小行星表面热物理模型

Progress of Thermophysical Investigations on Asteroids

回顾小行星热物理研究中两种热物理模型TPM(thermal physical model)和ATPM(advanced thermo physical model),讨论了其科学应用及适用范围,分析了其在未来小行星探测任务中可能的工程应用价值。基于TPM可推算小行星的表面热惯量性质,利用ATPM不仅可以研究小行星的表面热惯量与表面粗糙度等特性,还能深入研究小行星的YORP效应(Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack effect)。研究表明,在目前的观测精度下,TPM和ATPM均可有效研究并揭示小行星基本热物理性质。

In this work, we review two kinds of thermophysical models widely adopted in the thermophysical investigations of asteroids, i.e., TPM and ATPM, and further discuss their scientific applications and applicable scopes in the investigations. In general, TPM can be used to derive thermal inertia of the asteroid, whereas ATPM can not only be applied to the of thermophysical characteristics of the asteroids such as thermal inertia, surface roughness, etc., but also reveal the YORP effect of asteroids. It is shown that TPM and ATPM are applicable to effective exploration of the asteroids＇ thermophysical properties in terms of present observation accuracy. The likely engineering application for future asteroid missions is also briefly discussed.