The Mass of Dwarf Planet Eris

The discovery of dwarf planet Eris was followed shortly by the discovery of its satellite, Dysnomia, but the satellite orbit, and thus the system mass, was not known. New observations with the Keck Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescopes show that Dysnomia has a circular orbit with a radius of 37,350 ± 140 (1-σ) kilometers and a 15.774 ± 0.002 day orbital period around Eris. These orbital parameters agree with expectations for a satellite formed out of the orbiting debris left from a giant impact. The mass of Eris from these orbital parameters is 1.67 × 10^(22) ± 0.02 × 10^(22) kilograms, or 1.27 ± 0.02 that of Pluto

The Nature of [Ar III] Bright Knots in the Crab Nebula

The kinematic and morphological properties of a string of [Ar III] bright knots in the Crab Nebula are examined using 1994 - 1999 HST WFPC-2 images of the remnant. We find that five southern [Ar III] bright knots exhibit ordinary radial motions away from the nebula's center of expansion with magnitudes consistent with their projected radial displacements. These results do not support the suggestion by MacAlpine et al.(1994) that these knots might be moving rapidly away from the Crab pulsar due to a collimated wind. The HST images also do not show that the [Ar III] knots have unusual morphologies relative to other features in the remnant. Our proper motion results, when combined with radial velocity estimates, suggest these knots have relatively low space velocities implying relatively interior remnant locations thus placing them closer to the ionizing radiation from the Crab's synchrotron nebula. This might lead to higher knot gas temperatures thereby explaining the knots' unusual line emission strengths as MacAlpine et al.(1994) suspected.Comment: 11 pages including three figures. Submitted to the Astronomical Journa

The Surface of 2003 EL_(61) in the Near-Infrared

We report the detection of crystalline water ice on the surface of 2003 EL_(61). Reflectance spectra were collected from the Gemini North telescope in the 1.0 to 2.4 μm wavelength range and from the Keck telescope across the 1.4-2.4 μm wavelength range. The signature of crystalline water ice is obvious in all data collected. Like the surfaces of many outer solar system bodies, the surface of 2003 EL_(61) is rich in crystalline water ice, which is energetically less favored than amorphous water ice at low temperatures, suggesting that resurfacing processes may be taking place. The near-infrared color of the object is much bluer than a pure water ice model. Adding a near-infrared blue component such as hydrogen cyanide or phyllosilicate clays improves the fit considerably, with hydrogen cyanide providing the greatest improvement. The addition of hydrated tholins and bitumens also improves the fit, but is inconsistent with the neutral V - J reflectance of 2003 EL_(61). A small decrease in reflectance beyond 2.3 μm may be attributable to cyanide salts. Overall, the reflected light from 2003 EL_(61) is best fit by a model of 2/3-4/5 pure crystalline water ice and 1/3-1/5 near-infrared blue component such as hydrogen cyanide or kaolinite. The surface of 2003 EL_(61) is unlikely to be covered by significant amounts of dark material such as carbon black, as our pure ice models reproduce published albedo estimates derived from the spin state of 2003 EL_(61)

A Photometric System for Detection of Water and Methane Ices on Kuiper Belt Objects

We present a new near-infrared photometric system for detection of water ice and methane ice in the solar system. The system consists of two medium-band filters in the K-band region of the near-infrared, which are sensitive to water ice and methane ice, plus continuum observations in the J-band and Y-band. The primary purpose of this system is to distinguish between three basic types of Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) --- those rich in water ice, those rich in methane ice, and those with little absorbance. In this work, we present proof-of-concept observations of 51 KBOs using our filter system, 21 of which have never been observed in the near-IR spectroscopically. We show that our custom photometric system is consistent with previous spectroscopic observations while reducing telescope observing time by a factor of 3. We use our filters to identify Haumea collisional family members, which are thought to be collisional remnants of a much larger body and are characterized by large fractions of water ice on their surfaces. We add 2009 YE7 to the Haumea collisional family based on our water ice band observations(J-H2O = -1.03 +/- 0.27) which indicate a high amount of water ice absorption, our calculated proper orbital elements, and the neutral optical colors we measured, V-R = 0.38 +/- 0.04, which are all consistent with the rest of the Haumea family. We identify several objects dynamically similar to Haumea as being distinct from the Haumea family as they do not have water ice on their surfaces. In addition, we find that only the largest KBOs have methane ice, and we find that Haumea itself has significantly less water ice absorption than the smaller Haumea family members. We find no evidence for other families in the Kuiper Belt.Comment: 38 pages, 7 figure

