Related papers: The meteoroid hazard for space navigation
Our universe is permeated with interstellar plasma, which prevents propagation of low-frequency electromagnetic waves. Here, we show that two dramatic consequences arise out of such suppression; (i) if plasma permeates the light ring of a…
In dilute astrophysical plasmas, the collisional mean free path of a particle can exceed its Larmor radius. Under these conditions, the thermal conductivity and viscosity of the plasma can be dramatically altered. This alteration allows…
The nonlinear propagation of low-frequency circularly polarized waves in a magnetized dusty plasma is analyzed. It is found that wave steepening and shock formation can take place due to the presence of nonlinear quantum vacuum effects,…
We assess the impact of satellite glints -- rapid flashes produced by reflections of a sunlight from flat surfaces of rotating satellites -- on current and future deep sky surveys such as the ones conducted by the Zwicky Transient Facility…
Collisionless simulations of the CDM cosmology predict a plethora of dark matter substructures in the halos of Milky Way sized galaxies, yet the number of known luminous satellites galaxies is very much smaller, a discrepancy that has…
Hydrodynamic simulations of a giant impact to proto-Uranus indicated that such an impact could tilt its rotational axis and produce a circumplanetary debris disk beyond the corotation radius of Uranus. However, whether Uranian satellites…
The current philosophy of impact hazard considers the danger from small asteroids negligible. However, several facts claim for a revision of this philosophy. In this paper, some of these facts are reviewed and discussed. It is worth noting…
Minor mergers of galaxies are expected to be common in a hierarchical cosmology such as $\Lambda$CDM and have the potential to significantly affect galactic structure. In this paper we dissect the case-by-case outcome from a set of…
Space debris is an ever-increasing problem in space travel. There are already many old, no longer functional spacecraft and debris orbiting the earth, which endanger both the safe operation of satellites and space travel. Small…
A fully analytical formulation is developed to make dynamical friction modeling more realistic. The rate for a satellite to decay its orbit in a host galaxy halo is often severely overestimated when applying ChandraSekhar's formula without…
Interstellar objects (ISOs) are small bodies that can travel through our solar system from other star systems. When present in our solar system, they represent an opportunity to study the properties and origins of these objects, as well as…
Solar hard X-ray flares can expose astronauts on lunar and deep space extravehicular activities (EVAs) to dangerous acute biological doses. We combine calculations of radiative transfer through shielding materials with subsequent transfer…
The orbital properties of infalling satellite halos set the initial conditions which control the subsequent evolution of subhalos and the galaxies that they host, with implications for mass stripping, star formation quenching, and merging.…
The increasing population of objects in geostationary orbit has raised concerns about the potential risks posed by debris clouds resulting from fragmentation. The short-term evolution and associated hazards of debris generated by collisions…
Flattened and kinematically correlated planes of dwarf satellite galaxies have been observed in the Local Volume. The slinging out of satellites during host galaxy mergers has been suggested as a formation mechanism for these peculiar…
Stellar activity has a particularly strong influence on planets at small orbital distances, such as close-in exoplanets. For such planets, we present two extreme cases of stellar variability, namely stellar coronal mass ejections and…
In hierarchical structure formation, dark matter halos that merge with larger halos can persist as subhalos. These subhalos are likely hosts of visible galaxies. While the dense halo environment rapidly strips subhalos of their dark mass,…
The non-collisional interaction between conducting obstacles and magnetized plasma winds can be found in different scenarios, from the interaction occurring between regions inside galaxy clusters to the interaction between the solar wind…
Meteorite craters on the asteroid surface obstruct the horizontal flow of solar wind, forming a plasma wake that modulates the particle fluxes and the electrostatic environment far downstream. In this study, surface charging properties of…
Solar energetic ions are a known hazard to both spacecraft electronics and to manned space flights in interplanetary space missions that extend over a long period of time. A dipole-like magnetic field and a plasma source, forming a mini…