by Joseph O'Rourke | Jun 26, 2014 | Daily Paper Summaries
Obtaining high-resolution spectra of asteroids is challenging. Measuring asteroid albedos in broad photometric wavebands is relatively easy, and potentially provides useful information about surface composition.
by Erika Nesvold | Apr 11, 2014 | Daily Paper Summaries
A close encounter with another star can disrupt the protoplanetary disk of a young star, leaving a smaller disk behind. Can we learn anything about the encounter from the size of the remaining disk? Read on to find out!
by Sukrit Ranjan | Aug 1, 2013 | Daily Paper Summaries
This paper describes the measurement of the deuterium-to-hydrogen (D/H) ratio in a Jupiter-family comet, 45P. This ratio is related to the formation history of the comet and helps inform our understanding of the formation of our solar system.
by Caroline Morley | May 9, 2013 | Daily Paper Summaries
Mercury’s high density has been a longstanding puzzle in planetary science. Its density means that it must have a significantly higher iron abundance than Venus, Earth, Mars, or the asteroids, probably in the form of a large iron core. NASA’s MESSENGER mission has challenged many of the hypothesized ways to create an iron-rich Mercury; a new hypothesis is required.
by Elizabeth Lovegrove | Jan 29, 2013 | Daily Paper Summaries
TITLE: A Search for Vulcanoids with the STEREO Heliospheric Imager AUTHORS: A. J. Steffl, N. J. Cunningham, A. B. Shinn, D. D. Durda, S. A. Stern FIRST AUTHOR’S INSTITUTION: Southwest Research Institute, BoulderThe recent evidence for an asteroid belt in the Vega system highlights how well we’re getting to know the solar systems around other stars. But there are some surprising gaps in our knowledge of our own. Inwards of the orbit of Mercury, there exists a dynamically stable region between about 0.21 AU and 0.07 AU where objects can orbit without being perturbed by Mercury or vaporized by the Sun. As far back as 1859 astronomers proposed that there might be at least one small planet lurking in this region, at the time a potential explanation for the odd precession of Mercury, and gave this hypothetical world the name “Vulcan”. Although Mercury’s orbital behavior was later explained by Einstein using general relativity, the idea of close-in planetesimals called “Vulcanoids” stuck around. The orbital motions of Mercury, Venus, and the Sun rule out a planet, but there’s still room for smaller objects. We now know that many, many exoplanet systems feature full-blown planets that orbit far closer in to their stars than Mercury does to the Sun. Why not some debris in ours?But how could something comparatively right next door go undetected for so long? Their very closeness to the Sun makes them hard to see. From Earth’s perspective, objects in the Vulcanoid region never stray farther than about 12 degrees from the Sun in the sky. From the ground they can only be observed in the early twilight, and...
by Anna Rosen | Nov 7, 2011 | Daily Paper Summaries
Could the interaction of the pre-solar core with a nearby supernova trigger the formation of our Solar System?