Titan imagery with Keck adaptive optics during and after probe entry

We present adaptive optics data from the Keck telescope, taken while the Huygens probe descended through Titan's atmosphere and on the days following touchdown. No probe entry signal was detected. Our observations span a solar phase angle range from 0.05° up to 0.8°, with the Sun in the west. Contrary to expectations, the east side of Titan's stratosphere was usually brightest. Compiling images obtained with Keck and Gemini over the past few years reveals that the east-west asymmetry can be explained by a combination of the solar phase angle effect and an enhancement in the haze density on Titan's morning hemisphere. While stratospheric haze was prominent over the northern hemisphere, tropospheric haze dominated the south, from the south pole up to latitudes of ∼45°S. At 2.1 μm this haze forms a polar cap, while at 1.22 μm it appears in the form of a collar at 60°S. A few small clouds were usually present near the south pole, at altitudes of 30–40 km. Our narrowband J,H,K images of Titan's surface compare extremely well with that obtained by Cassini ISS, down to the small-scale features. The surface contrast between dark and bright areas may be larger at 2 μm than at 1.6 and 1.3 μm, which would imply that the dark areas may be covered by a coarser-grained frost than the bright regions and/or that there is additional 2 μm absorption there

Geographic Control of Titan's Mid-Latitude Clouds

Observations of Titan's mid-latitude clouds from the W. M. Keck and Gemini Observatories show that they cluster near 350°W longitude, 40°S latitude. These clouds cannot be explained by a seasonal shift in global circulation and thus presumably reflect a mechanism on Titan such as geysering or cryovolcanism in this region. The rate of volatile release necessary to trigger cloud formation could easily supply enough methane to balance the loss to photolysis in the upper atmosphere

A collisional family of icy objects in the Kuiper belt

The small bodies in the Solar System are thought to have been highly affected by collisions and erosion. In the asteroid belt, direct evidence of the effects of large collisions can be seen in the existence of separate families of asteroids—a family consists of many asteroids with similar orbits and, frequently, similar surface properties, with each family being the remnant of a single catastrophic impact. In the region beyond Neptune, in contrast, no collisionally created families have hitherto been found. The third largest known Kuiper belt object, 2003 EL_(61), however, is thought to have experienced a giant impact that created its multiple satellite system, stripped away much of an overlying ice mantle, and left it with a rapid rotation. Here we report the discovery of a family of Kuiper belt objects with surface properties and orbits that are nearly identical to those of 2003 EL_(61). This family appears to be fragments of the ejected ice mantle of 2003 EL_(61)

No sodium in the vapour plumes of Enceladus

The discovery of water vapour and ice particles erupting from Saturn's moon Enceladus fuelled speculation that an internal ocean was the source. Alternatively, the source might be ice warmed, melted or crushed by tectonic motions. Sodium chloride (that is, salt) is expected to be present in a long-lived ocean in contact with a rocky core. Here we report a ground-based spectroscopic search for atomic sodium near Enceladus that places an upper limit on the mixing ratio in the vapour plumes orders of magnitude below the expected ocean salinity. The low sodium content of escaping vapour, together with the small fraction of salt-bearing particles, argues against a situation in which a near-surface geyser is fuelled by a salty ocean through cracks in the crust. The lack of observable sodium in the vapour is consistent with a wide variety of alternative eruption sources, including a deep ocean6, a freshwater reservoir, or ice. The existing data may be insufficient to distinguish between these hypotheses