The Detectability of Lunar-Origin Asteroids in the LSST Era
Fuente:
arXiv
Enregistré dans:
| Auteurs principaux: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Publié: |
2025
|
| Sujets: | |
| Accès en ligne: | |
| Tags: |
Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
|
| _version_ | 1866908804071817216 |
|---|---|
| author | Wu, Yixuan Jiao, Yifei Dai, Wen-Yue Huang, Yukun Liu, Zihan Cheng, Bin Baoyin, Hexi Li, Junfeng |
| author_facet | Wu, Yixuan Jiao, Yifei Dai, Wen-Yue Huang, Yukun Liu, Zihan Cheng, Bin Baoyin, Hexi Li, Junfeng |
| contents | While most near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) are thought to originate from the main belt, recent discoveries have suggested the existence of a lunar-derived NEA population, such as the asteroids Kamo'oalewa and 2024 PT5. These objects may hold key clues to the dynamical evolution of NEAs and the recent impact history of the Earth-Moon system. However, the population, distribution, and dynamical characteristics of these Lunar-Origin Asteroids (LOAs) remain poorly constrained. By combining the lunar ejecta production with N-body orbital simulations of the ejecta, we investigate their orbital evolution in the past millions of years and the current LOA population, revealing their significant potential for detection by future surveys. Specifically for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's upcoming Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), we predict an average detection rate of about 6 LOAs (with D > 5 m) per year. Additionally, we find that the LOAs tend to approach from sunward and anti-sunward directions, with encounter velocities significantly lower than those of typical NEAs. These findings offer valuable insights in guiding targeted ground-based surveys and planetary defense efforts for LOAs in the future. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_23155 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | The Detectability of Lunar-Origin Asteroids in the LSST Era Wu, Yixuan Jiao, Yifei Dai, Wen-Yue Huang, Yukun Liu, Zihan Cheng, Bin Baoyin, Hexi Li, Junfeng Earth and Planetary Astrophysics While most near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) are thought to originate from the main belt, recent discoveries have suggested the existence of a lunar-derived NEA population, such as the asteroids Kamo'oalewa and 2024 PT5. These objects may hold key clues to the dynamical evolution of NEAs and the recent impact history of the Earth-Moon system. However, the population, distribution, and dynamical characteristics of these Lunar-Origin Asteroids (LOAs) remain poorly constrained. By combining the lunar ejecta production with N-body orbital simulations of the ejecta, we investigate their orbital evolution in the past millions of years and the current LOA population, revealing their significant potential for detection by future surveys. Specifically for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's upcoming Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), we predict an average detection rate of about 6 LOAs (with D > 5 m) per year. Additionally, we find that the LOAs tend to approach from sunward and anti-sunward directions, with encounter velocities significantly lower than those of typical NEAs. These findings offer valuable insights in guiding targeted ground-based surveys and planetary defense efforts for LOAs in the future. |
| title | The Detectability of Lunar-Origin Asteroids in the LSST Era |
| topic | Earth and Planetary Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.23155 |