Pluto and the Kuiper Belt (Plus “Planet Nine”): a Modern Resource Guide by Andrew Fraknoi [Jan
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
2018: Aiaa-Space-Report
AIAA TEAM SPACE TRANSPORTATION DESIGN COMPETITION TEAM PERSEPHONE Submitted By: Chelsea Dalton Ashley Miller Ryan Decker Sahil Pathan Layne Droppers Joshua Prentice Zach Harmon Andrew Townsend Nicholas Malone Nicholas Wijaya Iowa State University Department of Aerospace Engineering May 10, 2018 TEAM PERSEPHONE Page I Iowa State University: Persephone Design Team Chelsea Dalton Ryan Decker Layne Droppers Zachary Harmon Trajectory & Propulsion Communications & Power Team Lead Thermal Systems AIAA ID #908154 AIAA ID #906791 AIAA ID #532184 AIAA ID #921129 Nicholas Malone Ashley Miller Sahil Pathan Joshua Prentice Orbit Design Science Science Science AIAA ID #921128 AIAA ID #922108 AIAA ID #761247 AIAA ID #922104 Andrew Townsend Nicholas Wijaya Structures & CAD Trajectory & Propulsion AIAA ID #820259 AIAA ID #644893 TEAM PERSEPHONE Page II Contents 1 Introduction & Problem Background2 1.1 Motivation & Background......................................2 1.2 Mission Definition..........................................3 2 Mission Overview 5 2.1 Trade Study Tools..........................................5 2.2 Mission Architecture.........................................6 2.3 Planetary Protection.........................................6 3 Science 8 3.1 Observations of Interest.......................................8 3.2 Goals.................................................9 3.3 Instrumentation............................................ 10 3.3.1 Visible and Infrared Imaging|Ralph............................ 11 3.3.2 Radio Science Subsystem................................. -
IS PLUTO a PLANET? Adam Roxburgh of Balclutha Primary School Asked
IS PLUTO A PLANET? Adam Roxburgh of Balclutha Primary School asked: Is Pluto a planet or not? It has moons, so is it a planet? How do the moons hide? Are the moons hiding behind Pluto? Pluto was discovered in 1930 and regarded being as a ‘proper planet’ for decades, but in 2006 professional astronomers downgraded it to the status of a ‘dwarf planet’ because several other similar- sized objects have been spotted, using very large telescopes, out beyond Neptune. These include objects named Haumea, Makemake, and Eris; the latter seems to be larger than Pluto itself AND, LIKE PLUTO, IT HAS A MOON. Actually, Pluto is known to have at least five moons, one having been announced just this past July, and another last year. Those two are quite small, only 10 to 30 km across. They don’t have names yet. Two others were found in 2005, and are called Nix and Hydra; they are both about 100 km in size. The first moon of Pluto to be discovered was Charon, in 1978. It is far bigger, about 1200 km in diameter, slightly more than half the size of Pluto. Because of this the Pluto-Charon pair is often regarded as being a ‘binary planet.’ Having moons is not a condition for a celestial object to be classified as a planet: for example, the innermost planets Mercury and Venus have no moons, whereas there are several large asteroids (orbiting between Mars and Jupiter) which do have moons. To qualify as being a ‘proper’ planet a body has to fulfil these two basic conditions. -
Pluto and Charon
