The Feeble Giant. Discovery of a Large and Diffuse Milky Way Dwarf Galaxy in the Constellation of Crater
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Building Blocks That Fall from the Sky
Building blocks that fall from the sky How did life on Earth begin? Scientists from the “Heidelberg Initiative for the Origin of Life” have set about answering this truly existential question. Indeed, they are going one step further and examining the conditions under which life can emerge. The initiative was founded by Thomas Henning, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, and brings together researchers from chemistry, physics and the geological and biological sciences. 18 MaxPlanckResearch 3 | 18 FOCUS_The Origin of Life TEXT THOMAS BUEHRKE he great questions of our exis- However, recent developments are The initiative was triggered by the dis- tence are the ones that fasci- forcing researchers to break down this covery of an ever greater number of nate us the most: how did the specialization and combine different rocky planets orbiting around stars oth- universe evolve, and how did disciplines. “That’s what we’re trying er than the Sun. “We now know that Earth form and life begin? to do with the Heidelberg Initiative terrestrial planets of this kind are more DoesT life exist anywhere else, or are we for the Origins of Life, which was commonplace than the Jupiter-like gas alone in the vastness of space? By ap- founded three years ago,” says Thom- giants we identified initially,” says Hen- proaching these puzzles from various as Henning. HIFOL, as the initiative’s ning. Accordingly, our Milky Way alone angles, scientists can answer different as- name is abbreviated, not only incor- is home to billions of rocky planets, pects of this question. -
Distances to Local Group Galaxies
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by CERN Document Server Distances to Local Group Galaxies Alistair R. Walker Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, NOAO, Casilla 603, la Serena, Chile Abstract. Distances to galaxies in the Local Group are reviewed. In particular, the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud is found to be (m M)0 =18:52 0:10, cor- − ± responding to 50; 600 2; 400 pc. The importance of M31 as an analog of the galaxies observed at greater distances± is stressed, while the variety of star formation and chem- ical enrichment histories displayed by Local Group galaxies allows critical evaluation of the calibrations of the various distance indicators in a variety of environments. 1 Introduction The Local Group (hereafter LG) of galaxies has been comprehensively described in the monograph by Sidney van den Berg [1], with update in [2]. The zero- velocity surface has radius of a little more than 1 Mpc, therefore the small sub-group of galaxies consisting of NGC 3109, Antlia, Sextans A and Sextans B lie outside the the LG by this definition, as do galaxies in the direction of the nearby Sculptor and IC342/Maffei groups. Thus the LG consists of two large spirals (the Galaxy and M31) each with their entourage of 11 and 10 smaller galaxies respectively, the dwarf spiral M33, and 13 other galaxies classified as either irregular or spherical. We have here included NGC 147 and NGC 185 as members of the M31 sub-group [60], whether they are actually bound to M31 is not proven. -
Distribution of Phantom Dark Matter in Dwarf Spheroidals Alistair O
A&A 640, A26 (2020) Astronomy https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202037634 & c ESO 2020 Astrophysics Distribution of phantom dark matter in dwarf spheroidals Alistair O. Hodson1,2, Antonaldo Diaferio1,2, and Luisa Ostorero1,2 1 Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Torino, Via P. Giuria 1, 10125 Torino, Italy 2 Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Sezione di Torino, Via P. Giuria 1, 10125 Torino, Italy e-mail: [email protected],[email protected] Received 31 January 2020 / Accepted 25 May 2020 ABSTRACT We derive the distribution of the phantom dark matter in the eight classical dwarf galaxies surrounding the Milky Way, under the assumption that modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) is the correct theory of gravity. According to their observed shape, we model the dwarfs as axisymmetric systems, rather than spherical systems, as usually assumed. In addition, as required by the assumption of the MOND framework, we realistically include the external gravitational field of the Milky Way and of the large-scale structure beyond the Local Group. For the dwarfs where the external field dominates over the internal gravitational field, the phantom dark matter has, from the star distribution, an offset of ∼0:1−0:2 kpc, depending on the mass-to-light ratio adopted. This offset is a substantial fraction of the dwarf half-mass radius. For Sculptor and Fornax, where the internal and external gravitational fields are comparable, the phantom dark matter distribution appears disturbed with spikes at the locations where the two fields cancel each other; these features have little connection with the distribution of the stars within the dwarfs. -
The Detailed Properties of Leo V, Pisces II and Canes Venatici II
