Neptune and Triton: Essential Pieces of the Solar System Puzzle A
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Transit Timing Analysis of the Hot Jupiters WASP-43B and WASP-46B and the Super Earth Gj1214b
Transit timing analysis of the hot Jupiters WASP-43b and WASP-46b and the super Earth GJ1214b Mathias Polfliet Promotors: Michaël Gillon, Maarten Baes 1 Abstract Transit timing analysis is proving to be a promising method to detect new planetary partners in systems which already have known transiting planets, particularly in the orbital resonances of the system. In these resonances we might be able to detect Earth-mass objects well below the current detection and even theoretical (due to stellar variability) thresholds of the radial velocity method. We present four new transits for WASP-46b, four new transits for WASP-43b and eight new transits for GJ1214b observed with the robotic telescope TRAPPIST located at ESO La Silla Observatory, Chile. Modelling the data was done using several Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulations of the new transits with old data and a collection of transit timings for GJ1214b from published papers. For the hot Jupiters this lead to a general increase in accuracy for the physical parameters of the system (for the mass and period we found: 2.034±0.052 MJup and 0.81347460±0.00000048 days and 2.03±0.13 MJup and 1.4303723±0.0000011 days for WASP-43b and WASP-46b respectively). For GJ1214b this was not the case given the limited photometric precision of TRAPPIST. The additional timings however allowed us to constrain the period to 1.580404695±0.000000084 days and the RMS of the TTVs to 16 seconds. We investigated given systems for Transit Timing Variations (TTVs) and variations in the other transit parameters and found no significant (3sv) deviations. -
Lecture 12 the Rings and Moons of the Outer Planets October 15, 2018
Lecture 12 The Rings and Moons of the Outer Planets October 15, 2018 1 2 Rings of Outer Planets • Rings are not solid but are fragments of material – Saturn: Ice and ice-coated rock (bright) – Others: Dusty ice, rocky material (dark) • Very thin – Saturn rings ~0.05 km thick! • Rings can have many gaps due to small satellites – Saturn and Uranus 3 Rings of Jupiter •Very thin and made of small, dark particles. 4 Rings of Saturn Flash movie 5 Saturn’s Rings Ring structure in natural color, photographed by Cassini probe July 23, 2004. Click on image for Astronomy Picture of the Day site, or here for JPL information 6 Saturn’s Rings (false color) Photo taken by Voyager 2 on August 17, 1981. Click on image for more information 7 Saturn’s Ring System (Cassini) Mars Mimas Janus Venus Prometheus A B C D F G E Pandora Enceladus Epimetheus Earth Tethys Moon Wikipedia image with annotations On July 19, 2013, in an event celebrated the world over, NASA's Cassini spacecraft slipped into Saturn's shadow and turned to image the planet, seven of its moons, its inner rings -- and, in the background, our home planet, Earth. 8 Newly Discovered Saturnian Ring • Nearly invisible ring in the plane of the moon Pheobe’s orbit, tilted 27° from Saturn’s equatorial plane • Discovered by the infrared Spitzer Space Telescope and announced 6 October 2009 • Extends from 128 to 207 Saturnian radii and is about 40 radii thick • Contributes to the two-tone coloring of the moon Iapetus • Click here for more info about the artist’s rendering 9 Rings of Uranus • Uranus -- rings discovered through stellar occultation – Rings block light from star as Uranus moves by. -
HOW to CONSTRAIN YOUR M DWARF: MEASURING EFFECTIVE TEMPERATURE, BOLOMETRIC LUMINOSITY, MASS, and RADIUS Andrew W
The Astrophysical Journal, 804:64 (38pp), 2015 May 1 doi:10.1088/0004-637X/804/1/64 © 2015. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. HOW TO CONSTRAIN YOUR M DWARF: MEASURING EFFECTIVE TEMPERATURE, BOLOMETRIC LUMINOSITY, MASS, AND RADIUS Andrew W. Mann1,2,8,9, Gregory A. Feiden3, Eric Gaidos4,5,10, Tabetha Boyajian6, and Kaspar von Braun7 1 University of Texas at Austin, USA; [email protected] 2 Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University, USA 3 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-751 20, Uppsala, Sweden 4 Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA 5 Max Planck Institut für Astronomie, Heidelberg, Germany 6 Department of Astronomy, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA 7 Lowell Observatory, 1400 W. Mars Hill Rd., Flagstaff, AZ, USA Received 2015 January 6; accepted 2015 February 26; published 2015 May 4 ABSTRACT Precise and accurate parameters for late-type (late K and M) dwarf stars are important for characterization of any orbiting planets, but such determinations have been hampered by these stars’ complex spectra and dissimilarity to the Sun. We exploit an empirically calibrated method to estimate spectroscopic effective temperature (Teff) and the Stefan–Boltzmann law to determine radii of 183 nearby K7–M7 single stars with a precision of 2%–5%. Our improved stellar parameters enable us to develop model-independent relations between Teff or absolute magnitude and radius, as well as between color and Teff. The derived Teff–radius relation depends strongly on [Fe/H],as predicted by theory. -
