No Arabic abstract
We present an update of the visible and near-infrared colour database of Minor Bodies in the Outer Solar System (MBOSSes), which now includes over 2000 measurement epochs of 555 objects, extracted from over 100 articles. The list is fairly complete as of December 2011. The database is now large enough to enable any dataset with a large dispersion to be safely identified and rejected from the analysis. The selection method used is quite insensitive to individual outliers. Most of the rejected datasets were observed during the early days of MBOSS photometry. The spectral gradient over the visible range is derived from the colours, as well as the R absolute magnitude M(1, 1). The average colours, absolute magnitude, and spectral gradient are listed for each object, as well as the physico-dynamical classes using a classification adapted from Gladman and collaborators. Colour-colour diagrams, histograms, and various other plots are presented to illustrate and investigate class characteristics and trends with other parameters, whose significances are evaluated using standard statistical tests. The colour tables and all plots are also available on the MBOSS colour web page http://www.eso.org/~ohainaut/MBOSS which will be updated when new measurements are published.
The aim of the chapter is to summarize our understanding of the compositional distribution across the different reservoirs of small bodies (main belt asteroids, giant planet trojans, irregular satellites of the giant planets, TNOs, comets). We then use this information to i) discuss current dynamical models (Nice and Grand Tack models), ii) mention possible caveats in these models if any, and iii) draw a preliminary version of the primordial compositional gradient across the solar system before planetary migrations occured. Note that the composition of both planetary satellites (the regular ones) and that of the transient populations (NEOs, centaurs) is not discussed here. We strictly focus on the composition of the main reservoirs of small bodies. The manuscripts objective is to provide a global and synthetic view of small bodies compositions rather than a very detailed one, for specific reviews regarding the composition of small bodies, see papers by Burbine (2014) for asteroids, Emery et al. (2015) for Jupiter trojans, Mumma and Charnley (2011) for comets, and Brown (2012) for KBOs.
This brief review will discuss the current knowledge on the origin and evolution of the nitrogen atmospheres of the icy bodies in the solar system, particularly of Titan, Triton and Pluto. An important tool to analyse and understand the origin and evolution of these atmospheres can be found in the different isotopic signatures of their atmospheric constituents. The $^{14}$N/$^{15}$N ratio of the N$_2$-dominated atmospheres of these bodies serve as a footprint of the building blocks from which Titan, Triton and Pluto originated and of the diverse fractionation processes that shaped these atmospheres over their entire evolution. Together with other measured isotopic and elemental ratios such as $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C or Ar/N these atmospheres can give important insights into the history of the icy bodies in the solar system, the diverse processes that affect their N$_2$-dominated atmospheres, and the therewith connected solar activity evolution. Titans gaseous envelope most likely originated from ammonia ices with possible contributions from refractory organics. Its isotopic signatures can yet be seen in the - compared to Earth - comparatively heavy $^{14}$N/$^{15}$N ratio of 167.7, even though this value slightly evolved over its history due to atmospheric escape and photodissociation of N$_2$. The origin and evolution of Plutos and Tritons tenuous nitrogen atmospheres remain unclear, even though it might be likely that their atmospheres originated from the protosolar nebula or from comets. An in-situ space mission to Triton such as the recently proposed Trident mission, and/or to the ice giants would be a crucial cornerstone for a better understanding of the origin and evolution of the icy bodies in the outer solar system and their atmospheres in general.
In this work, we present a new model for the heat conductivity of porous dust layers in vacuum, based on an existing solution of the heat transfer equation of single spheres in contact. This model is capable of distinguishing between two different types of dust layers: dust layers composed of single particles (simple model) and dust layers consisting of individual aggregates (complex model). Additionally, we describe laboratory experiments, which were used to measure the heat conductivity of porous dust layers, in order to test the model. We found that the model predictions are in an excellent agreement with the experimental results, if we include radiative heat transport in the model. This implies that radiation plays an important role for the heat transport in porous materials. Furthermore, the influence of this new model on the Hertz factor are demonstrated and the implications of this new model on the modeling of cometary activity are discussed. Finally, the limitations of this new model are critically reviewed.
We use seven years worth of observations from the Catalina Sky Survey and the Siding Spring Survey covering most of the northern and southern hemisphere at galactic latitudes higher than 20 degrees to search for serendipitously imaged moving objects in the outer solar system. These slowly moving objects would appear as stationary transients in these fast cadence asteroids surveys, so we develop methods to discover objects in the outer solar system using individual observations spaced by months, rather than spaced by hours, as is typically done. While we independently discover 8 known bright objects in the outer solar system, the faintest having $V=19.8pm0.1$, no new objects are discovered. We find that the survey is nearly 100% efficient at detecting objects beyond 25 AU for $Vlesssim 19.1$ ($Vlesssim18.6$ in the southern hemisphere) and that the probability that there is one or more remaining outer solar system object of this brightness left to be discovered in the unsurveyed regions of the galactic plane is approximately 32%.
The planets magnetic field has been explained based on the dynamo theory, which presents as many difficulties in mathematical terms as well as in predictions. It proves to be extremely difficult to calculate the dipolar magnetic moment of the extrasolar planets using the dynamo theory. The aim is to find an empirical relationship (justifying using first principles) between the planetary magnetic moment, the mass of the planet, its rotation period and the electrical conductivity of its most conductive layer. Then this is applied to Hot Jupiters. Using all the magnetic planetary bodies of the solar system and tracing a graph of the dipolar magnetic moment versus body mass parameter, the rotation period and electrical conductivity of the internal conductive layer is obtained. An empirical, functional relation was constructed, which was adjusted to a power law curve in order to fit the data. Once this empirical relation has been defined, it is theoretically justified and applied to the calculation of the dipolar magnetic moment of the extra solar planets known as Hot Jupiters. Almost all data calculated is interpolated, bestowing confidence in terms of their validity. The value for the dipolar magnetic moment, obtained for the exoplanet Osiris (HD209458b), helps understand the way in which the atmosphere of a planet with an intense magnetic field can be eroded by stellar wind. The relationship observed also helps understand why Venus and Mars do not present any magnetic field.