Haverford College Haverford Scholarship Faculty Publications Astronomy 2012 Tidal Signatures in the Faintest Milky Way Satellites: The Detailed Properties of Leo V, Pisces II and Canes Venatici II David J. Sand Jay Strader Beth Willman Haverford College Dennis Zaritsky Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.haverford.edu/astronomy_facpubs Repository Citation Sand, David J., Jay Strader, Beth Willman, Dennis Zaritsky, Brian Mcleod, Nelson Caldwell, Anil Seth, and Edward Olszewski. "Tidal Signatures In The Faintest Milky Way Satellites: The Detailed Properties Of Leo V, Pisces Ii, And Canes Venatici Ii." The Astrophysical Journal 756.1 (2012): 79. Print. This Journal Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Astronomy at Haverford Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Haverford Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Astrophysical Journal, 756:79 (14pp), 2012 September 1 doi:10.1088/0004-637X/756/1/79 C 2012. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. TIDAL SIGNATURES IN THE FAINTEST MILKY WAY SATELLITES: THE DETAILED PROPERTIES OF LEO V, PISCES II, AND CANES VENATICI II∗ David J. Sand1,2,7, Jay Strader3, Beth Willman4, Dennis Zaritsky5, Brian McLeod3, Nelson Caldwell3, Anil Seth6, and Edward Olszewski5 1 Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, 6740 Cortona Drive, Suite 102, Santa Barbara, CA 93117, USA; [email protected] 2 Department of Physics, Broida Hall, -
A Detection Algorithm to Trace the Faintest Milky Way Satellites
The Astronomical Journal, 137:450–469, 2009 January doi:10.1088/0004-6256/137/1/450 c 2009. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. THE INVISIBLES: A DETECTION ALGORITHM TO TRACE THE FAINTEST MILKY WAY SATELLITES S. M. Walsh1, B. Willman2,3, and H. Jerjen1 1 Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University, Cotter Road, Weston, ACT 2611, Australia; [email protected] 2 Clay Fellow, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA 3 Haverford College, 371 Lancaster Ave, Haverford PA 19041, USA Received 2008 July 19; accepted 2008 October 21; published 2008 December 19 ABSTRACT A specialized data-mining algorithm has been developed using wide-field photometry catalogs, enabling systematic and efficient searches for resolved, extremely low surface brightness satellite galaxies in the halo of the Milky Way (MW). Tested and calibrated with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 6 (SDSS-DR6) we recover all 15 MW satellites recently detected in SDSS, six known MW/Local Group dSphs in the SDSS footprint, and 19 previously known globular and open clusters. In addition, 30 point-source overdensities have been found that correspond to no cataloged objects. The detection efficiencies of the algorithm have been carefully quantified by simulating more than three million model satellites embedded in star fields typical of those observed in SDSS, covering a wide range of parameters including galaxy distance, scale length, luminosity, and Galactic latitude. We present several parameterizations of these detection limits to facilitate comparison between the observed MW satellite population and predictions. -
What Is an Ultra-Faint Galaxy?
What is an ultra-faint Galaxy? UCSB KITP Feb 16 2012 Beth Willman (Haverford College) ~ 1/10 Milky Way luminosity Large Magellanic Cloud, MV = -18 image credit: Yuri Beletsky (ESO) and APOD NGC 205, MV = -16.4 ~ 1/40 Milky Way luminosity image credit: www.noao.edu Image credit: David W. Hogg, Michael R. Blanton, and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Collaboration ~ 1/300 Milky Way luminosity MV = -14.2 Image credit: David W. Hogg, Michael R. Blanton, and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Collaboration ~ 1/2700 Milky Way luminosity MV = -11.9 Image credit: David W. Hogg, Michael R. Blanton, and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Collaboration ~ 1/14,000 Milky Way luminosity MV = -10.1 ~ 1/40,000 Milky Way luminosity ~ 1/1,000,000 Milky Way luminosity Ursa Major 1 Finding Invisible Galaxies bright faint blue red Willman et al 2002, Walsh, Willman & Jerjen 2009; see also e.g. Koposov et al 2008, Belokurov et al. Finding Invisible Galaxies Red, bright, cool bright Blue, hot, bright V-band apparent brightness V-band faint Red, faint, cool blue red From ARAA, V26, 1988 Willman et al 2002, Walsh, Willman & Jerjen 2009; see also e.g. Koposov et al 2008, Belokurov et al. Finding Invisible Galaxies Ursa Major I dwarf 1/1,000,000 MW luminosity Willman et al 2005 ~ 1/1,000,000 Milky Way luminosity Ursa Major 1 CMD of Ursa Major I Okamoto et al 2008 Distribution of the Milky Wayʼs dwarfs -14 Milky Way dwarfs 107 -12 -10 classical dwarfs V -8 5 10 Sun M L -6 ultra-faint dwarfs Canes Venatici II -4 Leo V Pisces II Willman I 1000 -2 Segue I 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 -
Monday, November 13, 2017 WHAT DOES IT MEAN to BE HABITABLE? 8:15 A.M. MHRGC Salons ABCD 8:15 A.M. Jang-Condell H. * Welcome C
