SMASS-Next: Next Generation Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey

AST-0907766BinzelDr. Binzel，两位博士后研究员和学生，将把正在进行的小主带小行星光谱调查（SMASS）扩展到比以前可能的更微弱的极限。 这一成就的关键是在智利的麦哲伦6.5米望远镜上使用了一台由国家科学基金会资助的最先进的折叠端口红外小阶梯光栅摄谱仪。 新仪器预计将获得直径小于100米的近地小行星的光谱。 总体目标是更好地了解小行星和陨石之间的联系，以及它们为我们太阳系历史提供的线索。 在一个为期五年的方案中，将获得和分析大约120颗近地小行星（直径小于0.8公里）的近红外光谱，以探索近地小行星的成分分布。 这些结果将用于测试Yarkovsky效应（太阳对小行星一侧的加热会影响其轨道），并将有助于确定近地小行星的起源（例如，它们是通过雅科夫斯基效应进入内太阳系的，还是通过主小行星带的碰撞？ 由此得出的见解对了解太阳系的形成和演变至关重要，预计这项工作将大大增加已知成分的样本，从而对规划今后向附近小行星返回样本的飞行任务产生影响。 它还将大大提高我们对具有潜在危险的小行星性质的认识。 该项目包括博士后，研究生和本科生研究人员的支持和培训，他们将参与研究的各个方面。

AST-0907766BinzelDr. Binzel, two postdoctoral fellows, and students, will extend the ongoing Small Main-belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey (SMASS) to significantly fainter limits than previously possible. Key to this achievement is the use of a new NSF-funded state-of-the-art folded-port infrared echellette spectrograph on the Magellan 6.5-m telescope in Chile. The new instrument is expected to obtain spectra of near-Earth asteroids at diameters of less than 100m. The overarching goal is a better understanding of the connections between asteroids and meteorites and the clues they provide to the history of our solar system. Near-infrared spectra of some 120 near-Earth asteroids (down to less than 0.8 km in diameter) will be obtained and analyzed in a five-year program to explore the compositional distribution of the near-Earth asteroids. The results will be used to test the Yarkovsky effect (where heating of one side of an asteroid by the Sun can affect its orbit) and will help determine the origin of near-Earth asteroids (e.g., are they moved into the inner solar system by the Yarkovsky effect, or through collisions in the main asteroid belt?). The resulting insights will be critical to understanding solar system formation and evolution.This work is expected to have an impact on the planning of future sample return missions to nearby asteroids by greatly increasing the sample with known compositions. It will also materially improve our understanding of the nature of potentially hazardous asteroids. The project includes the support and training of postdoctoral, graduate, and undergraduate researchers, who will be involved in all aspects of the research.