Planetesimal collisions in binary systems

We study the collisional evolution of km-sized planetesimals in tight binary star systems to investigate whether accretion towards protoplanets can proceed despite the strong gravitational perturbations from the secondary star. The orbits of planetesimals are numerically integrated in two dimensions under the influence of the two stars and gas drag. The masses and orbits of the planetesimals are allowed to evolve due to collisions with other planetesimals and accretion of collisional debris. In addition, the mass in debris can evolve due to planetesimal-planetesimal collisions and the creation of new planetesimals. We show that it is possible in principle for km-sized planetesimals to grow by two orders of magnitude in size if the efficiency of planetesimal formation is relatively low. We discuss the limitations of our two-dimensional approach.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Formation of terrestrial planets in close binary systems: the case of Alpha Centauri A

At present the possible existence of planets around the stars of a close binary system is still matter of debate. Can planetary bodies form in spite of the strong gravitational perturbations of the companion star? We study in this paper via numerical simulation the last stage of planetary formation, from embryos to terrestrial planets in the Alpha Cen system, the prototype of close binary systems. We find that Earth class planets can grow around Alpha Cen A on a time-scale of 50 Myr. In some of our numerical models the planets form directly in the habitable zone of the star in low eccentric orbits. In one simulation two of the final planets are in a 2:1 mean motion resonance that, however, becomes unstable after 200 Myr. During the formation process some planetary embryos fall into the stars possibly altering their metallicity.Comment: accepted for pubblication in A&A, 13 pages, 9 figure

COLOR DEPENDENCE IN THE SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF MAIN BELT ASTEROIDS REVISITED

ABSTRACT The size distribution of the asteroid belt is examined with 16956 main belt asteroids detected in data taken from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey in two filters (g and r ). The cumulative H (absolute magnitude) distribution is examined in both filters, and both match well to simple power laws down to H = 17, with slopes in rough agreement with those reported the literature. This implies that disruptive collisions between asteroids are gravitationally dominated down to at least this size, and probably sub-kilometer scales. The slopes of these distributions appear shallower in the outer belt than the inner belt, and the g distributions appear slightly steeper than the r . The slope shallowing in the outer belt may reflect a real compositional difference: the inner asteroid belt has been suggested to consist mostly of stony and/or metallic S-type asteroids, whereas carbonaceous C-types are thought to be more prevalent further from the Sun. No waves are seen in the size distribution above H = 15. Since waves are expected to be produced at the transition from gravitationally-dominated to internal strength-dominated collisions, their absence here may imply that the transition occurs at sub-kilometer scales, much smaller than the H = 17 (diameter ∼ 1.6 km) cutoff of this study

Activity of the Eta-Aquariid and Orionid meteor showers

We present a multi-instrumental, multidecadal analysis of the activity of the Eta-Aquariid and Orionid meteor showers for the purpose of constraining models of 1P/Halley's meteoroid streams. The interannual variability of the showers' peak activity and period of duration is investigated through the compilation of published visual and radar observations prior to 1985 and more recent measurements reported in the International Meteor Organization (IMO) Visual Meteor DataBase, by the IMO Video Meteor Network and by the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar (CMOR). These techniques probe the range of meteoroid masses from submilligrams to grams. The Eta-Aquariids and Orionids activity duration, shape, maximum zenithal hourly rates (ZHR) values, and the solar longitude of annual peaks since 1985 are analyzed. When available, annual activity profiles recorded by each detection network were measured and are compared. Observations from the three detection methods show generally good agreement in the showers' shape, activity levels, and annual intensity variations. Both showers display several activity peaks of variable location and strength with time. The Eta-Aquariids are usually two to three times stronger than the Orionids, but the two showers display occasional outbursts with peaks two to four times their usual activity level. CMOR observations since 2002 seem to support the existence of an ~12 year cycle in Orionids activity variations; however, additional and longer term radar and optical observations of the shower are required to confirm such periodicity.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics (date of acceptance: 10/06/2020

Spectroscopic Observations of New Oort Cloud Comet 2006 VZ13 and Four Other Comets