Monday, November 13, 2017 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HABITABLE? 8:15 a.m. MHRGC Salons ABCD 8:15 a.m. Jang-Condell H. * Welcome Chair: Stephen Kane 8:30 a.m. Forget F. * Turbet M. Selsis F. Leconte J. Definition and Characterization of the Habitable Zone [#4057] We review the concept of habitable zone (HZ), why it is useful, and how to characterize it. The HZ could be nicknamed the “Hunting Zone” because its primary objective is now to help astronomers plan observations. This has interesting consequences. 9:00 a.m. Rushby A. J. Johnson M. Mills B. J. W. Watson A. J. Claire M. W. Long Term Planetary Habitability and the Carbonate-Silicate Cycle [#4026] We develop a coupled carbonate-silicate and stellar evolution model to investigate the effect of planet size on the operation of the long-term carbon cycle, and determine that larger planets are generally warmer for a given incident flux. 9:20 a.m. Dong C. F. * Huang Z. G. Jin M. Lingam M. Ma Y. J. Toth G. van der Holst B. Airapetian V. Cohen O. Gombosi T. Are “Habitable” Exoplanets Really Habitable? A Perspective from Atmospheric Loss [#4021] We will discuss the impact of exoplanetary space weather on the climate and habitability, which offers fresh insights concerning the habitability of exoplanets, especially those orbiting M-dwarfs, such as Proxima b and the TRAPPIST-1 system. 9:40 a.m. Fisher T. M. * Walker S. I. Desch S. J. Hartnett H. E. Glaser S. Limitations of Primary Productivity on “Aqua Planets:” Implications for Detectability [#4109] While ocean-covered planets have been considered a strong candidate for the search for life, the lack of surface weathering may lead to phosphorus scarcity and low primary productivity, making aqua planet biospheres difficult to detect. -
Searching for Dark Matter Annihilation in Recently Discovered Milky Way Satellites with Fermi-Lat A
The Astrophysical Journal, 834:110 (15pp), 2017 January 10 doi:10.3847/1538-4357/834/2/110 © 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. SEARCHING FOR DARK MATTER ANNIHILATION IN RECENTLY DISCOVERED MILKY WAY SATELLITES WITH FERMI-LAT A. Albert1, B. Anderson2,3, K. Bechtol4, A. Drlica-Wagner5, M. Meyer2,3, M. Sánchez-Conde2,3, L. Strigari6, M. Wood1, T. M. C. Abbott7, F. B. Abdalla8,9, A. Benoit-Lévy10,8,11, G. M. Bernstein12, R. A. Bernstein13, E. Bertin10,11, D. Brooks8, D. L. Burke14,15, A. Carnero Rosell16,17, M. Carrasco Kind18,19, J. Carretero20,21, M. Crocce20, C. E. Cunha14,C.B.D’Andrea22,23, L. N. da Costa16,17, S. Desai24,25, H. T. Diehl5, J. P. Dietrich24,25, P. Doel8, T. F. Eifler12,26, A. E. Evrard27,28, A. Fausti Neto16, D. A. Finley5, B. Flaugher5, P. Fosalba20, J. Frieman5,29, D. W. Gerdes28, D. A. Goldstein30,31, D. Gruen14,15, R. A. Gruendl18,19, K. Honscheid32,33, D. J. James7, S. Kent5, K. Kuehn34, N. Kuropatkin5, O. Lahav8,T.S.Li6, M. A. G. Maia16,17, M. March12, J. L. Marshall6, P. Martini32,35, C. J. Miller27,28, R. Miquel21,36, E. Neilsen5, B. Nord5, R. Ogando16,17, A. A. Plazas26, K. Reil15, A. K. Romer37, E. S. Rykoff14,15, E. Sanchez38, B. Santiago16,39, M. Schubnell28, I. Sevilla-Noarbe18,38, R. C. Smith7, M. Soares-Santos5, F. Sobreira16, E. Suchyta12, M. E. C. Swanson19, G. Tarle28, V. Vikram40, A. R. Walker7, and R. H. Wechsler14,15,41 (The Fermi-LAT and DES Collaborations) 1 Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA; [email protected], [email protected] 2 Department of Physics, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden; [email protected] 3 The Oskar Klein Centre for Cosmoparticle Physics, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden 4 Dept. -
March 21–25, 2016
FORTY-SEVENTH LUNAR AND PLANETARY SCIENCE CONFERENCE PROGRAM OF TECHNICAL SESSIONS MARCH 21–25, 2016 The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center The Woodlands, Texas INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT Universities Space Research Association Lunar and Planetary Institute National Aeronautics and Space Administration CONFERENCE CO-CHAIRS Stephen Mackwell, Lunar and Planetary Institute Eileen Stansbery, NASA Johnson Space Center PROGRAM COMMITTEE CHAIRS David Draper, NASA Johnson Space Center Walter Kiefer, Lunar and Planetary Institute PROGRAM COMMITTEE P. Doug Archer, NASA Johnson Space Center Nicolas LeCorvec, Lunar and Planetary Institute Katherine Bermingham, University of Maryland Yo Matsubara, Smithsonian Institute Janice Bishop, SETI and NASA Ames Research Center Francis McCubbin, NASA Johnson Space Center Jeremy Boyce, University of California, Los Angeles Andrew Needham, Carnegie Institution of Washington Lisa Danielson, NASA Johnson Space Center Lan-Anh Nguyen, NASA Johnson Space Center Deepak Dhingra, University of Idaho Paul Niles, NASA Johnson Space Center Stephen Elardo, Carnegie Institution of Washington Dorothy Oehler, NASA Johnson Space Center Marc Fries, NASA Johnson Space Center D. Alex Patthoff, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Cyrena Goodrich, Lunar and Planetary Institute Elizabeth Rampe, Aerodyne Industries, Jacobs JETS at John Gruener, NASA Johnson Space Center NASA Johnson Space Center Justin Hagerty, U.S. Geological Survey Carol Raymond, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Lindsay Hays, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Paul Schenk, -
Is There Tension Between Observed Small Scale Structure and Cold Dark Matter?