National Aeronautics and Space Administration 0 300,000,000 900,000,000 1,500,000,000 2,100,000,000 2,700,000,000 3,300,000,000 3,900,000,000 4,500,000,000 5,100,000,000 5,700,000,000 kilometers Pluto and Charon www.nasa.gov Pluto is classified as a dwarf planet and is also a member of a Charon’s orbit around Pluto takes 6.4 Earth days, and one Pluto SIGNIFICANT DATES group of objects that orbit in a disc-like zone beyond the orbit of rotation (a Pluto day) takes 6.4 Earth days. Charon neither rises 1930 — Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto. Neptune called the Kuiper Belt. This distant realm is populated nor sets but “hovers” over the same spot on Pluto’s surface, 1977–1999 — Pluto’s lopsided orbit brings it slightly closer to with thousands of miniature icy worlds, which formed early in the and the same side of Charon always faces Pluto — this is called the Sun than Neptune. It will be at least 230 years before Pluto history of the solar system. These icy, rocky bodies are called tidal locking. Compared with most of the planets and moons, the moves inward of Neptune’s orbit for 20 years. Kuiper Belt objects or transneptunian objects. Pluto–Charon system is tipped on its side, like Uranus. Pluto’s 1978 — American astronomers James Christy and Robert Har- rotation is retrograde: it rotates “backwards,” from east to west Pluto’s 248-year-long elliptical orbit can take it as far as 49.3 as- rington discover Pluto’s unusually large moon, Charon. -
Update on Pluto and Its 5 Moons Obeying the Quantization of Angular Momentum Per Unit Mass Constraint of Quantum Celestial Mechanics
Volume12(2016) PROGRESSINPHYSICS Issue1(January) Update on Pluto and Its 5 Moons Obeying the Quantization of Angular Momentum per Unit Mass Constraint of Quantum Celestial Mechanics Franklin Potter Sciencegems.com, 8642 Marvale Drive, Huntington Beach, CA 92646 USA E-mail: [email protected] In July, 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft passing by Pluto did not discover any more moons. Therefore, we know the Pluto system total angular momentum to within 2.4%, more accurately than any other system with more than two orbiting bodies. We there- fore update our previous analysis to determine whether a definitive test of the quantum celestial mechanics (QCM) angular momentum constraint can now be achieved. 1 Introduction The end result of the transformation is the new scalar In 2012 we analyzed the angular momentum properties of the “gravitational wave equation” (GWE) Pluto system with its 5 moons [1] not knowing the total angu- ∂2 Ψ Ψ gαβ + = 0. (4) lar momentum in the system. The New Horizons spacecraft ∂xα ∂xβ H2 passing by Pluto and its large moon Charon in July, 2015, One can now consider the behavior of the test particle in dif- did not discover any more moons than its earlier discovery ferent gravitational metrics. In the Schwarzschild metric, we of 4 additional tiny moons. Therefore, the Pluto system that find good agreement with predictions for all systems to which we know is the final configuration of orbiting bodies, so we the QCM constraints have been applied. now know its total angular momentum to within 3%. Conse- There have been numerous applications of QCM to grav- quently, we can consider this gravitationally bound system as itationally bound systems, including multi-planetary exosys- a possible definitive test of the theory called quantum celes- tems [3], the Solar System [2], the five moons of Pluto [1], tial mechanics(QCM) first proposed in 2003 by H.G.Preston the S-stars at the galactic center [4], and circumbinary sys- and F.Potter [2]. -
Planet Nine Join the Hunt for a Possible Planet!
