Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Philip D. Nicholson

Publications and source records attributed to Philip D. Nicholson.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2013

The Vertical Structure of the F Ring of Saturn from Ring-Plane Crossings

We present a photometric model of the rings of Saturn which includes the main rings and an F ring, inclined to the main rings, with a Gaussian vertical profile of optical depth. This model reproduces the asymmetry in brightness between the east and west ansae of the rings of Saturn that was observed by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) within a few hours after the Earth ring-plane crossing (RPX) of 10 August 1995. The model shows that during this observation the inclined F ring unevenly blocked the east and west ansae of the main rings. The brightness asymmetry produced by the model is highly sensitive to the vertical thickness and radial optical depth of the F ring. The F ring model that best matches the observations has a vertical full width at half maximum of 13 +/- 7 km and an equivalent depth of 10 +/- 4 km. The model also reproduces the shape of the HST profiles of ring brightness vs. distance from Saturn, both before and after the time of ring-plane crossing. Smaller asymmetries observed before the RPX, when the Earth was on the dark side of the rings, cannot be explained by blocking of the main rings by the F ring or vice versa and are probably instead due to the intrinsic longitudinal variation exhibited by the F ring.

astro-ph.EP↗
arXiv2013

High Angular Resolution Stellar Imaging with Occultations from the Cassini Spacecraft I: Observational Technique

We present novel observations utilising the Cassini spacecraft to conduct an observing campaign for stellar astronomy from a vantage point in the outer solar system. By exploiting occultation events in which Mira passed behind the Saturnian ring plane as viewed by Cassini, parametric imaging data were recovered spanning the near-infrared. From this, spatial information at extremely high angular resolution was recovered enabling a study of the stellar atmospheric extension across a spectral bandpass spanning the 1 - 5 μm spectral region in the near-infrared. The resulting measurements of the angular diameter of Mira were found to be consistent with existing observations of its variation in size with wavelength. The present study illustrates the validity of the technique; more detailed exploration of the stellar physics obtained by this novel experiment will be the subject of forthcoming papers.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2012

Dynamical Instabilities in High-Obliquity Systems

High-inclination circumplanetary orbits that are gravitationally perturbed by the central star can undergo Kozai oscillations---large-amplitude, coupled variations in the orbital eccentricity and inclination. We first study how this effect is modified by incorporating perturbations from the planetary oblateness. Tremaine et al. (2009) found that, for planets with obliquities > 68.875 degrees, orbits in the equilibrium local Laplace plane are unstable to eccentricity perturbations over a finite radial range, and execute large-amplitude chaotic oscillations in eccentricity and inclination. In the hope of making that treatment more easily understandable, we analyze the problem using orbital elements, confirming this threshold obliquity. Furthermore, we find that orbits inclined to the Laplace plane will be unstable over a broader radial range, and that such orbits can go unstable for obliquities less than 68.875 degrees. Finally, we analyze the added effects of radiation pressure, which are important for dust grains and provide a natural mechanism for particle semimajor axes to sweep via Poynting-Robertson drag through any unstable range. We find that generally the effect persists; however, the unstable radial range is shifted and small retrograde particles can avoid the instability altogether. We argue that this is occurs because radiation pressure modifies the equilibrium Laplace plane.

astro-ph.EP↗
arXiv2007

Cassini Imaging of Saturn's Rings II: A Wavelet Technique for Analysis of Density Waves and Other Radial Structure in the Rings

We describe a powerful signal processing method, the continuous wavelet transform, and use it to analyze radial structure in Cassini ISS images of Saturn's rings. Wavelet analysis locally separates signal components in frequency space, causing many structures to become evident that are difficult to observe with the naked eye. Density waves, generated at resonances with saturnian satellites orbiting outside (or within) the rings, are particularly amenable to such analysis. We identify a number of previously unobserved weak waves, and demonstrate the wavelet transform's ability to isolate multiple waves superimposed on top of one another. We also present two wave-like structures that we are unable to conclusively identify. In a multi-step semi-automated process, we recover four parameters from clearly observed weak spiral density waves: the local ring surface density, the local ring viscosity, the precise resonance location (useful for pointing images, and potentially for refining saturnian astrometry), and the wave amplitude (potentially providing new constraints upon the masses of the perturbing moons). Our derived surface densities have less scatter than previous measurements that were derived from stronger non-linear waves, and suggest a gentle linear increase in surface density from the inner to the mid-A Ring. We show that ring viscosity consistently increases from the Cassini Division outward to the Encke Gap. Meaningful upper limits on ring thickness can be placed on the Cassini Division (3.0 m at r~118,800 km, 4.5 m at r~120,700 km) and the inner A Ring (10 to 15 m for r<127,000 km).

astro-ph↗
arXiv1998

Pencil-Beam Surveys for Faint Trans-Neptunian Objects

We have conducted pencil-beam searches for outer solar system objects to a limiting magnitude of R ~ 26. Five new trans-neptunian objects were detected in these searches. Our combined data set provides an estimate of ~90 trans-neptunian objects per square degree brighter than ~ 25.9. This estimate is a factor of 3 above the expected number of objects based on an extrapolation of previous surveys with brighter limits, and appears consistent with the hypothesis of a single power-law luminosity function for the entire trans-neptunian region. Maximum likelihood fits to all self-consistent published surveys with published efficiency functions predicts a cumulative sky density Sigma(<R) obeying log10(Sigma) = 0.76(R-23.4) objects per square degree brighter than a given magnitude R.

astro-ph↗