Search Publications
Cold Traps of Hypervolatiles in the Protosolar Nebula at the Origin of the Peculiar Composition of Comet C/2016 R2 (PanSTARRS)
Mousis, Olivier; Aguichine, Artyom; Bouquet, Alexis +4 more
Recent observations of the long-period comet C/2016 R2 (PanSTARRS; hereafter R2) indicate an unusually high N2/CO abundance ratio, typically larger than ∼0.05, and at least 2-3 times higher than the one measured in 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Another striking compositional feature of this comet is its heavy depletion in H2O (H…
Constraining Saturn's Interior with Ring Seismology: Effects of Differential Rotation and Stable Stratification
Fuller, Jim; Lai, Dong; Dewberry, Janosz W. +2 more
Normal mode oscillations in Saturn excite density and bending waves in the C ring, providing a valuable window into the planet's interior. Saturn's fundamental modes (f-modes) excite the majority of the observed waves, while gravito-inertial modes (rotationally modified g-modes) associated with stable stratification in the deep interior provide a …
Idunn Mons: Evidence for Ongoing Volcano-tectonic Activity and Atmospheric Implications on Venus
D'Incecco, P.; Filiberto, J.; López, I. +2 more
In 2010 the ESA Venus Express Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) instrument first observed 1 µm emissivity anomalies over the top and eastern flank of Idunn Mons (46° S; 146° W), a 200 km wide volcano located in Imdr Regio, a volcano-dominated large volcanic rise of Venus. The anomalies suggest the presence of chemica…
The Coma Dust of Comet C/2013 US10 (Catalina): A Window into Carbon in the Solar System
Woodward, Charles E.; Russell, Ray W.; Kelley, Michael S. P. +3 more
Comet C/2013 US10 (Catalina) was a dynamically new Oort cloud comet whose apparition presented a favorable geometry for observations near close-Earth approach (≃0.93 au) at heliocentric distances ≲2 au when insolation and sublimation of volatiles drive maximum activity. Here we present mid-infrared 6.0 ≲ λ(µm) ≲ 40 spectrophotomet…
Contemporaneous Multiwavelength and Precovery Observations of the Active Centaur P/2019 LD2 (ATLAS)
Woodney, Laura M.; Volk, Kathryn; Kareta, Theodore +10 more
The Gateway Centaur and Jupiter co-orbital P/2019 LD2 (ATLAS) provides the first opportunity to observe the migration of a solar system small body from a Centaur orbit to a Jupiter Family Comet (JFC) four decades from now. The Gateway transition region is beyond where water ice can power cometary activity, and coma production there is as poorly un…
Vertical Structure and Color of Jovian Latitudinal Cloud Bands during the Juno Era
Baines, Kevin H.; Irwin, Patrick G. J.; Dahl, Emma K. +6 more
The identity of the coloring agent(s) in Jupiter's atmosphere and the exact structure of Jupiter's uppermost cloud deck are yet to be conclusively understood. The Crème Brûlée model of Jupiter's tropospheric clouds, originally proposed by Baines et al. and expanded upon by Sromovsky et al. and Baines et al., presumes that the chromophore measured …
Narrowband Observations of Comet 46P/Wirtanen during Its Exceptional Apparition of 2018/19. I. Apparent Rotation Period and Outbursts
Skiff, Brian A.; Feaga, Lori M.; Schleicher, David G. +4 more
We obtained broad- and narrowband images of the hyperactive comet 46P/Wirtanen on 33 nights during its 2018/2019 apparition, when the comet made a historic close approach to the Earth. With our extensive coverage, we investigated the temporal behavior of the comet on both seasonal and rotational timescales. We used CN observations to explore the c…
The Timing of Alluvial Fan Formation on Mars
Wilson, Sharon A.; Kite, Edwin S.; Holo, Samuel J. +1 more
The history of rivers on Mars is an important constraint on Martian climate evolution. The timing of relatively young, alluvial fan-forming rivers is especially important, as Mars's Amazonian atmosphere is thought to have been too thin to consistently support surface liquid water. Previous regional studies suggested that alluvial fans formed prima…
Six Outbursts of Comet 46P/Wirtanen
Duev, Dmitry A.; Southworth, J.; Bellm, Eric C. +33 more
Cometary activity is a manifestation of sublimation-driven processes at the surface of nuclei. However, cometary outbursts may arise from other processes that are not necessarily driven by volatiles. In order to fully understand nuclear surfaces and their evolution, we must identify the causes of cometary outbursts. In that context, we present a s…
The Orbit and Density of the Jupiter Trojan Satellite System Eurybates-Queta
Buie, Marc W.; Noll, Keith S.; Levison, Harold F. +8 more
We report observations of the Jupiter Trojan asteroid (3548) Eurybates and its satellite Queta with the Hubble Space Telescope and use these observations to perform an orbital fit to the system. Queta orbits Eurybates with a semimajor axis of 2350 ± 11 km at a period of 82.46 ± 0.06 days and an eccentricity of 0.125 ± 0.009. From this orbit we der…