arXiv subjects

Nicholas A. Moskovitz

Publications and source records attributed to Nicholas A. Moskovitz.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Near-infrared thermal emission from near-Earth asteroids: Aspect-dependent variability

Here we explore a technique for constraining physical properties of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) based on variability in thermal emission as a function of viewing aspect. We present case studies of the low albedo, near-Earth asteroids (285263) 1998 QE2 and (175706) 1996 FG3. The Near-Earth Asteroid Thermal Model (NEATM) is used to fit signatures of thermal emission in near-infrared (0.8 - 2.5 micron) spectral data. This analysis represents a systematic study of thermal variability in the near-IR as a function of phase angle. The observations of QE2 imply that carefully timed observations from multiple viewing geometries can be used to constrain physical properties like retrograde versus prograde pole orientation and thermal inertia. The FG3 results are more ambiguous with detected thermal variability possibly due to systematic issues with NEATM, an unexpected prograde rotation state, or a surface that is spectrally and thermally heterogenous. This study highlights the potential diagnostic importance of high phase angle thermal measurements on both sides of opposition. We find that the NEATM thermal beaming parameters derived from our near-IR data tend to be of order 10's of percent higher than parameters from ensemble analyses of longer wavelength data sets. However, a systematic comparison of NEATM applied to data in different wavelength regimes is needed to understand whether this offset is simply a reflection of small number statistics or an intrinsic limitation of NEATM when applied to near-IR data. With the small sample presented here, it remains unclear whether NEATM modeling at near-IR wavelengths can robustly determine physical properties like pole orientation and thermal inertia.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2016

Rotational properties of the Haumea family members and candidates: Short-term variability

Haumea is one of the most interesting and intriguing transneptunian objects (TNOs). It is a large, bright, fast rotator, and its spectrum indicates nearly pure water ice on the surface. It has at least two satellites and a dynamically related family of more than ten TNOs with very similar proper orbital parameters and similar surface properties. The Haumean family is the only one currently known in the transneptunian belt. Various models have been proposed but the formation of the family remains poorly understood. In this work, we have investigated the rotational properties of the family members and unconfirmed family candidates with short-term variability studies, and report the most complete review to date. We present results based on five years of observations and report the short-term variability of five family members, and seven candidates. The mean rotational periods, from Maxwellian fits to the frequency distributions, are 6.27+/-1.19 h for the confirmed family members, 6.44+/-1.16 h for the candidates, and 7.65+/-0.54 h for other TNOs (without relation to the family). According to our study, there is a suggestion that Haumea family members rotate faster than other TNOs, however, the sample of family member is still too limited for a secure conclusion. We also highlight the fast rotation of 2002 GH32. This object has a 0.36+/-0.02 mag amplitude lightcurve and a rotational period of about 3.98 h. Assuming 2002 GH32 is a triaxial object in hydrostatic equilibrium, we derive a lower limit to the density of 2.56 g cm^-3. This density is similar to Haumea's and much more dense than other small TNO densities.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2015

Mineralogy and Surface Composition of Asteroids

Methods to constrain the surface mineralogy of asteroids have seen considerable development during the last decade with advancement in laboratory spectral calibrations and validation of our interpretive methodologies by spacecraft rendezvous missions. This has enabled the accurate identification of several meteorite parent bodies in the main asteroid belt and helped constrain the mineral chemistries and abundances in ordinary chondrites and basaltic achondrites. With better quantification of spectral effects due to temperature, phase angle, and grain size, systematic discrepancies due to non-compositional factors can now be virtually eliminated for mafic silicate-bearing asteroids. Interpretation of spectrally featureless asteroids remains a challenge. This paper presents a review of all mineralogical interpretive tools currently in use and outlines procedures for their application.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2013

Unexpected D-type Interlopers in the Inner Main Belt

Very red featureless asteroids (spectroscopic D-types) are expected to have formed in the outer solar system far from the sun. They comprise the majority of asteroids in the Jupiter Trojan population, and are also commonly found in the outer main belt and among Hildas. The first evidence for D-types in the inner and middle parts of the main belt was seen in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Here we report follow-up observations of SDSS D-type candidates in the near-infrared. Based on follow up observations of 13 SDSS D-type candidates, we find a ~20% positive confirmation rate. Known inner belt D-types range in diameter from roughly 7 to 30 kilometers. Based on these detections we estimate there are ~100 inner belt D-types with diameters between 2.5 and 20km. The lower and upper limits for total mass of inner belt D-types is 2x$10^{16}$ kg to 2x$10^{17}$ kg which represents 0.01% to 0.1% of the mass of the inner belt. The inner belt D-types have albedos at or above the upper end typical for D-types which raises the question as to whether these inner belt bodies represent only a subset of D-types, they have been altered by external factors such as weathering processes, or if they are compositionally distinct from other D-types. All D-types and candidates have diameters less than 30km, yet there is no obvious parent body in the inner belt. Dynamical models have yet to show how D-types originating from the outer solar system could penetrate into the inner reaches of the Main Belt under current scenarios of planet formation and subsequent Yarkovsky drift.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2013

