563 research outputs found
Asteroids in the Inner Solar System II - Observable Properties
This paper presents synthetic observations of long-lived, coorbiting
asteroids of Mercury, Venus, the Earth and Mars. Our sample is constructed by
taking the limiting semimajor axes, differential longitudes and inclinations
for long-lived stability provided by simulations. The intervals are randomly
populated with values to create initial conditions. These orbits are
re-simulated to check that they are stable and then re-sampled every 2.5 years
for 1 million years. The Mercurian sample contains only horseshoe orbits, the
Martian sample only tadpoles. For both Venus and the Earth, the greatest
concentration of objects on the sky occurs close to the classical Lagrange
points at heliocentric ecliptic longitudes of 60 and 300 degrees. The
distributions are broad especially if horseshoes are present in the sample. The
full-width half maximum (FWHM) in heliocentric longitude for Venus is 325
degrees and for the Earth is 328 degrees. The mean and most common velocity of
these coorbiting satellites coincides with the mean motion of the parent
planet, but again the spread is wide with a FWHM for Venus of 27.8 arcsec/hr
and for the Earth of 21.0 arcsec/hr. For Mars, the greatest concentration on
the sky occurs at heliocentric ecliptic latitudes of 12 degrees. The peak of
the velocity distribution occurs at 65 arcsec/hr, significantly less than the
Martian mean motion, while its FWHM is 32.3 arcsec/hr. The case of Mercury is
the hardest of all, as the greatest concentration occurs at heliocentric
longitudes close to the Sun.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, Monthly Notices (in press). Higher quality
figures available at
http://www-thphys.physics.ox.ac.uk/users/WynEvans/home.htm
Struggling to strike the right balance between interests at stake:The ‘Yarovaya’, ‘Fake news’ and ‘Disrespect’ laws as examples of ill-conceived legislation in the age of modern technology
The article deals with the legislative amendments that have been recently adopted in the Russian Federation, the so-called ‘Yarovaya’ law, the ‘fake news’ law and the ‘disrespect’ law. It explains the essence and problems of implementation of the above-mentioned legal instruments and assesses them from the human rights angle. It is established that the rather complex laws under analysis pose significant threats to the human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals, including privacy, data protection and freedom of expression, and introduce other additional negative effects to the Russian society and economy. While in the adoption of such legislation it is crucial to give due weight to the involved interests, the used examples indicate that the State’s interests seem to prevail at the cost of the rights and freedoms of those who need to be adequately protected
Asteroids in the Inner Solar System I - Existence
Ensembles of in-plane and inclined orbits in the vicinity of the Lagrange
points of the terrestrial planets are integrated for up to 100 million years.
The integrations incorporate the gravitational effects of Sun and the eight
planets (Pluto is neglected). Mercury is the least likely planet, as it is
unable to retain tadpole orbits over 100 million year timescales. Both Venus
and the Earth are much more promising, as they possess rich families of stable
tadpole and horseshoe orbits. Our survey of Trojans in the orbital plane of
Venus is undertaken for 25 million years. Some 40% of the survivors are on
tadpole orbits. For the Earth, the integrations are pursued for 50 million
years. The stable zones in the orbital plane are larger for the Earth than for
Venus, but fewer of the survivors are tadpoles. Both Venus and the Earth also
have regions in which inclined test particles can endure near the Lagrange
points. For Venus, only test particles close to the orbital plane are stable.
