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Photolysis and Sublimation Chemistry of Ammonium Cyanide with Relevance to Cometary Environments
Gerakines, P. A.; Milam, S. N.; Yocum, K. M. +3 more
Bulk nitrogen is depleted in solar system objects, including the terrestrial planets, chondritic meteorites, and comets. Recently, it was suggested that cometary nitrogen may be locked up in ammonium salts—ionic solids comprising ammonia (NH3) and an acid such as hydrogen cyanide (HCN)—based on Rosetta/ROSINA data from comet 67P/Churyum…
Can Well-sampled Phase Curves Be Used to Infer Asteroid Spectral Features?
Murray, Zachary
The relationship of an asteroid's reduced magnitude to its phase has a long history of study. Included in this history have been efforts to study the correlation between these parameters and spectral type. However, these efforts often suffer from the inclusion of only a few asteroids, missing phase curve data, uncorrected rotational or apparitiona…
Ground-based Characterization of (98943) Torifune 2001 CC21, the Target of the Hayabusa2# Space Mission
Tatsumi, Eri; de León, Julia; Licandro, Javier +11 more
The near-Earth asteroid (98943) Torifune, previously designated 2001 CC21, is the flyby target of the Hayabusa2 extended mission, nicknamed Hayabusa2# (Small Hazardous Asteroid Reconnaissance Probe (SHARP)). The ground-based telescope observations offer a key science input for the mission's scientific investigation. During 2022–2024, th…
Observations and Quantitative Compositional Analysis of Ceres, Pallas, and Hygiea Using JWST/NIRSpec
Ehlmann, Bethany L.; Rivkin, Andrew S.; Hammel, Heidi B. +6 more
We present JWST Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) measurements of the three largest low-albedo main-belt asteroids: (1) Ceres, (2) Pallas, and (10) Hygiea. Their reflectance spectra all have very similar absorptions centered near 2.72 µm attributed to Mg–OH in minerals. Within this band, Pallas also shows evidence of a sharper, deeper ban…
A Case Study of Interstellar Material Delivery: α Centauri
Wiegert, Paul A.; Gregg, Cole R.
Interstellar material has been discovered in our solar system, yet its origins and details of its transport are unknown. Here, we present α Centauri as a case study of the delivery of interstellar material to our solar system. α Centauri is a mature triple star system that likely harbors planets, and is moving toward us with the point of the close…
Achievement of the Planetary Defense Investigations of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission
Buratti, Bonnie J.; Kolokolova, Ludmilla; Zinzi, Angelo +126 more
NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission was the first to demonstrate asteroid deflection, and the mission's Level 1 requirements guided its planetary defense investigations. Here, we summarize DART's achievement of those requirements. On 2022 September 26, the DART spacecraft impacted Dimorphos, the secondary member of the Didymos n…
Bioverse: The Habitable Zone Inner Edge Discontinuity as an Imprint of Runaway Greenhouse Climates on Exoplanet Demographics
Apai, Dániel; Schlecker, Martin; Hardegree-Ullman, Kevin K. +3 more
Long-term magma ocean phases on rocky exoplanets orbiting closer to their star than the runaway greenhouse threshold-the inner edge of the classical habitable zone-may offer insights into the physical and chemical processes that distinguish potentially habitable worlds from others. The thermal stratification of runaway planets is expected to signi…
JWST Near-infrared Spectroscopy of the Lucy Jupiter Trojan Flyby Targets: Evidence for OH Absorption, Aliphatic Organics, and CO2
Noll, Keith S.; Grundy, William M.; Brown, Michael E. +6 more
We present observations obtained with the Near Infrared Spectrograph on JWST of the five Jupiter Trojans that will be visited by the Lucy spacecraft—the Patroclus–Menoetius binary, Eurybates, Orus, Leucus, and Polymele. The measured 1.7–5.3 µm reflectance spectra, which provide increased wavelength coverage, spatial resolution, and signal-to…
Photometry of the Didymos System across the DART Impact Apparition
de León, Julia; Licandro, Javier; Oszkiewicz, Dagmara +78 more
On 2022 September 26, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft impacted Dimorphos, the satellite of binary near-Earth asteroid (65803) Didymos. This demonstrated the efficacy of a kinetic impactor for planetary defense by changing the orbital period of Dimorphos by 33 minutes. Measuring the period change relied heavily on a coordinat…
Updated Catalog of Kepler Planet Candidates: Focus on Accuracy and Orbital Periods
Lissauer, Jack J.; Rowe, Jason F.; Jontof-Hutter, Daniel +5 more
We present a new catalog of Kepler planet candidates that prioritizes accuracy of planetary dispositions and properties over uniformity. This catalog contains 4376 transiting planet candidates, including 1791 residing within 709 multiplanet systems, and provides the best parameters available for a large sample of Kepler planet candidates. We also …