DOCSLIB.ORG

DISTANT Ekos

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
DISTANT Ekos Issue No. 119 April 2019 r ✤✜ s ✓✏ DISTANT EKO ❞✐ ✒✑ The Kuiper Belt Electronic Newsletter ✣✢ Edited by: Joel Wm. Parker [email protected] www.boulder.swri.edu/ekonews CONTENTS News & Announcements ................................. 2 Abstracts of 11 Accepted Papers ........................ 3 Newsletter Information .............................. 11 1 NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS Icarus is sponsoring a special issue on results related to the exploration of the Pluto system, the Kuiper Belt, and Kuiper Belt Objects by New Horizons. Papers are solicited from authors inside and outside the New Horizons team. The deadline for this special issue is 15 September 2019. Alan Stern Principal Investigator, New Horizons Rosaly Lopes Editor, Icarus ................................................... ............................................... EPSC-DPS Session SB5: Trans-Neptunian objects and their dust environment, Pluto, 2014 MU69, and Centaurs This session welcomes papers about the trans-Neptunian objects and their environment, including investigations of space weathering. We encourage scientific investigations based on both space and Earth-based observations as well as theoretical and laboratory investigations. Papers based on observations and measurements obtained from within the Kuiper Belt are particularly encouraged including those focusing on 2014 MU69 (a target of the New Horizons mission). We also welcome papers about the Pluto system including investigations of the geology, composition, atmosphere, climate and environment. Papers on processes that may be active in the Pluto system are particularly encouraged and include topics such as formation of organics in Pluto’s atmosphere and surface, or seasonal/climatic models of volatile transports. This session will also welcome abstracts devoted to studies of the Centaurs, in particular on their structure, composition, dynamics and activity patterns. We invite studies that describe observations, theory, experimental work, and future spacecraft encounters related to: (i) the onset and provenance of activity beyond Jupiter’s orbit, and (ii) the nature of surface modification at these heliocentric distances (including, but not limited to, solar radiation, space weathering and impacts). The abstract submission deadline is May 8, 2019, 13:00 CEST. https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC-DPS2019/session/34462 Please join us in Geneva, Sept. 15-20 2019, for what is sure to be a great meeting. Conveners: Kelsi Singer, Maria Teresa Capria, Heather Elliott, Sonia Fornasier, Walter Harris, Rodrigo Leiva, Catherine Olkin, Davide Perna, Simon Porter, Silvia Protopappa, Gal Sarid, Bernard Schmitt, Anne Verbiscer, Laura Woodney ................................................... ............................................... There were 56 new TNO discoveries announced since the previous issue of Distant EKOs: 2009 XM26, 2009 YR26, 2009 YS26, 2009 YT26, 2010 AV153, 2010 DF106, 2010 JF210, 2010 JH210, 2010 JJ210, 2010 NF146, 2010 RJ190, 2010 RK190, 2010 TR195, 2010 TS195, 2010 TT195, 2010 WN75, 2011 BO170, 2011 BQ170, 2011 EY90, 2011 EZ90, 2011 GZ61, 2011 HN104, 2011 LJ29, 2011 OC61, 2011 SW281, 2012 BZ159, 2012 DQ106, 2012 FN87, 2012 JD68, 2012 PU45, 2012 UE185, 2012 VB116, 2012 WD37, 2012 XW159, 2012 YF12, 2012 YG12, 2013 CF229, 2013 PE84, 2014 AF61, 2014 BD70, 2014 GK65, 2014 JQ92, 2014 JR92, 2014 KF113, 2014 OX415, 2014 SA365, 2014 WC536, 2014 WW535, 2014 WZ535, 2015 AQ293, 2015 DZ250, 2015 KG178, 2015 KK178, 2016 AN278, 2016 NZ90, 2017 FD163 2 and 55 new Centaur/SDO discoveries: 2010 AW153, 2010 BP153, 2010 CD270, 2010 JG210, 2010 NG146, 2010 OE153, 2010 PC88, 2010 QQ7, 2010 UU110, 2010 WM75, 2011 BM170, 2011 BN170, 2011 BP170, 2011 MV11, 2011 QY100, 2011 VZ24, 2012 AZ25, 2012 FM87, 2012 GT41, 2012 HW87, 2012 HX87, 2012 LB27, 2012 PV45, 2013 GW141, 2013 LZ36, 2013 ME14, 2013 NT33, 2013 NU33, 2013 PD84, 2014 BE70, 2014 BF70, 2014 GJ65, 2014 HO211, 2014 KE113, 2014 PM82, 2014 WA536, 2014 WB536, 2014 WV535, 2014 WX535, 2014 WY535, 2015 AR293, 2015 BE568, 2015 BF568, 2015 BG568, 2015 FG415, 2015 RQ281, 2015 XW379, 2016 CN323, 2016 SE56, 2017 OK69, 2017 VO34, 2018 AZ18, 2018 GT12, 2018 JT6, 2018 JU6 Current number of TNOs: 2499 (including Pluto) Current number of Centaurs/SDOs: 921 Current number of Neptune Trojans: 22 Out of a total of 3442 objects: 693 have measurements from only one opposition 686 of those have had no measurements for more than a year 368 of those have arcs shorter than 10 days (for more details, see: http://www.boulder.swri.edu/ekonews/objects/recov_stats.jpg) PAPERS ACCEPTED TO JOURNALS Impact Craters on Pluto and Charon Indicate a Deficit of Small Kuiper Belt Objects K.N. Singer1, W.B. McKinnon2, B. Gladman3, S. Greenstreet4, et al. 1 Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, USA 2 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA 3 University of British Columbia, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vancouver, BC, Canada 4 Las Cumbres Observatory, Goleta, CA and the University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA The flyby of Pluto and Charon by the New Horizons spacecraft provided high-resolution images of cratered surfaces embedded in the Kuiper belt, an extensive region of bodies orbiting beyond Neptune. Impact craters on Pluto and Charon were formed by collisions with other Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) with diameters from ∼40 kilometers to ∼300 meters, smaller than most KBOs observed directly by telescopes. We find a relative paucity of small craters less than approximately 13 kilometers in diameter, which cannot be explained solely by geological resurfacing. This implies a deficit of small KBOs (less than 1 to 2 kilometers in diameter). Some surfaces on Pluto and Charon are likely greater than 4 billion years old, thus their crater records provide information on the size-frequency distribution of KBOs in the early Solar System. Published in: Science, 363, 955 (2019 March 1) Available online at http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019Sci...363..955N ................................................... ............................................... 3 Col-OSSOS: Color and Inclination are Correlated Throughout the Kuiper Belt Micha¨el Marsset1,2, Wesley C. Fraser1, Rosemary E. Pike3, Michele T. Bannister1,4,5, Megan E. Schwamb6, Kathryn Volk7, J.J. Kavelaars5,4, Mike Alexandersen3, Ying-Tung Chen3, Brett J. Gladman8, Stephen D.J. Gwyn5, Matthew J. Lehner3,9,10, Nuno Peixinho11, Jean-Marc Petit12, and Shiang-Yu Wang3 1 Astrophysics Research Centre, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, United Kingdom 2 Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, MIT, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA 3 Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica; 11F of AS/NTUAstronomy-Mathematics Building, No.1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd, Taipei 10617, Taiwan, R.O.C. 4 Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Elliott Building, 3800 Finnerty Rd, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada 5 NRC-Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics, National Research Council of Canada, 5071 West Saanich Rd, Victoria, BC V9E 2E7, Canada 6 Gemini Observatory, Northern Operations Center, 670 North A’ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720, USA 7 Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, The University of Arizona, 1629 E. University Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85721, USA 8 Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada 9 Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 S. 33rd St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA 10 Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA 11 CITEUC – Centre for Earth and Space Science Research of the University of Coimbra, Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory of the University of Coimbra, 3040-004 Coimbra, Portugal 12 Institut UTINAM UMR6213, CNRS, Univ. Bourgogne Franche-Comt´e, OSU Theta F25000 Besan¸con, France Both physical and dynamical properties must be considered to constrain the origins of the dy- namically excited distant Solar System populations. We present high-precision (g-r) colors for 25 small (Hr>5) dynamically excited Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) and centaurs acquired as part of the Colours of the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (Col-OSSOS). We combine our dataset with previously published measurements and consider a set of 229 colors of