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4. Discussion4.11. Stable and unstable orbitsOur results confirm that most NEAs move in stable orbits over the time scale of of our computations, as shown by the parameters fq = 0 and/or fa = 0. On the other hand, most JFCs are found to move in unstable orbits, thus showing values for fq, fa> 0. We remind the reader that our conclusions were derived for bodies with, namely that are potentially able to experience close encounters with Jupiter. Yet, a few NEAs are found to move in cometary orbits. These NEAs in Cometary Orbits (NEACOs) have unstable orbits with fq≳0.25 and fa≳0.06 and mix quite well with the JFCs in the plots of Fig. 5, Fig. 6 and Fig. 8. Table II brings the list of the most prominent NEACOs found in our sample. The times, tNEA, elapsed since these bodies were transferred from a large-q orbit (> 2.5 au) to its current NEA orbit are relatively short, of the order of several hundreds to a couple thousands year (i.e. ∼80–400 revolutions). These short residence times in an orbit with are consistent with the physical lifetimes estimated for typical kilometer-size JFCs (Fernández et al., 2002 and Di Sisto et al., 2009). We also have some other potential NEACOs (though of lower probability than the ones of Table II): 2010 LR68 and 2012 Mail, for which we find fq∼0.2.Table II.Neacos.Object H Ra (km)fq fa tNEA (year)1997 SE5 14.8 3.25–2.30 0.628 0.285 365to DN1 19.8 0.33–0.23 0.307 0.172 850–14502001 XQ 19.2 0.43–0.30 0.306 0.061 14002002 GJ8 19.4 0.39–0.28 0.292 0.077 6702002 RN38 16.9 1.24–0.87 0.470 0.209 4852003 C1 19.1 0.45–0.32 0.775 0.324 4002003 WY25b20.9 0.20–0.14 0.480 0.164 600–28002009 CR2 16.7 1.36–0.96 0.333 0.154 6102011 OL51 19.8 0.33–0.23 0.601 0.227 870–1640aThe radii were computed by assuming geometric albedos pV = 0.05–0.1.bIt was identified with Comet D/1819 W1 (Blanpain) and given the permanent name 289P/Blanpain.Table optionsTancredi (2014) has recently proposed a list of Asteroids in Cometary Orbits (ACOs), considering as a key criterion to define the cometary nature the Minimum Orbital Intersection Distance (MOID) parameter, namely the minimum distance between the orbits of the object and that of Jupiter. Tancredi identifies 331 ACOs from which 32 are in our NEA sample, including our 8 NEACOs of Table II. On the other hand, Tancredi includes 24 additional objects for which we find asteroid-like orbits, in most cases with fq = 0 or close to zero. Object 2003 EH1 (Fig. 12, right) is a good example of an object included in Tancredi's ACO list that suffers many close encounters with Jupiter, though they are not able to break the regular pattern of its motion through most of the integration time. Therefore, even though the MOID parameter may be useful for a quick diagnostic, it is still necessary to perform direct integrations to know more accurately the degree of stability (or instability) of the orbit.4. to. The physical nature of objects approaching the EarthSince stable orbits mean that objects may remain bound to small-q orbits over time scales, such objects will have to be able to withstand the intense solar radiation without significant erosion. On the other hand, active comets lose copious amounts of material in every passage, so they cannot survive for too long in the Earths neighborhood as active bodies. Their orbits must accordingly be unstable, with short residence times in the near-Earth region before their discovery.Among the NEOs, we can find different compositions that might be grouped into:1)Rocky bodies: They are devoid of volatile material and their internal strength is rather high. They can withstand close passages by the Sun without losing measurable amounts of material, as is observed in many asteroids passing at heliocentric distances < 0.25 au (Jewitt, 2013). Collisions with meteoroids may be the only agent capable of triggering (dusty) activity.2)Rocky-acqueous bodies: The matrix is built with the mineral (refractory) component, but they are carbon-rich and contain some water, either under the form of hydrated silicates, or even as water ice buried in their interiors. The mineral matrix provides a moderate internal strength, capable of withstanding close passages by the Sun with losses of material limited to the outer layers. These bodies may display some activity under the intense Sounds radiation, so they may become "rock comets" (Jewitt and Li, 2010). Their progenitors may be the so called main-belt comets (MBCs) and their source region may be the outer asteroid belt where water molecules in the protoplanetary disk could have condensed into ice or bound to silicates. Spectroscopic observations of the MBCs, 133P/Elst–Pizarro and 176P/LINEAR, did not show the CN emission band at ∼3800 Å, setting an upper limit to the gas production rate ∼3 orders of magnitude below that found for typical JFCs observed at similar heliocentric distances (Licandro et al., 2011). These observations show that whereas free sublimation of water