Abstracts of the 50Th DDA Meeting (Boulder, CO)
Abstracts of the 50th DDA Meeting (Boulder, CO) American Astronomical Society June, 2019 100 — Dynamics on Asteroids break-up event around a Lagrange point. 100.01 — Simulations of a Synthetic Eurybates 100.02 — High-Fidelity Testing of Binary Asteroid Collisional Family Formation with Applications to 1999 KW4 Timothy Holt1; David Nesvorny2; Jonathan Horner1; Alex B. Davis1; Daniel Scheeres1 Rachel King1; Brad Carter1; Leigh Brookshaw1 1 Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder 1 Centre for Astrophysics, University of Southern Queensland (Boulder, Colorado, United States) (Longmont, Colorado, United States) 2 Southwest Research Institute (Boulder, Connecticut, United The commonly accepted formation process for asym- States) metric binary asteroids is the spin up and eventual fission of rubble pile asteroids as proposed by Walsh, Of the six recognized collisional families in the Jo- Richardson and Michel (Walsh et al., Nature 2008) vian Trojan swarms, the Eurybates family is the and Scheeres (Scheeres, Icarus 2007). In this theory largest, with over 200 recognized members. Located a rubble pile asteroid is spun up by YORP until it around the Jovian L4 Lagrange point, librations of reaches a critical spin rate and experiences a mass the members make this family an interesting study shedding event forming a close, low-eccentricity in orbital dynamics. The Jovian Trojans are thought satellite. Further work by Jacobson and Scheeres to have been captured during an early period of in- used a planar, two-ellipsoid model to analyze the stability in the Solar system. The parent body of the evolutionary pathways of such a formation event family, 3548 Eurybates is one of the targets for the from the moment the bodies initially fission (Jacob- LUCY spacecraft, and our work will provide a dy- son and Scheeres, Icarus 2011). -
General Interstellar Issue
Journal of the British Interplanetary Society VOLUME 72 NO.4 APRIL 2019 General interstellar issue POSITRON PROPULSION for Interplanetary and Interstellar Travel Ryan Weed et al. SPACECRAFT WITH INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM MOMENTUM EXCHANGE REACTIONS: the Potential and Limitations of Propellantless Interstellar Travel Drew Brisbin ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE for Interstellar Travel Andreas M. Hein & Stephen Baxter www.bis-space.com ISSN 0007-084X PUBLICATION DATE: 30 MAY 2019 Submitting papers International Advisory Board to JBIS JBIS welcomes the submission of technical Rachel Armstrong, Newcastle University, UK papers for publication dealing with technical Peter Bainum, Howard University, USA reviews, research, technology and engineering in astronautics and related fields. Stephen Baxter, Science & Science Fiction Writer, UK James Benford, Microwave Sciences, California, USA Text should be: James Biggs, The University of Strathclyde, UK ■ As concise as the content allows – typically 5,000 to 6,000 words. Shorter papers (Technical Notes) Anu Bowman, Foundation for Enterprise Development, California, USA will also be considered; longer papers will only Gerald Cleaver, Baylor University, USA be considered in exceptional circumstances – for Charles Cockell, University of Edinburgh, UK example, in the case of a major subject review. Ian A. Crawford, Birkbeck College London, UK ■ Source references should be inserted in the text in square brackets – [1] – and then listed at the Adam Crowl, Icarus Interstellar, Australia end of the paper. Eric W. Davis, Institute for Advanced Studies at Austin, USA ■ Illustration references should be cited in Kathryn Denning, York University, Toronto, Canada numerical order in the text; those not cited in the Martyn Fogg, Probability Research Group, UK text risk omission. -
Publications Ofthe Astronomical Society Ofthe Pacific 99:490-496, June 1987
