Bennu's Natural Sample Delivery Mechanism: Estimating the Flux of Bennuid Meteors at Earth

R. E. Melikyan; B. E. Clark; C. W. Hergenrother; S. R. Chesley; M. C. Nolan; Q. Z. Ye; D. S. Lauretta

doi:10.1029/2020JE006817

Bennu's Natural Sample Delivery Mechanism: Estimating the Flux of Bennuid Meteors at Earth

R. E. Melikyan, B. E. Clark, C. W. Hergenrother, S. R. Chesley, M. C. Nolan, Q. Z. Ye, D. S. Lauretta

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission observed millimeter- to centimeter-scale pebbles being ejected from the surface of asteroid (101955) Bennu, indicating that Bennu is an active asteroid. About 30% of these particles escape from Bennu, and the minimum orbital intersection distance (MOID) between Bennu and Earth suggest the possibility of a “Bennuid” particle flux at Earth. We characterize the evolution of Bennu's particle stream and potential for meteor flux by simulating weekly particle ejections between the years 1780 and 2135 continuing their dynamical evolution until 2200. Ejections are modeled as a discrete release of 95 particles every week. The meteoroid stream is found to be fully distributed around Bennu's orbital path in (Formula presented.) years. Individual particles and streams remain associable to Bennu for the entire 420 years simulated. Particle flux at Earth is predicted to begin in 2101, as the Bennu-Earth MOID reaches minimum values. The year of highest particle flux, 2182, experiences 161 Earth intersections and accounts for (Formula presented.) 1/4 of our predicted meteors. Our methods can be expanded to study the history and structure of the general meteoroid population and to estimate flux from specific near-Earth asteroids.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	e2020JE006817
Journal	Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
Volume	126
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JE006817
State	Published - Sep 2021

Keywords

Bennu particles
active asteroid
meteoroid stream
meteors from Bennu

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geochemistry and Petrology
Geophysics
Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
Space and Planetary Science

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10.1029/2020JE006817

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@article{61144979623f4d0bad14362499cacf77,

title = "Bennu's Natural Sample Delivery Mechanism: Estimating the Flux of Bennuid Meteors at Earth",

abstract = "NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission observed millimeter- to centimeter-scale pebbles being ejected from the surface of asteroid (101955) Bennu, indicating that Bennu is an active asteroid. About 30% of these particles escape from Bennu, and the minimum orbital intersection distance (MOID) between Bennu and Earth suggest the possibility of a “Bennuid” particle flux at Earth. We characterize the evolution of Bennu's particle stream and potential for meteor flux by simulating weekly particle ejections between the years 1780 and 2135 continuing their dynamical evolution until 2200. Ejections are modeled as a discrete release of 95 particles every week. The meteoroid stream is found to be fully distributed around Bennu's orbital path in (Formula presented.) years. Individual particles and streams remain associable to Bennu for the entire 420 years simulated. Particle flux at Earth is predicted to begin in 2101, as the Bennu-Earth MOID reaches minimum values. The year of highest particle flux, 2182, experiences 161 Earth intersections and accounts for (Formula presented.) 1/4 of our predicted meteors. Our methods can be expanded to study the history and structure of the general meteoroid population and to estimate flux from specific near-Earth asteroids.",

keywords = "Bennu particles, active asteroid, meteoroid stream, meteors from Bennu",

author = "Melikyan, {R. E.} and Clark, {B. E.} and Hergenrother, {C. W.} and Chesley, {S. R.} and Nolan, {M. C.} and Ye, {Q. Z.} and Lauretta, {D. S.}",

note = "Funding Information: This material is based upon work supported by NASA under Contract NNM10AA11C issued through the New Frontiers Program. The work of SRC was conducted at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The authors give special thanks to A. Ferro and C. Wolner who, respectively, provided the computational resources and manuscript preparation assistance necessary to complete this work. The authors are grateful to the entire OSIRIS‐REx team for making the encounter with Bennu possible. Funding Information: This material is based upon work supported by NASA under Contract NNM10AA11C issued through the New Frontiers Program. The work of SRC was conducted at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The authors give special thanks to A. Ferro and C. Wolner who, respectively, provided the computational resources and manuscript preparation assistance necessary to complete this work. The authors are grateful to the entire OSIRIS-REx team for making the encounter with Bennu possible. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021. The Authors.",

year = "2021",

month = sep,

doi = "10.1029/2020JE006817",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "126",

journal = "Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets",

issn = "2169-9097",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd",

number = "9",

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T1 - Bennu's Natural Sample Delivery Mechanism

