- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/650/A129
- Title:
- SPHERE (87) Sylvia images
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/650/A129
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Dynamical models of Solar System evolution have suggested that the so-called P- and D-type volatile-rich asteroids formed in the outer Solar System beyond Neptune's orbit and may be genetically related to the Jupiter Trojans, comets, and small Kuiper belt objects (KBOs). Indeed, the spectral properties of P- and D-type asteroids resemble that of anhydrous cometary dust. We aim to gain insights into the above classes of bodies by characterizing the internal structure of a large P- and D-type asteroid. We report high-angular-resolution imaging observations of the P-type asteroid (87) Sylvia with the the Very Large Telescope (VLT) Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument. These images were used to reconstruct the 3D shape of Sylvia. Our images together with those obtained in the past with large ground-based telescopes were used to study the dynamics of its two satellites. We also modeled Sylvia's thermal evolution. The shape of Sylvia appears flattened and elongated (a/b~1.45; a/c~1.84). We derive a volume-equivalent diameter of 271+/-5km and a low density of 1378+/-45kg/m^3^. The two satellites orbit Sylvia on circular, equatorial orbits. The oblateness of Sylvia should imply a detectable nodal precession which contrasts with the fully-Keplerian dynamics of its two satellites. This reveals an inhomogeneous internal structure, suggesting that Sylvia is differentiated. Sylvia's low density and differentiated interior can be explained by partial melting and mass redistribution through water percolation. The outer shell should be composed of material similar to interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) and the core should be similar to aqueously altered IDPs or carbonaceous chondrite meteorites such as the Tagish Lake meteorite. Numerical simulations of the thermal evolution of Sylvia show that for a body of such a size, partial melting was unavoidable due to the decay of long-lived radionuclides. In addition, we show that bodies as small as 130-150km in diameter should have followed a similar thermal evolution, while smaller objects, such as comets and the KBO Arrokoth, must have remained pristine, which is in agreement with in situ observations of these bodies. NASA Lucy mission target (617) Patroclus (diameter ~140km) may, however, be differentiated.
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- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/623/A132
- Title:
- SPHERE/ZIMPOL (41) Daphne images
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/623/A132
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- CM-like asteroids (Ch and Cgh classes) are a major population within the broader C-complex, encompassing about 10% of the mass of the main asteroid belt. Their internal structure has been predicted to be homogeneous, based on their compositional similarity as inferred from spectroscopy (Vernazza et al., 2016AJ....152..154G) and numerical modeling of their early thermal evolution (Bland & Travis, 2017, Sci. Adv. 3, e1602514). Here we aim to test this hypothesis by deriving the density of the CM-like asteroid (41) Daphne from detailed modeling of its shape and the orbit of its small satellite. We observed Daphne and its satellite within our imaging survey with the Very Large Telescope extreme adaptive-optics SPHERE/ZIMPOL camera (ID 199.C-0074, PI P. Vernazza) and complemented this data set with earlier Keck/NIRC2 and VLT/NACO observations. We analyzed the dynamics of the satellite with our Genoid meta-heuristic algorithm. Combining our high-angular resolution images with optical lightcurves and stellar occultations, we determine the spin period, orientation, and 3-D shape, using our ADAM shape modeling algorithm. The satellite orbits Daphne on an equatorial, quasi-circular, prograde orbit, like the satellites of many other large main-belt asteroids. The shape model of Daphne reveals several large flat areas that could be large impact craters. The mass determined from this orbit combined with the volume computed from the shape model implies a density for Daphne of 1.77+/-0.26g/cm^3^ (3{sigma}). This density is consistent with a primordial CM-like homogeneous internal structure with some level of macroporosity (~17%). Based on our analysis of the density of Daphne and 75 other Ch/Cgh-type asteroids gathered from the literature, we conclude that the primordial internal structure of the CM parent bodies was homogeneous.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/618/A154
- Title:
- SPHERE/ZIMPOL (89) Julia images
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/618/A154
- Date:
- 23 Mar 2022 16:27:22
