285 research outputs found
Narrow Dust Jets in a Diffuse Gas Coma: A Natural Product of Small Active Regions on Comets
Comets often display narrow dust jets but more diffuse gas comae when their eccentric orbits bring them into the inner solar system and sunlight sublimates the ice on the nucleus. Comets are also understood to have one or more active areas covering only a fraction of the total surface active with sublimating volatile ices. Calculations of the gas and dust distribution from a small active area on a comet's nucleus show that as the gas moves out radially into the vacuum of space it expands tangentially, filling much of the hemisphere centered on the active region. The dust dragged by the gas remains more concentrated over the active area. This explains some puzzling appearances of comets having collimated dust jets but more diffuse gaseous atmospheres. Our test case is 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the Rosetta mission target comet, whose activity is dominated by a single area covering only 4% of its surface.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98552/1/0004-637X_749_1_29.pd
SOHO/SWAN Observations of Short-period Spacecraft Target Comets
SWAN, the Solar Wind ANisotropies all-sky hydrogen Ly_ camera on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft that makes all-sky images of interplanetary neutral hydrogen, has an ongoing campaign to make special observations of comets, both short- and long-period ones, in addition to the serendipitous observations of comets as part of the all-sky monitoring program. We report here on a study of several short-period comets that were detected by SWAN: 21P/Giacobini-Zinner (1998 and 2005 apparitions), 19P/Borrelly (2001 apparition), 81P/Wild 2 (1997 apparition), and 103P/Hartley 2 (1997 apparition). SWAN observes comets over long continuous stretches of their visible apparitions and therefore provides excellent temporal coverage of the water production. For some of the observations we are also able to analyze an entire sequence of images over many days to several weeks/months using our time-resolved model and extract daily average water production rates over continuous periods of several days to months. The short-term (outburst) and long-term behavior can be correlated with other observations. The overall long-term variation is examined in light of seasonal effects seen in the pre- to post-perihelion differences. For 21P/Giacobini-Zinner and 81P/Wild 2 the activity variations over each apparition were more continuously monitored but nonetheless consistent with previous observations. For 19P/Borrelly we found a very steep variation of water production rates, again consistent with some previous observations, and a variation over six months around perihelion that was reasonably consistent with the spin-axis model of Schleicher et al. and the illumination of the main active areas. During the 1997-1998 apparition of 103P/Hartley 2, the target comet of the EPOXI mission (the Deep Impact extended mission), we found a variation with heliocentric distance (~ r –3.6 ) that was almost as steep as 19P/Borrelly and, given the small measured radius near aphelion, this places a number of possible constraints on the size, shape, and/or distribution active of areas on the surface.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90820/1/1538-3881_141_4_128.pd
Microcystic adnexal carcinoma of the centrofacial region: a case report
Microcystic adnexal carcinoma is a rare, locally aggressive neoplasm with both eccrine and follicular differentiation and a high probability
of perineural invasion of the centrofacial region. Given the histopathological features of this tumour, early diagnosis is essential for
adequate management. This report refers to a case of microcystic adnexal carcinoma of the nasogenial region, with infiltration of the deep
planes extending to the anterior wall of the maxillary sinus. Surgical treatment involved wide demolition of the centrofacial region followed
by reconstruction using four locoregional flaps: an Indian flap and a Mustardé flap were used for cutaneous reconstruction; a septal flap to
support the maxillogenial region; a mucosal flap to separate the nasal cavities
Hall Effect in the coma of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Magnetohydrodynamics simulations have been carried out in studying the solar
wind and cometary plasma interactions for decades. Various plasma boundaries
have been simulated and compared well with observations for comet 1P/Halley.
The Rosetta mission, which studies comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, challenges
our understanding of the solar wind and comet interactions. The Rosetta Plasma
Consortium observed regions of very weak magnetic field outside the predicted
diamagnetic cavity. In this paper, we simulate the inner coma with the Hall
magnetohydrodynamics equations and show that the Hall effect is important in
the inner coma environment. The magnetic field topology becomes complex and
magnetic reconnection occurs on the dayside when the Hall effect is taken into
account. The magnetic reconnection on the dayside can generate weak magnetic
filed regions outside the global diamagnetic cavity, which may explain the
Rosetta Plasma Consortium observations. We conclude that the substantial change
in the inner coma environment is due to the fact that the ion inertial length
(or gyro radius) is not much smaller than the size of the diamagnetic cavity.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figur
Study of the April 20, 2007 CME-Comet Interaction Event with an MHD Model
This study examines the tail disconnection event on April 20, 2007 on comet
2P/Encke, caused by a coronal mass ejection (CME) at a heliocentric distance of
0.34 AU. During their interaction, both the CME and the comet are visible with
high temporal and spatial resolution by the STEREO-A spacecraft. Previously,
only current sheets or shocks have been accepted as possible reasons for comet
tail disconnections, so it is puzzling that the CME caused this event. The MHD
simulation presented in this work reproduces the interaction process and
demonstrates how the CME triggered a tail disconnection in the April 20 event.