outer Solar System objects on dynamically excited orbits. The overall color distribution is bimodal and can be decomposed into two distinct classes, termed ‘gray’ and ‘red’, that each has a normal color distribution. The two color classes have different inclination distributions: red objects have lower inclinations than the gray ones. This trend holds for all dynamically excited TNO populations. Even in the worst-case scenario, biases in the discovery surveys cannot account for this trend: it is intrinsic to the TNO population. Considering that TNOs are the precursors of centaurs, and that their inclinations are roughly preserved as they become centaurs, our finding solves the conundrum of centaurs being the only outer Solar System population identified so far to exhibit this property (Tegler et al. 2016). The different orbital distributions of the gray and red dynamically excited TNOs provide strong evidence that their colors are due to different formation locations in a disk of planetesimals with a compositional gradient. Published in: The Astronomical Journal, 157, 94 (2019 March) For preprints, contact [email protected] or on the web at http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019AJ....157...94M
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Westminsterresearch the Astrobiology Primer V2.0 Domagal-Goldman, S.D., Wright, K.E., Adamala, K., De La Rubia Leigh, A., Bond
    WestminsterResearch http://www.westminster.ac.uk/westminsterresearch The Astrobiology Primer v2.0 Domagal-Goldman, S.D., Wright, K.E., Adamala, K., de la Rubia Leigh, A., Bond, J., Dartnell, L., Goldman, A.D., Lynch, K., Naud, M.-E., Paulino-Lima, I.G., Kelsi, S., Walter-Antonio, M., Abrevaya, X.C., Anderson, R., Arney, G., Atri, D., Azúa-Bustos, A., Bowman, J.S., Brazelton, W.J., Brennecka, G.A., Carns, R., Chopra, A., Colangelo-Lillis, J., Crockett, C.J., DeMarines, J., Frank, E.A., Frantz, C., de la Fuente, E., Galante, D., Glass, J., Gleeson, D., Glein, C.R., Goldblatt, C., Horak, R., Horodyskyj, L., Kaçar, B., Kereszturi, A., Knowles, E., Mayeur, P., McGlynn, S., Miguel, Y., Montgomery, M., Neish, C., Noack, L., Rugheimer, S., Stüeken, E.E., Tamez-Hidalgo, P., Walker, S.I. and Wong, T. This is a copy of the final version of an article published in Astrobiology. August 2016, 16(8): 561-653. doi:10.1089/ast.2015.1460. It is available from the publisher at: https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2015.1460 © Shawn D. Domagal-Goldman and Katherine E. Wright, et al., 2016; Published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. This Open Access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by- nc/4.0/) which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited. The WestminsterResearch online digital archive at the University of Westminster aims to make the research output of the University available to a wider audience.
    [Show full text]
  • Sirius Astronomer
    September 2015 Free to members, subscriptions $12 for 12 issues Volume 42, Number 9 Jeff Horne created this image of the crater Copernicus on September 13, 2005 from his observing site in Irvine. September 19 is International Observe The Moon Night, so get out there and have a look at a source of light pollution we really don’t mind! OCA MEETING STAR PARTIES COMING UP The free and open club meeng will The Black Star Canyon site will open on The next session of the Beginners be held September 18 at 7:30 PM in September 5. The Anza site will be open on Class will be held at the Heritage Mu‐ the Irvine Lecture Hall of the Hashing‐ September 12. Members are encouraged to seum of Orange County at 3101 West er Science Center at Chapman Univer‐ check the website calendar for the latest Harvard Street in Santa Ana on Sep‐ sity in Orange. This month, JPL’s Dr. updates on star pares and other events. tember 4. The following class will be Dave Doody will discuss the Grand held October 2. Finale of the historic Cassini mission to Please check the website calendar for the Saturn in 2017! outreach events this month! Volunteers are GOTO SIG: TBA always welcome! Astro‐Imagers SIG: Sept. 8, Oct. 13 NEXT MEETINGS: October 9, Novem‐ Remote Telescopes: TBA You are also reminded to check the web ber 13 Astrophysics SIG: Sept. 11, Oct. 16 site frequently for updates to the calendar Dark Sky Group: TBA of events and other club news.
