IcarusPub Date : 2025-04-04DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116592
Feng Liang , Jianguo Yan , Chi Xiao , Yuji Harada , Jean-Pierre Barriot
{"title":"Investigating grain size in the Martian mantle: Implications of basal mantle layers and viscoelastic models","authors":"Feng Liang , Jianguo Yan , Chi Xiao , Yuji Harada , Jean-Pierre Barriot","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116592","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116592","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines the grain size in the Martian mantle using viscoelastic dissipation models and two interior structural configurations: S23M1 (without a basal mantle layer, BML) and S23M2 (with a BML). Results indicate substantial variations in grain size estimates depending on the viscoelastic model employed. For instance, Andrade(<em>μ-β</em>) models suggest smaller grain sizes (∼1 mm), while Burgers(background), Burgers(+peak), and Andrade(fixed <em>β</em>) models predict a broader range of 0.1–10 cm. Sundberg-Cooper models, by contrast, yield larger grain sizes (>0.5 cm). The inclusion of a BML generally leads to smaller grain size estimates. For instance, Sundberg-Cooper predictions decrease from ∼10 cm to ∼0.8 cm with a BML, attributed to altered average rigidity of Mars that reduces elastic response. These findings stress the importance of mantle structure in interpreting viscoelastic properties and reconciling laboratory-derived constraints with geophysical observations. Future tidal measurements are critical for refining these models further.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"436 ","pages":"Article 116592"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143834829","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IcarusPub Date : 2025-04-04DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116563
D.J. Scheeres
{"title":"An energy-angular momentum phase function for rubble pile asteroids","authors":"D.J. Scheeres","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116563","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116563","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This work analyzes the energetics of asteroid rubble piles in order to understand what asteroid morphologies should naturally arise from their formation and evolution process. In doing this, a phase diagram is developed that maps out the range of final minimum energy states that a collapsing gravitational aggregate can achieve as a function of total angular momentum and mass distribution. This is developed assuming properties associated with rubble pile asteroids, and can provide insight into the formation and subsequent evolution of contact binaries and orbital binaries in the solar system as an outcome of catastrophic disruptions. The system angular momentum is used as an independent parameter, combined with resulting minimum energy configurations as a simple function of mass morphology of the final system. The configuration of systems with an energy boosted above the minimum energy state are also considered. This paper considers an ideal case, but outlines general results that can be continued for more precise models of distributed granular media modeled using continuum models or using discrete element models.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"436 ","pages":"Article 116563"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143786107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IcarusPub Date : 2025-04-03DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116588
Thomas J. Barrett , James F.J. Bryson , Kalotina Geraki
{"title":"The source of hydrogen in earth's building blocks","authors":"Thomas J. Barrett , James F.J. Bryson , Kalotina Geraki","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116588","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116588","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite being pivotal to the habitability of our planet, the process by which Earth gained its present-day hydrogen budget is unclear. Due to their isotopic similarity to terrestrial rocks across a range of elements, the meteorite group that is thought to best represent Earth's building blocks is the enstatite chondrites (ECs). Because of ECs' nominally anhydrous mineralogy, these building blocks have long been presumed to have supplied negligible hydrogen to the proto-Earth. However, recent bulk compositional measurements suggest that ECs may unexpectedly contain enough hydrogen to readily explain Earth's present-day water abundance. Together, these contradictory findings mean the contribution of ECs to Earth's hydrogen budget is currently unclear. As such, it is uncertain whether appreciable hydrogen is a systematic outcome of Earth's formation. Here, we explore the amount of hydrogen in ECs as well as the phase that may carry this element using sulfur X-ray absorption near edge structure (S-XANES) spectroscopy. We find that hydrogen bonded to sulfur is prevalent throughout the meteorite, with fine matrix containing on average almost 10 times more H<img>S than chondrule mesostasis. Moreover, the concentration of the H<img>S bond is linked to the abundance of micrometre-scale pyrrhotite (Fe<sub>1-x</sub>S, 0 < x < 0.125). This sulfide can sacrificially catalyse a reaction with H<sub>2</sub> from the disk at high temperatures to create H<sub>2</sub>S, which could be dissolved in adjoining molten silicate-rich material. Upon rapid cooling, this assemblage would form pyrrhotite encased in submicron silicate-rich glass that carries trapped H<sub>2</sub>S. These findings indicate that hydrogen is present in ECs in higher concentrations than previously considered and could suggest that this element may have a systematic, rather than stochastic, origin on our planet.