For the Earth, there are two bands of stability, one at low inclinations (i <
16 degrees) and one at moderate inclinations (between 24 degrees and 34
degrees). The inclined test particles that evade close encounters are primarily
moving on tadpole orbits. Our survey of in-plane test particles near the
Martian Lagrange points shows no survivors after 60 million years. Low
inclination test particles do not persist, as their inclinations are quickly
increased until the effects of a secular resonance with Jupiter cause
de-stabilisation. Numerical integrations of inclined test particles for
timespans of 25 million years show stable zones for inclinations between 14 and
40 degrees.Comment: 20 pages, 21 figures, Monthly Notices (in press
A long-lived horseshoe companion to the Earth
We present a dynamical investigation of a newly found asteroid, 2010 SO16,
and the discovery that it is a horseshoe companion of the Earth. The object's
absolute magnitude (H=20.7) makes this the largest object of its type known
to-date. By carrying out numerical integrations of dynamical clones, we find
that (a) its status as a horseshoe is secure given the current accuracy of its
ephemeris, and (b) the time spent in horseshoe libration with the Earth is
several times 10^5 yr, two orders of magnitude longer than determined for other
horseshoe asteroids of the Earth. Further, using a model based on Hill's
approximation to the three-body problem, we show that, apart from the low
eccentricity which prevents close encounters with other planets or the Earth
itself, its stability can be attributed to the value of its Jacobi constant far
from the regime that allows transitions into other coorbital modes or escape
from the resonance altogether. We provide evidence that the eventual escape of
the asteroid from horseshoe libration is caused by the action of planetary
secular perturbations and the stochastic evolution of the eccentricity. The
questions of its origin and the existence of as-yet-undiscovered co-orbital
companions of the Earth are discussed.Comment: Accepted in MNRAS; 6 pages, 3 figures, 2 table
Albedos and diameters of three Mars Trojan asteroids
We observed the Mars Trojan asteroids (5261) Eureka and (101429) 1998 VF31
and the candidate Mars Trojan 2001 FR127 at 11.2 and 18.1 microns using
Michelle on the Gemini North telescope. We derive diameters of 1.28, 0.78, and
<0.52 km, respectively, with corresponding geometric visible albedos of 0.39,
0.32, and >0.14. The albedos for Eureka and 1998 VF31 are consistent with the
taxonomic classes and compositions (S(I)/angritic and S(VII)/achrondritic,
respectively) and implied histories presented in a companion paper by Rivkin et
al. Eureka's surface likely has a relatively high thermal inertia, implying a
thin regolith that is consistent with predictions and the small size that we
derive.Comment: Icarus, in press. See companion paper 0709.1925 by Rivkin et al; two
minor typos fixe
Three-dimensional Calculations of High and Low-mass Planets Embedded in Protoplanetary Discs
We analyse the non-linear, three-dimensional response of a gaseous, viscous
protoplanetary disc to the presence of a planet of mass ranging from one Earth
mass (1 M) to one Jupiter mass (1 M) by using the ZEUS hydrodynamics
code. We determine the gas flow pattern, and the accretion and migration rates
of the planet. The planet is assumed to be in a fixed circular orbit about the
central star. It is also assumed to be able to accrete gas without expansion on
the scale of its Roche radius. Only planets with masses M \gsim 0.1 M
produce significant perturbations in the disc's surface density. The flow
within the Roche lobe of the planet is fully three-dimensional. Gas streams
generally enter the Roche lobe close to the disc midplane, but produce much
weaker shocks than the streams in two-dimensional models. The streams supply
material to a circumplanetary disc that rotates in the same sense as the
planet's orbit. Much of the mass supply to the circumplanetary disc comes from
non-coplanar flow. The accretion rate peaks with a planet mass of approximately
0.1 M and is highly efficient, occurring at the local viscous rate. The
migration timescales for planets of mass less than 0.1 M, based on torques
from disc material outside the planets' Roche lobes, are in excellent agreement
with the linear theory of Type I (non-gap) migration for three-dimensional
discs. The transition from Type I to Type II (gap) migration is smooth, with
changes in migration times of about a factor of 2. Starting with a core which
can undergo runaway growth, a planet can gain up to a few M with little
migration. Planets with final masses of order 10 M would undergo large
migration, which makes formation and survival difficult.Comment: Accepted by MNRAS, 18 pages, 13 figures (6 degraded resolution).
Paper with high-resolution figures available at
http://www.astro.ex.ac.uk/people/mbate
- …