Planet Nine Join the Hunt for a Possible Planet! In July 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft gave us our first close look at Pluto, the most famous dwarf planet in the outskirts of our Solar System. The flyby was big news, and the data sent back to Earth revealed a world far more complex than anyone realized. Are there more worlds out there, beyond Pluto? What might such a world be like? Planet Nine tells a tale of the search for another world hidden in the darkness. Planetary scientist-explorers continually make discoveries about conditions "out there". Planet Nine follows Mike Brown and his team at CalTech as they uncover new worlds such as the remarkably bright Eris; tumbling Haumea, an Exploring Farther egg-shaped object rotating incredibly fast; and Sedna, whose High-powered telescopes peer out at the sky each night, orbit takes it deep into the far reaches of the Solar System. searching for faint light from distant worlds. Experience a night at the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii, as Brown describes his Is there a new planet beyond even these distant objects? search for worlds so far away they take thousands of years to orbit the Sun. Orbits Tell The Tale Pluto's own unusual path is a clue to chaotic activities billions of years ago. Could other distant objects "out there" follow equally odd orbits? Throughout this fascinating show, Mike Brown talks about unusual orbits and describes nights of painstaking robotic searches for new planets. His is a story of modern planet- hunting techniques that have uncovered many new worlds out beyond Neptune. -
A DEEP SEARCH for ADDITIONAL SATELLITES AROUND the DWARF PLANET HAUMEA Luke D
The Astronomical Journal, 151:162 (10pp), 2016 June doi:10.3847/0004-6256/151/6/162 © 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. A DEEP SEARCH FOR ADDITIONAL SATELLITES AROUND THE DWARF PLANET HAUMEA Luke D. Burkhart1,2, Darin Ragozzine1,3,4, and Michael E. Brown5 1 Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; [email protected] 2 Yale University, Department of Physics, 217 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA 3 University of Florida, 211 Bryant Space Science Center, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA 4 Florida Institute of Technology, Department of Physics and Space Sciences, 150 West University Boulevard, Melbourne, FL 32901, USA 5 California Institute of Technology, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, MC 150-21, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA Received 2015 July 10; accepted 2016 March 27; published 2016 May 27 ABSTRACT Haumea is a dwarf planet with two known satellites, an unusually high spin rate, and a large collisional family, making it one of the most interesting objects in the outer solar system. A fully self-consistent formation scenario responsible for the satellite and family formation is still elusive, but some processes predict the initial formation of many small moons, similar to the small moons recently discovered around Pluto. Deep searches for regular satellites around Kuiper belt objects are difficult due to observational limitations, but Haumea is one of the few for which sufficient data exist. We analyze Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations, focusing on a 10- consecutive-orbit sequence obtained in 2010 July, to search for new very small satellites. -
"Planet Nine": Have Astronomers Found a Huge New World Past Pluto? by Scientific American, Adapted by Newsela Staff 01.25.16
Name: ______________________________ Period: ______ Date: _____________ Article of the Week Directions: Read the following article carefully and annotate. You need to include at least 1 annotation per paragraph. Be sure to include all of the following in your total annotations. Annotation = Marking the Text + A Note of Explanation 1. Great Idea or Point – Write why you think it is a good idea or point – ! 2. Confusing Point or Idea – Write a question to ask that might help you understand – ? 3. Unknown Word or Phrase – Circle the unknown word or phrase, then write what you think it might mean based on context clues or your word knowledge – 4. A Question You Have – Write a question you have about something in the text – ?? 5. Summary – In a few sentences, write a summary of the paragraph, section, or passage – # "Planet Nine": Have astronomers found a huge new world past Pluto? By Scientific American, adapted by Newsela staff 01.25.16 Picture and Caption ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ Paragraph #1 This picture is an artist’s depiction of what "Planet Nine" might look like. The planet is thought to be gaseous, similar to Uranus and Neptune, and in our solar system out ___________________________ beyond Pluto. Photo: Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC) ___________________________ Para #1 In the last 20 years, astronomers have identified about 2,000 new worlds using a telescope in space. These planets ___________________________ orbit stars that lie tens or even hundreds of light-years from Earth. These discoveries are important, but no single planet is likely to ___________________________ be much of a big deal. -
