Rubin Rocks: An online tool for assessing the statistical dynamical evolution of near-Earth objects in the age of LSST

As the number of known near-Earth objects (NEOs) continues to grow, particularly with the expected contributions from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), there is an increasing need for efficient methods to study NEO dynamical histories. Detailed N-body integrations of asteroid orbits provide valuable insights into their past evolution, including the probabilities of origin from different source regions, typical timescales of residence within the NEO population, and the timing of transitions into near-Earth space. However, such integrations are computationally expensive and not always feasible when quick assessments of  individual or small numbers of objects is desired.

We present a new online resource, Rubin Rocks, a web-based service and API that provides access to precomputed statistical information on the dynamical evolution of NEOs. Users can input orbital elements of a given NEO, including optional uncertainty information (e.g., a covariance matrix), and receive estimates of source region probabilities, dynamical behaviors, and typical lifetimes derived from large-scale numerical simulations of the NEO population. This allows rapid investigation of the likely origin and long-term evolution of a given object without performing new integrations.

For users who require a more detailed and object-specific analysis of an asteroid’s dynamical evolution, we also offer access to a new high-performance collocational integrator called Lobbie. This Fortran-based code is available upon request and is particularly well suited for long-term orbital integrations. Compared to widely-used integrators such as REBOUND’s IAS15, Lobbie demonstrates at least twice the speed while providing higher numerical accuracy, making it a valuable tool for detailed dynamical studies.