T2 - Estimating the Flux of Bennuid Meteors at Earth

AU - Melikyan, R. E.

AU - Clark, B. E.

AU - Hergenrother, C. W.

AU - Chesley, S. R.

AU - Nolan, M. C.

AU - Ye, Q. Z.

AU - Lauretta, D. S.

N1 - Funding Information: This material is based upon work supported by NASA under Contract NNM10AA11C issued through the New Frontiers Program. The work of SRC was conducted at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The authors give special thanks to A. Ferro and C. Wolner who, respectively, provided the computational resources and manuscript preparation assistance necessary to complete this work. The authors are grateful to the entire OSIRIS‐REx team for making the encounter with Bennu possible. Funding Information: This material is based upon work supported by NASA under Contract NNM10AA11C issued through the New Frontiers Program. The work of SRC was conducted at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The authors give special thanks to A. Ferro and C. Wolner who, respectively, provided the computational resources and manuscript preparation assistance necessary to complete this work. The authors are grateful to the entire OSIRIS-REx team for making the encounter with Bennu possible. Publisher Copyright: © 2021. The Authors.

PY - 2021/9

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N2 - NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission observed millimeter- to centimeter-scale pebbles being ejected from the surface of asteroid (101955) Bennu, indicating that Bennu is an active asteroid. About 30% of these particles escape from Bennu, and the minimum orbital intersection distance (MOID) between Bennu and Earth suggest the possibility of a “Bennuid” particle flux at Earth. We characterize the evolution of Bennu's particle stream and potential for meteor flux by simulating weekly particle ejections between the years 1780 and 2135 continuing their dynamical evolution until 2200. Ejections are modeled as a discrete release of 95 particles every week. The meteoroid stream is found to be fully distributed around Bennu's orbital path in (Formula presented.) years. Individual particles and streams remain associable to Bennu for the entire 420 years simulated. Particle flux at Earth is predicted to begin in 2101, as the Bennu-Earth MOID reaches minimum values. The year of highest particle flux, 2182, experiences 161 Earth intersections and accounts for (Formula presented.) 1/4 of our predicted meteors. Our methods can be expanded to study the history and structure of the general meteoroid population and to estimate flux from specific near-Earth asteroids.

AB - NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission observed millimeter- to centimeter-scale pebbles being ejected from the surface of asteroid (101955) Bennu, indicating that Bennu is an active asteroid. About 30% of these particles escape from Bennu, and the minimum orbital intersection distance (MOID) between Bennu and Earth suggest the possibility of a “Bennuid” particle flux at Earth. We characterize the evolution of Bennu's particle stream and potential for meteor flux by simulating weekly particle ejections between the years 1780 and 2135 continuing their dynamical evolution until 2200. Ejections are modeled as a discrete release of 95 particles every week. The meteoroid stream is found to be fully distributed around Bennu's orbital path in (Formula presented.) years. Individual particles and streams remain associable to Bennu for the entire 420 years simulated. Particle flux at Earth is predicted to begin in 2101, as the Bennu-Earth MOID reaches minimum values. The year of highest particle flux, 2182, experiences 161 Earth intersections and accounts for (Formula presented.) 1/4 of our predicted meteors. Our methods can be expanded to study the history and structure of the general meteoroid population and to estimate flux from specific near-Earth asteroids.

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Bennu's Natural Sample Delivery Mechanism: Estimating the Flux of Bennuid Meteors at Earth

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