It is found that the CME disturbs the comet with a combination of a
sudden rotation of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), followed by a
gradual rotation. Such an interpretation applies our understanding
of solar wind-comet interactions to determine the \textit{in situ} IMF
orientation of the CME encountering Encke.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, accepted by the ApJ Letter
IR-dust observations of Comet Tempel 2 with CRAF VIMS
Measurement strategies are now being planned for using the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) to observe the asteroid Hestia, and the nucleus, and the gas and dust in the coma of comet P/Tempel 2 as part of the Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) mission. The spectral range of VIMS will cover wavelengths from 0.35 to 5.2 micrometers, with a spectral resolution of 11 nm from 0.35 to 2.4 micrometers and of 22 nm from 2.4 to 5.2 micrometers. The instantaneous field of view (IFOV) provided by the foreoptics is 0.5 milliradians, and the current design of the instrument provides for a scanning secondary mirror which will scan a swath of length 72 IFOVs. The CRAF high resolution scan platform motion will permit slewing VIMS in a direction perpendicular to the swath. This enables the building of a two dimensional image in any or all wavelength channels. Important measurements of the dust coma will include the onset of early coma activity, the mapping of gas and dust jets and correlations with active nucleus areas, observations of the dust coma from various scattering phase angles, coverage of the low wavelength portion of the thermal radiation, and the 3.4 micrometer hydrocarbon emission. A description of the VIMS instrument is presented
Searches for HCl and HF in comets 103P/Hartley 2 and C/2009 P1 (Garradd) with the Herschel space observatory
HCl and HF are expected to be the main reservoirs of fluorine and chlorine
wherever hydrogen is predominantly molecular. They are found to be strongly
depleted in dense molecular clouds, suggesting freeze-out onto grains in such
cold environments. We can then expect that HCl and HF were also the major
carriers of Cl and F in the gas and icy phases of the outer solar nebula, and
were incorporated into comets. We aimed to measure the HCl and HF abundances in
cometary ices as they can provide insights on the halogen chemistry in the
early solar nebula. We searched for the J(1-0) lines of HCl and HF at 626 and
1232 GHz, respectively, using the HIFI instrument on board the Herschel Space
Observatory. HCl was searched for in comets 103P/Hartley 2 and C/2009 P1
(Garradd), whereas observations of HF were conducted in comet C/2009 P1. In
addition, observations of HO and HO lines were performed in C/2009
P1 to measure the HO production rate. Three lines of CHOH were
serendipitously observed in the HCl receiver setting. HCl is not detected,
whereas a marginal (3.6-) detection of HF is obtained. The upper limits
for the HCl abundance relative to water are 0.011% and 0.022%, for 103P and
C/2009 P1, respectively, showing that HCl is depleted with respect to the solar
Cl/O abundance by a factor more than 6 in 103P, where the error is
related to the uncertainty in the chlorine solar abundance. The marginal HF
detection obtained in C/2009 P1 corresponds to an HF abundance relative to
water of (1.80.5) 10, which is approximately consistent
with a solar photospheric F/O abundance. The observed depletion of HCl suggests
that HCl was not the main reservoir of chlorine in the regions of the solar
nebula where these comets formed. HF was possibly the main fluorine compound in
the gas phase of the outer solar nebula.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic
Hot oxygen escape from Mars: Simple scaling with solar EUV irradiance
The evolution of the atmosphere of Mars and the loss of volatiles over the lifetime of the solar system is a key topic in planetary science. An important loss process for atomic species, such as oxygen, is ionospheric photochemical escape. Dissociative recombination of O2+ ions (the major ion species) produces fast oxygen atoms, some of which can escape from the planet. Many theoretical hot O models have been constructed over the years, although a number of uncertainties are present in these models, particularly concerning the elastic cross sections of O atoms with CO2. Recently, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission has been rapidly improving our understanding of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere of Mars and its interaction with the external environment (e.g., solar wind), allowing a new assessment of this important loss process. The purpose of the current paper is to take a simple analytical approach to the oxygen escape problem in order to (1) study the role that variations in solar radiation or solar wind fluxes could have on escape in a transparent fashion and (2) isolate the effects of uncertainties in oxygen cross sections on the derived oxygen escape rates. In agreement with several more elaborate numerical models, we find that the escape flux is directly proportional to the incident solar extreme ultraviolet irradiance and is inversely proportional to the backscatter elastic cross section. The amount of O lost due to ion transport in the topside ionosphere is found to be about 5–10% of the total.Key PointsPhotochemistry dominates oxygen escape from MarsMartian oxygen escape rate scales linearly with solar activityDependence of O escape rate from Mars on elastic cross section is describedPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136315/1/jgra53155.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136315/2/jgra53155_am.pd
Black Hole Astrophysics in AdS Braneworlds
We consider astrophysics of large black holes localized on the brane in the
infinite Randall-Sundrum model. Using their description in terms of a conformal
field theory (CFT) coupled to gravity, deduced in Ref. [1], we show that they
undergo a period of rapid decay via Hawking radiation of CFT modes. For
example, a black hole of mass would shed most of its
mass in years if the AdS radius is mm,
currently the upper bound from table-top experiments. Since this is within the
mass range of X-ray binary systems containing a black hole, the evaporation
enhanced by the hidden sector CFT modes could cause the disappearance of X-ray
sources on the sky. This would be a striking signature of RS2 with a large AdS
radius. Alternatively, for shorter AdS radii, the evaporation would be slower.
In such cases, the persistence of X-ray binaries with black holes already
implies an upper bound on the AdS radius of L \la 10^{-2} mm, an order of
magnitude better than the bounds from table-top experiments. The observation of
primordial black holes with a mass in the MACHO range and an age comparable to the age of the universe would further
strengthen the bound on the AdS radius to L \la {\rm few} \times 10^{-6} mm.Comment: 14 pages, latex, no figures v2: added reference
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