Physical characterization and classification of asteroid (16) Psyche through reflectance spectro-polarimetry

Physical characterization and classification of asteroid (16) Psyche through reflectance spectro-polarimetry

Cronheim, Richard (TU Delft Aerospace Engineering)

Noomen, R. (mentor)
Stam, D.M. (mentor)

Delft University of Technology

Aerospace Engineering

2018-10-16

Knowledge of the bodies in our Solar System lies at the foundation of answering profound questions on its formation. The key to understanding how life has been able to form on Earth might be hidden in the desolate space where comets and asteroids orbit the Sun. Exploration missions to these small celestial bodies have received an increasing amount of attention in the last decade. The study presented in this thesis investigates the capabilities of in-situ reflectance spectro-polarimetry for the purpose of the characterization and classification of the largest known M-type asteroid, named (16) Psyche. The research has a twofold goal: the selection of a stable satellite trajectory capable of gathering ample reflection properties and secondly, to investigate the characterization of surface properties through the simulation of spectro-polarimetric measurements taken in the selected orbital configuration.

In order to identify an attractive, stable orbit configuration for a satellite to best conduct spectro-polarimetric measurements in the vicinity of (16) Psyche, a grid search technique is used to perform an analysis of a three-dimensional orbit design space. Each sample grid-point in the state-space results in a unique case with trajectory data. All cases are numerically evaluated with respect to their stability characteristics and coverage performance.

By simulating spectro-polarimetric measurements, this research outlines some of the benefits of in-situ over Earth-based polarimetric observations. It is shown that a stable, low-orbit trajectory, capable of gathering ample surface reflection properties in a wide range of local illumination and viewing geometries, is possible in the dynamic environment of (16) Psyche. Furthermore, the data simulations indicate that there is indeed great scientific significance in the analysis of in-situ spectro-polarimetry for the characterization and classification of bodies without atmospheres. The high dependency of the polarization on the illumination and viewing geometry enables in-orbit measurements to obtain a wealth of information regarding the single-particle optical and geometrical aspects of the scattering surface.

Asteroid
Spectro-polarimetry

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ad1ee17b-eff3-4512-8b8f-7c9ffa7b2de3

2018-10-16

Student theses

master thesis

© 2018 Richard Cronheim