Is there tension between observed small scale structure and cold dark matter? Louis Strigari Stanford University Cosmic Frontier 2013 March 8, 2013 Predictions of the standard Cold Dark Matter model 26 3 1 1. Density profiles rise towards the centersσannv 3of 10galaxies− cm s− (1) h i' ⇥ ⇢ Universal for all halo masses ⇢(r)= s (2) (r/r )(1 + r/r )2 Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) model s s 2. Abundance of ‘sub-structure’ (sub-halos) in galaxies Sub-halos comprise few percent of total halo mass Most of mass contained in highest- mass sub-halos Subhalo Mass Function Mass[Solar mass] 1 Problems with the standard Cold Dark Matter model 1. Density of dark matter halos: Faint, dark matter-dominated galaxies appear less dense that predicted in simulations General arguments: Kleyna et al. MNRAS 2003, 2004;Goerdt et al. APJ2006; de Blok et al. AJ 2008 Dwarf spheroidals: Gilmore et al. APJ 2007; Walker & Penarrubia et al. APJ 2011; Angello & Evans APJ 2012 2. ‘Missing satellites problem’: Simulations have more dark matter subhalos than there are observed dwarf satellite galaxies Earilest papers: Kauffmann et al. 1993; Klypin et al. 1999; Moore et al. 1999 Solutions to the issues in Cold Dark Matter 1. The theory is wrong i) Not enough physics in theory/simulations (Talks yesterday by M. Boylan-Kolchin, M. Kuhlen) [Wadepuhl & Springel MNRAS 2011; Parry et al. MRNAS 2011; Pontzen & Governato MRNAS 2012; Brooks et al. ApJ 2012] ii) Cosmology/dark matter is wrong (Talk yesterday by A. Peter) 2. The data is wrong i) Kinematics of dwarf spheroidals (dSphs) are more difficult than assumed ii) Counting satellites a) Many more faint satellites around the Milky Way b) Milky Way is an oddball [Liu et al. -
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). -
Open Batalha-Dissertation.Pdf
The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School Eberly College of Science A SYNERGISTIC APPROACH TO INTERPRETING PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES A Dissertation in Astronomy and Astrophysics by Natasha E. Batalha © 2017 Natasha E. Batalha Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2017 The dissertation of Natasha E. Batalha was reviewed and approved∗ by the following: Steinn Sigurdsson Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Dissertation Co-Advisor, Co-Chair of Committee James Kasting Professor of Geosciences Dissertation Co-Advisor, Co-Chair of Committee Jason Wright Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Eric Ford Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Chris Forest Professor of Meteorology Avi Mandell NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Research Scientist Special Signatory Michael Eracleous Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Graduate Program Chair ∗Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. ii Abstract We will soon have the technological capability to measure the atmospheric compo- sition of temperate Earth-sized planets orbiting nearby stars. Interpreting these atmospheric signals poses a new challenge to planetary science. In contrast to jovian-like atmospheres, whose bulk compositions consist of hydrogen and helium, terrestrial planet atmospheres are likely comprised of high mean molecular weight secondary atmospheres, which have gone through a high degree of evolution. For example, present-day Mars has a frozen surface with a thin tenuous atmosphere, but 4 billion years ago it may have been warmed by a thick greenhouse atmosphere. Several processes contribute to a planet’s atmospheric evolution: stellar evolution, geological processes, atmospheric escape, biology, etc. Each of these individual processes affects the planetary system as a whole and therefore they all must be considered in the modeling of terrestrial planets.