Discovery and Early Multi-Wavelength Measurements of the Energetic Type Ic Supernova PTF12gzk: A Massive-Star Explosion in a Dwarf Host Galaxy

We present the discovery and extensive early-time observations of the Type Ic supernova (SN) PTF12gzk. Our finely sampled light curves show a rise of 0.8mag within 2.5hr. Power-law fits [f(t)\sim(t-t_0)^n] to these data constrain the explosion date to within one day. We cannot rule out the expected quadratic fireball model, but higher values of n are possible as well for larger areas in the fit parameter space. Our bolometric light curve and a dense spectral sequence are used to estimate the physical parameters of the exploding star and of the explosion. We show that the photometric evolution of PTF12gzk is slower than that of most SNe Ic, and its high ejecta velocities (~30,000km/s four days after explosion) are closer to the observed velocities of broad-lined SNe Ic associated with gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) than to the observed velocities in normal Type Ic SNe. The high velocities are sustained through the SN early evolution, and are similar to those of GRB-SNe when the SN reach peak magnitude. By comparison with the spectroscopically similar SN 2004aw, we suggest that the observed properties of PTF12gzk indicate an initial progenitor mass of 25-35 solar mass and a large (5-10E51 erg) kinetic energy, close to the regime of GRB-SN properties. The host-galaxy characteristics are consistent with GRB-SN hosts, and not with normal SN Ic hosts as well, yet this SN does not show the broad lines over extended periods of time that are typical of broad-line Type Ic SNe.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Main-Belt Comet P/2012 T1 (PANSTARRS)

We present initial results from observations and numerical analyses aimed at characterizing main-belt comet P/2012 T1 (PANSTARRS). Optical monitoring observations were made between October 2012 and February 2013 using the University of Hawaii 2.2 m telescope, the Keck I telescope, the Baade and Clay Magellan telescopes, Faulkes Telescope South, the Perkins Telescope at Lowell Observatory, and the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope. The object's intrinsic brightness approximately doubles from the time of its discovery in early October until mid-November and then decreases by ~60% between late December and early February, similar to photometric behavior exhibited by several other main-belt comets and unlike that exhibited by disrupted asteroid (596) Scheila. We also used Keck to conduct spectroscopic searches for CN emission as well as absorption at 0.7 microns that could indicate the presence of hydrated minerals, finding an upper limit CN production rate of QCN<1.5x10^23 mol/s, from which we infer a water production rate of QH2O<5x10^25 mol/s, and no evidence of the presence of hydrated minerals. Numerical simulations indicate that P/2012 T1 is largely dynamically stable for >100 Myr and is unlikely to be a recently implanted interloper from the outer solar system, while a search for potential asteroid family associations reveal that it is dynamically linked to the ~155 Myr-old Lixiaohua asteroid family.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2011

Mineralogical Characterization of Baptistina Asteroid Family: Implications for K/T Impactor Source

Bottke et al. (2007) linked the catastrophic formation of Baptistina Asteroid Family (BAF) to the K/T impact event. This linkage was based on dynamical and compositional evidence, which suggested the impactor had a composition similar to CM2 carbonaceous chondrites. However, our recent study (Reddy et al. 2009) suggests that the composition of (298) Baptistina is similar to LL-type ordinary chondrites rather than CM2 carbonaceous chondrites. This rules out any possibility of it being related to the source of the K/T impactor, if the impactor was of CM-type composition. Mineralogical study of asteroids in the vicinity of BAF has revealed a plethora of compositional types suggesting a complex formation and evolution environment. A detailed compositional analysis of 16 asteroids suggests several distinct surface assemblages including ordinary chondrites (Gaffey SIV subtype), primitive achondrites (Gaffey SIII subtype), basaltic achondrites (Gaffey SVII subtype and V-type), and a carbonaceous chondrite. Based on our mineralogical analysis we conclude that (298) Baptistina is similar to ordinary chondrites (LL-type) based on olivine and pyroxene mineralogy and moderate albedo. S-type and V-type in and around the vicinity of BAF we characterized show mineralogical affinity to (8) Flora and (4) Vesta and could be part of their families. Smaller BAF asteroids with lower SNR spectra showing only a 'single' band are compositionally similar to (298) Baptistina and L/LL chondrites. It is unclear at this point why the silicate absorption bands in spectra of asteroids with formal family definition seem suppressed relative to background population, despite having similar mineralogy.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2011

Size of the group IVA iron meteorite core: Constraints from the age and composition of Muonionalusta