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The vast majority of the geophysical and geological constraints (e.g., internal structure, cratering history) for main-belt asteroids have so far been obtained via dedicated interplanetary missions (e.g., ESA Rosetta, NASA Dawn). The high angular resolution of SPHERE/ZIMPOL, the new-generation visible adaptive-optics camera at ESO VLT, implies that these science objectives can now be investigated from the ground for a large fraction of D>=100km main-belt asteroids. The sharp images acquired by this instrument can be used to accurately constrain the shape and thus volume of these bodies (hence density when combined with mass estimates) and to characterize the distribution and topography of D>=30km craters across their surfaces. Here, via several complementary approaches, we evaluated the recently proposed hypothesis that the S-type asteroid (89) Julia is the parent body of a small compact asteroid family that formed via a cratering collisional event. We observed (89) Julia with VLT/SPHERE/ZIMPOL throughout its rotation, derived its 3D shape, and performed a reconnaissance and characterization of the largest craters. We also performed numerical simulations to first confirm the existence of the Julia family and to determine its age and the size of the impact crater at its origin. Finally, we utilized the images/3D shape in an attempt to identify the origin location of the small collisional family. On the one hand, our VLT/SPHERE observations reveal the presence of a large crater (D~75km) in Julia's southern hemisphere. On the other hand, our numerical simulations suggest that (89) Julia was impacted 30-120Myrs ago by a D~8km asteroid, thereby creating a D>=60km impact crater at the surface of Julia. Given the small size of the impactor, the obliquity of Julia and the particular orientation of the family in the (a,i) space, the imaged impact crater is likely to be the origin of the family. New doors into ground-based asteroid exploration, namely, geophysics and geology, are being opened thanks to the unique capabilities of VLT/SPHERE. Also, the present work may represent the beginning of a new era of asteroid-family studies. In the fields of geophysics, geology, and asteroid family studies, the future will only get brighter with the forthcoming arrival of 30-40m class telescopes like ELT, TMT, and GMT.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/454/3267
- Title:
- Stellar encounters with long-period comets
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/454/3267
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The Solar system's Oort cloud can be perturbed by the Galactic tide and by individual passing stars. These perturbations can inject Oort cloud objects into the inner parts of the Solar system, where they may be observed as the long-period comets (periods longer than 200yr). Using dynamical simulations of the Oort cloud under the perturbing effects of the tide and 61 known stellar encounters, we investigate the link between long-period comets and encounters. We find that past encounters were responsible for injecting at least 5 percent of the currently known long-period comets. This is a lower limit due to the incompleteness of known encounters. Although the Galactic tide seems to play the dominant role in producing the observed long-period comets, the non-uniform longitude distribution of the cometary perihelia suggests the existence of strong - but as yet unidentified - stellar encounters or other impulses. The strongest individual future and past encounters are probably HIP 89825 (Gliese 710) and HIP 14473, which contribute at most 8 and 6 percent to the total flux of long-period comets, respectively. Our results show that the strength of an encounter can be approximated well by a simple proxy, which will be convenient for quickly identifying significant encounters in large data sets. Our analysis also indicates a smaller population of the Oort cloud than is usually assumed, which would bring the mass of the solar nebula into line with planet formation theories.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/610/A25
- Title:
- Sulamitis and Clarissa asteroids spectra
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/610/A25
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The low-inclination (i<80{deg}) primitive asteroid families in the inner main belt, that is, Polana-Eulalia, Erigone, Sulamitis, and Clarissa, are considered to be the most likely sources of near-Earth asteroids (101955) Bennu and (162173) Ryugu. These two primitive NEAs will be visited by NASA OSIRIS-REx and JAXA Hayabusa 2 missions, respectively, with the aim of collecting samples of material from their surfaces and returning them back to Earth. In this context, the Primitive Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey (PRIMASS) was born, with the main aim to characterize the possible origins of these NEAs and constrain their dynamical evolution. As part of the PRIMASS survey we have already studied the Polana and Erigone collisional families in previously published works. The main goal of the work presented here is to compositionally characterize the Sulamitis and Clarissa families using visible spectroscopy. We have observed 97 asteroids (64 from Sulamitis and 33 from Clarissa) with the OSIRIS instrument (0.5-0.9um) at the 10.4m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). We found that about 60% of the sampled asteroids from the Sulamitis family show signs of aqueous alteration on their surfaces. We also found that the majority of the Clarissa members present no signs of hydration. The results obtained here show similarities between Sulamitis-Erigone, and Clarissa-Polana collisional families.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/403/1089
- Title:
- SUNS and DEBRIS surveys target selection
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/403/1089