Team Persephone
AIAA TEAM SPACE TRANSPORTATION DESIGN COMPETITION TEAM PERSEPHONE Submitted By: Chelsea Dalton Ashley Miller Ryan Decker Sahil Pathan Layne Droppers Joshua Prentice Zach Harmon Andrew Townsend Nicholas Malone Nicholas Wijaya Iowa State University Department of Aerospace Engineering May 10, 2018 TEAM PERSEPHONE Page I Iowa State University: Persephone Design Team Chelsea Dalton Ryan Decker Layne Droppers Zachary Harmon Trajectory & Propulsion Communications & Power Team Lead Thermal Systems AIAA ID #908154 AIAA ID #906791 AIAA ID #532184 AIAA ID #921129 Nicholas Malone Ashley Miller Sahil Pathan Joshua Prentice Orbit Design Science Science Science AIAA ID #921128 AIAA ID #922108 AIAA ID #761247 AIAA ID #922104 Andrew Townsend Nicholas Wijaya Structures & CAD Trajectory & Propulsion AIAA ID #820259 AIAA ID #644893 TEAM PERSEPHONE Page II Contents 1 Introduction & Problem Background 2 1.1 Motivation & Background . 2 1.2 Mission Definition . 3 2 Mission Overview 5 2.1 Trade Study Tools . 5 2.2 Mission Architecture . 6 2.3 Planetary Protection . 6 3 Science 8 3.1 Observations of Interest . 8 3.2 Goals . 9 3.3 Instrumentation . 10 3.3.1 Visible and Infrared Imaging|Ralph . 11 3.3.2 Radio Science Subsystem . 12 3.3.3 Atmosphere . 14 3.3.4 Solar Wind Around Pluto . 14 3.3.5 Descent Probes . 16 4 Trajectory 19 4.1 Interplanetary Trajectory Design . 19 4.2 Earth Launch . 19 4.2.1 Launch Vehicle Selection . 19 4.2.2 Launch Vehicle Integration . 22 4.2.3 Launch Characteristics . 23 4.3 Interplanetary Cruise . 25 4.4 Jupiter Gravity Assist . 26 4.5 Pluto Orbit Insertion . 28 5 Primary Mission 30 5.1 Design Methodology . -
Comparative Kbology: Using Surface Spectra of Triton, Pluto, and Charon
COMPARATIVE KBOLOGY: USING SURFACE SPECTRA OF TRITON, PLUTO, AND CHARON TO INVESTIGATE ATMOSPHERIC, SURFACE, AND INTERIOR PROCESSES ON KUIPER BELT OBJECTS by BRYAN JASON HOLLER B.S., Astronomy (High Honors), University of Maryland, College Park, 2012 B.S., Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, 2012 M.S., Astronomy, University of Colorado, 2015 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences 2016 This thesis entitled: Comparative KBOlogy: Using spectra of Triton, Pluto, and Charon to investigate atmospheric, surface, and interior processes on KBOs written by Bryan Jason Holler has been approved for the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences Dr. Leslie Young Dr. Fran Bagenal Date The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline. ii ABSTRACT Holler, Bryan Jason (Ph.D., Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences) Comparative KBOlogy: Using spectra of Triton, Pluto, and Charon to investigate atmospheric, surface, and interior processes on KBOs Thesis directed by Dr. Leslie Young This thesis presents analyses of the surface compositions of the icy outer Solar System objects Triton, Pluto, and Charon. Pluto and its satellite Charon are Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) while Triton, the largest of Neptune’s satellites, is a former member of the KBO population. Near-infrared spectra of Triton and Pluto were obtained over the previous 10+ years with the SpeX instrument at the IRTF and of Charon in Summer 2015 with the OSIRIS instrument at Keck. -
Surveying the Trans-Neptunian Solar System with TESS
Surveying the Trans-Neptunian DPS 52nd Meeting 10/26/20-10/30/20 Solar System with TESS Malena Rice NSF Graduate Research Fellow Yale University Astronomy Department Rice & Laughlin 2020, in press, PSJ www.astro.yale.edu/malenarice 30 au Adapted from Batygin & Brown 2016 Planet Nine ? Batygin, Adams, Brown, & Becker 2019 Planet Nine ? 400-800 au semimajor axis Batygin, Adams, Brown, & Becker 2019 Planet Nine ? 5-10 Earth masses 400-800 au semimajor axis Batygin, Adams, Brown, & Becker 2019 Planet Nine ? 5-10 Earth masses 400-800 au semimajor axis 15-25° inclination Batygin, Adams, Brown, & Becker 2019 0.2-0.5 eccentricity Planet Nine ? 