Search results for "Asteroid"
showing 10 items of 53 documents
Periodic Motion for an Imperfect Solar Sail Near an Asteroid
2014
In this paper we consider the Hill 3-body problem with the extra effect of the solar radiation pressure as a model for the motion of a solar sail close to an asteroid. To model the sail’s acceleration, we include both reflectivity and absorption of the sail’s material. We describe the most relevant dynamical properties of the system for different reflectivity and absorption coefficients as well as different fixed sail orientations. We show families of periodic orbits, describe how they relate to the parameters of the sail and discuss their stability.
Dynamical environments of MU69: a state of chaotic clearing
2018
AbstractThe second (after Pluto) plausible target object for the New Horizons mission is 2014 MU69. It is a classical TNO, a primordial contact binary. Identifying any material in the vicinities of a target object is of an especial concern for planning cosmic fly-byes, as it is hazardous for a space probe. Luckily, no such material has been reported for MU69 up to now. The point of our report is that this lucky absence is just a dynamical consequence of the physical nature of MU69. Spinning gravitating dumbbells create zones of dynamical chaos around them, and this has a clearing effect: any material put in orbits around a rotating dumbbell (e.g., any material ejected from its surface) cann…
Multifractal fits to the observed main belt asteroid distribution
2002
Dohnanyi's (1969) theory predicts that a collisional system such as the asteroidal population of the main belt should rapidly relax to a power-law stationary size distribution of the kind $N(m)\propto m^{-\alpha}$, with $\alpha$ very close to 11/6, provided all the collisional response parameters are independent on size. The actual asteroid belt distribution at observable sizes, instead, does not exhibit such a simple fractal size distribution. We investigate in this work the possibility that the corresponding cumulative distribution may be instead fairly fitted by multifractal distributions. This multifractal behavior, in contrast with the Dohnany fractal distribution, is related to the re…
Collisional Evolution of Trojan Asteroids☆
1997
Abstract We model the collisional evolution of Trojan asteroids using a numerical code which combines recent calculations of the intrinsic collision probabilities and impact speeds in the Trojan swarms (Marzariet al.1996) with our current understanding of the outcomes of high-velocity collisions between asteroid-sized bodies. Using plausible collision parameters and energy scaling of impact strength with size, we obtain a good match to the present Trojan population, as inferred by Shoemakeret al.(1989). The steep slope of the current Trojan size distribution at diameters larger than about 50–100 km is essentially unaltered by the collisional process and must reflect the formative processes …
ASTEROID SEARCH RESULTS FOR DIGITIZED ASTROPLATES OF 1.2m TELESCOPE IN BALDONE
2019
The work on the mass search for asteroids on astroplate images and the determination of their coordi- nates was begun in 2016. The basis for current search was the processing results of digitized photographic plates and films obtained at the observatory in Baldone in 1967-1993. Observations with a single exposure in different spectral bands were carried out using the 1.2m Schmidt telescope in Baldone. We used all observations in the U Johnson's spec- tral band (on plates) and significant part of them in V band (on films). Photometric band U was realized by combining emulsion ORWO Zu1 (Zu2 or Zu21 or Kodak 103aO or IIaO) with UG1 filter. For films with A600 emulsion and filter ZS17 a photome…
A view of extraterrestrial soils
2009
International audience; The nature of soils on celestial bodies other than Earth is a growing area of research in planetary geology. However, disagreement over the significance of these deposits arises in part due to the lack of a unified concept and definition of soil in the literature. The pragmatic definition “medium for plant growth” is taken by some to imply the necessity of biota for soil to exist, and has been commonly adopted in the planetary science community. In contrast, a more complex and informative definition bases on scientific theory: soil is the (bio)geochemically/physically altered material at the surface of a planetary body that encompasses surficial extraterrestrial tell…
ON THE “SOLAR SYSTEM SMALL BODIES” ASTROPLATE PROJECT OF THE UKRAINIAN VIRTUAL OBSERVATORY
2019
The UkrVO Joint Digital Archive of astro- plates and the newest digitized data processing services al- lowed us to form a new approach for the creation of catalogs of astrometric and photometric characteristics of the Solar System bodies. Given this, the main goal of this approach was not only to complete the processing with the best possi- ble accuracy of high-quality and unprocessed earlier photo- graphic observations of the Solar System bodies but also to find new original data from these observations. As a result, more than 6,500 new astrometric positions and stellar magnitudes of asteroids, and 3,036 positions of outer planets (Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, Jupiter) and their satelli…
Evaluation of the improvement of sensibility with the new IOL Master software version 5.4.3
2009
Purpose To evaluate the improvement of sensibility of the new IOL-Master version 5.4.3 compared with the version 4.08. Methods 214 eyes of 115 patients were examined in a cataract preoperative evaluation making use of both IOL-Master software versions 5.4.3 and 4.08. The type and severity of the lens opacification was assessed by slitlamp biomicroscopy. Results In 182 of the eyes examined both versions were capable to determine the AL; in 29 the version 4.01 could not determine AL whereas the version 5.4.3 was able to measure it; these cases showed posterior capsular cataract (16), dense nuclear cataract (11), posterior synechiae (1) and asteroid hyalosis (1). Finally, the AL of 3 eyes coul…
BALDONE OBSERVATORY IN THE CIRCLES OF TIME
2019
1957 – The first laboratory building, known as the White House, was built near Baldone on the Riekstu hill, in the territory of the next Observatory. 01.01.1958 – The Astronomy Sector was separated from the Institute of Physics and commenced independent activi- ty as the Laboratory of Astrophysics at the Latvian Acade- my of Sciences (LAS). In 1967, with the decision of the Presidium of the Latvian SSR LAS the Laboratory of As- trophysics was transformed into the Radioastrophysic Ob- servatory at LAS. Under the leadership of the first director, Janis Ikaunieks, an instrumental observation base develops – a 1.2m Schmidt telescope was installed in 1966 for opti- cal observations. The project …
Feeding behaviour of Ophidiaster ophidianus (Lmk.) (Asteroidea) in Mediterranean rocky reefs
2017
The thermophilic Atlanto-Mediterranean purple starfish, Ophidiaster ophidianus, is a species protected under the EU’s Habitats Directive which is expanding its distribution in the northern Mediterranean areas as a consequence of global worming. The ecology of the species is largely unknown, specially for the diet. To cover this gap, the feeding habits of O. ophidianus have been studied in two different Mediterranean rocky reef areas: the southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Ustica Island, sampled in 2009) and the eastern Adriatic Sea (Molunat, sampled in 2014) by both field observations and ?13C and ?15N stable isotope analysis (SIA). SCUBA divers collected data by turning adult starfish downside-up an…