2,442 research outputs found
Catastrophic disruptions revisited
We use a smooth particle hydrodynamics method (SPH) to simulate colliding
rocky and icy bodies from cm-scale to hundreds of km in diameter, in an effort
to define self-consistently the threshold for catastrophic disruption. Unlike
previous efforts, this analysis incorporates the combined effects of material
strength (using a brittle fragmentation model) and self-gravitation, thereby
providing results in the ``strength regime'' and the ``gravity regime'', and in
between. In each case, the structural properties of the largest remnant are
examined.Comment: To appear in Icaru
The surface and interior of Phobos
The impact crater Stickney dominates one hemisphere of the Martian moon Phobos; its diameter (11 km) is about half the size of the body (19 x 22 x 27 km). Besides demarking a threshold between cratering and catastrophic disruption, this impact reveals a great deal about the target's interior. Because Phobos has an unusually low density yet exhibits no direct evidence for volatiles such as water ice, it has been supposed that it sequesters volatiles in the deep interior, or that it is made of some exotic substance, or that it is a loosely-aggregated rubble pile. The network of fracture grooves created by the Stickney impact constrain which, if any, of these models accord with observation
Shoemaker-Levy 9 and the tidal disruption of comets
The break-up of Periodic Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 into multiple pieces following its grazing encounter with Jupiter in July 1992 can be used to study tidally-induced fracture in comets. This spectacular event allows us not only to set limits on the size, strength and density of Shoemaker-Levy 9 itself, but provides invaluable guidance to numerical modeling of such encounters. In an extensive treatment of tidal breakup which assumed self-gravitating, homogeneous, perfectly elastic bodies, Dobrovolskis derived simple analytical expressions for the tidally-induced surface and central stresses. Both can be cast in such a way that Poisson's ratio is the only material dependent constant entering these expressions. Whether both surface and central failure must be initiated as a criterion for breakup, or either one of them is sufficient, remains a subject of disagreement. To resolve this debate, we model the details of cometary breakup using a three-dimensional Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) code modified to simulate fracture in small solid objects. At lower stresses associated with brittle failure, we use a rate-dependent strength based on the nucleation of incipient flaws whose number density is given by a Weibull distribution
CHEOPS performance for exomoons: The detectability of exomoons by using optimal decision algorithm
Many attempts have already been made for detecting exomoons around transiting
exoplanets but the first confirmed discovery is still pending. The experience
that have been gathered so far allow us to better optimize future space
telescopes for this challenge, already during the development phase. In this
paper we focus on the forthcoming CHaraterising ExOPlanet Satellite
(CHEOPS),describing an optimized decision algorithm with step-by-step
evaluation, and calculating the number of required transits for an exomoon
detection for various planet-moon configurations that can be observable by
CHEOPS. We explore the most efficient way for such an observation which
minimizes the cost in observing time. Our study is based on PTV observations
(photocentric transit timing variation, Szab\'o et al. 2006) in simulated
CHEOPS data, but the recipe does not depend on the actual detection method, and
it can be substituted with e.g. the photodynamical method for later
applications. Using the current state-of-the-art level simulation of CHEOPS
data we analyzed transit observation sets for different star-planet-moon
configurations and performed a bootstrap analysis to determine their detection
statistics. We have found that the detection limit is around an Earth-sized
moon. In the case of favorable spatial configurations, systems with at least
such a large moon and with at least Neptune-sized planet, 80\% detection chance
requires at least 5-6 transit observations on average. There is also non-zero
chance in the case of smaller moons, but the detection statistics deteriorates
rapidly, while the necessary transit measurements increase fast. (abridged)Comment: 32 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in PAS
\u3ci\u3eLevisunguis subaequalis\u3c/i\u3e n. g., n. sp., a Tongue Worm (Pentastomida: Porocephalida: Sebekidae) Infecting Softshell Turtles, \u3ci\u3eApalone\u3c/i\u3e spp. (Testudines: Trionychidae), in the Southeastern United States
