141 research outputs found
Large Bodies in the Kuiper Belt
We present a survey for bright Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) and Centaurs,
conducted at the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) 0.9 m telescope with the
KPNO 8k Mosaic CCD. The survey imaged 164 sq deg near opposition to a limiting
red magnitude of 21.1. Three bright KBOs and one Centaur were found, the
brightest KBO having red magnitude 19.7, about 700 km in diameter assuming a
dark Centaur-like 4% albedo. We estimate the power-law differential size
distribution of the Classical KBOs to have index q = 4.2 (+0.4)(-0.3), with the
total number of Classical KBOs with diameters larger than 100 km equal to 4.7
(+1.6)(-1.0) x 10^4. Additionally, we find that if there is a maximum object
size in the Kuiper Belt, it must be larger than 1000 km in diameter. By
extending our model to larger size bodies, we estimate that 30 (+16)(-12)
Charon-sized and 3.2 (+2.8)(-1.7) Pluto-sized Classical KBOs remain
undiscovered.Comment: 33 pages, 7 figures, to appear in Nov 2001 Astronomical Journa
Material Around the Centaur (2060) Chiron from the 2018 November 28 UT Stellar Occultation
A stellar occultation of Gaia DR3 2646598228351156352 by the Centaur (2060)
Chiron was observed from the South African Astronomical Observatory on 2018
November 28 UT. Here we present a positive detection of material surrounding
Chiron from the 74-in telescope for this event. Additionally, a global
atmosphere is ruled out at the tens of mircobar level for several possible
atmospheric compositions. There are multiple 3-sigma drops in the 74-in light
curve: three during immersion and two during emersion. Occulting material is
located between 242-270 km from the center of the nucleus in the sky plane.
Assuming the ring-plane orientation proposed for Chiron from the 2011
occultation, the flux drops are located at 352, 344, and 316 km (immersion),
and 357, and 364 km (emersion) from the center, with normal optical depths of
0.26, 0.36, and 0.22 (immersion) and 0.26 and 0.18 (emersion), and equivalent
widths between 0.7-1.3 km. This detection is similar to the previously proposed
two-ring system and is located within the error bars of that ring-pole plane;
however, the normal optical depths are less than half of the previous values,
and three features are detected on immersion. These results suggest that the
properties of the surrounding material have evolved between the 2011, 2018, and
2022 observations.Comment: Accepted by the Planetary Science Journal 21 Oct. 2023; 13 pages, 9
figures, 4 table
Detection of arcs in Saturn's F ring during the 1995 Sun ring-plane crossing
Observations of the November 1995 Sun crossing of the Saturn's ring-plane
made with the 3.6m CFH telescope, using the UHAO adaptive optics system, are
presented here. We report the detection of four arcs located in the vicinity of
the F ring. They can be seen one day later in HST images. The combination of
both data sets gives accurate determinations of their orbits. Semi-major axes
range from 140020 km to 140080 km, with a mean of 140060 +- 60 km. This is
about 150 km smaller than previous estimates of the F ring radius from Voyager
1 and 2 data, but close to the orbit of another arc observed at the same epoch
in HST images.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, To appear in A&A, for comments :
[email protected]
The TWA 3 Young Triple System: Orbits, Disks, Evolution
We have characterized the spectroscopic orbit of the TWA 3A binary and
provide preliminary families of probable solutions for the TWA 3A visual orbit
as well as for the wide TWA 3A--B orbit. TWA 3 is a hierarchical triple located
at 34 pc in the 10 Myr old TW Hya association. The wide component
separation is 1."55; the close pair was first identified as a possible binary
almost 20 years ago. We initially identified the 35-day period orbital solution
using high-resolution infrared spectroscopy which angularly resolved the A and
B components. We then refined the preliminary orbit by combining the infrared
data with a re-analysis of our high-resolution optical spectroscopy. The
orbital period from the combined spectroscopic solution is 35 days, the
eccentricity is 0.63, and the mass ratio is 0.84; although this
high mass ratio would suggest that optical spectroscopy alone should be
sufficient to identify the orbital solution, the presence of the tertiary B
component likely introduced confusion in the blended optical spectra. Using
millimeter imaging from the literature, we also estimate the inclinations of
the stellar orbital planes with respect to the TWA 3A circumbinary disk
inclination and find that all three planes are likely misaligned by at least
30 degrees. The TWA 3A spectroscopic binary components have spectral
types of M4.0 and M4.5; TWA 3B is an M3. We speculate that the system formed as
a triple, is bound, and that its properties were shaped by dynamical
interactions between the inclined orbits and disk.Comment: Accepted to Ap
JWST observations of stellar occultations by solar system bodies and rings
In this paper we investigate the opportunities provided by the James Webb
Space Telescope (JWST) for significant scientific advances in the study of
solar system bodies and rings using stellar occultations. The strengths and
weaknesses of the stellar occultation technique are evaluated in light of
JWST's unique capabilities. We identify several possible JWST occultation
events by minor bodies and rings, and evaluate their potential scientific
value. These predictions depend critically on accurate a priori knowledge of
the orbit of JWST near the Sun-Earth Lagrange-point 2 (L2). We also explore the
possibility of serendipitous stellar occultations by very small minor bodies as
a by-product of other JWST observing programs. Finally, to optimize the
potential scientific return of stellar occultation observations, we identify
several characteristics of JWST's orbit and instrumentation that should be
taken into account during JWST's development.Comment: This paper is one of a series for a special issue on Solar System
observations with JWST in PASP. Accepted 2-Oct-2015. Preprint 30 pages, 5
tables, 8 figure
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