Search Publications
Characterization of the Ejecta from the NASA/DART Impact on Dimorphos: Observations and Monte Carlo Models
Licandro, Javier; Kolokolova, Ludmilla; Li, Jian-Yang +26 more
The NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft successfully crashed on Dimorphos, the secondary component of the binary (65803) Didymos system. Following the impact, a large dust cloud was released, and a long-lasting dust tail developed. We have extensively monitored the dust tail from the ground and the Hubble Space Telescope. We pr…
Strong Depletion of 13C in CO Induced by Photolysis of CO2 in the Martian Atmosphere, Calculated by a Photochemical Model
Aoki, Shohei; Yoshida, Nao; Terada, Naoki +7 more
The isotopic signature of atmospheric carbon offers a unique tracer for the history of the Martian atmosphere and the origin of organic matter on Mars. The photolysis of CO2 is known to induce strong isotopic fractionation of the carbon between CO2 and CO. However, its effects on the carbon isotopic compositions in the Martia…
(523599) 2003 RM: The Asteroid that Wanted to be a Comet
Granvik, Mikael; Wainscoat, Richard J.; Weryk, Robert +11 more
We report a statistically significant detection of nongravitational acceleration on the subkilometer near-Earth asteroid (523599) 2003 RM. Due to its orbit, 2003 RM experiences favorable observing apparitions every 5 yr. Thus, since its discovery, 2003 RM has been extensively tracked with ground-based optical facilities in 2003, 2008, 2013, and 20…
Sodium Brightening of (3200) Phaethon near Perihelion
Zhang, Qicheng; Knight, Matthew M.; Battams, Karl +2 more
Sunskirting asteroid (3200) Phaethon has been repeatedly observed in Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) Heliospheric Imager 1 (HI1) imagery to anomalously brighten and produce an antisunward tail for a few days near each perihelion passage, phenomena previously attributed to the ejection of micron-sized dust grains. Color imaging by …
Near to Mid-infrared Spectroscopy of (65803) Didymos as Observed by JWST: Characterization Observations Supporting the Double Asteroid Redirection Test
de León, Julia; Lucchetti, Alice; Pajola, Maurizio +17 more
The Didymos binary asteroid was the target of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, which intentionally impacted Dimorphos, the smaller member of the binary system. We used the Near-Infrared Spectrograph and Mid-Infrared Instrument instruments on JWST to measure the 0.6-5 and 5-20 µm spectra of Didymos approximately two months…
The State of CO and CO2 Ices in the Kuiper Belt as Seen by JWST
Fraser, Wesley C.; Brown, Michael E.
JWST has shown that CO2 and CO are common on the surfaces of objects in the Kuiper Belt and have apparent surface coverages even higher than that of water ice, though water ice is expected to be significantly more abundant in the bulk composition. Using full Mie scattering theory, we show that the high abundance and the unusual spectral…
Synchronous Rotation in the (136199) Eris-Dysnomia System
Bacon, D.; Smith, M.; Abbott, T. M. C. +48 more
We combine photometry of Eris from a 6 month campaign on the Palomar 60 inch telescope in 2015, a 1 month Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 campaign in 2018, and Dark Energy Survey data spanning 2013-2018 to determine a light curve of definitive period 15.771 ± 0.008 days (1σ formal uncertainties), with nearly sinusoidal shape and peak-to-peak flux vari…
Col-OSSOS: The Two Types of Kuiper Belt Surfaces
Marsset, Michaël; Fraser, Wesley C.; Pike, Rosemary E. +12 more
The Colors of the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (Col-OSSOS) has gathered a high-quality, near-simultaneous, and brightness-complete sample of (g - r) and (r - J) colors for 102 Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) with (u - g) and (r - z) gathered for some. We present the current state of the survey and data analysis. Recognizing that the optical colors…
Probing Ganymede's Atmosphere with HST Lyα Images in Transit of Jupiter
Saur, Joachim; Roth, Lorenz; Becker, Tracy M. +6 more
We report results from far-ultraviolet observations by the Hubble Space Telescope of Jupiter's largest moon, Ganymede, transiting across the planet's dayside hemisphere. Within a targeted campaign on 2021 September 9 two exposures were taken during one transit passage to probe for attenuation of Jupiter's hydrogen Lyα dayglow above the moon limb. …
Saturn's Seismic Rotation Revisited
Fuller, Jim; Dewberry, Janosz W.; Mankovich, Christopher R.
Normal mode seismology is a promising means of measuring rotation in gas giant interiors, and ring seismology presents a singular opportunity to do so at Saturn. We calculate Saturn's normal modes of oscillation and zonal gravity field, using nonperturbative methods for normal modes in the rigidly rotating approximation, and perturbative methods f…