Search Publications
A giant impact origin for Pluto's small moons and satellite multiplicity in the Kuiper belt
Stern, S. A.; Weaver, H. A.; Mutchler, M. J. +6 more
The two newly discovered satellites of Pluto (P1 and P2) have masses that are small compared to both Pluto and Charon-that is, between 5 × 10-4 and 1 × 10-5 of Pluto's mass, and between 5 × 10-3 and 1 × 10-4 of Charon's mass. This discovery, combined with the constraints on the absence of more distant sa…
Methane storms on Saturn's moon Titan
Hueso, R.; Sánchez-Lavega, A.
The presence of dry fluvial river channels and the intense cloud activity in the south pole of Titan over the past few years suggest the presence of methane rain. The nitrogen atmosphere of Titan therefore appears to support a methane meteorological cycle that sculptures the surface and controls its properties. Titan and Earth are the only worlds …
Evidence for newly closed magnetosheath field lines at the dayside magnetopause under northward IMF
Balogh, A.; Thomsen, M. F.; Lavraud, B. +7 more
We analyze the structure of the high-latitude magnetopause under steady interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). We use 56 magnetopause encounters of Cluster spacecraft from 2001 to 2003 to explore the statistical properties of the magnetosheath electron boundary layer, observed outside the high-latitude dayside magnetopause. We focus on the occurrenc…
Magnetically controlled structures in the ionosphere of Mars
Gurnett, D. A.; Persoon, A. M.; Averkamp, T. F. +5 more
The ionospheric sounding data obtained by the MARSIS (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding) instrument on the Mars Express spacecraft show that the dayside ionosphere has considerable structure over regions of strong crustal magnetic fields. This structure is typically seen as a hyperbola-shaped trace in a display of echo in…
X-ray properties in massive galaxy clusters: XMM-Newton observations of the REFLEX-DXL sample
Zhang, Y. -Y.; Finoguenov, A.; Böhringer, H. +5 more
We selected an unbiased, flux-limited and almost volume-complete sample of 13 distant, X-ray luminous (DXL, z∼ 0.3) clusters and one supplementary cluster at z=0.2578 from the REFLEX Survey (the REFLEX-DXL sample). We performed a detailed study to explore their X-ray properties using XMM-Newton observations. Based on the precise radial distributio…
Detectability of Planetary Characteristics in Disk-Averaged Spectra. I: The Earth Model
Meadows, Victoria S.; Crisp, David; Bibring, Jean-Pierre +4 more
Over the next 2 decades, NASA and ESA are planning a series of space-based observatories to detect and characterize extrasolar planets. This first generation of observatories will not be able to spatially resolve the terrestrial planets detected. Instead, these planets will be characterized by disk-averaged spectroscopy. To assess the detectabilit…
The host galaxy/AGN connection in nearby early-type galaxies. Is there a miniature radio-galaxy in every "core" galaxy?
Capetti, A.; Balmaverde, B.
This is the second of a series of three papers exploring the connection between the multiwavelength properties of AGN in nearby early-type galaxies and the characteristics of their hosts. We selected two samples with 5 GHz VLA radio flux measurements down to 1 mJy, reaching levels of radio luminosity as low as 1036 erg s-1. I…
Masses of the local group and of the M81 group estimated from distortions in the local velocity field
Karachentsev, I. D.; Kashibadze, O. G.
Based on high precision measurements of the distances to nearby galaxies with the Hubble telescope, we have determined the radii of the zero velocity spheres for the local group, R0 = 0.96±0.03Mpc, and for the group of galaxies around M 81/M 82, 0.89±0.05Mpc. These yield estimates of MT = (1.29±0.14)· 1012 M⊙<…
An updated survey of globular clusters in M 31. I. Classification and radial velocity for 76 candidate clusters
Bellazzini, M.; Galleti, S.; Federici, L. +2 more
Aims.We present the first results of a large spectroscopic survey of globular clusters and candidate globular clusters in the nearby M 31 galaxy. The survey is aimed at the classification of known candidate M 31 clusters and at the study of their kinematic properties.
Methods: .We obtained low-resolution spectroscopy (λ/Δλ ≃ 800-1300) for 133 …
The Relation between EIT Waves and Solar Flares
Chen, P. F.
In order to determine whether EIT waves are generated by coronal mass ejections (CMEs) or pressure pulses in solar flares, 14 non-CME-associated energetic flares, which should possess strong pressure pulses in their loops, are studied. They are selected near solar minimum, as this favors the detection of EIT waves. It is found that none of these f…