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MPEC 2019-A88 : 2019 AQ3

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M.P.E.C. 2019-A88 Issued 2019 Jan. 6, 22:12 UT The Minor Planet Electronic Circulars contain information on unusual minor planets and routine data on comets. They are published on behalf of Division F of the International Astronomical Union by the Minor Planet Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network MPC@CFA.HARVARD.EDU URL https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/ ISSN 1523-6714 2019 AQ3 Observations: K19A03Q C2018 12 22.07676 21 31 46.94 -19 17 02.3 18.29rVEA088I41 K19A03Q C2018 12 22.08183 21 31 47.49 -19 16 30.7 18.24rVEA088I41 K19A03Q C2018 12 22.08620 21 31 48.00 -19 16 02.5 18.57rVEA088I41 K19A03Q C2018 12 22.09197 21 31 48.56 -19 15 28.0 18.53rVEA088I41 K19A03Q C2018 12 30.07687 21 41 16.86 -06 28 49.2 18.65r EA088I41 K19A03Q C2018 12 30.08181 21 41 17.02 -06 28 23.6 18.89r EA088I41 K19A03Q C2018 12 30.08672 21 41 17.16 -06 27 57.8 18.16r EA088I41 K19A03Q C2019 01 03.08243 21 42 37.61 -00 55 30.5 18.52r EA088I41 K19A03Q C2019 01 03.08734 21 42 37.61 -00 55 07.4 18.28r EA088I41 K19A03Q C2019 01 03.09225 21 42 37.63 -00 54 44.3 18.31r EA088I41 K19A03Q C2019 01 03.09714 21 42 37.63 -00 54 21.5 18.21r EA088I41 K19A03Q* C2019 01 04.07920021 42 39.18 +00 21 10.4 18.96rUEA088I41 K19A03Q C2019 01 04.08405021 42 39.17 +00 21 32.7 18.96rUEA088I41 K19A03Q C2019 01 04.08891021 42 39.16 +00 21 54.7 18.83rUEA088I41 K19A03Q C2019 01 04.09377021 42 39.11 +00 22 16.9 18.91rUEA088I41 K19A03Q C2019 01 05.08078 21 42 33.71 +01 35 35.4 18.43r EA088I41 K19A03Q C2019 01 05.08566 21 42 33.66 +01 35 56.8 17.98r EA088I41 K19A03Q C2019 01 05.09053 21 42 33.60 +01 36 17.7 17.69r EA088I41 K19A03Q KC2019 01 06.73623 21 42 09.63 +03 32 42.3 18.6 GVEA088K38 K19A03Q KC2019 01 06.74796 21 42 09.38 +03 33 31.3 19.2 GVEA088K38 K19A03Q HC2019 01 06.75671 21 42 09.14 +03 34 06.1 VEA088204 K19A03Q KC2019 01 06.76232 21 42 09.01 +03 34 29.9 VEA088204 K19A03Q KC2019 01 06.76815 21 42 08.87 +03 34 53.7 19.5 GVEA088204 K19A03Q KC2019 01 06.77134 21 42 08.81 +03 35 06.7 VEA088587 K19A03Q KC2019 01 06.77194 21 42 08.79 +03 35 08.9 VEA088587 K19A03Q KC2019 01 06.77285 21 42 08.79 +03 35 12.8 19.3 GVEA088587 K19A03Q C2019 01 06.82607421 42 07.562+03 38 56.19 18.5 GVEA088J04 K19A03Q C2019 01 06.82683421 42 07.524+03 38 58.54 18.9 GVEA088J04 K19A03Q C2019 01 06.82758321 42 07.534+03 39 01.52 18.7 GVEA088J04 Observer details: 204 Schiaparelli Observatory. Observer L. Buzzi. 0.84-m f/3.5 reflector + CCD. 587 Sormano. Observers A. Fumagalli, P. Sicoli, A. Testa. Measurer P. Sicoli. 0.5-m f/6.8 reflector + CCD. I41 Palomar Mountain--ZTF. Observer A. U. Tomatic. Measurers Q.-Z. Ye, F. J. Masci. 1.2-m f/2.4 Oschin Schmidt, 1.2-m f/2.4 Schmidt. J04 ESA Optical Ground Station, Tenerife. Observer P. Ruiz. Measurers M. Micheli, D. Koschny, A. Knoefel, M. Busch, E. Schwab. 1.0-m f/4.4 reflector + CCD. K38 M57 Observatory, Saltrio. Observer G. Baj. 0.3-m f/5.5 Ritchey-Chretien + CCD. Orbital elements: 2019 AQ3 Earth MOID = 0.2259 AU Epoch 2019 Apr. 27.0 TT = JDT 2458600.5 MPC M 118.49843 (2000.0) P Q n 2.18226740 Peri. 163.15376 -0.58983949 +0.46193163 a 0.5886594 Node 64.49072 -0.79932780 -0.21744486 e 0.3143289 Incl. 47.21385 -0.11473645 -0.85984703 P 0.45 H 17.1 G 0.15 U 7 Residuals in seconds of arc 181222 I41 0.3- 0.6- 190103 I41 0.1- 0.3- 190106 204 0.2- 0.6- 181222 I41 0.1- 0.3- 190104 I41 0.3- 0.3+ 190106 204 0.2- 0.1+ 181222 I41 0.6+ 1.0+ 190104 I41 0.0 0.6+ 190106 204 0.4- 0.0 181222 I41 0.1- 0.1- 190104 I41 0.3+ 0.6+ 190106 587 0.2- 0.1- 181230 I41 0.1- 0.3+ 190104 I41 0.1- 0.8+ 190106 587 0.3- 0.3- 181230 I41 0.0 0.2- 190105 I41 0.2+ 0.1- 190106 587 0.0 0.2- 181230 I41 0.2- 0.4- 190105 I41 0.3+ 0.1- 190106 J04 0.1+ 0.7+ 190103 I41 0.1- 0.3- 190105 I41 0.4+ 0.5- 190106 J04 0.2- 0.1- 190103 I41 0.2- 0.2- 190106 K38 0.2+ 0.3- 190106 J04 0.3+ 0.2- 190103 I41 0.0 0.2- 190106 K38 0.4+ 0.5+ Ephemeris: 2019 AQ3 a,e,i = 0.59, 0.31, 47 Q = 0.7737 Date TT R. A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. Phase V 2018 12 07 20 37 39.1 -44 45 16 0.4944 0.7723 50.6 99.8 18.6 ... 2018 12 22 21 31 39.0 -19 24 45 0.4739 0.7647 49.3 102.6 18.7 ... 2018 12 30 21 41 14.8 -06 35 29 0.4972 0.7463 47.8 102.7 18.7 ... 2019 01 05 21 42 35.1 +01 29 47 0.5252 0.7261 46.2 102.4 18.8 2019 01 06 21 42 23.3 +02 41 39 0.5305 0.7222 45.8 102.3 18.8 2019 01 07 21 42 04.7 +03 50 50 0.5359 0.7182 45.5 102.3 18.8 ... 2019 01 13 21 37 59.1 +09 48 28 0.5704 0.6907 43.4 102.1 18.8 ... 2019 01 21 21 27 17.6 +15 06 48 0.6186 0.6462 39.9 102.1 18.8 ... 2019 02 05 20 58 48.6 +16 05 24 0.7072 0.5430 32.4 103.3 18.8 A. U. Tomatic (C) Copyright 2019 MPC M.P.E.C. 2019-A88