The group IVA fractionally crystallized iron meteorites display a diverse range of metallographic cooling rates. These have been attributed to their formation in a metallic core, approximately 150 km in radius, that cooled to crystallization in the absence of any appreciable insulating mantle. Here we build upon this formation model by incorporating several new constraints. These include (i) a recent U-Pb radiometric closure age of <2.5 Myr after solar system formation for the group IVA iron Muonionalusta, (ii) new measurements and modeling of highly siderophile element compositions for a suite of IVAs, and (iii) consideration of the thermal effects of heating by the decay of the short-lived radionuclide 60Fe. Our model for the thermal evolution of the IVA core suggests that it was approximately 50 - 110 km in radius after being collisionally exposed. This range is due to uncertainties in the initial abundance of live 60Fe incorporated into the IVA core. Our models define a relationship between cooling rate and closure age, which is used to make several predictions that can be tested with future measurements. In general, our results show that diverse cooling rates and early U-Pb closure ages can only coexist on mantle-free bodies and that energy released by the decay of 60Fe reduces the core size necessary to produce diverse metallographic cooling rates. The influence of 60Fe on cooling rates has largely been neglected in previous core formation models; accounting for this heat source can affect size estimates for other iron meteorite cores that cooled to crystallization in the presence of live 60Fe. Candidates for such a scenario of early, mantle-free formation include the iron IIAB, IIIAB and IVB groups.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2008

The Effect of Lunar-like Satellites on the Orbital Infrared Light Curves of Earth-analog Planets

We investigate the influence of lunar-like satellites on the infrared orbital light curves of Earth-analog extra-solar planets. Such light curves will be obtained by NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) and ESA's Darwin missions as a consequence of repeat observations to confirm the companion status of a putative planet. We use an energy balance model to calculate disk-averaged infrared (bolometric) fluxes from planet-satellite systems over a full orbital period (one year). The satellites are assumed to lack an atmosphere, have a low thermal inertia like that of the Moon and span a range of plausible radii. The planets are assumed to have thermal and orbital properties that mimic those of the Earth while their obliquities and orbital longitudes of inferior conjunction remain free parameters. Even if the gross thermal properties of the planet can be independently constrained (e.g. via spectroscopy or visible-wavelength detection of specular glint from a surface ocean) only the largest (approximately Mars-size) lunar-like satellites can be detected by light curve data from a TPF-like instrument (i.e. one that achieves a photometric signal-to-noise of 10-20 at infrared wavelengths). Non-detection of a lunar-like satellite can obfuscate the interpretation of a given system's infrared light curve so that it may resemble a single planet with high obliquity, different orbital longitude of vernal equinox relative to inferior conjunction and in some cases drastically different thermal characteristics. If the thermal properties of the planet are not independently established then the presence of a lunar-like satellite cannot be inferred from infrared data, thus demonstrating that photometric light curves alone can only be used for preliminary study of extra-solar Earth-like planets.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

The Distribution of Basaltic Asteroids in the Main Belt

We present the observational results of a survey designed to target and detect asteroids whose colors are similar to those of Vesta family members and thus may be considered as candidates for having a basaltic composition. Fifty basaltic candidates were selected with orbital elements that lie outside of the Vesta dynamical family. Optical and near-infrared spectra were used to assign a taxonomic type to 11 of the 50 candidates. Ten of these were spectroscopically confirmed as V-type asteroids, suggesting that most of the candidates are basaltic and can be used to constrain the distribution of basaltic material in the Main Belt. Using our catalog of V-type candidates and the success rate of the survey, we calculate unbiased size-frequency and semi-major axis distributions of V-type asteroids. These distributions, in addition to an estimate for the total mass of basaltic material, suggest that Vesta was the predominant contributor to the basaltic asteroid inventory of the Main Belt, however scattered planetesimals from the inner Solar System (a < 2.0 AU) and other partially/fully differentiated bodies likely contributed to this inventory. In particular, we infer the presence of basaltic fragments in the vicinity of asteroid 15 Eunomia, which may be derived from a differentiated parent body in the middle Main Belt (2.5 < a < 2.8). We find no asteroidal evidence for a large number of previously undiscovered basaltic asteroids, which agrees with previous theories suggesting that basaltic fragments from the ~100 differentiated parent bodies represented in meteorite collections have been "battered to bits" [Burbine, T.H., Meibom, A., Binzel, R.P., 1996. Mantle material in the Main Belt: Battered to bits? Met. & Planet. Sci. 31, 607].

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

A Spectroscopically Unique Main Belt Asteroid: 10537 (1991 RY16)

We present visible and near-infrared reflectance spectra and interpreted surface mineralogy for asteroid 10537 (1991 RY16). The spectrum of this object is without precedent amongst the Main Belt asteroids. A unique absorption band centered at 0.63 microns could be attributed to one of several mineralogies. Pronounced 1- and 2-micron absorption bands suggest that the composition of 10537 is a mixture of pyroxenes and olivine and that it originated from a parent body that was partially or fully differentiated. The closest available analog is the large Main Belt asteroid 349 Dembowska but 10537 may be an isolated fragment from a completely eroded parent body.

astro-ph↗