A New Code to Study Tidally Evolving Multi-Planet Systems
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Mars Mars Is the Fourth Terrestrial Planet. It Is Smaller in Size Than
Mars Mars is the fourth terrestrial planet. It is smaller in size than Earth and Venus, but larger than Mercury. Of the planets, Mars is the most hospitable to visiting humans, as it has an atmosphere, though it has no oxygen and is very thin. In the early days of the solar system, Mars has had liquid water on its surface, which is proved by the existence of various minerals that require liquid water to form. The current atmosphere of Mars is too thin and cold for liquid water to exist for long periods of times. Still, there is evidence of terrain shaped by flowing liquids, which are probably temporary flows or floods caused by the melting of ice in the ground. Mars has seasons like the Earth, and ice caps at the poles that grow and shrink over the course of the year. They consist of water ice and CO2 ice, the latter varying more with the seasons. One year on Mars is a bit less than two Earth years. Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. They are very small compared to Mars, and are likely to be asteroids captured by Mars's gravity in the distant past. Giant planets and their moons The outer four planets of the solar system are known as the giant planets, because of their large size (compared to the terrestrial planets). The giant planets of our solar system can be further divided into two categories: gas giants (Jupiter and Saturn) and ice giants (Uranus and Neptune). The gas giants consist mainly of hydrogen (up to 90%) and helium, while the ice giants are mostly "ices" such as water and ammonia, with only some 20% of hydrogen. -
Comparative Habitability of Transiting Exoplanets
Draft version October 1, 2015 A Preprint typeset using LTEX style emulateapj v. 04/17/13 COMPARATIVE HABITABILITY OF TRANSITING EXOPLANETS Rory Barnes1,2,3, Victoria S. Meadows1,2, Nicole Evans1,2 Draft version October 1, 2015 ABSTRACT Exoplanet habitability is traditionally assessed by comparing a planet’s semi-major axis to the location of its host star’s “habitable zone,” the shell around a star for which Earth-like planets can possess liquid surface water. The Kepler space telescope has discovered numerous planet candidates near the habitable zone, and many more are expected from missions such as K2, TESS and PLATO. These candidates often require significant follow-up observations for validation, so prioritizing planets for habitability from transit data has become an important aspect of the search for life in the universe. We propose a method to compare transiting planets for their potential to support life based on transit data, stellar properties and previously reported limits on planetary emitted flux. For a planet in radiative equilibrium, the emitted flux increases with eccentricity, but decreases with albedo. As these parameters are often unconstrained, there is an “eccentricity-albedo degeneracy” for the habitability of transiting exoplanets. Our method mitigates this degeneracy, includes a penalty for large-radius planets, uses terrestrial mass-radius relationships, and, when available, constraints on eccentricity to compute a number we call the “habitability index for transiting exoplanets” that represents the relative probability that an exoplanet could support liquid surface water. We calculate it for Kepler Objects of Interest and find that planets that receive between 60–90% of the Earth’s incident radiation, assuming circular orbits, are most likely to be habitable. -
Dynamical Evolution and Bombardment of the Early Solar System: a Few Highlights from the Last 50 Years
50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2019 (LPI Contrib. No. 2132) 1545.pdf DYNAMICAL EVOLUTION AND BOMBARDMENT OF THE EARLY SOLAR SYSTEM: A FEW HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE LAST 50 YEARS. W. F. Bottke1 1Southwest Research Institute and NASA’s SSERVI-ISET Team, Boulder, CO ([email protected]). Introduction. Over the last several decades, there orbital migration of Jupiter and Saturn in a gas disk, has been a transformation in our theoretical under- Jupiter could have migrated inward all the way to ~1.5 standing of early Solar System evolution. Historically, AU from the Sun. At that point Jupiter and Saturn it was thought that the planets and small bodies formed could have become trapped in their mutual 2:3 reso- near their current locations. Starting in the 1980’s with nance and would have begun to move outward. pioneering work by Ward, Lin, and Papaloizou, (for The Grand Tack model studied the gravitational planet–gas disk interactions) in the late 1970s and Fer- scattering of asteroids by Jupiter and Saturn during nandez and Ip (for planet–planetesimal disk interac- their inward, then outward migration. This model not tions) in the early 1980s, however, it has now become only reproduces the mass and mixture of spectral types clear that the structure of the Solar System most likely in the asteroid belt, but also truncates the planetesimal changed as the planets grew and migrated [e.g., 1, 2]. disk from which the terrestrial planets form, as in Han- Evidence for giant planet migration can be found in sen’s work. This allowed them to form a low-mass the orbital structures of the Kuiper belt, Trojans, irreg- Mars. -
