Evolution of Comets Into Asteroids 669
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SPECIAL Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 Collides with Jupiter
SL-9/JUPITER ENCOUNTER - SPECIAL Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 Collides with Jupiter THE CONTINUATION OF A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE R.M. WEST, ESO-Garching After the Storm Six Hectic Days in July eration during the first nights and, as in other places, an extremely rich data The recent demise of comet Shoe ESO was but one of many profes material was secured. It quickly became maker-Levy 9, for simplicity often re sional observatories where observations evident that infrared observations, es ferred to as "SL-9", was indeed spectac had been planned long before the critical pecially imaging with the far-IR instru ular. The dramatic collision of its many period of the "SL-9" event, July 16-22, ment TIMMI at the 3.6-metre telescope, fragments with the giant planet Jupiter 1994. It is now clear that practically all were perfectly feasible also during day during six hectic days in July 1994 will major observatories in the world were in time, and in the end more than 120,000 pass into the annals of astronomy as volved in some way, via their telescopes, images were obtained with this facility. one of the most incredible events ever their scientists or both. The only excep The programmes at most of the other predicted and witnessed by members of tions may have been a few observing La Silla telescopes were also successful, this profession. And never before has a sites at the northernmost latitudes where and many more Gigabytes of data were remote astronomical event been so ac the bright summer nights and the very recorded with them. -
KAREN J. MEECH February 7, 2019 Astronomer
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH – KAREN J. MEECH February 7, 2019 Astronomer Institute for Astronomy Tel: 1-808-956-6828 2680 Woodlawn Drive Fax: 1-808-956-4532 Honolulu, HI 96822-1839 [email protected] PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION Rice University Space Physics B.A. 1981 Massachusetts Institute of Tech. Planetary Astronomy Ph.D. 1987 APPOINTMENTS 2018 – present Graduate Chair 2000 – present Astronomer, Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii 1992-2000 Associate Astronomer, Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii 1987-1992 Assistant Astronomer, Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii 1982-1987 Graduate Research & Teaching Assistant, Massachusetts Inst. Tech. 1981-1982 Research Specialist, AAVSO and Massachusetts Institute of Technology AWARDS 2018 ARCs Scientist of the Year 2015 University of Hawai’i Regent’s Medal for Research Excellence 2013 Director’s Research Excellence Award 2011 NASA Group Achievement Award for the EPOXI Project Team 2011 NASA Group Achievement Award for EPOXI & Stardust-NExT Missions 2009 William Tylor Olcott Distinguished Service Award of the American Association of Variable Star Observers 2006-8 National Academy of Science/Kavli Foundation Fellow 2005 NASA Group Achievement Award for the Stardust Flight Team 1996 Asteroid 4367 named Meech 1994 American Astronomical Society / DPS Harold C. Urey Prize 1988 Annie Jump Cannon Award 1981 Heaps Physics Prize RESEARCH FIELD AND ACTIVITIES • Developed a Discovery mission concept to explore the origin of Earth’s water. • Co-Investigator on the Deep Impact, Stardust-NeXT and EPOXI missions, leading the Earth-based observing campaigns for all three. • Leads the UH Astrobiology Research interdisciplinary program, overseeing ~30 postdocs and coordinating the research with ~20 local faculty and international partners. -
Alactic Observer
alactic Observer G John J. McCarthy Observatory Volume 14, No. 2 February 2021 International Space Station transit of the Moon Composite image: Marc Polansky February Astronomy Calendar and Space Exploration Almanac Bel'kovich (Long 90° E) Hercules (L) and Atlas (R) Posidonius Taurus-Littrow Six-Day-Old Moon mosaic Apollo 17 captured with an antique telescope built by John Benjamin Dancer. Dancer is credited with being the first to photograph the Moon in Tranquility Base England in February 1852 Apollo 11 Apollo 11 and 17 landing sites are visible in the images, as well as Mare Nectaris, one of the older impact basins on Mare Nectaris the Moon Altai Scarp Photos: Bill Cloutier 1 John J. McCarthy Observatory In This Issue Page Out the Window on Your Left ........................................................................3 Valentine Dome ..............................................................................................4 Rocket Trivia ..................................................................................................5 Mars Time (Landing of Perseverance) ...........................................................7 Destination: Jezero Crater ...............................................................................9 Revisiting an Exoplanet Discovery ...............................................................11 Moon Rock in the White House....................................................................13 Solar Beaming Project ..................................................................................14 -
Capture of Interstellar Objects: a Source of Long-Period Comets
