18,093 research outputs found
NICMOS Photometry of the Unusual Dwarf Planet Haumea and its Satellites
We present here Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS F110W and F160W observations of Haumea, and its two satellites Hi'iaka and Namaka. From the measured (F110W-F160W) colors of ā1.208 Ā± 0.004, ā1.48 Ā± 0.06, and ā1.4 Ā± 0.2 mag for each object, respectively, we infer that the 1.6 Ī¼m water-ice absorption feature depths on Hi'iaka and Namaka are at least as deep as that of Haumea. The light curve of Haumea is detected in both filters, and we find that the infrared color is bluer by ~2%-3% at the phase of the red spot. These observations suggest that the satellites of Haumea were formed from the collision that produced the Haumea collisional family
The Hubble Wide Field Camera 3 Test of Surfaces in the Outer Solar System: The Compositional Classes of the Kuiper Belt
We present the first results of the Hubble Wide Field Camera 3 Test of
Surfaces in the Outer Solar System (H/WTSOSS). The purpose of this survey was
to measure the surface properties of a large number of Kuiper belt objects and
attempt to infer compositional and dynamical correlations. We find that the
Centaurs and the low-perihelion scattered disk and resonant objects exhibit
virtually identical bifurcated optical colour distributions and make up two
well defined groups of object. Both groups have highly correlated optical and
NIR colours which are well described by a pair of two component mixture models
that have different red components, but share a common neutral component. The
small, high-perihelion excited objects are entirely
consistent with being drawn from the two branches of the mixing model
suggesting that the colour bifurcation of the Centaurs is apparent in all small
excited objects. On the other hand, objects larger than are
not consistent with the mixing model, suggesting some evolutionary process
avoided by the smaller objects. The existence of a bifurcation amongst all
excited populations argues that the two separate classes of object existed in
the primordial disk before the excited Kuiper belt was populated. The cold
classical objects exhibit a different type of surface which has colours that
are consistent with being drawn from the red branch of the mixing model, but
with much higher albedos.Comment: Accepted to the Astrophysical Journal. 49 Pages, 15 Figure
In ovo time-lapse analysis of chick hindbrain neural crest cell migration shows cell interactions during migration to the branchial arches
Hindbrain neural crest cells were labeled with DiI and followed in ovo using a new approach for long-term time-lapse confocal microscopy. In ovo imaging allowed us to visualize neural crest cell migration 2-3 times longer than in whole embryo explant cultures, providing a more complete picture of the dynamics of cell migration from emergence at the dorsal midline to entry into the branchial arches. There were aspects of the in ovo neural crest cell migration patterning which were new and different. Surprisingly, there was contact between neural crest cell migration streams bound for different branchial arches. This cell-cell contact occurred in the region lateral to the otic vesicle, where neural crest cells within the distinct streams diverted from their migration pathways into the branchial arches and instead migrated around the otic vesicle to establish a contact between streams. Some individual neural crest cells did appear to cross between the streams, but there was no widespread mixing. Analysis of individual cell trajectories showed that neural crest cells emerge from all rhombomeres (r) and sort into distinct exiting streams adjacent to the even-numbered rhombomeres. Neural crest cell migration behaviors resembled the wide diversity seen in whole embryo chick explants, including chain-like cell arrangements; however, average in ovo cell speeds are as much as 70% faster. To test to what extent neural crest cells from adjoining rhombomeres mix along migration routes and within the branchial arches, separate groups of premigratory neural crest cells were labeled with DiI or DiD. Results showed that r6 and r7 neural crest cells migrated to the same spatial location within the fourth branchial arch. The diversity of migration behaviors suggests that no single mechanism guides in ovo hindbrain neural crest cell migration into the branchial arches. The cell-cell contact between migration streams and the co-localization of neural crest cells from adjoining rhombomeres within a single branchial arch support the notion that the pattern of hindbrain neural crest cell migration emerges dynamically with cell-cell communication playing an important guidance role
Water ice in the Kuiper belt
We examine a large collection of low-resolution near-infrared spectra of Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) and centaurs in an attempt to understand the presence of water ice in the Kuiper Belt. We find that water ice on the surface of these objects occurs in three separate manners: (1) Haumea family members uniquely show surfaces of nearly pure water ice, presumably a consequence of the fragmentation of the icy mantle of a larger differentiated proto-Haumea; (2) large objects with absolute magnitudes of H < 3 (and a limited number to H = 4.5) have surface coverings of water iceāperhaps mixed with ammoniaāthat appears to be related to possibly ancient cryovolcanism on these large objects; and (3) smaller KBOs and centaurs which are neither Haumea family members nor cold-classical KBOs appear to divide into two families (which we refer to as "neutral" and "red"), each of which is a mixture of a common nearly neutral component and either a slightly red or very red component that also includes water ice. A model suggesting that the difference between neutral and red objects due to formation in an early compact solar system either inside or outside, respectively, of the ~20 AU methanol evaporation line is supported by the observation that methanol is only detected on the reddest objects, which are those which would be expected to have the most of the methanol containing mixture
Label-free, single molecule detection of cytokines using optical microcavities
Interleukin-2 (IL2) is a cytokine that regulates T-cell growth and is used in cancer therapies. By
sensitizing a microcavity sensor surface with anti-IL2 and monitoring the resonant frequency,
single molecules of IL2 can be detected
The Mass, Orbit, and Tidal Evolution of the Quaoar-Weywot System
Here we present new adaptive optics observations of the Quaoar-Weywot system.
With these new observations we determine an improved system orbit. Due to a
0.39 day alias that exists in available observations, four possible orbital
solutions are available with periods of , , , and
days. From the possible orbital solutions, system masses of
kg are found. These observations provide an
updated density for Quaoar of 2.7-5.0{g cm^{-3}}. In all cases, Weywot's
orbit is eccentric, with possible values . We present a
reanalysis of the tidal orbital evolution of the Quoaor-Weywot system. We have
found that Weywot has probably evolved to a state of synchronous rotation, and
have likely preserved their initial inclinations over the age of the Solar
system. We find that for plausible values of the effective tidal dissipation
factor tides produce a very slow evolution of Weywot's eccentricity and
semi-major axis. Accordingly, it appears that Weywot's eccentricity likely did
not tidally evolve to its current value from an initially circular orbit.
Rather, it seems that some other mechanism has raised its eccentricity
post-formation, or Weywot formed with a non-negligible eccentricity.Comment: Accepted to Icarus, Nov. 8 201
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