ice is the main activation mechanism of comets near the Sun, other mechanisms that require little (or no) water sublimation are responsible for activating MBCs.3)Icy bodies: The matrix is built as a very loose aggregate of ice and dust particles, so their bulk density and internal strength is very low (Don, 1990 and Sosa and Fernández, 2009). They lose appreciable amounts of material in each passage by the Suns vicinity by sublimation and frequent outbursts and breakups, so a typical one-km size nucleus has a very short physical lifetime. There has been a long discussion on whether they transit through stages of dormancy before final disintegration into meteoritic dust, or if they pass straight from an active nucleus to dust (cf. Fig. 1). These objects formed in the trans-Jovian region where they have remained until present in cold reservoirs: the trans-Neptunian region and the Oort cloud.4. e. Thermally-induced activity of rocky-acqueous bodies close to the SunThe proximity to the Sun (distances) can raise the surface temperature of a NEA with a visual geometric albedo pv∼0.05 to about 1000 K. Expected physical effects are thermal fracture induced by strong temperature gradients, and dehydration in case the object contains minerals with bound water molecules, or OH radicals (Jewitt and Li, 2010). These effects may be the source of some activity as, for instance, the release of water molecules as the chemically-bound water in hydrated silicates is progressively lost, starting at temperatures of about 600 K, and the ejection of dust particles that get enough energy to escape from the asteroid upon thermal fracture. Jewitt (2013) searched for activity in 2002 PD43 with negative results, which might suggest that it is thermally resistant, perhaps with a composition rich in silicates like pyroxenes, olivines and metal, similar to the asteroids predominant in the inner belt of taxonomic classes S or M.On the other hand, if 2003 EH1 has released material to give raise to the Quadrantid meteor stream, its composition might be different, perhaps rocky-acqueous as discussed before. Their different semimajor axes: 2.5 au for 2002 PD43, and 3.2–3.4 au for 2003 EH1, may give support to the idea of a different geochemical composition. If we assume that most of the mass of the Quadrantid was released when 2003 EH1 had a very small q (≲0.15 au), then the age of this meteor shower would be around 1500 year. This is about three times the age estimated by Jenniskens (2005) based on the dispersion of the orbital parameters of the Quadrantid shower with respect to those of 2003 EH1. This discrepancy might be explained either because of an underestimation of the age of the breakup that generated the Quadrantid, or because the breakup took place after the object reached the minimum q. For instance 500 year ago 2003 EH1 had. As regards the physical nature of 2003 EH1, it has a typical asteroid orbit (cf. Fig. 12, right), so it may come from the outer asteroid belt and has a rocky-aqueous composition. Its activity might arise from thermal fracture and dehydration when the body's surface attains temperatures close to 1000 K (Jewitt and Li, 2010).(3200) Phaethon may be another example of an active asteroid whose activity is triggered by thermal fracture and/or decomposition of hydrated silicates upon close approach to the Sun (). Li and Jewitt (2013) reported about one magnitude brightening at its 2009 and 2012 perihelion passages, and attributed it to the ejection of dust by the mechanism mentioned before. The visible and near infrared reflectance spectrum of this object is found to be similar to that produced by aqueously altered samples of CI/CM carbonaceous chondrites and hydrated silicates (Licandro et al., 2007). de León et al. (2010) found that (2) Pallas is the most likely parent body of Phaeton based on spectroscopic similarities between the latter and several members of the Pallas family, as well as numerical simulations that show a dynamical pathway through which fragments of Pallas can reach Phaethon-like orbits.4.4. Taxonomic types and albedos among NEAs of our sampleUnfortunately, the information available on these two physical parameters for our NEA sample is very scant. Only a small fraction of them have known albedos and/or taxonomic types. The collected data are shown in Table I, which have been drawn from DeMeo and Binzel (2008). Even though this is a small fraction of our total sample, it gives us a hint of the taxonomic types prevailing among NEAs with. These are types C, D, and P, that correspond to low-albedo (around 0.05–0.06) primitive material, and linear spectra over visible wavelengths with neutral to red slopes. These taxonomic types prevail among the asteroids in the outer belt and the Jupiter's Trojans (DeMeo and Binzel, 2008 and DeMeo and Carry, 2013). These photometric features have also been associated with dead comets (Jewitt, 2002 and Licandro et al., 200 8)
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