The two rings of (50000) Quaoar Pereira, C. L.; Sicardy, B.; Morgado, B. E. ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
05/2023, Volume:
673
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Context.
Quaoar is a classical trans-Neptunian object (TNO) with an area-equivalent diameter of 1100 km and an orbital semi-major axis of 43.3 astronomical units. Based on stellar occultations ...observed between 2018 and 2021, an inhomogeneous ring (Q1R, i.e., Quaoar’s first ring) has been detected around this body.
Aims.
A new stellar occultation by Quaoar was observed on August 9, 2022, with the aim of improving Quaoar’s shape models and the physical parameters of Q1R, while searching for additional material around the body.
Methods.
The occultation provided nine effective chords across Quaoar, pinning down its size, shape, and astrometric position. Large facilities, such as Gemini North and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), were used to obtain high acquisition rates and signal-to-noise ratios. The light curves were also used to characterize the Q1R ring (radial profiles and orbital elements).
Results.
Quaoar’s elliptical fit to the occultation chords yields the limb with an apparent semi-major axis of 579.5 ± 4.0 km, apparent oblateness of 0.12 ± 0.01, and area-equivalent radius of 543 ± 2 km. Quaoar’s limb orientation is consistent with Q1R and Weywot orbiting in Quaoar’s equatorial plane. The orbital radius of Q1R is refined to a value of 4057 ± 6 km. The radial opacity profile of the more opaque ring profile follows a Lorentzian shape that extends over 60 km, with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of ∼5 km and a peak normal optical depth of 0.4. Besides the secondary events related to the already reported rings, new secondary events detected during the August 2022 occultation in three different data sets are consistent with another ring around Quaoar with a radius of 2520 ± 20 km, assuming the ring is circular and co-planar with Q1R. This new ring has a typical width of 10 km and a normal optical depth of ∼0.004. Just as Q1R, it also lies outside Quaoar’s classical Roche limit.
Analysis of Galileo Near‐Infrared Mapping Spectrometer observations of Marduk Fluctus, a volcano on the Jovian moon Io, reveals a style of volcanic activity not previously seen there—a powerful ...thermal event lasting only a few minutes in 1996. The thermal emission rapidly fades, suggesting extremely rapid cooling of small clasts. The duration and evolution of the explosive eruption are akin to what might be expected from a strombolian or vulcanian explosion. The presence of such events provides an additional volcanic process that can be imaged by future missions with the intent of determining lava composition from eruption temperature, an important constraint on the internal composition of Io. These data promise to be of particular use in understanding the mechanics of explosive volcanic processes on Io.
Plain Language Summary
A very brief but powerful volcanic explosion has been identified on Io, the highly volcanic moon of Jupiter, in data collected by the imaging spectrometer on NASA's Galileo spacecraft in 1996. This event is likely driven by a build‐up of gas, resulting in explosive activity, perhaps similar to that regularly seen at Stromboli volcano on Earth. The huge explosion in the Marduk region of Io likely created a myriad of tiny lava fragments that cooled very rapidly, which explains the speed at which the resulting thermal anomaly decayed back to background, preexplosion levels. Similar events, ideally observed from close to Io by instruments on some future mission to this volcanic wonder, could help answer one of the biggest questions remaining in the wake of the Galileo mission, that of the dominant composition of Io's highly voluminous lavas. This determination would be accomplished by measuring the temperature of the lava as it erupts. Such a measurement would strongly constrain Io's interior composition and current state, which is important for understanding the evolution of the large Galilean satellites (including the ice‐covered Europa).