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"436 ","pages":"Article 116588"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143864671","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Asteroid phase curves and phase coloring effect using the ATLAS survey data","authors":"Milagros Colazo , Dagmara Oszkiewicz , Alvaro Alvarez-Candal , Patrycja Poźniak , Przemysław Bartczak , Edyta Podlewska-Gaca","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116577","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116577","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We determined phase curves for 301<span><math><mo>,</mo></math></span>272 asteroids in the orange filter and 280<span><math><mo>,</mo></math></span>953 in the cyan filter from the latest ATLAS Solar System Catalog V2 (SSCAT-2). Among them, 3<span><math><mo>,</mo></math></span>345 and 492 asteroids in the orange and cyan filters, respectively, have uncertainties below 15%. Our simple model, which considers only the apparition effect, showed good consistency with more sophisticated methods requiring much less computational time. Database cross-matching allowed us to analyze G1 and G2 distributions according to taxonomy. We conducted two-dimensional Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests to investigate two distinct aspects: similarities in paired G1, G2 distributions across different taxa and wavelength dependency within the same taxa. When comparing different taxa, we could not reject the null hypothesis for 11% of the orange sample and 31% of the cyan sample, indicating more disparities in the orange filter. For wavelength dependency, paired distributions of G1, G2 (o) vs. G1, G2 (c) showed statistically significant differences across all complexes, except for the A class. Our analysis suggests that while phase coloring behaviors are observed without a clear preference for reddening or bluening at phase angles below 5°, reddening predominates in the 10°–30°range. We also observed smaller uncertainties in G2 than in G1. Simulations showed that G2 is less sensitive to lack of data at small phase angles. This is related to the definition of the H, G1, G2 function, where G1 contributes more to the opposition effect and G2 the linear part of the phase curve. Our catalog-independent algorithms are adaptable to new data sets, including future LSST data.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"436 ","pages":"Article 116577"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143799738","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IcarusPub Date : 2025-04-02DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116591
Wan-Feng Zhang , Jun-Jie Wang , De-Wen Zheng , Ming Xiao , Jia Zhang , Jun-Jie Li , Yu-Lian Zhang , Ying-De Jiang , Fei Su , Li Li , Yi-Gang Xu
{"title":"Correction for calcium interference in the 40Ar/39Ar dating method","authors":"Wan-Feng Zhang , Jun-Jie Wang , De-Wen Zheng , Ming Xiao , Jia Zhang , Jun-Jie Li , Yu-Lian Zhang , Ying-De Jiang , Fei Su , Li Li , Yi-Gang Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116591","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116591","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Since the inception of the <sup>40</sup>Ar/<sup>39</sup>Ar dating method, it has been recognized that fast neutrons can interact with nuclides in the sample beyond <sup>39</sup>K, resulting in the production of interfering argon isotopes. Correction factors for these side effects have been proposed from many nuclear reactors globally. However, current practice does not always involve the monitoring of these correction factors for every sample batch, but is reliant on previous results instead. This approach is justified by the limited variability observed in the (<sup>36</sup>Ar/<sup>37</sup>Ar)<sub>Ca</sub> and (<sup>39</sup>Ar/<sup>37</sup>Ar)<sub>Ca</sub> correction factors, and such limited variability is acceptable for samples with high K/Ca ratio. For low K/Ca samples, however, even minor variations in the correction factors can significantly impact the accuracy of the results. Here, we evaluate the performance of optical grade CaF<sub>2</sub> crystals and spectrally pure-grade CaF<sub>2</sub> to monitor the correction factor for the calcium interference. The results demonstrate that the optical grade CaF<sub>2</sub> crystals yield consistently reliable calcium correction factors when subjected to stepwise heating and single grain total fusion. Therefore, we recommend the use of optical grade CaF<sub>2</sub> crystals for monitoring potential calcium interference. Furthermore, we advocate for the continuous monitoring of calcium correction factors during each sample irradiation. When analyzing extraterrestrial samples, the optical grade CaF<sub>2</sub> crystals should be positioned adjacent to the samples. As a standard product, optical grade CaF<sub>2</sub> crystals are readily accessible to <sup>40</sup>Ar/<sup>39</sup>Ar laboratories worldwide.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"435 ","pages":"Article 116591"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143776366","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IcarusPub Date : 2025-04-01DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116579
Huacheng Li , Zongyu Yue , Nan Zhang
{"title":"Analysis on the source position of Zhinyu crater ejecta","authors":"Huacheng Li , Zongyu Yue , Nan Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116579","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116579","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Impact craters are prevalent features on the Moon, and a significant volume of materials from the impact site is delivered to distant during their formation. The impact ejecta is closely related with many other surface processes, and some empirical equations inherent have been proposed in the studies. For example, a power-law relationship indicating a decrease in ejecta thickness with distance has been derived from dimensionless analysis, and it has been verified through laboratory experiments, numerical simulations, and remote sensing observations. A power-law relationship between launch speed and position of ejected materials is also suggested. However, no simple power-law exists for the initial and maximum excavation depths and the final position of ejecta. In this study, we used high-resolution numerical simulations of Zhinyu crater to explore the relationship between excavation depth and ejecta distance. A model for maximum excavation depth, based on the Maxwell <em>Z</em>-model, was further presented and found consistent with numerical simulation results.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"435 ","pages":"Article 116579"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143767474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IcarusPub Date : 2025-04-01DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116586
