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The Tides of Titan
Stevenson, David J.; Iess, Luciano; Jacobson, Robert A. +7 more
We have detected in Cassini spacecraft data the signature of the periodic tidal stresses within Titan, driven by the eccentricity (e = 0.028) of its 16-day orbit around Saturn. Precise measurements of the acceleration of Cassini during six close flybys between 2006 and 2011 have revealed that Titan responds to the variable tidal field exerted by S…
Magnetic Reconnection in the Near Venusian Magnetotail
Coates, A. J.; Fedorov, A.; Barabash, S. +14 more
Observations with the Venus Express magnetometer and low-energy particle detector revealed magnetic field and plasma behavior in the near-Venus wake that is symptomatic of magnetic reconnection, a process that occurs in Earth’s magnetotail but is not expected in the magnetotail of a nonmagnetized planet such as Venus. On 15 May 2006, the plasma fl…
A 200-Second Quasi-Periodicity After the Tidal Disruption of a Star by a Dormant Black Hole
Miller, J. M.; Reis, R. C.; Maitra, D. +4 more
Supermassive black holes (SMBHs; mass is greater than or approximately 105 times that of the Sun) are known to exist at the center of most galaxies with sufficient stellar mass. In the local universe, it is possible to infer their properties from the surrounding stars or gas. However, at high redshifts we require active, continuous accr…
Absorption Features in the X-ray Spectrum of an Ordinary Radio Pulsar
Pavlov, George G.; Kargaltsev, Oleg; Durant, Martin +1 more
The vast majority of known nonaccreting neutron stars (NSs) are rotation-powered radio and/or γ-ray pulsars. So far, their multiwavelength spectra have all been described satisfactorily by thermal and nonthermal continuum models, with no spectral lines. Spectral features have, however, been found in a handful of exotic NSs and were thought to be a…
Destruction of Sun-Grazing Comet C/2011 N3 (SOHO) Within the Low Solar Corona
Schrijver, C. J.; Battams, K.; Brown, J. C. +4 more
Observations of comets in Sun-grazing orbits that survive solar insolation long enough to penetrate into the Sun's inner corona provide information on the solar atmosphere and magnetic field as well as on the makeup of the comet. On 6 July 2011, the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) observed the demise of comet C/2011 N3 (SOHO) within the low solar…
Cassini Spies an Ocean Inside Saturn's Icy, Gassy Moon Titan
Kerr, Richard A.