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Debris discs - analogous to the asteroid and Kuiper-Edgeworth belts in the Solar system - have so far mostly been identified and studied in thermal emission shortward of 100um. The Herschel space observatory and the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array-2 (SCUBA-2) camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope will allow efficient photometric surveying at 70 to 850um, which allows for the detection of cooler discs not yet discovered, and the measurement of disc masses and temperatures when combined with shorter wavelength photometry. The SCUBA-2 Unbiased Nearby Stars survey (SUNS) and the Disc Emission via a Bias-free Reconnaissance in the Infrared/Submillimetre (DEBRIS) Herschel Open Time Key Project are complementary legacy surveys observing samples of ~500 nearby stellar systems. To maximize the legacy value of these surveys, great care has gone into the target selection process. This paper describes the target selection process and presents the target lists of these two surveys.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/617/A12
- Title:
- Taxonomic classification of asteroids
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/617/A12
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We tabulate the taxonomic classification of 18265 asteroids catalogued by MOVIS. A probabilistic method and the k-nearest neighbors (KNN k=3) algorithm are used to assign a taxonomic type for each object.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/653/A66
- Title:
- TEXES spectra of Saturn from February 03 2013
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/653/A66
- Date:
- 22 Feb 2022
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The abundance of deuterium in giant planet atmospheres provides constraints on the reservoirs of ices incorporated into these worlds during their formation and evolution. Motivated by discrepancies in the measured deuterium-hydrogen ratio (D/H) on Jupiter and Saturn, we present a new measurement of the D/H ratio in methane for Saturn from ground-based measurements. We analysed a spectral cube (covering 1151-1160cm^-1^ from 6 February 2013) from the Texas Echelon Cross Echelle Spectrograph (TEXES) on NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) where emission lines from both methane and deuterated methane are well resolved. Our estimate of the D/H ratio in stratospheric methane, 1.65(-0.21/+0.27)*10^-5^ is in agreement with results derived from Cassini CIRS and ISO/SWS observations, confirming the unexpectedly low CH3D abundance. Assuming a fractionation factor of 1.34(+/-0.19) we derive a hydrogen D/H of 1.23(-0.23/+0.27)*10^-5^. This value remains lower than previous tropospheric hydrogen D/H measurements of (i) Saturn 2.10(+/-0.13)*10^-5^, (ii) Jupiter 2.6(+/-0.7)*10^-5^ and (iii) the proto-solar hydrogen D/H of 2.1(+/-0.5)*10^-5^, suggesting that the fractionation factor may not be appropriate for stratospheric methane, or that the D/H ratio in Saturn's stratosphere is not representative of the bulk of the planet.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/639/A134
- Title:
- The large TNO 2002 TC302
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/639/A134
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- On 28th January 2018, the large Trans-Neptunian Object 2002 TC_302_ occulted a m_v_~15.3 star with designation 593-005847 in the UCAC4 stellar catalog, corresponding to Gaia source 130957813463146112. Twelve positive occultation chords were obtained from Italy, France, Slovenia and Switzerland. Also, four negative detections were obtained near the north and south limbs. This represents the best observed stellar occultation by a TNO other than Pluto in terms of the number of chords published thus far. From the twelve chords, an accurate elliptical fit to the instantaneous projection of the body can be obtained, compatible with the near misses. The resulting ellipse has major and minor axes of 543+/-18km and 460+/-11km, respectively, with a position angle of 3+/-1 degrees for the minor axis. This information, combined with rotational light curves obtained with the 1.5-m telescope at Sierra Nevada Observatory and the 1.23-m telescope at Calar Alto observatory, allows us to derive possible three-dimensional shapes and density estimations for the body based on hydrostatic equilibrium assumptions. The effective diameter in equivalent area is around 84km smaller than the radiometrically derived diameter using thermal data from Herschel and Spitzer Space Telescopes. This might indicate the existence of an unresolved satellite of up to ~300km in diameter, to account for all the thermal flux, although the occultation and thermal diameters are compatible within their error bars given the considerable uncertainty of the thermal results. The existence of a potential satellite also appears to be consistent with other ground-based data presented here. From the effective occultation diameter combined with absolute magnitude measurements we derive a geometric albedo of 0.147+/-0.005, which would be somewhat smaller if 2002 TC_302_ has a satellite. The best occultation light curves do not show any signs of ring features or any signatures of a global atmosphere.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/VI/122
- Title:
- The Marginal Zone of the Moon - Watts' Charts
- Short Name:
- VI/122
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The WATTS' charts provide the elevation of the limb of the moon using 1800 contour maps (step of 0.2deg) that cover all libration ranges of the moon. The contours of the maps were digitised by H.M. Nautical Almanac Office in the late 1960's, and then converted to a grid format by US Naval Observatory in the early 1970's. These charts are present in 2 forms: as an ascii file watts.dat (without carriage-return or line-feed!), or as a 3-D FITS file watts.fit (transformed from the ascii files with the program "make_fit.c"). More details, especially about the transformations between the original charts and the files stored here, and the special processing of the 36.0{deg} map (map#181), can be found in the "doc.txt" file.