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Analysis of institutional authors

Jedicke R, Bolin Bt, Bottke Wf, Chyba M, Fedorets G, Granvik M, Jones L, Urrutxua HCorresponding Author

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Earth's Minimoons: Opportunities for Science and Technology

Publicated to:Frontiers In Astronomy And Space Science. 5 - 2018-01-01 5(), DOI: 10.3389/fspas.2018.00013

Authors: Jedicke R; Bolin BT; Bottke WF; Chyba M; Fedorets G; Granvik M; Jones L; Urrutxua H

Affiliations

Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States - Author
Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Kiruna, Sweden - Author
Department of Mathematics, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, United States - Author
Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland - Author
Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Kiruna, Sweden - Author
Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, United States - Author
Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, United States - Author
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain - Author
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Abstract

Twelve years ago the Catalina Sky Survey discovered Earth's first known natural geocentric object other than the Moon, a few-meter diameter asteroid designated 2006 RH120. Despite significant improvements in ground-based telescope and detector technology in the past decade the asteroid surveys have not discovered another temporarily-captured orbiter (TCO; colloquially known as minimoons) but the all-sky fireball system operated in the Czech Republic as part of the European Fireball Network detected a bright natural meteor that was almost certainly in a geocentric orbit before it struck Earth's atmosphere. Within a few years the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will either begin to regularly detect TCOs or force a re-analysis of the creation and dynamical evolution of small asteroids in the inner solar system. The first studies of the provenance, properties, and dynamics of Earth's minimoons suggested that there should be a steady state population with about one 1- to 2-m diameter captured objects at any time, with the number of captured meteoroids increasing exponentially for smaller sizes. That model was then improved and extended to include the population of temporarily-captured flybys (TCFs), objects that fail to make an entire revolution around Earth while energetically bound to the Earth-Moon system. Several different techniques for discovering TCOs have been considered but their small diameters, proximity, and rapid motion make them challenging targets for existing ground-based optical, meteor, and radar surveys. However, the LSST's tremendous light gathering power and short exposure times could allow it to detect and discover many minimoons. We expect that if the TCO population is confirmed, and new objects are frequently discovered, they can provide new opportunities for (1) studying the dynamics of the Earth-Moon system, (2) testing models of the production and dynamical evolution of small asteroids from the asteroid belt, (3) rapid and frequent low delta-v missions to multiple minimoons, and (4) evaluating in-situ resource utilization techniques on asteroidal material. Here we review the past decade of minimoon studies in preparation for capitalizing on the scientific and commercial opportunities of TCOs in the first decade of LSST operations. © Copyright © 2018 Jedicke, Bolin, Bottke, Chyba, Fedorets, Granvik, Jones and Urrutxua.

Keywords

AsteroidDynamicsIsruMinimoonNeo

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 6.3, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-27, the following number of citations:

  • Scopus: 24

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-27:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 17.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 17 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 428.42.
  • The number of mentions on the social network Facebook: 4 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 114 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 33 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Finland; Sweden; United States of America.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (URRUTXUA CEREIJO, HODEI) .

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been URRUTXUA CEREIJO, HODEI.