Related papers: Transient Lunar Phenomena: Regularity and Reality
As the identified number of Jupiter's moons has skyrocketed to 79, some of them have been regrouped. In this work, we continue to identify the potential distributions of the physical characteristics of Jupiter's irregular moons. By using…
Axion-like particles (ALPs) can oscillate to photons and vice versa in electromagnetic fields. The photon-ALP oscillation provides an attractive solution to the apparent transparency of the Universe to TeV photons. The allowed parameter…
Future lunar missions will depend on an internationally agreed upon timescale that remains accurate under the Moon's unique gravitational environment and its orbital dynamics. This thesis investigates the proposed Lunar Coordinate Time…
We study the connection between the appearance of a `metastable' behavior of weakly chaotic orbits, characterized by a constant rate of increase of the Tsallis q-entropy (Tsallis 1988), and the solutions of the variational equations of…
The irregular moons orbit the giant planets on distant, inclined, and eccentric trajectories, in sharp contrast with the coplanar and quasicircular orbits of the regular moons. The origin of these irregular moons is still an open question,…
Prominence plumes are evacuated upflows that emerge from bubbles below prominences, whose formation mechanism is still unclear. Here we present a detailed study of plumes in a quiescent prominence using the high-resolution H-alpha…
Results from the All-Sky Monitor (ASM) on the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer are reviewed. A number of recurrent transient sources have been detected, while only a few previously unreported sources have been discovered. The ASM light curves…
Lunar dust -- the sub-millimeter fraction of the regolith -- controls the optical, thermophysical, electrical, mechanical, and environmental behavior of the Moon's surface. These properties set the performance envelopes of remote-sensing…
The signatures of planets hosted by M dwarfs are more readily detected with transit photometry and radial velocity methods than those of planets around larger stars. Recently, transit photometry was used to discover seven planets orbiting…
Recently, the Kepler Space Telescope has detected several planets in orbit around a close binary star system. These so-called circumbinary planets will experience non-trivial spatial and temporal distributions of radiative flux on their…
A search for temporal changes on Pluto and Charon was motivated by (1) the discovery of young surfaces in the Pluto system that imply ongoing or recent geologic activity, (2) the detection of active plumes on Triton during the Voyager 2…
Since 2013, dense and narrow rings are known around the small Centaur object Chariklo and the dwarf planet Haumea. Dense material has also been detected around the Centaur Chiron, although its nature is debated. This is the first time ever…
The analysis of satellite thermal images of the Earth's surface within the spectral range of 10.5-11.3 mkm has shown that over some linear structures of the Middle-Asian seismically active region there is observed a stable in time and space…
Currently, we have only limited means to probe the presence of planets at large orbital separations. Foreman-Mackey et al. searched for long-period transiting planets in the Kepler light curves using an automated pipeline. Here, we apply…
Multiple impact basins formed on the Moon about 3.8 Gyr ago in what is known as the lunar cataclysm or late heavy bombardment. Many workers currently interpret the lunar cataclysm as an impact spike primarily caused by main-belt asteroids…
Aims. An asymmetric dust cloud was detected around the Moon by the Lunar Dust Experiment on board the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer mission. We investigate the dynamics of the grains that escape the Moon and their…
Many features of the outer solar system are replicated in numerical simulations if the giant planets undergo an orbital instability that ejects one or more ice giants. During this instability, Jupiter and Saturn's orbits diverge, crossing…
Forty years ago, Apollo astronauts placed the first of several retroreflector arrays on the lunar surface. Their continued usefulness for laser-ranging might suggest that the lunar environment does not damage optical devices. However, new…
We calculate the present-day impact flux on Mars and its variation over the Martian year, using the current data on the orbital distribution of known Mars-crossing minor planets. We adapt the {\"O}pik-Wetherill formulation for calculating…
Recent observations of surface brightness distributions of both Milky Way and M31 satellite galaxies have revealed many instances of sudden changes or breaks in the slope of the surface brightness profiles (at some break radius, r_break).…