Detection of radiation pressure acting on 2009 BD

Details Detection of radiation pressure acting on 2009 BD Detection of radiation pressure acting on 2009 BD

2011-06-03

arxiv.org/abs/1106.0564v1

New Astronomy 17 (2012) 446-452

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics

To be submitted for refereed publication. Preliminary analysis based on the 2009-2010 data, published on arXiv because of the

Scientific paper

10.1016/j.newast.2011.11.008

We report the direct detection of radiation pressure on the asteroid 2009 BD, one of the smallest multi-opposition near-Earth objects currently known, with H ~ 28.4. Under the purely gravitational model of NEODyS the object is currently considered a possible future impactor, with impact solutions starting in 2071. The detection of a radiation-related acceleration allows us to estimate an Area to Mass Ratio (AMR) for the object, that can be converted (under some assumptions) into a range of possible values for its average density. Our result AMR = (2.97 \pm 0.33) x 10^(-4) m^2 kg^(-1) is compatible with the object being of natural origin, and it is narrow enough to exclude a man-made nature. The possible origin of this object, its future observability, and the importance of radiation pressure in the impact monitoring process, are also discussed.

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