MPEC number: Enter an MPEC number in one of the following forms:</s>CubeSats are nanosatellites based on standardised 10 cm-sized units. Hera has room to deliver two 'six-unit' CubeSat missions to the Didymos asteroid system – a 780 m-diameter mountain-sized main body is orbited by a 160 m moon, informally called 'Didymoon', about the same size as the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The Hera mission received proposals for CubeSats from across Europe, and an evaluation board has now made the final selection.

"We're very happy to have these high-quality CubeSat missions join us to perform additional bonus science alongside their Hera mothership," explains Hera manager Ian Carnelli.

"Carrying added instruments and venturing much closer to our target bodies, they will give different perspectives and complementary investigations on this exotic binary asteroid. They will also give us valuable experience of close proximity operations relayed by the Hera mothercraft in extreme low-gravity conditions. This will be very valuable to many future missions."

Paolo Martino, Hera spacecraft lead engineer adds: "The idea of building CubeSats for deep space is relatively new, but was recently validated by NASA's InSight landing on Mars last November, when a pair of accompanying CubeSats succeeded in relaying the lander's radio signals back to Earth – as well as returning imagery of the Red Planet."

The first CubeSat companion is called the Asteroid Prospection Explorer (or 'APEX'), and was developed by a Swedish/Finnish/Czech/German consortium. It will perform detailed spectral measurements of both asteroids' surfaces – measuring the sunlight reflected by Didymos and breaking down its various colours to discover how these asteroids have interacted with the space environment, pinpointing any differences in composition between the two. In addition, APEX will make magnetic readings that will give insight into their interior structure of these bodies.

Guided by a navigation camera and a 'laser radar' (lidar) instrument, APEX will also make a landing on one of the asteroids, gathering valuable data in the process using inertial sensors, and going on to perform close-up observations of the asteroid's surface material.

The other CubeSat is called Juventas, developed by Danish company GomSpace and GMV in Romania, and will measure the gravity field as well as the internal structure of the smaller of the two Didymos asteroids.

In close orbit around Didymoon, Juventas will line up with Hera to perform satellite-to-satellite radio-science experiments and carry out a low-frequency radar survey of the asteroid interior, similar to performing a detailed 'X-ray scan' of Didymoon to unveil its interior. The adventure will end with a landing, using the dynamics of any likely bouncing to capture details of the asteroid's surface material – followed by several days of surface operations.

Hera is set to be humankind's first mission to a binary asteroid system. As well as testing technologies in deep space and gathering crucial science data, Hera is designed to be Europe's contribution to an international planetary defence effort: it would survey the crater and measure orbital deviation of Didymoon caused by the earlier collision of a NASA probe, called DART. This unique experiment will validate the asteroid deflection technique referred to as kinetic impactor, enabling humankind to protect our planet from asteroid impacts.

Next, the two CubeSats will have their designs refined and interfaces with their mothership finalised, in line with continuing design work on the Hera mission itself, which will be presented to ESA's Space19+ meeting towards the end of this year, where Europe's space ministers will take a final decision on flying the mission.

Explore further: Earth's first mission to a binary asteroid, for planetary defence
The Zwicky Transient Facility in California discovers a large Atira asteroid, 2019 AQ3, an asteroid with a diameter of 1.4 kilometres (0.87 miles) that stays closer to the Sun during its orbit than any other known asteroid, passing from inside the orbit of Mercury to just outside the orbit of Venus.