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Disruptive collisions in the main belt can liberate fragments from parent bodies ranging in size from several micrometers to tens of kilometers in diameter. These debris bodies group at initially similar orbital locations. Most asteroid-sized fragments remain at these locations and are presently observed as asteroid families. Small debris particles are quickly removed by Poynting–Robertson drag or...
Near-simultaneous R- and J-band photometric measurements of the short-period Comets 2P/Encke and the Deep Impact mission target 9P/Tempel 1 were obtained. The resulting R–J colors are +0.82±0.08 mag and +1.46±0.13 mag for Encke and Tempel 1, respectively. Tempel 1's color is redder than the solar R–J color index of +0.76. The Tempel 1 observations directly detected the nucleus while the Encke observations...
We estimate Asteroid 1992 SK's physical properties from delay–Doppler images and Doppler-only echo spectra obtained during March 22–27, 1999, at Goldstone and from optical lightcurves obtained during February–March 1999 at Ondřejov Observatory. The images span only about 15° of sky motion and are not strong, but they place up to twenty 40 m by 160 m pixels on the asteroid and have complete rotational...
In planetary rings, binary collisions and mutual gravity are the predominant particle interactions. Based on a viscoelastic contact model we implement the concept of static adhesion. We discuss the collision dynamics and obtain a threshold velocity for restitution or agglomeration to occur. The latter takes place within a range of a few cm s −1 for icy grains at low temperatures. The stability...
Previous self-gravitating simulations of dense planetary rings are extended to include particle spins. Both identical particles as well as systems with a modest range of particle sizes are examined. For a ring of identical particles, we find that mutual impact velocity is always close to the escape velocity of the particles, even if the total rms velocity dispersion of the system is much larger, due...
We present 1.25–19 μm infrared spectra of pure solid CH 4 and H 2 O/CH 4 =87, 20, and 3 solid mixtures at temperatures from 15 to 150 K. We compare and contrast the absorptions of CH 4 in solid H 2 O with those of pure CH 4 . Changes in selected peak positions, profiles, and relative strength with temperature are presented, and absolute strengths for...
We suggest that the methane observed on Mars can be formed by photolysis of water vapor in the presence of CO, in addition to possible geological sources, rather than biologically.
We examine hypotheses for the formation of light-toned layered deposits in Juventae Chasma using a combination of data from Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC), Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA), and Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES), as well as Mars Odyssey's Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS). We divide Juventae Chasma into geomorphic units of (i) chasm wall rock, (ii) heavily...
Photometric data on 17 binary near-Earth asteroids (15 of them are certain detections, two are probables) were analysed and characteristic properties of the near-Earth asteroid (NEA) binary population were inferred. We have found that binary systems with a secondary-to-primary mean diameter ratio Ds/Dp⩾0.18 concentrate among NEAs smaller than 2 km in diameter; the abundance of such binaries decreases...
Sediment transport by surficial flow likely occurs on Titan. Titan is thought to have a volatile cycle, such as on Earth and likely in the past on Mars, which would entail surficial liquid flow. And surficial flow is implied in interpretations of Cassini–Hyugens data as showing fluvial channels, which would require sediment transport by surficial flow to form the observable features. We present calculations...
We use the mapping-phase high-altitude magnetic measurements provided by Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) between March 1999 and April 2003 to model nine relatively isolated magnetic anomalies of Mars. Each anomaly is modeled with an elliptical prism. Each component of the observed magnetic field is modeled independently using an elliptical prism in order to assess the reliability of the results and suppress...
We present a total of 289 new astrometric observations of the inner jovian satellites, Amalthea and Thebe, obtained using the Cassini ISS narrow angle camera. Observations were made using image sequences from 2000 December 11–12 (inbound) and 2001 January 15–16 (outbound), at phase angles of approximately 2° and 122°, respectively. Target distances were of order 284 R J , giving a maximum...
We present an analysis of a series of observations of the auroral/polar regions of Jupiter, carried out between September 8 and 11, 1998, making use of the high-resolution spectrometer, CSHELL, on the NASA InfraRed Telescope Facility (IRTF), Mauna Kea, Hawaii; these observations spanned an “auroral heating event.” This analysis combines the measured line intensities and ion velocities with a one-dimensional...
We report the results of searches for outer satellites of Pluto and Mars, carried out with the Hale 5-m telescope in 1999 and 2001, respectively. No new satellites were found down to limiting magnitudes of mR=25.0 at Pluto and mV∼22 at Mars, corresponding to diameters of 35 and 1 km, respectively, for an assumed geometric albedo of 0.07. A faint trans-neptunian object, 1999 LB 37 , was discovered...
The band model fits of Sihra [1998. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Oxford], subsequently reported by Irwin et al. [2005. Icarus 176, 255–271], to new measurements of low-temperature near-infrared self-broadened methane absorption spectra combined with earlier warmer, longer path measurements of both self- and hydrogen-broadened methane spectra measured by Strong et al. [1993. J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat...
Here we estimate the regions of stability, fragmentation, and destruction for cometary bodies versus rotational breakup in the radius–rotational period plane. By testing different plausible physical models of the cometary nucleus equation of state, we show that the plane is divided into 3 segments: the allowed, damaged, and forbidden regions. We then compare the location of well-observed comets with...
We observed the Mercury sodium exosphere during the period 1997–2003, collecting images of planetary sodium emission covering the full range of true anomaly angles with only a few small gaps. The distribution of sodium emission over the surface was generally non-uniform and changeable. When the dawn terminator was in view, the terminator was generally brighter than the limb, as expected for evaporation...
Astronomical observations have shown that protoplanetary disks are dynamic objects through which mass is transported and accreted by the central star. This transport causes the disks to decrease in mass and cool over time, and such evolution is expected to have occurred in our own solar nebula. Age dating of meteorite constituents shows that their creation, evolution, and accumulation occupied several...
Near-infrared (∼0.7 to ∼2.5 μm) spectra of S-asteroids 138 Tolosa, 306 Unitas, 346 Hermentaria, and 480 Hansa suggest the presence of variable amounts of orthopyroxene ± clinopyroxene ± olivine ± plagioclase feldspar on the surfaces of these asteroids. The spectra of these asteroids were compared to laboratory mineral mixtures of orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and olivine [Singer, R.B., 1981. J. Geophys...
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