MNRAS 000,1–5 (2019) Preprint 7 January 2020 Compiled using MNRAS LATEX style file v3.0 Capture of interstellar objects: a source of long-period comets T. O. Hands1?, W. Dehnen2;3 1Institut f¨urComputergest¨utzteWissenschaften, Universit¨atZ¨urich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Z¨urich, Switzerland 2Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK 3Universit¨ats-Sternwarteder Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit¨at,Scheinerstrasse 1, M¨unchen D-81679, Germany 7 January 2020 ABSTRACT We simulate the passage through the Sun-Jupiter system of interstellar objects (ISOs) sim- ilar to 1I/‘Oumuamua or 2I/Borisov. Capture of such objects is rare and overwhelmingly from low incoming speeds onto orbits akin to those of known long-period comets. This sug- gests that some of these comets could be of extra-solar origin, in particular inactive ones. Assuming ISOs follow the local stellar velocity distribution, we infer a volume capture rate of 0:051au3yr−1. Current estimates for orbital lifetimes and space densities then imply steady- state captured populations of ∼ 102 comets and ∼ 105 ‘Oumuamua-like rocks, of which 0.033% are within 6 au at any time. Key words: comets:general – asteroids:general – celestial mechanics – minor planets, aster- oids: individual: 1I/‘Oumuamua – comets: individual: 2I/Borisov – Oort cloud 1 INTRODUCTION obvious cometary activity (see e.g., Guzik et al. 2019; Fitzsimmons et al. 2019). It was also discovered relatively early on its approach Comets have fascinated humanity for centuries. These exotic ob- to the Solar system, meaning we can expect further observations jects present what many believe to be an immaculate sample of the in the coming months. -
Comet Section Observing Guide
Comet Section Observing Guide 1 The British Astronomical Association Comet Section www.britastro.org/comet BAA Comet Section Observing Guide Front cover image: C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) by Geoffrey Johnstone on 1997 April 10. Back cover image: C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) by Lester Barnes on 2011 December 23. © The British Astronomical Association 2018 2018 December (rev 4) 2 CONTENTS 1 Foreword .................................................................................................................................. 6 2 An introduction to comets ......................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Anatomy and origins ............................................................................................................................ 7 2.2 Naming .............................................................................................................................................. 12 2.3 Comet orbits ...................................................................................................................................... 13 2.4 Orbit evolution .................................................................................................................................... 15 2.5 Magnitudes ........................................................................................................................................ 18 3 Basic visual observation ........................................................................................................ -
Ice& Stone 2020
Ice & Stone 2020 WEEK 33: AUGUST 9-15 Presented by The Earthrise Institute # 33 Authored by Alan Hale About Ice And Stone 2020 It is my pleasure to welcome all educators, students, topics include: main-belt asteroids, near-Earth asteroids, and anybody else who might be interested, to Ice and “Great Comets,” spacecraft visits (both past and Stone 2020. This is an educational package I have put future), meteorites, and “small bodies” in popular together to cover the so-called “small bodies” of the literature and music. solar system, which in general means asteroids and comets, although this also includes the small moons of Throughout 2020 there will be various comets that are the various planets as well as meteors, meteorites, and visible in our skies and various asteroids passing by Earth interplanetary dust. Although these objects may be -- some of which are already known, some of which “small” compared to the planets of our solar system, will be discovered “in the act” -- and there will also be they are nevertheless of high interest and importance various asteroids of the main asteroid belt that are visible for several reasons, including: as well as “occultations” of stars by various asteroids visible from certain locations on Earth’s surface. Ice a) they are believed to be the “leftovers” from the and Stone 2020 will make note of these occasions and formation of the solar system, so studying them provides appearances as they take place. The “Comet Resource valuable insights into our origins, including Earth and of Center” at the Earthrise web site contains information life on Earth, including ourselves; about the brighter comets that are visible in the sky at any given time and, for those who are interested, I will b) we have learned that this process isn’t over yet, and also occasionally share information about the goings-on that there are still objects out there that can impact in my life as I observe these comets. -
And the Alpha Capricornid Shower P