    [Show full text]
  • Chaos in the Inert Oort Cloud
    EPSC Abstracts Vol. 13, EPSC-DPS2019-1303-1, 2019 EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2019 c Author(s) 2019. CC Attribution 4.0 license. Chaos in the inert Oort cloud Melaine Saillenfest (1), Marc Fouchard (1), and Arika Higuchi (2) (1) IMCCE, Observatoire de Paris, France, (2) RISE Project Office/NAOJ, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan e-mail: [email protected] µ 16 Abstract 2 εP − εG ÝÖ 14 2 We investigate the orbital dynamics of small bodies in aÙ 9 12 the intermediate regime between the Kuiper belt and − 10 the Oort cloud, i.e. where the planetary perturbations ´ 10 and the galactic tides have the same order of magni- 8 tude. We show that this region is far less inert than it could appear at first sight, despite very weak orbital 6 perturbations. Ô eÖØÙÖbaØiÓÒ 4 Øhe Óf 2 1. Introduction ×iÞe 0 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 aÜi× ´aÙµ The orbits of distant trans-Neptunian objects are sub- ×eÑi¹Ña jÓÖ a ject to internal perturbations from the planets, and ex- ternal perturbations from the galactic tides. A distinc- Figure 1: Size of the small parameters appearing in tion is generally made between the Kuiper belt and the the Hamiltonian function (Eq. 1) with respect to the Oort cloud, which are thought to have been initially semi-major axis of the small body. The red curve rep- populated through distinct mechanisms (see e.g. the resents the planetary perturbations, and the blue curve recent review by [4]). However, there is no dynamical represents the galactic tides. boundary between the two populations, and numerical simulations show a continuous transfer of objects in 2.
    [Show full text]
  • 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,
    [Show full text]
  • Distant Ekos: 2017 OG69 and 9 New Centaur/SDO Discoveries: 2017 SN132, 2017 WH30, 2018 AX18, 2018 AY18, 2018 VM35, 2018 VO35, 2019 AB7, 2019 CR, 2019 CY4
    IssueNo.118 February2019 ✤✜ s ✓✏ DISTANT EKO ❞✐ ✒✑ The Kuiper Belt Electronic Newsletter ✣✢ r Edited by: Joel Wm. Parker [email protected] www.boulder.swri.edu/ekonews CONTENTS News & Announcements ................................. 2 Abstracts of 6 Accepted Papers ......................... 4 Abstracts of 1 Submitted Paper ......................... 7 Titles of 55 Conference Contributions . 8 Newsletter Information .............................. 11 1 NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS Request for Nominations for 9th “Paolo Farinella” Prize To honor the memory and the outstanding figure of Paolo Farinella (1953-2000), an extraordinary scientist and person, a prize has been established in recognition of significant contributions in one of the fields of interest of Paolo, which spanned from planetary sciences to space geodesy, fundamental physics, science popularization, security in space, weapons control and disarmament. The prize has been proposed during the “International Workshop on Paolo Farinella, the scientist and the man”, held in Pisa in 2010, and the 2019 edition is supported by the “Observatoire de la Cote d’Azur” in France. Previous recipients of the “Paolo Farinella Prize” were: • 2011: William F. Bottke, for his contribution to the field of “Physics and dynamics of small solar system bodies” • 2012: John Chambers, for his contribution to the field of “Formation and early evolution of the solar system ” • 2013: Patrick Michel, for his contribution to the field of “Collisional processes in the Solar System” • 2014: David Vokrouhlicky, for his