L. Nouzák , K. Edwards , J. Fontanese , T. Munsat , J. Pavlů , Z. Sternovsky
{"title":"Laboratory measurements of the expansion characteristics of dust impact plasmas","authors":"L. Nouzák , K. Edwards , J. Fontanese , T. Munsat , J. Pavlů , Z. Sternovsky","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116586","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116586","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The impact ionization process provides a method for the sensitive detection and analysis of dust particles in space. Dust particles impacting solid surfaces at high velocity evaporate and partially ionize. The characterization of the generated transient impact plasma plume is important for the understanding of dust impact signals detected in space by antenna instruments, or for the optimization of dust instrumentation. The angular and velocity distributions of the ions emerging from the dust impact plasma are measured experimentally using a Delay-Line Detector (DLD) setup. A small tungsten target is exposed to the impacts of micron- and submicron-sized iron dust particles using the dust accelerator facility operated at the University of Colorado. The ions from the impact plasma expand in a field-free region and are detected by the DLD. The angular and velocity distributions are calculated from the spatial and temporal distributions of the recorded ions. The velocity distribution measurements are performed for dust impact velocity ranges of <span><math><mn>2</mn><mo>−</mo><mn>5</mn></math></span>, <span><math><mn>10</mn><mo>−</mo><mn>15</mn></math></span>, and ><span><math><mn>20</mn><mspace></mspace><mi>km</mi><mo>/</mo><mi>s</mi></math></span>. The ion velocity distribution is relatively narrow (≤ 10 km/s) for the lowest dust velocity range, but significantly wider (exceeding 50 km/s) for the higher dust impact speeds. The velocity distribution can be decomposed into contributions from the most prevalent ion species in the impact plasma (Fe<sup>+</sup>, Na<sup>+</sup>, C<sup>+</sup>, and H<sup>+</sup>). The measurements suggest that for dust impact speeds greater than 10 km/s the translational energy of the ions is in the range of about 3–8 eV, while the superimposed thermal energy is about 1 eV, with only a weak variation with impact speed and ion species. The ion angular distribution was measured by averaging the signals from 110 dust impacts from a 10–15 km/s dust impact speed and is consistent with a cosine distribution.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"435 ","pages":"Article 116586"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143767475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IcarusPub Date : 2025-03-31DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116567
Burak Aygün, Ondřej Čadek
{"title":"Love numbers for Io with a magma ocean","authors":"Burak Aygün, Ondřej Čadek","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116567","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116567","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The volcanic activity of Jupiter’s moon Io is driven by the heat generated by tidal deformation induced by its orbital resonance with Europa and Ganymede. The question of whether tidal dissipation primarily occurs in a partially molten solid layer (“magmatic sponge”) or in a hypothetical liquid magma ocean has long been a subject of debate. The data collected by the Juno spacecraft during two recent flybys of Io has allowed, for the first time, to quantify Io’s tidal deformation. The analysis of the data by Park et al. (2024) reveals that the Love number <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>k</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msub></math></span> is about 0.125 and the tidal dissipation parameter <span><math><mi>Q</mi></math></span> is about 11.4. These values are compatible with a solid mantle but they do not exclude the possibility that a global magma ocean exists in the deep (<span><math><mo>></mo></math></span>320 km) interior. Using a model based on the solution of the Navier–Stokes equation, we investigate the dependence of the Love number on the position of the ocean and examine how much it is affected by the Coriolis force, an effect that was not included in the study of Park et al. (2024). Varying the viscosity of the magma, the depth and the thickness of the ocean in the range of <span><math><mrow><mn>1</mn><msup><mrow><mn>0</mn></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msup></mrow></math></span>–<span><math><mrow><mn>1</mn><msup><mrow><mn>0</mn></mrow><mrow><mn>7</mn></mrow></msup></mrow></math></span> Pa<!--> <!