ "Radar Observations of Asteroid 25143 Itokawa (1998 SF36)". Archived from the original on 6 June 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2008. mirror
- ↑ "Hayabusa: Itokawa Beckons as Japan's Spacecraft Searches for Places to Touch Down". Retrieved 11 August 2008. mirror
- ↑ "The Anatomy of an Asteroid". ESO. 5 February 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
- ↑ Atkinson, Nancy (16 November 2010). "Confirmed: Hayabusa Nabbed Asteroid Particles". Universe Today. Archived from the original on 6 December 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
- ↑ "Itowaka Geological Map". Retrieved 11 August 2008. mirror
- ↑ "Local site names on Itowaka". Retrieved 11 August 2008. mirror
- ↑ USGS: Itokawa nomenclature
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Asteroid Dust Confirms Meteorite Origins". New York Times. 25 August 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Nakamura, Tomoki; Takaaki Noguchi, Masahiko Tanaka, Michael E. Zolensky, Makoto Kimura, Akira Tsuchiyama, Aiko Nakato, Toshihiro Ogami, Hatsumi Ishida, Masayuki Uesugi, Toru Yada, Kei Shirai, Akio Fujimura, Ryuji Okazaki, Scott A. Sandford, Yukihiro Ishibashi, Masanao Abe, Tatsuaki Okada, Munetaka Ueno, Toshifumi Mukai, Makoto Yoshikawa, Junichiro Kawaguchi (26 August 2011). "Itokawa Dust Particles: A Direct Link Between S-Type Asteroids and Ordinary Chondrites". Science 333 (6046). Bibcode:2011Sci...333.1113N. doi:10.1126/science.1207758. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Most Earth meteorites linked to single asteroid". Los Angeles Times. 26 August 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
Further reading
- Durech, J.; Vokrouhlický, D.; Kaasalainen, M.; Weissman, P.; Lowry, S. C.; Beshore, E.; Higgins, D.; Krugly, Y. N. et al. (September 2008). "New photometric observations of asteroids (1862) Apollo and (25143) Itokawa – an analysis of YORP effect". Astronomy and Astrophysics 488 (1): 345–350. Bibcode:2008A&A...488..345D. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:200809663.
- Normile, D (30 April 2010). "Spunky Hayabusa Heads Home With Possible Payload". Science 328 (5978): 565. Bibcode:2010Sci...328..565N. doi:10.1126/science.328.5978.565. PMID 20430991.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 25143 Itokawa. |
- Close-up images of Itokawa, a rubble pile asteroid
- Hayabusa mission Video March 2007
- Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature
- MIT's LINEAR asteroid named for Japan's 'Dr. Rocket' (MIT press release)
- Latest news and images from Hayabusa (JAXA Hayabusa official page)
- Hayabusa's Scientific and Engineering Achievements during Proximity Operations around Itokawa (JAXA press release)
- Earth impact probability of the Asteroid (25143) Itokawa to be sampled by the spacecraft Hayabusa (paper abstract)
- Astronomy Picture Of The Day: Approaching Asteroid Itokawa, A Robot's Shadow on Asteroid Itokawa, The Missing Craters of Asteroid Itokawa, Smooth Sections on Asteroid Itokawa
- Special issue: Hayabusa at Itokawa, Science, Vol. 312, no. 5778, 2 June 2006
- Initial Scientific Results of Hayabusa’s Investigation on Itokawa ~Summary of the Special Issue of “Science”Magazine~ (ISAS/JAXA press release)
- Animated model of Itokawa rotating (in anaglyph form for use with red-blue glasses)
- Itokawa in enhanced color (From this presentation)
| |||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||