Journal
SCIENCE
Volume 366, Issue 6470, Pages 1217-+Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.aay3544
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Funding
- NASA [NNM10AA11C, NNG13FC02C, 80NSSC18K0227, 80NSSC18K0239, 80NSSC18K0280]
- NASA
- Canadian Space Agency
- French Agency CNES
- Academies of Excellence on Complex Systems and Space, Environment, Risk and Resilience of the Initiative d'EXcellence Joint, Excellent, and Dynamic Initiative (IDEX JEDI) of the Universite Cote d'Azur
- MINECO, Spain [AYA2015-67772-R]
- ACIISI/Gobierno de Canarias/EU/FEDER [ProID20170112]
- Royal Astronomical Society (RAS)
- UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
- STFC [ST/P000657/1] Funding Source: UKRI
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Active asteroids are those that show evidence of ongoing mass loss. We report repeated instances of particle ejection from the surface of (101955) Bennu, demonstrating that it is an active asteroid. The ejection events were imaged by the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer) spacecraft. For the three largest observed events, we estimated the ejected particle velocities and sizes, event times, source regions, and energies. We also determined the trajectories and photometric properties of several gravitationally bound particles that orbited temporarily in the Bennu environment. We consider multiple hypotheses for the mechanisms that lead to particle ejection for the largest events, including rotational disruption, electrostatic lofting, ice sublimation, phyllosilicate dehydration, meteoroid impacts, thermal stress fracturing, and secondary impacts.
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