Spectral data are presented for comets 2006 VZ13 (LINEAR), 2006 K4 (NEAT), 2006 OF2 (Broughton), 2P/Encke, and 93P/Lovas I, obtained with the Cerro-Tololo Inter-American Observatory 1.5-m telescope in August 2007. Comet 2006 VZ13 is a new Oort cloud comet and shows strong lines of CN (3880 angstroms), the Swan band sequence for C_2 (4740, 5160, and 5630 angstroms), C_3 (4056 angstroms), and other faint species. Lines are also identified in the spectra of the other comets. Flux measurements of the CN, C_2 (Delta v = +1,0), and C_3 lines are recorded for each comet and production rates and ratios are derived. When considering the comets as a group, there is a correlation of C_2 and C_3 production with CN, but there is no conclusive evidence that the production rate ratios depend on heliocentric distance. The continuum is also measured, and the dust production and dust-to-gas ratios are calculated. There is a general trend, for the group of comets, between the dust-to-gas ratio and heliocentric distance, but it does not depend on dynamical age or class. Comet 2006 VZ13 is determined to be in the carbon-depleted (or Tempel 1 type) class.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, 6 tables; Accepted by MNRA

Impaired receptor-mediated endocytosis by the asialoglycoprotein receptor in ethanol-fed mice: implications for studying the role of this receptor in alcoholic apoptosis

During receptor-mediated endocytosis (RME), extracellular molecules are internalized after being recognized and bound to specific cell surface receptors. In previous studies of the asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) in rats, we showed that ethanol impairs RME at multiple ASGPR sites. Ethanol administration has been shown to increase apoptosis, and we demonstrated increased sensitization to apoptotic induction in hepatocytes from ethanol-fed rats. Although a physiological role for the ASGPR has not been identified, investigators have shown its involvement in the uptake/clearance of apoptotic cells in vitvo. This suggests a potential role for the ASGPR in the removal of apoptotic cells, and the recent availability of an ASGPR-deficient mouse strain provides an excellent opportunity to examine the role of the ASGPR during ethanol impairment. In this study, we examined ethanol-impaired RME in mice and began the characterization of ASGPR-deficient mice for use in ethanol studies. Similar to our findings with rats, ligand binding, internalization, and degradation were decreased 45-50% in hepatocytes from ethanol-fed wild-type mice. In ASGPR-deficient mice, these parameters did not vary among the chow-fed, pair-fed control, or ethanol groups and were negligible compared with those of wild-type mice. TUNEL analysis of liver sections showed an ethanol-induced increase in apoptotic bodies in all mouse strains with a significant difference in the receptor-deficient mice. Further, the livers of ASGPR-deficient mice had three times more apoptotic bodies, in all feeding groups, compared with wild-type mice. These results support the use of the ASGPR-deficient mouse model for studying ethanol-induced liver injury, specifically ethanol-induced apoptosis

Searching for Main-Belt Comets Using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey

The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey, specifically the Very Wide segment of data, is used to search for possible main-belt comets. In the first data set, 952 separate objects with asteroidal orbits within the main-belt are examined using a three-level technique. First, the full-width-half-maximum of each object is compared to stars of similar magnitude, to look for evidence of a coma. Second, the brightness profiles of each object are compared with three stars of the same magnitude, which are nearby on the image to ensure any extended profile is not due to imaging variations. Finally, the star profiles are subtracted from the asteroid profile and the residuals are compared with the background using an unpaired T-test. No objects in this survey show evidence of cometary activity. The second survey includes 11438 objects in the main-belt, which are examined visually. One object, an unknown comet, is found to show cometary activity. Its motion is consistent with being a main-belt asteroid, but the observed arc is too short for a definitive orbit calculation. No other body in this survey shows evidence of cometary activity. Upper limits of the number of weakly and strongly active main-belt comets are derived to be 630+/-77 and 87+/-28, respectively. These limits are consistent with those expected from asteroid collisions. In addition, data extracted from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope image archive of main-belt comet 176P/LINEAR is presented.Comment: 16 pages, 1 table, 5 figures; Accepted by Icaru