-->s, 50–400 km and 0.1–20 km, respectively, and considering only the models with a dissipation power of about 100 TW, we show that a magma ocean located at a depth of <span><math><mrow><mo>≲</mo><mn>200</mn></mrow></math></span> km predicts either too large <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>k</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msub></math></span> or too long time lag, implying that the existence of a shallow magma ocean in Io is unlikely. A thin (<span><math><mo><</mo></math></span>10 km) magma ocean located at a depth of <span><math><mrow><mo>≳</mo><mn>250</mn></mrow></math></span> km is compatible with the observation and could, in principle, be detected by accurate measurement of degree 2 zonal and sectorial Love numbers. Our results are in general agreement with those of Park et al. (2024), indicating that Io’s enormous volcanic activity is unlikely to be driven by a global fluid magma ocean located at a shallow depth. This conclusion is conditioned by the reliability of the method used to interpret the Juno data. As the tidal response of Io with a magma ocean is affected by the Coriolis force, the Love number depends on the harmonic order, which can complicate the analysis of the information collected during the flybys. The effect of fluid tides was not considered in the data processing, and therefore, the conclusions of Park et al. (2024) cannot be definitely confirmed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"436 ","pages":"Article 116567"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143783674","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IcarusPub Date : 2025-03-30DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116578
N. de Castro, S. Li
{"title":"Laboratory experiments on the visible to near- infrared (VNIR) spectroscopy of water ice and lunar highland simulant mixtures: Effects of particle size, particle shape, phase angle, and ice abundance","authors":"N. de Castro, S. Li","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116578","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116578","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Surficial water ice has been detected in the permanently shaded regions (PSRs) near the lunar poles. Water ice can be detected by its diagnostic absorption features of ice at 1.0, 1.25, 1.5, and 2.0 μm, as well as high reflectance in the VIS region. However, the effects of particle size and shape, ice abundance, and phase angle on the VNIR spectra of ice mixtures remain poorly understood, posing a challenge for detections of water ice on the lunar surface. In this study, we measured the VNIR spectra of pure water ice and mixtures of water ice and a lunar highland regolith simulant (HRS). We investigated the effects of particle size of ice (0–250 μm), particle shape of ice (angular vs. spherical), phase angle (0–105°), and ice abundance (0–50 wt%) on the VNIR spectra of water ice and HRS mixtures from 350 to 2500 nm. Our results show that coarser ice particles exhibit stronger NIR absorptions and lower VIS reflectance, attributable to increased photon absorptions due to longer optical pathlengths. Similarly, the longer optical pathlengths of spherical particles relative to angular ones result in lower VIS reflectance. The forward scattering nature of water ice leads to increased VIS reflectance at high phase angles (>90°), suggesting that high phase angles are optimal for lunar water ice detection. Phase angles have a negligible effect on the strength of the NIR absorptions of ice, especially when ice is present at low ice abundances (<20 wt%) in intimate mixtures with the HRS. Lastly, our findings suggest that the NIR absorptions near 1.25, 1.5, and 2.0 μm rapidly deepen at very low ice concentrations (0–5 wt%). We also find a linear relationship between VIS reflectance and ice content in intimate mixtures with a HRS containing 0–50 wt% ice. The findings of this study offer a detailed framework for detecting and analyzing water ice on the lunar surface via VNIR spectroscopy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"435 ","pages":"Article 116578"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143759235","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IcarusPub Date : 2025-03-27DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116583
Yangyang Li , Jin Liu , Xiaolin Ning , Xin Ma
{"title":"Dimension-ratio-based observability analysis of asteroid photometric model and optimization strategy for completely observable satellite detection","authors":"Yangyang Li , Jin Liu , Xiaolin Ning , Xin Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116583","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116583","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The physical parameters of asteroids are obtained through the inversion of the asteroid photometric model. However, due to limitations in observation orientation, asteroid lightcurves exhibit insensitivity to certain errors in physical parameters. This insensitivity leads to multiple virtual solutions when inverting the asteroid photometric model. To theoretically evaluate the performance of this inversion, we propose a dimension-ratio-based observability analysis of the asteroid photometric model. Firstly, we employ the traditional observability analysis method to generate candidate vectors representing errors in physical parameters. Subsequently, we select unobservable vectors corresponding to very small chi-square values from these candidate vectors. The unobservable vectors span into an unobservable subspace, meaning that large errors within this unobservable subspace result in minimal disturbances in lightcurves, indicating low estimation accuracy for this unobservable subspace. Finally, the dimension-ratio, which is the ratio of the dimension of unobservable subspace to the total number of physical parameters, is used for the observability degree. Building upon this, in response to the issue that ground-based detection hardly acquires completely observable physical parameters, we propose an optimization strategy for completely observable satellite detection, utilizing the hippopotamus optimization algorithm to optimize the satellite orbit. In this optimized orbit, the physical parameters of the asteroid become completely observable. Simulation results demonstrate that the distribution of virtual solutions is consistent with our theoretical analysis. Furthermore, a unique solution available for estimating the physical parameters of the asteroid exists in the optimized satellite orbit.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"436 ","pages":"Article 116583"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143786108","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}