Dr. 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.