Key Points
We identify a powerful, short‐lived thermal event in the vicinity of Marduk Fluctus in Galileo NIMS Io data
The temporal evolution of this event is consistent with an explosion, with rapid cooling suggesting the generation of small clasts
Similar events imaged from spacecraft will constrain lava eruption temperature if data are obtained simultaneously at multiple wavelengths
Quaoar is a classical Trans-Neptunian Object (TNO) with an area equivalent diameter of 1,100 km and an orbital semi-major axis of 43.3 astronomical units. Based on stellar occultations observed ...between 2018 and 2021, an inhomogeneous ring (Q1R, Quaoar's first ring) was detected around this body. Aims. A new stellar occultation by Quaoar was observed on August 9th, 2022 aiming to improve Quaoar's shape models and the physical parameters of Q1R while searching for additional material around the body. Methods. The occultation provided nine effective chords across Quaoar, pinning down its size, shape, and astrometric position. Large facilities, such as Gemini North and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), were used to obtain high acquisition rates and signal-to-noise ratios. The light curves were also used to characterize the Q1R ring (radial profiles and orbital elements). Results. Quaoar's elliptical fit to the occultation chords yields the limb with an apparent semi-major axis of \(579.5\pm4.0\) km, apparent oblateness of \(0.12\pm0.01\), and area-equivalent radius of \(543\pm2\) km. Quaoar's limb orientation is consistent with Q1R and Weywot orbiting in Quaoar's equatorial plane. The orbital radius of Q1R is refined to a value of \(4,057\pm6\) km. The radial opacity profile of the more opaque ring profile follows a Lorentzian shape that extends over 60 km, with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of \(\sim5\) km and a peak normal optical depth of 0.4. Besides the secondary events related to the already reported rings, new secondary events detected during the August 2022 occultation in three different data sets are consistent with another ring around Quaoar with a radius of \(2,520\pm20\) km, assuming the ring is circular and co-planar with Q1R. This new ring has a typical width of 10 km and a normal optical depth of \(\sim\)0.004. Like Q1R, it also lies outside Quaoar's classical Roche limit.
Io’s atmosphere is predominately SO2 that is sustained by a combination of volcanic outgassing and sublimation. The loss from the atmosphere is the main mass source for Jupiter’s large magnetosphere. ...Numerous previous studies attributed various transient phenomena in Io’s environment and Jupiter’s magnetosphere to a sudden change in the mass loss from the atmosphere supposedly triggered by a change in volcanic activity. Since the gas in volcanic plumes does not escape directly, such causal correlation would require a transient volcano-induced change in atmospheric abundance, which has never been observed so far.
Here we report four observations of atmospheric SO2 and NaCl from the same hemisphere of Io, obtained with the IRAM NOEMA interferometer on 11 December 2016, 14 March, 6 and 29 April 2017. These observations are compared to measurements of volcanic hot spots and Io’s neutral and plasma environment. We find a stable NaCl column density in Io’s atmosphere on the four dates. The SO2 column density derived for December 2016 is about 30% lower compared to the SO2 column density found in the period of March to April 2017. This increase in SO2 from December 2016 to March 2017 might be related to increasing volcanic activity observed at several sites in spring 2017, but the stability of the volcanic trace gas NaCl and resulting decrease in NaCl/SO2 ratio do not support this interpretation. Observed dimmings in both the sulfur ion torus and Na neutral cloud suggest rather a decrease in mass loading in the period of increasing SO2 abundance. The dimming Na brightness and stable atmospheric NaCl furthermore dispute an earlier suggested positive correlation of the sodium cloud and the hot spot activity at Loki Patara, which considerably increased in this period. The environment of Io overall appears to be in a rather quiescent state, preventing further conclusions. Only Jupiter’s aurora morphology underwent several short-term changes, which are apparently unrelated to Io’s quiescent environment or the relatively stable atmosphere.
•First sub-mm study of Io’s atmospheric SO2 and NaCl over a period of several months.•Comparison of the atmosphere results to data from volcanic hot spots and environment.•The NaCl mixing ratio appears to be not correlated with Loki’s thermal brightness.
•Radar confirms asteroid 16 Psyche to be the largest metal asteroid in the main belt.•A Psyche shape model was generated using radar, adaptive optics, and occultation data.•The shape model of Psyche ...shows evidence of large scale features.•Psyche displays significant variations in radar and optical albedo with rotation.
