Adriano Campo Bagatin

University of Alicante | UA · Physics, Systems Engineering and Signal Theory

The NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft successfully crashed on Dimorphos, the secondary component of the binary (65803) Didymos system. Following the impact, a large dust cloud was released, and a long-lasting dust tail developed. We have extensively monitored the dust tail from the ground and the Hubble Space Telescope. We pro...

The NASA/DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft successfully crashed on Dimorphos, the secondary component of the binary (65803) Didymos system. Following the impact, a large dust cloud was released, and a long-lasting dust tail was developed. We have extensively monitored the dust tail from the ground and from the Hubble Space Telescop...

Some active asteroids have been proposed to be the result of impact events. Because active asteroids are generally discovered serendipitously only after their tail formation, the process of the impact ejecta evolving into a tail has never been directly observed. NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, apart from having successfully...

Some active asteroids have been proposed to be the result of impact events1. Because active asteroids are generally discovered serendipitously only after their tail formation, the process of the impact ejecta evolving into a tail has never been directly observed. NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission2, apart from having successfull...

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission performed the first ever kinetic impact to deflect an asteroid ¹ . The DART kinetic impact test artificially activated an asteroid with a hypervelocity impact, providing a unique opportunity for an extensive observing campaign to monitor the evolutionary process from the formation of the ejecta...

We overview various efforts within the DART Investigation Team’s Ejecta Working Group to predict the characteristics, quantity, dynamical behavior, and observability of DART impact ejecta. We discuss various methodologies for simulation of the impact/cratering process with their advantages and drawbacks in relation to initializing ejecta for subseq...

NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft is planned to impact the natural satellite of (65803) Didymos, Dimorphos, around 23:14 UTC on 26 September 2022, causing a reduction in its orbital period that will be measurable with ground-based observations. This test of kinetic impactor technology will provide the first estimate of the m...

Hera is a planetary defense mission under development in the Space Safety and Security Program of the European Space Agency for launch in 2024 October. It will rendezvous in late 2026 December with the binary asteroid (65803) Didymos and in particular its moon, Dimorphos, which will be impacted by NASA’s DART spacecraft on 2022 September 26 as the...

Any early or late dynamical instability in the outer Solar System should have left their footprint on the trans-Neptunian object (TNO) populations. Here we study the collisional and dynamical evolution of such populations numerically by an updated version of ALICANDEP, which suitably takes into account the onset of an early dynamical instability. K...

Any early or late dynamical instability in the outer Solar system should have left their footprint on the trans-Neptunian object (TNO) populations. Here, we study the collisional and dynamical evolution of such populations numerically by an updated version of ALICANDEP, which suitably takes into account the onset of an early dynamical instability....

The goal of Project GAUSS (Genesis of Asteroids and evolUtion of the Solar System) is to return samples from the dwarf planet Ceres. Ceres is the most accessible candidate of ocean worlds and the largest reservoir of water in the inner Solar System. It shows active volcanism and hydrothermal activities in recent history. Recent evidence for the exi...

El principal objetivo del estudio es diseñar un ejercicio de cinemática y evaluar si hay diferencias significativas en la estrategia de resolución en estudiantes de distintos niveles de grado y/o máster de ingeniería, arquitectura y/o ciencias. Así, podremos comprobar hasta qué punto tener una ecuación en el enunciado del ejercicio y los datos para...

The processes leading to the formation of planetary systems leave behind a significant mass of small bodies - up to 35 Earth masses depending on the model [1] - orbiting at large heliocentric distance, and observed around 20% of Sun-like stars [2]. It is established that those bodies play an important role in the migration of gas giants away from t...

Asteroids show a variety of shapes, ranging from roundish to elongated to binary systems and ‘contact binaries’ like (25143) Itokawa, the target of the Hayabusa mission (JAXA). These bodies spend most of their time within a collisional system, the asteroid belt, where impact processes are relatively frequent. Speculations on the origin of asteroid...

The goal of Project GAUSS is to return samples from the dwarf planet Ceres. Ceres is the most accessible ocean world candidate and the largest reservoir of water in the inner solar system. It shows active cryovolcanism and hydrothermal activities in recent history that resulted in minerals not found in any other planets to date except for Earth's u...

The goal of Project GAUSS is to return samples from the dwarf planet Ceres. Ceres is the most accessible ocean world candidate and the largest reservoir of water in the inner solar system. It shows active cryovolcanism and hydrothermal activities in recent history that resulted in minerals not found in any other planets to date except for Earth’s u...

The European component of the joint ESA-NASA Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) mission has been redesigned from the original version called Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM), and is now called Hera. The main objectives of AIDA are twofold: (1) to perform an asteroid deflection test by means of a kinetic impactor under detailed study at NAS...

Haumea-one of the four known trans-Neptunian dwarf planets- is a very elongated and rapidly rotating body1-3. In contrast to other dwarf planets4-6, its size, shape, albedo and density are not well constrained. The Centaur Chariklo was the first body other than a giant planet known to have a ring system7, and the Centaur Chiron was later found to p...