TB, MG, AJ/328991/ART, 20/03/2010 The Astronomical Journal, 139:1–9, 2010 ??? doi:10.1088/0004-6256/139/1/1 C 2010. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. MINOR PLANET 2002 EX12 (=169P/NEAT) AND THE ALPHA CAPRICORNID SHOWER P. Jenniskens1 and J. Vaubaillon2 1 SETI Institute, 515 N. Whisman Road, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA; [email protected] 2 I.M.C.C.E., Paris Observatory, 77 Av. Denfert Rochereau, 75014 Paris, France Received 2009 August 20; accepted 2010 February 4; published 2010 ??? ABSTRACT Minor planet 2002 EX12 (=comet 169P/NEAT) is identified as the parent body of the alpha Capricornid shower, based on a good agreement in the calculated and observed direction and speed of the approaching meteoroids for ejecta 4500–5000 years ago. The meteoroids that come to within 0.05 AU of Earth’s orbit show the correct radiant position, radiant drift, approach speed, radiant dispersion, duration of activity, and distribution of dust at the other node, but meteoroids ejected 5000 years ago by previously proposed parent bodies do not. A more recent formation epoch is excluded because not enough dust would have evolved into Earth’s path. The total mass of the stream is about 9 × 1013 kg, similar to that of the remaining comet. Release of so much matter in a short period of time implies a major disruption of the comet at that time. The bulk of this matter still passes inside Earth’s orbit, but will cross Earth’s orbit 300 years from now. -
Phobos and Deimos: Planetary Protection Knowledge Gaps for Human Missions
Planetary Protection Knowledge Gaps for Human Extraterrestrial Missions (2015) 1007.pdf PHOBOS AND DEIMOS: PLANETARY PROTECTION KNOWLEDGE GAPS FOR HUMAN MISSIONS. Pascal Lee1,2,3 and Kira Lorber1,4, 1Mars Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-3, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000, USA, [email protected], 2SETI Institute, 3NASA ARC, 4University of Cincinnati.. Summary: Phobos and Deimos, Mars’ two moons, are associated with significant planetary protection knowledge gaps for human missions, that may be filled by a low cost robotic reconnaissance mission focused on elucidating their origin and volatile content. Introduction: Phobos and Deimos are currently considered to be potentially worthwhile destinations Figure 1: Deimos (left) and Phobos (right), to scale. for early human missions to Mars orbit, and possibly in Deimos is 15 km long, and Phobos, 27 km long. Both the context of longer term human Mars exploration moons have, to first order, a D-type spectrum: they are strategies as well [1] (Fig. 1). Until recently, it was very dark (albedo ~ 0.07) and very red. (NASA MRO). widely considered that planetary protection (PP) con- cerns associated with the exploration of Phobos and Extinct Comet Hypothesis. As a variant of the Deimos would be fundamentally no different from “captured small body from the outer main belt” hy- those associated with the exploration of primitive pothesis, it has long been suggested that Phobos and/or NEAs [2], as the preponderance of scientific evidence Deimos might be captured comet nuclei. (now inactive suggested that 1) there was never liquid water on Pho- or extinct). Consistent with this idea, some grooves on bos and Deimos, except possibly very early in their Phobos (those resembling crater chains, or catenas) are history; 2) there is no metabolically useful energy interpreted as fissures lined with vents through which source except near their heavily irradiated surface; 3) volatiles were once outgassed [3] (Fig. -
Uhm Ms 3980 R.Pdf
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I LIBRARY The Enigmatic Surface of(3200) Phaethon: Comparison with cometary candidates A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ASTRONOMY August 2005 By Luke R. Dundon Thesis Committee: K. Meech, Chairperson S. Bus D. Tholen To my parents, David and Colleen Dundon. III Acknowledgments lowe much gratitude to my advisor, Karen Meech, as well as the other members of my thesis committee, Dave Tholen and Bobby Bus. Karen, among many other things, trained me in the art of data reduction and good observing technique, as well as successful writing of telescope proposals. Bobby helped me perform productive near-IR spectral observation and subsequent data reduction. Dave provided keen analytical insight throughout the entire process of my project. With the tremendous guidance, expertise and advice of my committee, I was able to complete this project. They were always willing to aid me through my most difficult dilemmas. This work would not have been possible without their help. Thanks is also due to numerous people at the !fA who have helped me through my project in various ways. Dave Jewitt was always available to offer practical scientific advice, as well as numerous data reduction strategies. Van Fernandez allowed me to use a few of his numerous IDL programs for lightcurve analysis and spectral reduction. His advice was also quite insightful and helped focus my own thought processes. Jana Pittichova guided me through the initial stages of learning how to observe, which was crucial for my successful observations of (3200) Phaethon in the Fall of 2004. -
Small Meteor Showers Identification with Near-Earth Asteroids
