Related papers: Passive Sorting of Asteroid Material Using Solar R…
The pressure exerted by massive stars' radiation fields is an important mechanism regulating their formation. Detailed simulation of massive star formation therefore requires an accurate treatment of radiation. However, all published…
There has been a recent revolution in the ability to manipulate micrometer-sized objects on surfaces patterned by traps or obstacles of controllable configurations and shapes. One application of this technology is to separate particles…
Alignment of dust grains in astrophysical environments results in the polarization of starlight as well as the polarization of radiation emitted by dust. We demonstrate the advances in grain alignment theory allow the use of linear and…
To deflect impact-trajectory of massive km^3 and spinning asteroid by a few terrestrial radius one need a large momentum exchange. The dragging of huge spinning bodies in space by external engine seems difficult or impossible. Our solution…
Transporting solids of different sizes is an essential process in the evolution of protoplanetary disks and planet formation. Large solids are supposed to drift inward; high-temperature minerals found in comets are assumed to have been…
The migration of cohesive regolith on the surface of an otherwise monolithic or strong asteroid is studied using theoretical and simulation models. The theory and simulations show that under an increasing spin rate (such as due to the YORP…
Many asteroids are likely rubble-piles that are a collection of smaller objects held together by gravity and possibly cohesion. These asteroids are seismically shaken by impacts, which leads to excitation of their constituent particles. As…
The radiation force on dust grains may be dynamically important in driving turbulence and outflows in rapidly star-forming galaxies. Recent studies focus on the highly optically-thick limit relevant to the densest ultra-luminous galaxies…
This paper presents the design and development of a Shear and Compression Cell (SCC) for measuring the mechanical properties of granular materials in low-gravity environments. This research is motivated by the increasing interest in…
We investigate different treatments of dark matter (DM) distributions surrounding extreme mass ratio inspirals (EMRIs) to assess their impact on orbital evolution and gravitational wave emission. Density profiles derived from the mass…
Dusty disks around young stars are formed out of interstellar dust that consists of amorphous, submicrometre grains. Yet the grains found in comets and meteorites, and traced in the spectra of young stars, include large crystalline grains…
We have evaluated the rate at which the asteroid belt is losing material, and how it splits between macroscopic bodies and meteoritic dust. The mass loss process is due to the injection of asteroid fragments into unstable dynamical regions,…
In most debris discs, dust grain dynamics is strongly affected by stellar radiation pressure. As this mechanism is size-dependent, we expect dust grains to be spatially segregated according to their sizes. However, because of the complex…
Dust grains migrating under Poynting-Robertson drag may be trapped in mean-motion resonances with planets. Such resonantly trapped grains are observed in the solar system. In extrasolar systems, the exozodiacal light produced by dust grains…
We study the motions of small solids, ranging from micron-sized dust grains to 100-m objects, in the vicinity of a local density enhancement of an isothermal gaseous solar nebula. Being interested in possible application of the results to…
Transitional discs have central regions characterised by significant depletion of both dust and gas compared to younger, optically-thick discs. However, gas and dust are not depleted by equal amounts: gas surface densities are typically…
The radiation pressure due to reflected chameleons is suggested for their detection. Sensitive photon radiation pressure or force measuring techniques could become the new antennas for chameleons or other particles with similar properties,…
Granular material that is bound by the low gravity of a small asteroid is mobilized by slow velocity impacts. These splashes generated by impacts might play an important role in sculpting the asteroid's surface. In laboratory experiments we…
Infrared interferometry of local AGN has revealed a warm (~300K-400K) polar dust structure that cannot be trivially explained by the putative dust torus of the unified model. This led to the development of the disk+wind scenario which…
The preliminary mission design of spacecraft missions to asteroids often involves, in the early phases, the selection of candidate target asteroids. The final result of such an analysis is a list of asteroids, ranked with respect to the…