Modeling method and preliminary model of Asteroid Toutatis from Chang’E-2 optical images

Shape modeling is fundamental to the analysis of dynamic environment and motion around asteroid. Chang’E-2 successfully made a flyby of Asteroid 4179 Toutatis and obtained plenty of high-resolution images during the mission. In this paper, the modeling method and preliminary model of Asteroid Toutatis are discussed. First, the optical images obtained by Chang’E-2 are analyzed. Terrain and silhouette features in images are described. Then, the modeling method based on previous radar model and preliminary information from optical images is proposed. A preliminary polyhedron model of Asteroid Toutatis is established. Finally, the spherical harmonic coefficients of Asteroid Toutatis based on the polyhedron model are obtained. Some parameters of model are analyzed and compared. Although the model proposed in this paper is only a preliminary model, this work offers a valuable reference for future high-resolution models.