SMALL METEOR SHOWERS INDENTIFICATION WITH NEAR-EARTH ASTEROIDS M.V. Sergienko, M.G. Sokolova, A.O. Andreev, Y.A. Nefedyev Kazan Federal University, Kazan, Russia Results As a result, with a probability of more than 0,6 the following results are obtained. With the orbits similar to k-Cygnids, the asteroids 2001MG1, 2002LV (noted in works by other authors) from the Apollo group and 2002GJ8, 2012QH49, 2010QA5 from the Amor group are marked out. For δ-Cancrids only asteroids from the Apollo group are marked out: northern NCC – 2212 Hephaistos 1978SB, 2014RS17, 2011SR12; southern SCC - 2015PC, 1991AQ, 2006BF56. For the general δ-Cancrids complex 2006BF56, 2014RS17, 1991AQ, 2003RW11, 2001YB5 are marked out. For Virginids only asteroids from the Apollo group are marked out: 2006UF17, 2008VL14, 2010VF. Asteroids in groups for each shower have been identified with a probability of less than 0,2. The initial base of asteroids contained 17800 orbits. The statistics for the showers is as follows: k-Cygnids – 700, δ-Cancrids (NCC, SCC branches) – 170, Virginids – 12. Analysis of the modern NEOs orbits shows that the majority of them are formed in the main asteroid belt located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter [1]. As we see, the orbits of the marked-out asteroids are elongated and comet-like. The size of 153311(2001 Introduction MG1) and 385343(2002 LV) asteroids are also typical of comet nuclei, while 2014 RS17 and 2006 BF56 Currently, Near-Earth Objects (NEO), small bodies of the Solar asteroids having small size are probably the products of larger body disintegration. For newly discovered system including asteroids and comets with elongated orbits asteroids, orbit elements are reliably determined, but other parameters, such as taxonomic index (TI) and diameter (D), are determined less reliably or unknown. -
The Relationship Between Centaurs and Jupiter Family Comets with Implications for K-Pg-Type Impacts K
1 The Relationship between Centaurs and Jupiter Family Comets with Implications for K-Pg-type Impacts K. R. Grazier1*†, J. Horner2, J. C. Castillo-Rogez3 1United States Military Academy, West Point, NY, United States 2Centre for Astrophysics, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland 4350, Australia 3Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States. *Corresponding Author. E-mail: [email protected] †Now at NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, United States Centaurs—icy bodies orbiting beyond Jupiter and interior to Neptune—are believed to be dynamically related to Jupiter Family Comets (JFCs), which have aphelia near Jupiter’s orbit, and perihelia in the inner Solar System. Previous dynamical simulations have recreated the Centaur/JFC conversion, but the mechanism behind that process remains poorly described. We have performed a numerical simulation of Centaur analogues that recreates this process, generating a dataset detailing over 2.6 million close planet/planetesimal interactions. We explore scenarios stored within that database and, from those, describe the mechanism by which Centaur objects are converted into JFCs. Because many JFCs have perihelia in the terrestrial planet region, and since Centaurs are constantly resupplied from the Scattered Disk and other reservoirs, the JFCs are an ever-present impact threat. Keywords: dynamical evolution and stability, celestial mechanics, comets, asteroids 1. Introduction Over the past decade, a number of studies have brought into question the long-held belief that Jupiter acts to shield the Earth from comet impacts. The work of Wetherill (1994, 1995), who studied the influence of the giant planets in clearing debris from the outer Solar System, is often heralded as the source of the “Jupiter: the Shield” paradigm, and was one of the core tenets of the Rare Earth hypothesis of Ward & Brownlee (2000) who popularized the notion. -
A Deep Search for Emission From" Rock Comet"(3200) Phaethon at 1 AU
Draft version November 23, 2020 Typeset using LATEX preprint style in AASTeX63 A Deep Search for Emission From \Rock Comet" (3200) Phaethon At 1 AU Quanzhi Ye (叶泉志),1 Matthew M. Knight,2, 1 Michael S. P. Kelley,1 Nicholas A. Moskovitz,3 Annika Gustafsson,4 and David Schleicher3 1Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA 2Department of Physics, United States Naval Academy, 572C Holloway Rd, Annapolis, MD 21402, USA 3Lowell Observatory, 1400 W Mars Hill Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA 4Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science, P.O. Box 6010, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA (Received -; Revised -; Accepted -) Submitted to PSJ ABSTRACT We present a deep imaging and spectroscopic search for emission from (3200) Phaethon, a large near-Earth asteroid that appears to be the parent of the strong Geminid meteoroid stream, using the 4.3 m Lowell Discovery Telescope. Observations were conducted on 2017 December 14{18 when Phaethon passed only 0.07 au from the Earth. We determine the 3σ upper level of dust and CN production rates to be 0.007{0.2 kg s−1 and 2:3 1022 molecule s−1 through narrowband imaging. A search × in broadband images taken through the SDSS r' filter shows no 100-m-class fragments in Phaethon's vicinity. A deeper, but star-contaminated search also shows no sign of fragments down to 15 m. Optical spectroscopy of Phaethon and comet C/2017 O1 (ASASSN) as comparison confirms the absence of cometary emission lines from 24 25 −1 Phaethon and yields 3σ upper levels of CN, C2 and C3 of 10 {10 molecule s , 2 orders of magnitude higher than the CN constraint placed∼ by narrowband imaging, due to the much narrower on-sky aperture of the spectrographic slit.