5-10 Earth masses 400-800 au semimajor axis 15-25° inclination Batygin, Adams, Brown, & Becker 2019 Video: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center \ How do we recover signals over 300x dimmer than Pluto? Sedna’s sky motion How do we recover signals over 300x dimmer than Pluto? tinyurl.com/sednarecovery • Automated local maximum finder • Automated local maximum finder • Injection recovery tests • Automated local maximum finder • Injection recovery tests • False positive vetting with two independent baseline subtraction methods Paper I Focus: Ongoing Work and The Galactic Plane Future Directions • Motivation: Point sources can • Incorporate neural “hide” in the galactic plane networks for automated candidate vetting in a • Applied the algorithm to larger-scale, all-sky survey search TESS sectors 18 and 19 for candidate outer solar • Extend to additional system objects science cases by • Developed and applied the considering a different framework for a TESS shift- range of orbital paths stacking pipeline Image from TESS/MIT Video by Tony Dunn Thank you! Rice & Laughlin 2020, in press, PSJ (on arxiv tonight) DPS talk: 304.03 [email protected] Web summary: astro.yale.edu/malenarice/#researchhighlight4 @malena_rice. -
The Observer
The Observer The Official Publication of the Lehigh Valley Amateur Astronomical Society http://www.lvaas.org 610-797-3476 http://www.facebook.com/lvaas.astro December 2016 Volume 56 Issue 12 ad ast ra* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * One of the most intriguing mysteries in contemporary astronomy was the subject of out November meeting. Boyejian?s Star, also known as Tabby?s Star as well as the Where?s the Flux star, is flickering occasionally, like a Christmas light that is loose in its broken socket, and nobody can explain why. Dr. Joshua Pepper from Lehigh University reviewed the findings and the potential explanations that have been proposed, none of which are considered very satisfying at the moment. This was a great presentation, because mysteries like this are the kind of thing that keeps science interesting, and it will be very cool to finally figure out what it is. For now, I hope we are all looking forward to our upcoming Holiday party! This year we are going to try something new. I often join some work friends at Jack Callaghan's Ale House in Allentown for a fun night of competition, doing my best to dig the answers out of the back of my brain to questions that I previously had no reason to A portion of the mysterious light curve of Boyajian's Star care about, and often learning something in the process. LVAAS? first Trivia Contest will take place at our Holiday party on December 10. Remember to bring some eats to share with your fellow attendees. Also remember to keep an eye on http://lvaas.org in case of bad weather, and we need to reschedule to December 11. -
The Adler Planetarium Launches New Sky Show, Planet Nine, on May 28
Media Inquiries Contact: Christina O’Connell 312-542-2424 [email protected] The Search Is On! The Adler Planetarium Launches New Sky Show, Planet Nine, on May 28. CHICAGO – May 6, 2016 – The Adler Planetarium’s newest sky show, Planet Nine, opening May 28, explores the largest of Pluto’s neighbors in the Kuiper belt and invites visitors to join in the search for a new ninth planet. In July 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft gave us our first close look at Pluto, the most famous dwarf planet in the outskirts of our Solar System. The New Horizons flyby was big news, and the pictures it continues to send back to Earth reveal a world far more complex than anyone realized. Using nothing but their wits (and high-powered telescopes and a thorough understanding of orbital mechanics), these intrepid explorers are making new discoveries about how our Solar System formed—and what it may be hiding. “We are excited to be releasing our newest sky show, especially in light of news on a potential ninth planet lurking in our Solar System,” says Mark SubbaRao, Ph.D., astronomer and Director of the Space Visualization Laboratory at the Adler Planetarium. “After Mike Brown’s Kavli Prize Laureate lecture at the Adler last spring, we decided to collaborate on a sky show. Our new sky show will provide our visitors a glimpse into the very latest science, including the evidence as to why we think another large planet is out there.” Mike Brown was one of three recipients of the 2012 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics, which was awarded for discovering and characterizing the Kuiper Belt and its largest members -- work that led to a major advance in the understanding of the history of our planetary system.