J. Geeraert

TL;DR: Combining the measured Bennu mass and shape obtained during the Preliminary Survey phase of the OSIRIS-REx mission, a notable transition is found in Bennu’s surface slopes within its rotational Roche lobe, defined as the region where material is energetically trapped to the surface.

TL;DR: The shape model indicates that near-Earth asteroid Bennu formed by reaccumulation and underwent past periods of fast spin, which led to its current shape, similar to other top-shaped asteroids.

TL;DR: It is found that longitudinal ridges previously identified in the north extend into the south but are obscured there by surface material, which results in Bennu’s southern hemisphere being rounder and smoother, whereas its northern hemisphere has higher slopes and a less regular shape.

TL;DR: The asteroid (101955) Bennu has a heterogeneous internal mass distribution with an underdense center and equatorial bulge, which is consistent with recent migration and redistribution of material.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors derived meter-level constraints on the distance between Earth and Bennu from January 2019 to October 2020 using OSIRIS-REx spacecraft tracking data.