    [Show full text]
  • New Horizons Ultima Thule Flyby Events
    New Horizons Ultima Thule Flyby Events – Dec 31, 2018 – Jan 3, 2019 Event Date/Time Communications Event Speaker 31 Dec 12:00 PM K‐Center Opens at Noon Guest Ops team 1:00 Welcome Adrian Hill and VIP Welcome 1:05 The New Horizons Mission Alan Stern 1:25 What is the Kuiper Belt and what are Kuiper Belt Hal Weaver Objects 1:30 What We Know About MU69 – Ultima Thule Cathy Olkin 1:35 The Flyby of MU69 – Ultima Thule John Spencer NYE press 2:00 – 3:00 Daily media update on Webcast Mike Buckley; panel: Alan Stern, Helene Winters, John Spencer, Fred Pelletier. 3:15 ‐ 3:45 Flyby Ask Me Anything Webcast Moderator Adrian Hill; Panelists: Kelsi Singer; Alex Parker; Gabe Rogers 3:45 – 3:50 Song ‐ Acoustic Craig Werth – move to dining area 3:50 ‐ 4:45 Exploration for Kids Janet Ivey of Janet’s Planet ‐ dining area 4:45‐4:50 Closeout Afternoon 5:00 Doors Close for 2 hours – dinner break 7:00 PM K center reopens Kick off. 8:00 Welcome Adrian Hill and VIPs 8:10 Solar System Archaeology Ken Lacovara 8:15 NASA’s Study of Ancient Bodies. Small bodies mission panel. OSIRIS‐REx (Barnouin), Lucy (Levison), Psyche (Elkins), NH (Stern) *NASA Rep 9:00 Short break Transition to Guest ops. 9:15 Craig Werth Video Craig Werth 9:20 Doing Geology by Looking Up; Doing Walter Alvarez Astronomy by Looking Down 9:35 Pluto Flyby: Summer of 2015 Hal Weaver 9:50 Pluto and the Human Imagination David Grinspoon 10:10 Break 10:20 Meet the New Horizons Team Alan Stern and Helene Winters 10:30 Finding MU69 – Ultima Thule Marc Buie 10:45 MU69: What we expect to learn Panel: Silvia Protopapa, Hal Weaver, Cathy Olkin, John Spencer 11:00 The Eyes and Ears of New Horizons Kelsi Singer, Kirby Runyon.
    [Show full text]
  • NOAO Hosts “Colors of Nature” Summer Academy
    On the Cover The cover shows an 8 × 9 arcminutes image of a portion of the Milky Way galactic bulge, obtained as part of the Blanco DECam Bulge Survey (BDBS) using the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the CTIO Blanco 4-m telescope. In this image, red, green, and blue (RGB) pixels correspond to DECam’s Y, z and i filters, respectively. The inset image shows the 2 × 3 array of monitors at the “observer2” workstation in the Blanco control room. The six chips shown here represent only 10% of the camera’s field of view. For more information about the BDBS and their experiences observing with DECam, see the “The Blanco DECam Bulge Survey (BDBS)” article in the Science Highlights section of this Newsletter. (Image credit: Will Clarkson, University of Michigan-Dearborn; Kathy Vivas, NOAO; R. Michael Rich, UCLA; and the BDBS team.) NOAO Newsletter NATIONAL OPTICAL ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY ISSUE 110 — SEPTEMBER 2014 Director’s Corner Under Construction: A Revised KPNO Program Emerges ................ 2 CTIO Instruments Available for 2015A ......................................... 18 Gemini Instruments Available for 2015A ..................................... 19 Science Highlights KPNO Instruments Available for 2015A........................................ 20 The Survey of the MAgellanic Stellar History (SMASH) ................... 3 AAT Instruments Available for 2015A .......................................... 21 Two’s Company in the Inner Oort Cloud ......................................... 5 CHARA Instruments Available for 2015 .......................................
