5 papers
Astrometric follow-up of near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4 during a Torino scale level 3 alert
Marco Micheli, Maxime Devogèle, Larry Denneau +38
The discovery of 2024 YR4 presented the planetary defense community with the most significant impact threat in almost two decades, reaching level 3 on the Torino scale. The communi…
Rapid-response characterization of near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4 during a Torino Scale 3 alert
Maxime Devogèle, Olivier R. Hainaut, Marco Micheli +32
On 27 December 2024, near-Earth object (NEO) 2024 YR was discovered by the ATLAS survey and identified as a virtual impactor. A few weeks later, it eventually reached level 3 o…
Discovery and Preliminary Characterization of a Third Interstellar Object: 3I/ATLAS
Darryl Z. Seligman, Marco Micheli, Davide Farnocchia +44
We report initial observations aimed at the characterization of a third interstellar object. This object, 3I/ATLAS or C/2025 N1 (ATLAS), was discovered on 2025 July 1 UT and has an…
Size Constraint on Hayabusa2 Extended Mission Rendezvous Target 1998~KY via VLT/VISIR Non-detection
Jin Beniyama, Thomas G. Müller, Marco Delbo +4
1998~KY is a tiny near-Earth asteroid () discovered in 1998. It has been selected as the target of the Hayabusa2 extended mission, which will rendezvous with 1998 KY…
Two Distinct Populations of Dark Comets Delineated by Orbits and Sizes
Darryl Z. Seligman, Davide Farnocchia, Marco Micheli +7
Small bodies are capable of delivering essential prerequisites for the development of life, such as volatiles and organics, to the terrestrial planets. For example, empirical evide…