Jupitor's Great Red Spot
GREAT RED SPOT appears somewhat orange in this remarkably ly ranged from '.'full gray" and "pinkish" to "brick red" and "car· detailed photograph made at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory mine." The photograph was made on December 23, 1966, by Alika of the University of Arizona. During the century or so that Jupiter's Herring and John Fountain, who used a 61·inch reflecting tele· great red spot bas been closely observed its color has reported. scope. The exposure was one second on High Speed Ektachrome. © 1968 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC JUPITER'S GREAT RED SPOT There is evidence to suggest that this peculiar Inarking is the top of a "Taylor cohunn": a stagnant region above a bll111p 01' depression at the botton1 of a circulating fluid by Haymond Hide he surface markings of the plan To explain the fluctuations in the red tals suspended in an atmosphere that is Tets have always had a special fas spot's period of rotation one must assume mainly hydrogen admixed with water cination, and no single marking that there are forces acting on the solid and perhaps methane and helium. Other has been more fascinating and puzzling planet capable of causing an equivalent lines of evidence, particularly the fact than the great red spot of Jupiter. Un change in its rotation period. In other that Jupiter's density is only 1.3 times like the elusive "canals" of Mars, the red words, the fluctuations in the rotation the density of water, suggest that the spot unmistakably exists. Although it has period of the red spot are to be regarded main constituents of the planet are hy been known to fade and change color, it as a true reflection of the rotation period drogen and helium. -
Terrestrial Planets in High-Mass Disks Without Gas Giants
A&A 557, A42 (2013) Astronomy DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201321304 & c ESO 2013 Astrophysics Terrestrial planets in high-mass disks without gas giants G. C. de Elía, O. M. Guilera, and A. Brunini Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata and Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plata, CCT La Plata-CONICET-UNLP, Paseo del Bosque S/N, 1900 La Plata, Argentina e-mail: [email protected] Received 15 February 2013 / Accepted 24 May 2013 ABSTRACT Context. Observational and theoretical studies suggest that planetary systems consisting only of rocky planets are probably the most common in the Universe. Aims. We study the potential habitability of planets formed in high-mass disks without gas giants around solar-type stars. These systems are interesting because they are likely to harbor super-Earths or Neptune-mass planets on wide orbits, which one should be able to detect with the microlensing technique. Methods. First, a semi-analytical model was used to define the mass of the protoplanetary disks that produce Earth-like planets, super- Earths, or mini-Neptunes, but not gas giants. Using mean values for the parameters that describe a disk and its evolution, we infer that disks with masses lower than 0.15 M are unable to form gas giants. Then, that semi-analytical model was used to describe the evolution of embryos and planetesimals during the gaseous phase for a given disk. Thus, initial conditions were obtained to perform N-body simulations of planetary accretion. We studied disks of 0.1, 0.125, and 0.15 M. -
SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE MID-IR LIGHT CURVES of NEPTUNE John Stauffer1, Mark S
The Astronomical Journal, 152:142 (8pp), 2016 November doi:10.3847/0004-6256/152/5/142 © 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE MID-IR LIGHT CURVES OF NEPTUNE John Stauffer1, Mark S. Marley2, John E. Gizis3, Luisa Rebull1,4, Sean J. Carey1, Jessica Krick1, James G. Ingalls1, Patrick Lowrance1, William Glaccum1, J. Davy Kirkpatrick5, Amy A. Simon6, and Michael H. Wong7 1 Spitzer Science Center (SSC), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA 2 NASA Ames Research Center, Space Sciences and Astrobiology Division, MS245-3, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA 3 Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA 4 Infrared Science Archive (IRSA), 1200 E. California Boulevard, MS 314-6, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA 5 Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, MS 100-22, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA 6 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Solar System Exploration Division (690.0), 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA 7 University of California, Department of Astronomy, Berkeley CA 94720-3411, USA Received 2016 July 13; revised 2016 August 12; accepted 2016 August 15; published 2016 October 27 ABSTRACT We have used the Spitzer Space Telescope in 2016 February to obtain high cadence, high signal-to-noise, 17 hr duration light curves of Neptune at 3.6 and 4.5 μm. The light curve duration was chosen to correspond to the rotation period of Neptune. Both light curves are slowly varying with time, with full amplitudes of 1.1 mag at 3.6 μm and 0.6 mag at 4.5 μm. -