    [Show full text]
  • Arxiv:1706.07447V1 [Astro-Ph.EP] 22 Jun 2017 Periods
    Origin and Evolution of Short-Period Comets David Nesvorn´y1, David Vokrouhlick´y2, Luke Dones1, Harold F. Levison1, Nathan Kaib3, Alessandro Morbidelli4 (1) Department of Space Studies, Southwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut St., Suite 300, Boulder, CO 80302, USA (2) Institute of Astronomy, Charles University, V Holeˇsoviˇck´ach2, CZ{18000 Prague 8, Czech Republic (3) HL Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA (4) D´epartement Cassiop´ee,University of Nice, CNRS, Observatoire de la C^oted'Azur, Nice, 06304, France ABSTRACT Comets are icy objects that orbitally evolve from the trans-Neptunian region into the inner Solar System, where they are heated by solar radiation and be- come active due to sublimation of water ice. Here we perform simulations in which cometary reservoirs are formed in the early Solar System and evolved over 4.5 Gyr. The gravitational effects of Planet 9 (P9) are included in some sim- ulations. Different models are considered for comets to be active, including a simple assumption that comets remain active for Np(q) perihelion passages with perihelion distance q < 2:5 au. The orbital distribution and number of active comets produced in our model is compared to observations. The orbital distri- bution of ecliptic comets (ECs) is well reproduced in models with Np(2:5) ' 500 and without P9. With P9, the inclination distribution of model ECs is wider than the observed one. We find that the known Halley-type comets (HTCs) have a nearly isotropic inclination distribution. The HTCs appear to be an exten- sion of the population of returning Oort-cloud comets (OCCs) to shorter orbital arXiv:1706.07447v1 [astro-ph.EP] 22 Jun 2017 periods.
    [Show full text]
  • Education Employment Research Activities
    Eric Quirico Curiculum Vitae Professor University Grenoble Alpes / CNRS Institut de Plan´etologieet Astrophysique de Grenoble Domaine Universitaire - BP 53 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9 - France E-mail : [email protected] Education 1992-95 : Ph. D. Thesis : Spectroscopic studies of molecular solids. Application to the study of the surfaces of Triton and Pluto. (University Joseph Fourier) 1990-91 : Master Degree in Material Sciences (Universit´eJoseph Fourier) 1987-90 : Ecole Nationale Sup´erieurede Physique de Marseille (now Ecole Centrale Marseille) 1985-87 : Classes Pr´eparatoiresaux Grandes Ecoles CPGE Sup/P' (Lyc´eeBer- thollet, Annecy - France) Employment 2010-... : Professor - University Joseph Fourier, Institut de Plan´etologieet Astro- physique de Grenoble. 2002-10 : Associate Professor - University Joseph Fourier, Laboratoire de Plan´etologiede Grenoble. 1997-01 : Associate Professor - University Paris XI, Institut d'Astrophysique Spa- tiale 1996-97 : Assistant Professor Laboratoire de Plan´etologieet G´eodynamique, Uni- versity of Nantes - France Research activities Organics in Early Solar System | Pre-accretion origin of organics, and ISM Heritage | Organics, water and minerals co-evolution in primitive asteroids | Carbon-based tracers of parent body thermal metamorphism Surface composition and evolution of small bodies, satellites | Analysis of VNIR reflectance observations | Optical properties of planetary materials and their analogs | Space weathering and surface processes My activities are essentially based on
    [Show full text]
  • Formal Names for Pluto's Geological Features
    Formal Names for Pluto's Geological Features Quick Views of Big Advances Formal Names for Pluto's Geological Features NASA announced on February 23, 2017 that the International Astronomical Union (IAU), in conjunction with the New Horizons mission team, has approved the themes that will guide the selection of names for the surface features on Pluto and its moons. These themes are listed in this NASA News Release. Speaking of names, a debate persists whether Pluto is a planet or dwarf planet. Alternative definitions of the term "planet" started gaining ground with scientists and the public almost immediately after the definition adopted by the IAU in 2006 famously renamed Pluto as a dwarf planet. Enhanced-color images of Pluto and Charon were taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft. Working with the New Horizons mission team, the IAU