A new tongue worm (Pentastomida) belonging to the Sebekidae Sambon, 1922 (Porocephaloidea Sambon, 1922) is described based on exemplars collected from softshell terrapins Apalone spinifera aspera (Agassiz) and Apalone ferox (Schneider) in the southeastern United States; a new genus is erected to accommodate the new species. The new species belongs in the Sebekidae because adults possess four simple hooks arranged in a trapezoid pattern on the ventral surface of the cephalothorax, a mouth opening between the anterior and posterior pairs of hooks, a terminal anus, an elongated uterus with preanal uterine pore, and a Y-shaped seminal vesicle. Nymphs possess geminate hooks, and the new species has an aquatic life cycle in which nymphs become encapsulated in the body cavity of a freshwater fish and mature in the lungs of a terrapin. The new genus is distinct from other genera in the Sebekidae primarily by differences in hook morphology and the fact that representatives use a terrapin as a definitive host. Nymphs infecting fish and presumed to be the new species matured as postlarval juveniles conspecific with the new species when they were fed to the eastern mud turtle, Kinosternon subrubrum (Lacépède). Nymphs of the new species are anatomically similar to but larger than nymphs of Sebekia mississippiensis Overstreet, Self & Vliet, 1985 found in the mesentery of fishes captured in Florida, USA. Adults of the new species differ from those of S. mississippiensis based on hook features, chloride cell pore pattern on annuli, body size, and use of a turtle rather than crocodilian definitive host. The new species is the third North American member of the Sebekidae
Theory of phase-locking in generalized hybrid Josephson junction arrays
A recently proposed scheme for the analytical treatment of the dynamics of
two-dimensional hybrid Josephson junction arrays is extended to a class of
generalized hybrid arrays with ''horizontal'' shunts involving a capacitive as
well as an inductive component. This class of arrays is of special interest,
because the internal cell coupling has been shown numerically to favor in-phase
synchronization for certain parameter values. As a result, we derive limits on
the circuit design parameters for realizing this state. In addition, we obtain
formulas for the flux-dependent frequency including flux-induced switching
processes between the in-phase and anti-phase oscillation regime. The treatment
covers unloaded arrays as well as arrays shunted via an external load.Comment: 24 pages, REVTeX, 5 Postscript figures, Subm. to Phys. Rev.
THEORY OF PHASE-LOCKING IN SMALL JOSEPHSON JUNCTION CELLS
Within the RSJ model, we performed a theoretical analysis of phase-locking in
elementary strongly coupled Josephson junction cells. For this purpose, we
developed a systematic method allowing the investigation of phase-locking in
cells with small but non-vanishing loop inductance.The voltages across the
junctions are found to be locked with very small phase difference for almost
all values of external flux. However, the general behavior of phase-locking is
found to be just contrary to that according to weak coupling. In case of strong
coupling there is nearly no influence of external magnetic flux on the phases,
but the locking-frequency becomes flux-dependent. The influence of parameter
splitting is considered as well as the effect of small capacitive shunting of
the junctions. Strongly coupled cells show synchronization even for large
parameter splitting. Finally, a study of the behavior under external microwave
radiation shows that the frequency locking-range becomes strongly
flux-dependent, whereas the locking frequency itself turns out to be
flux-independent.Comment: 26 pages, REVTEX, 9 PS figures appended in uuencoded form at the end,
submitted to Phys. Rev. B
A Planetary Mass Companion to the K0 Giant HD 17092
We report the discovery of a substellar-mass companion to the K0-giant HD
17092 with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope. In the absence of any correlation of the
observed 360-day periodicity with the standard indicators of stellar activity,
the observed radial velocity variations are most plausibly explained in terms
of a Keplerian motion of a planetary-mass body around the star. With the
estimated stellar mass of 2.3Msun, the minimum mass of the planet is 4.6MJ. The
planet's orbit is characterized by a mild eccentricity of e=0.17 and a
semi-major axis of 1.3 AU. This is the tenth published detection of a planetary
companion around a red giant star. Such discoveries add to our understanding of
planet formation around intermediate-mass stars and they provide dynamical
information on the evolution of planetary systems around post-main sequence
stars.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to Ap
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