%0 Journal Article
%T The Ginger-shaped Asteroid 4179 Toutatis: New Observations from a Successful Flyby of Chang'e-2
%A Jiangchuan Huang
%A Jianghui Ji
%A Peijian Ye
%A Xiaolei Wang
%A Jun Yan
%A Linzhi Meng
%A Su Wang
%A Chunlai Li
%A Yuan Li
%A Dong Qiao
%A Wei Zhao
%A Yuhui Zhao
%A Tingxin Zhang
%A Peng Liu
%A Yun Jiang
%A Wei Rao
%A Sheng Li
%A Changning Huang
%A Wing-Huen Ip
%A Shoucun Hu
%A Menghua Zhu
%A Liangliang Yu
%A Yongliao Zou
%A Xianglong Tang
%A Jianyang Li
%A Haibin Zhao
%A Hao Huang
%A Xiaojun Jiang
%A Jinming Bai
%J Physics
%D 2013
%I arXiv
%R 10.1038/srep03411
%X On 13 December 2012, Chang'e-2 conducted a successful flyby of the near-Earth asteroid 4179 Toutatis at a closest distance of 770 $\pm$ 120 meters from the asteroid's surface. The highest-resolution image, with a resolution of better than 3 meters, reveals new discoveries on the asteroid, e.g., a giant basin at the big end, a sharply perpendicular silhouette near the neck region, and direct evidence of boulders and regolith, which suggests that Toutatis may bear a rubble-pile structure. Toutatis' maximum physical length and width are (4.75 $\times$ 1.95 km) $\pm$10$\%$, respectively, and the direction of the +$z$ axis is estimated to be (250$\pm$5$^\circ$, 63$\pm$5$^\circ$) with respect to the J2000 ecliptic coordinate system. The bifurcated configuration is indicative of a contact binary origin for Toutatis, which is composed of two lobes (head and body). Chang'e-2 observations have significantly improved our understanding of the characteristics, formation, and evolution of asteroids in general.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1312.4329v1