The discovery that the centaur (10199) Chariklo possesses a ring system opens questions about their origin. We here asses the plausibility of different scenarios for the origin of the observed ring system. We first consider the possibility that the material of the ring originated in the disruption of a satellite that had reached a critical distance...

Asteroids and other Small Solar System Bodies (SSSBs) are currently of great scientific and even industrial interest. Asteroids exist as the permanent record of the formation of the Solar System and therefore hold many clues to its understanding as a whole, as well as insights into the formation of planetary bodies. Additionally, SSSBs are being in...

The scenarios proposed in the literature for the genesis of the system formed by the dwarf planet 136108 Haumea, its two satellites and a group of some ten bodies (the family) with semimajor axes, eccentricities and inclinations close to Haumea's values, are analysed against collisional, physical, dynamical and statistical arguments in order to ass...

The Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) mission will be the first space experiment to demonstrate asteroid impact hazard mitigation by using a kinetic impactor. AIDA is a joint ESA-NASA cooperative project [1,2], that includes the ESA Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM) rendezvous spacecraft and the NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)...

The Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) mission is a joint cooperation between European and US space agencies that consists of two separate and independent spacecraft that will be launched to a binary asteroid system, the near-Earth asteroid Didymos, to test the kinetic impactor technique to deflect an asteroid. The European Asteroid Imp...

RESUMEN Muchos profesores de asignaturas de física y de matemáticas que imparten docencia en el primer curso de las titulaciones técnicas de Grado detectan un empeoramiento de las destrezas matemáticas básicas de los alumnos de nuevo ingreso. Esta situación dificulta el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje y lastra negativamente las posibilidades de éx...

We propose that several short duration events observed in past stellar occultations by Chiron were produced by rings material. From a reanalysis of the stellar occultation data in the literature we determined two possible orientations of the pole of Chiron's rings, with ecliptic coordinates l=(352+/-10) deg, b=(37+/-10) deg or l=(144+/-10) deg, b=(...

Chariklo is known to possess an exotic ring system and we show indications from several distinct data sets that Chiron also has a ring system with similar features to that of Chariklo, although its case is somewhat more complex because Chariklo has never shown cometary-like activity, whereas Chiron has.

Collisional and dynamical models of the main asteroid belt allow us to glean insights into planetesimal- and planet-formation scenarios as well as how the main belt reached its current state. Here we discuss many of the processes affecting asteroidal evolution and the constraints that can be used to test collisional model results. We argue the main...

Since 1992, more than 1400 Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) have been discovered. Our approach to understand such objects is to study their rotations by monitoring their brightness variations. By studying the rotational properties of the TNOs a wealth of information can be obtained on their physics. So, the study of the spins and shapes of TNOs is a...

The inventory of the populations of trans-Neptunian objects (TNO) has grown considerably over the last decade. As for other groups of small bodies in our solar system, TNOs are expected to have experienced a collisional evolution owing to their mutual impacts. The knowledge of the statistics of collisions, including determination of the rate of mut...

Due to their high spin rate acceleration near the equators of some asteroids may be directed outward. What are the effects of that on surface material?

Pluto and Eris are icy dwarf planets with nearly identical sizes, comparable densities and similar surface compositions as revealed by spectroscopic studies. Pluto possesses an atmosphere whereas Eris does not; the difference probably arises from their differing distances from the Sun, and explains their different albedos. Makemake is another icy d...

We think it is likely that rotational fission has occurred for a fraction of the known trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). It is also likely that a number of binary or multiple systems have formed from that process in the trans-Neptunian belt. We focus on Haumea, which is a potential example of an object that has suffered rotational fission. Its curren...

199FG3 is a binary asteroid, the nominal target of the MarcoPolo-R mission [1]. Its mass, size, spin rate and satellite orbital period are well estimated. Radar observations (from Arecibo and Goldstone) have also provided estimates of the primary shape and maximum separation of the secondary. The fast spin rate of the primary make it an extremely i...

We present our latest results about the short-term variability of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). We performed broad-band CCD photometric observations using several telescopes in Spain and Chile. We present results based on three years of observations and report the short-term variability of 10 TNOs. Our sample of studied targets contains classical...

Preliminar results of numerical simulatons of collisions on granular sufaces of small asteroids. Mass excavation and loss, and momentum transfer are anaysed.

MarcoPolo-R is a sample return mission to a primitive Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) proposed in collaboration with NASA. It will rendezvous with a primitive NEA, scientifically characterize it at multiple scales, and return a unique sample to Earth unaltered by the atmospheric entry process or terrestrial weathering. MarcoPolo-R will return bulk sample...

The TNO region can be inserted in the global frame of the dynamical evolution of the giant planets, as described by the Nice model (Levison et al. 2008). We have developed ALICANDEP, a collisional evolution package that includes statistical elimination of objects by dynamical effects within the frame of a disc migrating and gradually dynamically ex...