has approved the themes that people will use to name the surface features on Pluto and its moons. A team of scientists with NASA's New Horizons mission submitted a geophysical planet definition to be presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science XLVIII Conference being held March 20-24, 2017 in Texas [ LPSC meeting site ]. Their point of view, shared by many others, goes like this, "In keeping with emphasizing intrinsic properties, our geophysical definition is directly based on the physics of the world itself rather than the physics of its interactions with external objects." Kirby Runyon (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD), Alan Stern (Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO), Tod Lauer (National Optical
    [Show full text]
  • CFAS Astropicture of the Month
    1 What object has the furthest known orbit in our Solar System? In terms of how close it will ever get to the Sun, the new answer is 2012 VP113, an object currently over twice the distance of Pluto from the Sun. Pictured above is a series of discovery images taken with the Dark Energy Camera attached to the NOAO's Blanco 4-meter Telescope in Chile in 2012 and released last week. The distant object, seen moving on the lower right, is thought to be a dwarf planet like Pluto. Previously, the furthest known dwarf planet was Sedna, discovered in 2003. Given how little of the sky was searched, it is likely that as many as 1,000 more objects like 2012 VP113 exist in the outer Solar System. 2012 VP113 is currently near its closest approach to the Sun, in about 2,000 years it will be over five times further. Some scientists hypothesize that the reason why objects like Sedna and 2012 VP113 have their present orbits is because they were gravitationally scattered there by a much larger object -- possibly a very distant undiscovered planet. Orbital Data: JDAphelion 449 ± 14 AU (Q) Perihelion 80.5 ± 0.6 AU (q) Semi-major axis 264 ± 8.3 AU (a) Eccentricity 0.696 ± 0.011 Orbital period4313 ± 204 yr 2 Discovery images taken on November 5, 2012. A merger of three discovery images, the red, green and blue dots on the image represent 2012 VP113's location on each of the images, taken two hours apart from each other. 2012 VP113, also written 2012 VP113, is the detached object in the Solar System with the largest known perihelion (closest approach to the Sun)
    [Show full text]
  • 11000 Scientists Around the World Have the Final Say on What's a Planet
    International Astronomical Union (IAU) members vote on a new planet definition during a meeting in Prague Aug. 24, 2006. The vote redefined Pluto as a dwarf planet. MICHAL CIZEK/AFP/GETTY IMAGES DEFINITION: PLANET 11,000 scientists around the world have the final say on what’s a planet — or not By Mary Helen Berg a planet is a planet or just an orbiting ice of planetary scientists, academics and ball. Right now, the worlds that make historians support research, confirm HE NUMBER OF PLANETS IN OUR the cut are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, celestial discoveries, document and solar system is … well, it depends Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. preserve data and even track potentially on who you ask. Pluto fans, sporting The IAU is “responsible for managing the dangerous asteroids. T-shirts that read “Never Forget,” astronomical world,” said Gareth Williams, Tstill say there are nine. Meanwhile, some associate director of the NASA-funded IAU PLUTO OUT astronomers say the tally should be 13. But Minor Planet Center (MPC). “They define Most of these working groups fly under the arbiter on all things astronomical, the everything that astronomers need to talk the radar. But in 2006, one committee International Astronomical Union (IAU), about objects in a consistent way. So, if I’m found itself under global scrutiny when, for recognizes only eight planets. talking about an object at a certain point the first time, the astronomy community As the world’s largest professional in the sky, some other astronomer knows demanded an official definition of “planet.” organization for astronomers, the IAU exactly what I am talking about.” The seven-member Planet Definition represents 11,000 scientists from 95 In other words, the IAU controls cosmic countries and has the final say on whether chaos on Earth.
    [Show full text]