Observed and simulated shape of a rotating rubble-pile asteroid
Two diamond shaped, rubble-pile asteroids have been observed near Earth, and were photographed by unmanned spacecrafts in 2018 and 2019. Scientists at OIST and Rutgers University have used a simple model normally reserved for the flow of grains to explain their unusual shape. In this image, a photograph of one of the asteroids, Bennu, is shown on the left. On the right, a simulation using the model is shown. As can be seen, the shape of the simulation matches that of Bennu.
Two diamond shaped, rubble-pile asteroids have been observed near Earth, and were photographed by unmanned spacecrafts in 2018 and 2019. Scientists at OIST and Rutgers University have used a simple model normally reserved for the flow of grains to explain their unusual shape. In this image, a photograph of one of the asteroids, Bennu, is shown on the left. On the right, a simulation using the model is shown. As can be seen, the shape of the simulation matches that of Bennu. This image appeared in the press release “Diamonds in the sky”.
Copyright OIST (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, 沖縄科学技術大学院大学). Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