Using the S-band radar at Arecibo Observatory, we observed 16 Psyche, the largest M-class asteroid in the main belt. We obtained 18 radar imaging and 6 continuous wave runs in November and December 2015, and combined these with 16 continuous wave runs from 2005 and 6 recent adaptive-optics (AO) images (Drummond et al., 2016) to generate a three-dimensional shape model of Psyche. Our model is consistent with a previously published AO image (Hanus et al., 2013) and three multi-chord occultations. Our shape model has dimensions 279 × 232 × 189km (± 10%), Deff= 226 ± 23km, and is 6% larger than, but within the uncertainties of, the most recently published size and shape model generated from the inversion of lightcurves (Hanus et al., 2013). Psyche is roughly ellipsoidal but displays a mass-deficit over a region spanning 90° of longitude. There is also evidence for two ∼50–70km wide depressions near its south pole. Our size and published masses lead to an overall bulk density estimate of 4500 ± 1400kgm−3. Psyche's mean radar albedo of 0.37 ± 0.09 is consistent with a near-surface regolith composed largely of iron-nickel and ∼40% porosity. Its radar reflectivity varies by a factor of 1.6 as the asteroid rotates, suggesting global variations in metal abundance or bulk density in the near surface. The variations in radar albedo appear to correlate with large and small-scale shape features. Our size and Psyche's published absolute magnitude lead to an optical albedo of pv= 0.15 ± 0.03, and there is evidence for albedo variegations that correlate with shape features.
Copper plays an essential role in promoting angiogenesis. Tumors that become angiogenic acquire the ability to enter a phase of rapid growth and exhibit increased metastatic potential, the major ...cause of morbidity in cancer patients. We report that copper deficiency induced by tetrathiomolybdate (TM) significantly impairs tumor growth and angiogenesis in two animal models of breast cancer: an inflammatory breast cancer xenograft in nude mice and Her2/neu cancer-prone transgenic mice. In vitro, TM decreases the production of five proangiogenic mediators: (a) vascular endothelial growth factor; (b) fibroblast growth factor 2/basic fibroblast growth factor; (c) interleukin (IL)-1alpha; (d) IL-6; and (e) IL-8. In addition, TM inhibits vessel network formation and suppresses nuclear factor (NF)kappaB levels and transcriptional activity. Our study suggests that a major mechanism of the antiangiogenic effect of copper deficiency induced by TM is suppression of NFkappaB, contributing to a global inhibition of NFkappaB-mediated transcription of proangiogenic factors.
Context.
We present the first spectroscopic observations of Ganymede by the
James Webb
Space Telescope undertaken in August 2022 as part of the proposal “ERS observations of the Jovian system as a ...demonstration of JWST’s capabilities for Solar System science”.
Aims.
We aimed to investigate the composition and thermal properties of the surface, and to study the relationships of ice and non-water-ice materials and their distribution.
Methods.
NIRSpec IFU (2.9–5.3 μm) and MIRI MRS (4.9–28.5 μm) observations were performed on both the leading and trailing hemispheres of Ganymede, with a spectral resolution of ~2700 and a spatial sampling of 0.1 to 0.17″ (while the Ganymede size was ~1.68″). We characterized the spectral signatures and their spatial distribution on the surface. The distribution of brightness temperatures was analyzed with standard thermophysical modeling including surface roughness.
Results.