Publications ofthe Astronomical Society ofthe Pacific 99:490-496, June 1987 RADIAL VELOCITIES OF M DWARF STARS GEOFFREY W. MARCY,* VICTORIA LINDSAY,* AND KAREN WILSON Department of Physics and Astronomy, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California 94132 Received 1987 February 26, revised 1987 March 28 ABSTRACT Radial velocities for 72 M dwarfs have been obtained having internal errors of about 0.1 km s1 and external errors of about 0.4 km s_1. Multiple velocity measurements of ten dMe stars have yielded a set of six which have no stellar companions, providing confirmation that the dMe phenomenon can occur in single stars. These single dMe stars have low space motions indicative of relative youth. Four stars from the entire survey were found to have double-line spectra and two were found to be single-line spectroscopic binaries of low amplitude. The zero point of the velocity scale is found to agree well with that of O. C. Wilson (1967) and differences are noted among other radial-velocity studies. Most of the stars in this study have velocities sufficiently well determined to constitute potential radial-velocity standards. Key words: K-M dwarfs-radial velocities I. Introduction atic difference between their velocities and O. C. 1 Accurate measurements of radial velocities for M Wilson's of —1.7 km s , a discrepancy not explainable by dwarfs are used to address a number of astrophysical the random errors of the two studies. problems such as the age dependence of the kinematics of Thus, it is not known at present which zero point is to the Galaxy (cf. -
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. -
Self-Organizing Systems in Planetary Physics: Harmonic Resonances Of
Self-Organizing Systems in Planetary Physics : Harmonic Resonances of Planet and Moon Orbits Markus J. Aschwanden1 1) Lockheed Martin, Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory, Org. A021S, Bldg. 252, 3251 Hanover St., Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA; e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT The geometric arrangement of planet and moon orbits into a regularly spaced pattern of distances is the result of a self-organizing system. The positive feedback mechanism that operates a self-organizing system is accomplished by harmonic orbit resonances, leading to long-term stable planet and moon orbits in solar or stellar systems. The distance pattern of planets was originally described by the empirical Titius-Bode law, and by a generalized version with a constant geometric progression factor (corresponding to logarithmic spacing). We find that the orbital periods Ti and planet distances Ri from the Sun are not consistent with logarithmic spacing, 2/3 2/3 but rather follow the quantized scaling (Ri+1/Ri) = (Ti+1/Ti) = (Hi+1/Hi) , where the harmonic ratios are given by five dominant resonances, namely (Hi+1 : Hi)=(3:2), (5 : 3), (2 : 1), (5 : 2), (3 : 1). We find that the orbital period ratios tend to follow the quantized harmonic ratios in increasing order. We apply this harmonic orbit resonance model to the planets and moons in our solar system, and to the exo-planets of 55 Cnc and HD 10180 planetary systems. The model allows us a prediction of missing planets in each planetary system, based on the quasi- regular self-organizing pattern of harmonic orbit resonance zones. We predict 7 (and 4) missing exo-planets around the star 55 Cnc (and HD 10180). -
Exoplanet Community Report
JPL Publication 09‐3 Exoplanet Community Report Edited by: P. R. Lawson, W. A. Traub and S. C. Unwin National Aeronautics and Space Administration Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena, California March 2009 The work described in this publication was performed at a number of organizations, including the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Publication was provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Compiling and publication support was provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under a contract with NASA. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply its endorsement by the United States Government, or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. © 2009. All rights reserved. The exoplanet community’s top priority is that a line of probeclass missions for exoplanets be established, leading to a flagship mission at the earliest opportunity. iii Contents 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................................................1 1.2 EXOPLANET FORUM 2008: THE PROCESS OF CONSENSUS BEGINS.....................................................2 -
NASA Finds Neptune Moons Locked in 'Dance of Avoidance' 15 November 2019, by Gretchen Mccartney
