The Ginger-shaped Asteroid 4179 Toutatis: New Observations from a Successful Flyby of Change-2


الملخص بالإنكليزية

On 13 December 2012, Change-2 conducted a successful flyby of the near-Earth asteroid 4179 Toutatis at a closest distance of 770 $pm$ 120 meters from the asteroids surface. The highest-resolution image, with a resolution of better than 3 meters, reveals new discoveries on the asteroid, e.g., a giant basin at the big end, a sharply perpendicular silhouette near the neck region, and direct evidence of boulders and regolith, which suggests that Toutatis may bear a rubble-pile structure. Toutatis maximum physical length and width are (4.75 $times$ 1.95 km) $pm$10$%$, respectively, and the direction of the +$z$ axis is estimated to be (250$pm$5$^circ$, 63$pm$5$^circ$) with respect to the J2000 ecliptic coordinate system. The bifurcated configuration is indicative of a contact binary origin for Toutatis, which is composed of two lobes (head and body). Change-2 observations have significantly improved our understanding of the characteristics, formation, and evolution of asteroids in general.

تحميل البحث