Related papers: Aegaeon (Saturn LIII), a G-ring object

The formation of Uranus' regular moons has been suggested to be linked to the origin of its enormous spin axial tilt (~98^o). A giant impact between proto-Uranus and a 2-3 M_Earth impactor could lead to a large tilt and to the formation of…

Near Earth Objects (NEOs) are fragments of remnant primitive bodies that date from the era of Solar System formation. At present, the physical properties and origins of NEOs are poorly understood. We have measured thermal emission from…

Orcus is an intermediate-size 1000km-scale Kuiper Belt Object in 3:2 mean-motion resonance with Neptune, in an orbit very similar to that of Pluto. We present visible and near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy obtained with the Keck…

Recent studies of stellar occultations observed by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) onboard the Cassini spacecraft have demonstrated that multiple spiral wave structures in Saturn's rings are probably generated by…

Over the past few decades, various conjectures were advanced that Saturn's rings are Cantor-like sets, although no convincing fractal analysis of actual images has ever appeared. We focus on the images sent by the Cassini spacecraft…

Asteroid (31) Euphrosyne is one of the biggest objects in the asteroid main belt and the Euphrosyne family occupies a highly inclined region in the outer main belt and contains a remarkably large number of members, which is interpreted as…

Close polar and circular orbits are of great interest for the exploration of natural satellites. There are still no studies in the literature investigating orbits around Titania, the largest satellite of Uranus. In this work, we present…

Since 2004, observations of Saturn's F ring have revealed that the ring's core is surrounded by structures with radial scales of hundreds of kilometers, called "spirals" and "jets". Gravitational scattering by nearby moons was suggested as…

We present the discovery of Aquarius III, an ultra-faint Milky Way satellite galaxy identified in the second data release of the DECam Local Volume Exploration (DELVE) survey. Based on deeper follow-up imaging with DECam, we find that…

Saturns F-ring is a unique, narrow ring that lies (radially) close to the tidally disruptive Roche limit of water ice for Saturn. Significant work has been done that shows it to be one of the most dynamic places in the Solar System.…

We present the analysis of high angular resolution observations of the triple Asteroid (87) Sylvia collected with three 8-10 m class telescopes (Keck, VLT, Gemini North) and the Hubble Space Telescope. The moons' mutual orbits were derived…

We report the gravitational microlensing discovery of a sub-Saturn mass planet, MOA-2009-BLG-319Lb, orbiting a K or M-dwarf star in the inner Galactic disk or Galactic bulge. The high cadence observations of the MOA-II survey discovered…

Cool evolved stars are known to be significant contributors to the enrichment of the interstellar medium through their dense and dusty stellar winds. High resolution observations of these outflows have shown them to possess high degrees of…

(abridged) An object classified as a galaxy in on-line data bases and revealed on sky survey images as a distant ring galaxy is a rare case of polar ring galaxy where the ring is only slightly inclined to the equatorial plane of the central…

[abridged] We present new scattered light and millimeter observations of the protoplanetary disk around LkH$\alpha\,330$, using SPHERE/VLT and ALMA, respectively. The scattered-light SPHERE observations reveal an asymmetric ring at around…

GAIA is an astrometric satellite which has been approved by the European Space Agency for launch in about 2010. It will measure the angles between objects in fields that are separated on the sky by about a radian. Data will stream…

With the success of the Cassini-Huygens mission, the dynamic complexity surrounding natural satellites of Saturn began to be elucidated. New ephemeris could be calculated with a higher level of precision, which made it possible to study in…

We demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of using a satellite-based sensor with visual and infrared focal plane arrays to search for NEAs with orbits largely interior to the Earth's orbit. Such a space-based system could detect…

Proper motions and radial velocities of luminous infrared stars in the galactic center have provided strong evidence for a dark mass of 2.5 million solar masses in the central 0.05 pc of the galaxy. The leading hypothesis for this mass is a…

We present a review of Saturn's interior structure and thermal evolution, with a particular focus on work in the past 5 years. Data from the Cassini mission, including a precise determination of the gravity field from the Grand Finale…