NASA finds Neptune moons locked in 'dance of avoidance' 15 November 2019, by Gretchen McCartney Although the dance may appear odd, it keeps the orbits stable, researchers said. "We refer to this repeating pattern as a resonance," said Marina Brozovi?, an expert in solar system dynamics at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and the lead author of the new paper, which was published Nov. 13 in Icarus. "There are many different types of 'dances' that planets, moons and asteroids can follow, but this one has never been seen before." Far from the pull of the Sun, the giant planets of the Neptune Moon Dance: This animation illustrates how the outer solar system are the dominant sources of odd orbits of Neptune's inner moons Naiad and gravity, and collectively, they boast dozens upon Thalassa enable them to avoid each other as they race dozens of moons. Some of those moons formed around the planet. Credit: NASA alongside their planets and never went anywhere; others were captured later, then locked into orbits dictated by their planets. Some orbit in the opposite direction their planets rotate; others swap orbits Even by the wild standards of the outer solar with each other as if to avoid collision. system, the strange orbits that carry Neptune's two innermost moons are unprecedented, according to Neptune has 14 confirmed moons. Neso, the newly published research. farthest-flung of them, orbits in a wildly elliptical loop that carries it nearly 46 million miles (74 million Orbital dynamics experts are calling it a "dance of kilometers) away from the planet and takes 27 avoidance" performed by the tiny moons Naiad years to complete. -
Astro Vol.7 Issue 4
NEWSLETTER Year 7, Issue 04 PSSP - News The First NASA Videoconference Prepared by Elzbieta Gwiazda-Szer On the 15th of January there was a videoconference between the Rota College (Izmir, Turkey), School4Child (Lodz, Poland) and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama in the U.S.A.. It was a historical day for both schools since it was their first videoconference with a NASA Center. Our school prepared for that during the classes conducted by Ms. Elzbieta Gwiazda-Szer . The classes and videoconference’s theme was "Toys in Space". In class, students got familiar with Newton's three principles of dynamics, they learned about gravity and microgravity. In groups, students sought answers to questions concerning the behavior of their toys in space. Their considerations related to a football , a jump rope , a kendama and a paper boomerang . Some students have modified their toys in order to improve the fun efficiency in microgravity. Our students also had the opportunity to meet with their ePals, with whom they are in touch via emails. This is the third year we have been partners of the program PSSP - Partner School Science Program. The videoconferencing has been received with great enthusiasm by both our students and students from Turkey. Pages 1 Technology Lunar Time Lapse Panorama including Yutu Rover Image Credit: CNSA, Chinanews, Kenneth Kremer & Marco Di Lorenzo Where has the Yutu rover been on the Moon? Arriving in 2013 mid-December, the Chinese Yutu robotic rover has spent some of the past month and a half exploring Mare Imbrium on Earth's Moon. -
Filipiak Solar System Book
Our Solar System Mrs. Filipiak’s Class Our Solar System Mrs. Filipiak’s Class Sun ...............................................................................................7 Michael ........................................................................................7 Mercury ........................................................................................1 Denzel ..........................................................................................1 Mercury ........................................................................................3 Austin ...........................................................................................3 Mercury ........................................................................................5 Madison B ....................................................................................5 Venus ............................................................................................7 Shyla .............................................................................................7 Venus ............................................................................................9 Kenny ...........................................................................................9 Earth ..........................................................................................11 Kaleb ..........................................................................................11 Earth ..........................................................................................13