9969 Braille approximate shape scaled one in forty thousand

This model was made using Microsoft 3D Builder to place three sphere in the place and size calculated by Oberts (2001), from two images returned by the Deep Space 1 probe in the relatively failed flyby of the Braille asteroid in its way to the Comet Borrelly. This paper describes how an algorithm looks for the best fit of different sizes and position of three spheres, that resemble the bright and shadows from the low resolution images of the asteroid. Then, the model the model was used to simulate and replicate the lightcurve of the asteroid. I just used this results to make the model, elongating a little the spheres, merging, and finally softening the entire model to make it look more like a normal asteroid.

The file's names explained: name_1_x_10_y.stl is 1 : x * 10y. So _1_6_10_7 is 1:600000000 or one in 60 million.

9969 Braille
The planned Deep Space 1 encounter with Braille would be the closest non-orbiting and non-impacting flyby ever made to an asteroid or comet, at a distance of 240 m, and it was the tinniest asteroid visited at the time. However the navigation system failed in detect the asteroid, and the flyby occurred 26 km away from it; even worse, the two single pictures were taken an hour after the closest approach, at a distance of 14000 km, resulting in a few pixels wide photos. In these photos, three reflected surfaces were visible, suggesting a tri-lobed shape, although it can be a contact binary with a very irregularly shaped component. Braille is a Mars crosser, but its perihelion is to far to be a Near Earth Asteroids. However, it will eventually evolve into an Earth crosser in a few thousand or million years if the interaction with planets (mainly with Jupiter) makes its orbit more eccentric. If it does, it will became a threat to our planet.
Type: Asteroid.
Orbit: Sun. Main Asteroid Belt.
Orbital period: 3.58 yr.
Rotational period: 226 h 20 min.
Composition: Silicate rock. Q or V type. Contact trinary ?.
Density: 3.9 g/cm3
Dimensions: 2.1 km × 1 km × 1 km
Model scale: 1:2x104 (10cm) 1:4x104 (5cm)

References

A Model for Rotation and Shape of Asteroid 9969 Braille from
Ground-Based Observations and Images Obtained
during the Deep Space 1 (DS1) Flyby. Oberts. 2001.

Other astronomical objects



Object


Scale [1:x]
K = 103 (thousand)M = 106 (million)G = 109 (billion)


Image




Inner Solar System



Mercury
20M, 60M,
120M



Venus
60M,
120M,
250M



Earth
60M,
120M,
250M



Luna
10M, 20M,
60M



Mars
20M, 60M,
120M



Phobos and Deimos
200K,
500K




Artificial



Salyut 7
40, 48, 80, 160




Near Earth Asteroids



Moshup and Squannit
8K,
20K,
40K



Ra-Shalom
20K,
40K



Castalia
8K,
20K,
40K



Bacchus
8K,
20K



Bennu
3K,
8K



Ryugu
3K, 8K,
20K



Geographos
40K,
80K



Phaethon
40K,
80K



Itokawa
3K,
8K



Eros
80K, 200K,
500K



Nereus
3K,
8K



Mithra
20K,
40K



Golevka
8K



Toutatis
40K,
80K




Main Asteroid Belt




Gaspra
200K



Annefrank
40K,
80K



Braille
20K,
40K



Vesta
2M, 4M,
10M



Šteins
40K,
80K,
200K



Iris
2M,
4M



Hebe
1M,
2M,
4M



Lutetia
500K, 1M,
2M



Julia
1M,
2M,
4M



Mathilde
500K,
1M



Juno
2M,
4M



Ceres
4M,
10M



Pallas
4M,
10M

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