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Internal Structures And Spin Evolutions Of Small Bodies In The Solar System And Their Geophysical Implications: A Case Study On Ceres, Vesta, And Arrokoth, Xiaochen Mao

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Asteroids and Kuiper belt objects are for the most part the remnant planetesimals that have not been able to form into planets. These small bodies’ evolutionary pathways encode information from the early days of the Solar System. Recent space missions such as Dawn and New Horizons have now made detailed geological investigations of small bodies (i. e. , Ceres, Vesta, and Arrokoth) possible. In this thesis, I use geophysical modeling to study small body internal structure and to investigate spin history under the influence of impacts. I analyze the gravity and shape data obtained by Dawn of Ceres and make …