Reflectance spectra show signatures of water ice, CO
2
, and H
2
O
2
. An absorption feature at 5.9 μm, with a shoulder at 6.5 μm, is revealed, and is tentatively assigned to sulfuric acid hydrates. The CO
2
4.26-μm band shows latitudinal and longitudinal variations in depth, shape, and position over the two hemispheres, unveiling different CO
2
physical states. In the ice-rich polar regions, which are the most exposed to Jupiter’s plasma irradiation, the CO
2
band is redshifted with respect to other terrains. In the boreal region of the leading hemisphere, the CO
2
band is dominated by a high wavelength component at ~4.27 μm, consistent with CO
2
trapped in amorphous water ice. At equatorial latitudes (and especially on dark terrains), the observed band is broader and shifted toward the blue, suggesting CO
2
adsorbed on non-icy materials, such as minerals or salts. Maps of the H
2
O Fresnel peak area correlate with Bond albedo maps and follow the distribution of water ice inferred from H
2
O absorption bands. Amorphous ice is detected in the ice-rich polar regions, and is especially abundant on the northern polar cap of the leading hemisphere. Leading and trailing polar regions exhibit different H
2
O, CO
2
, and H
2
O
2
spectral properties. However, in both hemispheres the north polar cap ice appears to be more processed than the south polar cap. A longitudinal modification of the H
2
O ice molecular structure and/or nanometer- and micrometer-scale texture, of diurnal or geographic origin, is observed in both hemispheres. Ice frost is tentatively observed on the morning limb of the trailing hemisphere, which possibly formed during the night from the recondensation of water subliming from the warmer subsurface. Reflectance spectra of the dark terrains are compatible with the presence of Na- and Mg-sulfate salts, sulfuric acid hydrates, and possibly phyllosilicates mixed with fine-grained opaque minerals, with a highly porous texture. Latitude and local time variations of the brightness temperatures indicate a rough surface with mean slope angles of 15°–25° and a low thermal inertia Γ = 20 − 40 J m
−2
s
−0.5
K
−1
, consistent with a porous surface, with no obvious difference between the leading and trailing sides.
•We demonstrate capabilities of amateur astronomers to observe and track large cloud systems in Neptune's atmosphere presenting data from 2013 to 2015.•Two bright discrete features Neptune's South ...mid-latitudes in 2014 seem to have collided into a single bright feature observed over 2015.•A bright large feature at planetographic latitude −40° in 2015 was linked to a dark spot observed in Hubble Space Telescope images.•We present zonal wind results from a long-term tracking of several cloud systems in 2013–2015.
Since 2013, observations of Neptune with small telescopes (28–50 cm) have resulted in several detections of long-lived bright atmospheric features that have also been observed by large telescopes such as Keck II or Hubble. The combination of both types of images allows the study of the long-term evolution of major cloud systems in the planet. In 2013 and 2014 two bright features were present on the planet at southern mid-latitudes. These may have merged in late 2014, possibly leading to the formation of a single bright feature observed during 2015 at the same latitude. This cloud system was first observed in January 2015 and nearly continuously from July to December 2015 in observations with telescopes in the 2-10-m class and in images from amateur astronomers. These images show the bright spot as a compact feature at −40.1 ± 1.6° planetographic latitude well resolved from a nearby bright zonal band that extended from −42° to −20°. The size of this system depends on wavelength and varies from a longitudinal extension of 8000 ± 900 km and latitudinal extension of 6500 ± 900 km in Keck II images in H and Ks bands to 5100 ± 1400 km in longitude and 4500 ± 1400 km in latitude in HST images in 657 nm. Over July to September 2015 the structure drifted westward in longitude at a rate of 24.48 ± 0.03°/day or −94 ± 3 m/s. This is about 30 m/s slower than the zonal winds measured at the time of the Voyager 2 flyby. Tracking its motion from July to November 2015 suggests a longitudinal oscillation of 16° in amplitude with a 90-day period, typical of dark spots on Neptune and similar to the Great Red Spot oscillation in Jupiter. The limited time covered by high-resolution observations only covers one full oscillation and other interpretations of the changing motions could be possible. HST images in September 2015 show the presence of a dark spot at short wavelengths located in the southern flank (planetographic latitude −47.0°) of the bright compact cloud observed throughout 2015. The drift rate of the bright cloud and dark spot translates to a zonal speed of −87.0 ± 2.0 m/s, which matches the Voyager 2 zonal speeds at the latitude of the dark spot. Identification of a few other features in 2015 enabled the extraction of some limited wind information over this period. This work demonstrates the need of frequently monitoring Neptune to understand its atmospheric dynamics and shows excellent opportunities for professional and amateur collaborations.
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