Dynamical Evolution About Asteroids with High Fidelity Gravity Field and Perturbations Modeling

One of the most important aspects when dealing with a Potentially Hazardous Object (PHO) is the accurate determination of its dynamical state. In particular, the determination of orbital and rotational perturbations is important to propagate accurately the heliocentric orbital path of an asteroid or a comet, and to be more precise in the impact risk determination and related uncertainty containment. The paper discusses the analysis and study of the motion of an irregularly-shaped celestial body, with particular attention to its complex three-dimensional rotational dynamics: the rotation state, nutation and precession motions are considered while modelling. All perturbations, relevant to the case of study, are included in the dynamical model, from the classical to the more complex, such as the Solar Radiation Pressure (SRP), the third body gravitational effect (presence of the Sun), the YORP effect and the internal dissipation of energy. In addition, particular attention has been paid to accurately model the shape of the asteroid: simple spherical models demonstrated to possess low accuracy when the asteroid or the comet is not spherically shaped. Irregular shapes represent, indeed, one of the most important aspects to compute the disturbances affecting the dynamics of these objects. The study has been performed by considering different characteristic shapes for typical irregular bodies: from the quasi-spherical, to the dog-bone and the elongated shapes. The perturbations due to external sources are modelled numerically. The sources of disturbances are then ranked and different criteria to propagate rotational motion have been derived depending on the shape of the observed asteroid. Even if the simulation results have been verified on selected asteroids dynamics, the presented methods and approach apply to the dynamical propagation of any kind of asteroid or comet.