Density distribution of asteroid 25143 Itokawa based on smooth terrain shape

The shape and internal structure of an asteroid is a result of its violent collisional history, and Asteroid 25143 Itokawa is an important target for investigating the internal structure and formation processes associated with rubble pile asteroids. The surface of Itokawa contains numerous boulders and is very rough, but 20% of the surface is covered with centimeter-sized gravels that are called ”smooth terrain”. These flat areas are associated with low areas of the gravitational potential and are considered to be formed by down-slope migration and accumulation of pebbles. We propose a method to constrain the interior density distribution of an asteroid by modeling the gravity field and fitting the smooth terrains to equi-potential surfaces. Density models that are composed of two distinct lobes best explain the data if the ”head” and ”body” have different densities of 2,450 kg/m3 and 1,930 kg/m3, respectively. Alternatively, the two lobes could have comparable densities if there was a compressed ”neck” of higher density between the two. Three layer models that treat the densities of the head, neck and body separately are largely unconstrained. However, when using an independent estimate of the center-of-mass/center-of-figure offset as determined from modeling the YORP spin-up of Itokawa, our models require the density of the head to be larger than the global average. •Interior density distribution within asteroid Itokawa was estimated.•Fitting a simulated equi-potential surface for an observed smooth terrain.•Itokawa is likely to have mass concentration in the head or neck region.•Our technique could be effective for constraining small bodies' interiors.