Mercury Friday, February 23
ASTRONOMY 161 Introduction to Solar System Astronomy Class 18 Mercury Friday, February 23 Mercury: Basic characteristics Mass = 3.302×1023 kg (0.055 Earth) Radius = 2,440 km (0.383 Earth) Density = 5,427 kg/m³ Sidereal rotation period = 58.6462 d Albedo = 0.11 (Earth = 0.39) Average distance from Sun = 0.387 A.U. Mercury: Key Concepts (1) Mercury has a 3-to-2 spin-orbit coupling (not synchronous rotation). (2) Mercury has no permanent atmosphere because it is too hot. (3) Like the Moon, Mercury has cratered highlands and smooth plains. (4) Mercury has an extremely large iron-rich core. (1) Mercury has a 3-to-2 spin-orbit coupling (not synchronous rotation). Mercury is hard to observe from the Earth (because it is so close to the Sun). Its rotation speed can be found from Doppler shift of radar signals. Mercury’s unusual orbit Orbital period = 87.969 days Rotation period = 58.646 days = (2/3) x 87.969 days Mercury is NOT in synchronous rotation (1 rotation per orbit). Instead, it has 3-to-2 spin-orbit coupling (3 rotations for 2 orbits). Synchronous rotation (WRONG!) 3-to-2 spin-orbit coupling (RIGHT!) Time between one noon and the next is 176 days. Sun is above the horizon for 88 days at the time. Daytime temperatures reach as high as: 700 Kelvin (800 degrees F). Nighttime temperatures drops as low as: 100 Kelvin (-270 degrees F). (2) Mercury has no permanent atmosphere because it is too hot (and has low escape speed). Temperature is a measure of the 3kT v = random speed of m atoms (or v typical speed of atom molecules). -
FY13 High-Level Deliverables
National Optical Astronomy Observatory Fiscal Year Annual Report for FY 2013 (1 October 2012 – 30 September 2013) Submitted to the National Science Foundation Pursuant to Cooperative Support Agreement No. AST-0950945 13 December 2013 Revised 18 September 2014 Contents NOAO MISSION PROFILE .................................................................................................... 1 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................ 2 2 NOAO ACCOMPLISHMENTS ....................................................................................... 4 2.1 Achievements ..................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Status of Vision and Goals ................................................................................. 5 2.2.1 Status of FY13 High-Level Deliverables ............................................ 5 2.2.2 FY13 Planned vs. Actual Spending and Revenues .............................. 8 2.3 Challenges and Their Impacts ............................................................................ 9 3 SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES AND FINDINGS .............................................................. 11 3.1 Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory ....................................................... 11 3.2 Kitt Peak National Observatory ....................................................................... 14 3.3 Gemini Observatory ........................................................................................ -
C Copyright 2014 Aomawa L. Shields
c Copyright 2014 Aomawa L. Shields The Effect of Star-Planet Interactions on Planetary Climate Aomawa L. Shields A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2014 Reading Committee: Victoria Meadows, Chair Cecilia Bitz Rory Barnes Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Astronomy University of Washington Abstract The Effect of Star-Planet Interactions on Planetary Climate Aomawa L. Shields Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Victoria Meadows Astronomy The goal of the work presented here is to explore the unique interactions between a host star, an orbiting planet, and additional planets in a stellar system, and to develop and test methods that include both radiative and gravitational effects on planetary climate and habitability. These methods can then be used to identify and assess the possible climates of potentially habitable planets in observed planetary systems. In this work I explored key star-planet interactions using a hierarchy of models, which I modified to incorporate the spectrum of stars of different spectral types. Using a 1- D energy-balance climate model, a 1-D line-by-line, radiative-transfer model, and a 3-D general circulation model, I simulated planets covered by ocean, land, and water ice of varying grain size, with incident radiation from stars of different spectral types. I find that terrestrial planets orbiting stars with higher near-UV radiation exhibit a stronger ice-albedo feedback. Ice extent is much greater on a planet orbiting an F-dwarf star than on a planet orbiting a G-dwarf star at an equivalent flux distance, and ice-covered conditions occur on an F-dwarf planet with only a 2% reduction in instellation (incident stellar radiation) relative to the present instellation on Earth, assuming fixed CO2 (present atmospheric level on Earth). -
