Astrometry, orbit determination, and thermal inertia of the Tianwen-2 target asteroid (469219) Kamo`oalewa

TL;DR

This study refines the orbit and physical properties of asteroid (469219) Kamo`oalewa, including its Yarkovsky effect and thermal inertia, to support the upcoming Tianwen-2 mission and improve understanding of its behavior.

Contribution

The paper presents new astrometric observations, a detailed orbit determination including Yarkovsky effect estimation, and introduces the ASTERIA method for thermal inertia measurement of small asteroids.

Findings

Detected a significant semi-major axis drift due to Yarkovsky effect.

Improved orbit accuracy reduces spacecraft arrival uncertainties.

Estimated the asteroid's thermal inertia with high confidence.

Abstract

Context. (469219) Kamo`oalewa is a small near-Earth asteroid, which is currently a quasi-satellite of the Earth. Lightcurve measurements also reveal a rotation period of only about 30 minutes. This asteroid has been selected as the target of the Tianwen-2 sample-return mission of the China National Space Administration. Aims. The first goal of this paper is to observe and improve the orbit determination of (469219) Kamo`oalewa, and better determine the Yarkovsky effect acting on it. The second goal is to estimate the thermal inertia of the asteroid, taking advantage of an improved Yarkovsky effect determination. Methods. Our observational campaign imaged the asteroid from the Loiano Astronomical Station and from the Calar Alto Observatory, in March 2024. We also accurately re-measured a precovery detection from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey from 2004. New astrometry was later used in a 7-dimensional orbit determination, aimed at estimating both the orbital elements and the Yarkovsky effect. Thermal inertia is later studied by using the ASTERIA, a new method that is suitable to estimate thermal inertia of small asteroids. Results. We detected a semi-major axis drift of $(-67.35 \pm 4.70) \times 10^{-4}$ au My$^{-1}$ due to the Yarkovsky effect, with a high signal-to-noise ratio of 14. The new orbit solution also significantly reduced the position uncertainty for the arrival of the Tianwen-2 spacecraft. By using different models for the physical parameters of Kamo`oalewa, the ASTERIA model estimated the thermal inertia at $\Gamma = 150^{+90}_{-45}$ J m$^{-2}$ K$^{-1}$ s$^{-1/2}$ or $\Gamma = 181^{+95}_{-60}$ J m$^{-2}$ K$^{-1}$ s$^{-1/2}$.