| Budget Amount *help |
¥15,860,000 (Direct Cost: ¥12,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥3,660,000)
Fiscal Year 2010: ¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000)
Fiscal Year 2009: ¥8,580,000 (Direct Cost: ¥6,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,980,000)
Fiscal Year 2008: ¥5,460,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,260,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Detailed geological study of close-up images obtained by Hayabusa spacecraft reveal that some of the gravels hold bright spot, which indicate the age of surface blocks is 1-10Ma. This supports our view that the surface gravel is migrating occasionally on the surface of the asteroid Itokawa. We developed a numerical simulation code of three-dimensional rock particles with irregular shapes and find that the gravels in the close-up images obtained by Hayabusa spacecraft are geometrically saturated and thus their size-frequency distributions should be carefully used to discuss the internal structure of Itokawa. Also, we newly develop a theoretical model of migrations of gravels including electro-statically levitated fine particles. Our theoretical model indicates that the smoothness of Saturnian satellite, Atlas, can be explained by dust levitations, which might be the dominant resurfacing process on the surface of this satellite. This indicates that dust levitation can be another important global-scale resurfacing under an extremely small gravity.
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