The dwarf planet 2003 EL61 (Haumea) was discovered to have two satellites (Hi'iaka and Namaka) in 2005 and is associated to a group of some tens of TNOs clustered in the orbital elements space about Haumea's values. This circumstances aimed speculations about formation mechanisms for this TNOs system. Brown et al. (2007, Nature, 446, 294) claimed t...

We present several lines of evidence based on different kinds of observations to conclude that rotational fission has likely occurred for a fraction of the known Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs). It is also likely that a number of binary systems have formed from that process in the trans-neptunian belt. We show that Haumea is a potential example of a...

We explore the dynamics of rotating gravitational aggregates by a gravitational N-body code based on hard spheres. In particular, we address the problem of satellite formation due to fission of a parent asteroid. Our simulations show that significant asymmetries can be produced in the asteroid shapes during a YORP spinup process, eventually leading...

ALICANDEP (Asteroid-LIke Collisional ANd Dynamical Evolution Package) is a collisional evolution code [1] including a) statistical elimination of objects by dynamical effects within the frame of a disc that migrates and is excited dynamically, and b) the dynamical migration of objects within the disc itself, as described by the Nice model [2]. The...

Since 1992, more than 1300 Transneptunian Objects (TNOs) have been discovered. One can cite various observational approaches to study the physical properties of these bodies. Our own approach to understand this kind of objects is to study their rotations by monitoring their brightness variations ([1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7]). By studying the...

We report the orbital distribution of the trans-neptunian objects (TNOs) discovered during the Canada-France Ecliptic Plane Survey, whose discovery phase ran from early 2003 until early 2007. The follow-up observations started just after the first discoveries and extended until late 2009. We obtained characterized observations of 321 sq.deg. of sky...

We introduce the idea that rotational fission is a possible mechanism in the formation of systems of large TNOs: binary systems, complex systems (Haumea), and TNO pairs. We also present N-body simulations of rotational fission.

MarcoPolo-R is a sample return mission to a primitive Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) proposed in collaboration with NASA. It will rendezvous with a primitive NEA, scientifically characterize it at multiple scales, and return a unique sample to Earth unaltered by the atmospheric entry process or terrestrial weathering. MarcoPolo-R will return bulk sample...

El proyecto tiene como objetivo la planificación de contenidos, materiales y metodologías docentes, de acuerdo con el Espacio Europeo de Enseñanzas Superiores, del Segundo Curso del Grado en Arquitectura para el curso 2011/12. Para ello han formado parte del trabajo los profesores que podrán ser coordinadores/as de las asignaturas y estarán implica...

Póster presentado en las III Jornadas de Innovación Tecnológico Educativa, Universidad de Alicante, 2 de febrero de 2006. Este trabajo ha sido subvencionado por el Vicerrectorado de Convergencia Europea y Calidad (convocatoria 2003-04) y por el Vicerrectorado de Tecnología e Innovación Educativa (convocatoria 2004-05) de la Universidad de Alicante.

After almost two decades of observations of the trans-neptunian region, we begin to understand the overall structure of the TNO populations in terms of dynamical features and absolute magnitudes number distributions. This knowledge is generated by a number of observables to which the outcomes of the models of the collisional and dynamical evolution...

Next academic year 2010/2011 next degrees will begin in the University of Alicante. In particular, in the Polytechnic High School will start 7 new degrees adequate to the “Real Decreto 1393/2007”. Recently Spanish government has described the new legislation to organize the new university degrees according the European Higher Education Area. The re...

One of the most interesting problems in planetology is the one concerning the internal structure of asteroids and comets. Despite of the available experimental results about the fragmentation of cohesive bodies the size of a soccer ball, and the theoretical and numerical studies extending these results to larger objects, little is known about the r...

We report the orbital distribution of the trans-Neptunian comets discovered during the first discovery year of the Canada-France Ecliptic Plane Survey (CFEPS). CFEPS is a Kuiper Belt object survey based on observations acquired by the Very Wide component of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (LS-VW). The first year's detections consis...

The Trans-Neptunian region is yet another example of a collisional system of small bodies in the Solar System. In the last decade the number of TNOs with reliable orbital elements is steadily increasing and even if it is still premature to compare models with observations, we can start to have some idea of the orbital structure and magnitude distri...

Planetary and Space Science, 57, pp. 109-110, http://dx.doi.org./10.1016/j.pss.2008.11.013

The study of binary Kuiper Belt objects helps to probe the dynamic conditions present during planet formation in the solar system. We report on the mutual-orbit determination of 2001 QW322, a Kuiper Belt binary with a very large separation whose properties challenge binary-formation and -evolution theories. Six years of tracking indicate that the b...

The recent identification of Near Earth Object (NEO) asteroid 2002NY40 as source of meteorite-dropping bolides opens new questions on the nature of this asteroid, and the physical process that originated the fireballs detected in 2006 August.

The overall knowledge on asteroids and comets has changed remarkably in the two last decades, due to Earth-based observations, theoretical and numerical work, and to probe mis-sions. One of the most intriguing and interesting features regarding these objects is related to their internal composition. Small-scale composition is partly revealed by the...