Spectral Properties of Binary Asteroids Myriam Pajuelo, Mirel Birlan, Benoit Carry, Francesca Demeo, Richard Binzel, Jérôme Berthier
Spectral properties of binary asteroids Myriam Pajuelo, Mirel Birlan, Benoit Carry, Francesca Demeo, Richard Binzel, Jérôme Berthier To cite this version: Myriam Pajuelo, Mirel Birlan, Benoit Carry, Francesca Demeo, Richard Binzel, et al.. Spectral prop- erties of binary asteroids. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Oxford University Press (OUP): Policy P - Oxford Open Option A, 2018, 477 (4), pp.5590-5604. 10.1093/mnras/sty1013. hal-01948168 HAL Id: hal-01948168 https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01948168 Submitted on 7 Dec 2018 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. MNRAS 00, 1 (2018) doi:10.1093/mnras/sty1013 Advance Access publication 2018 April 24 Spectral properties of binary asteroids Myriam Pajuelo,1,2‹ Mirel Birlan,1,3 Benoˆıt Carry,1,4 Francesca E. DeMeo,5 Richard P. Binzel1,5 and Jer´ omeˆ Berthier1 1IMCCE, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Universites,´ UPMC Univ Paris 06, Univ. Lille, France 2Seccion´ F´ısica, Departamento de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Catolica´ del Peru,´ Apartado 1761, Lima, Peru´ 3Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy, 5 Cutitul de Argint, 040557 Bucharest, Romania 4Observatoire de la Coteˆ d’Azur, UniversiteC´ oteˆ d’Azur, CNRS, Lagrange, France 5Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA Accepted 2018 April 16. -
Astronomical Observations of Volatiles on Asteroids
Astronomical Observations of Volatiles on Asteroids Andrew S. Rivkin The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Humberto Campins University of Central Florida Joshua P. Emery University of Tennessee Ellen S. Howell Arecibo Observatory/USRA Javier Licandro Instituto Astrofisica de Canarias Driss Takir Ithaca College and Planetary Science Institute Faith Vilas Planetary Science Institute We have long known that water and hydroxyl are important components in meteorites and asteroids. However, in the time since the publication of Asteroids III, evolution of astronomical instrumentation, laboratory capabilities, and theoretical models have led to great advances in our understanding of H2O/OH on small bodies, and spacecraft observations of the Moon and Vesta have important implications for our interpretations of the asteroidal population. We begin this chapter with the importance of water/OH in asteroids, after which we will discuss their spectral features throughout the visible and near-infrared. We continue with an overview of the findings in meteorites and asteroids, closing with a discussion of future opportunities, the results from which we can anticipate finding in Asteroids V. Because this topic is of broad importance to asteroids, we also point to relevant in-depth discussions elsewhere in this volume. 1 Water ice sublimation and processes that create, incorporate, or deliver volatiles to the asteroid belt 1.1 Accretion/Solar system formation The concept of the “snow line” (also known as “water-frost line”) is often used in discussing the water inventory of small bodies in our solar system. The snow line is the heliocentric distance at which water ice is stable enough to be accreted into planetesimals. -
Zone Eight-Earth-Mass Planet K2-18 B
LETTERS https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-019-0878-9 Water vapour in the atmosphere of the habitable- zone eight-Earth-mass planet K2-18 b Angelos Tsiaras *, Ingo P. Waldmann *, Giovanna Tinetti , Jonathan Tennyson and Sergey N. Yurchenko In the past decade, observations from space and the ground planet within the star’s habitable zone (~0.12–0.25 au) (ref. 20), with have found water to be the most abundant molecular species, effective temperature between 200 K and 320 K, depending on the after hydrogen, in the atmospheres of hot, gaseous extrasolar albedo and the emissivity of its surface and/or its atmosphere. This planets1–5. Being the main molecular carrier of oxygen, water crude estimate accounts for neither possible tidal energy sources21 is a tracer of the origin and the evolution mechanisms of plan- nor atmospheric heat redistribution11,13, which might be relevant for ets. For temperate, terrestrial planets, the presence of water this planet. Measurements of the mass and the radius of K2-18 b 22 is of great importance as an indicator of habitable conditions. (planetary mass Mp = 7.96 ± 1.91 Earth masses (M⊕) (ref. ), plan- 19 Being small and relatively cold, these planets and their atmo- etary radius Rp = 2.279 ± 0.0026 R⊕ (ref. )) yield a bulk density of spheres are the most challenging to observe, and therefore no 3.3 ± 1.2 g cm−1 (ref. 22), suggesting either a silicate planet with an 6 atmospheric spectral signatures have so far been detected . extended atmosphere or an interior composition with a water (H2O) Super-Earths—planets lighter than ten Earth masses—around mass fraction lower than 50% (refs.