Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Stars, Interstellar Medium and the Galaxy Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
- Keyword
-
- Asteroid interiors; spacecraft imaging; near Earth asteroids; regolith; NASA; Small Body Mapping Tool (1)
- Astronomy (1)
- Binary asteroid systems; Impact simulations; Ejecta dynamics; Surface evolution; Resurfacing outcomes (1)
- Comet nuclei; Production rates; CO2 detection; Heliocentric dependence; Primitive solar system (1)
- Dipole bound state (1)
-
- Dissociative recombination (1)
- Exoplanet characterization; Data analysis techniques; Elliptical photometry; Atmospheric properties; Light curve modeling (1)
- Exoplanets (1)
- Instrumentation (1)
- Interstellar medium (1)
- Jwst (1)
- Optics (1)
- Planetary bodies; Thermal infrared spectra; Asteroid age determination; Lunar regolith modeling; Spectral analysis (1)
- Plasma (1)
- Radiative electron attachment (1)
- Regolith simulants; Jupiter Trojan asteroids; Lunar exploration; Water ice content; Spectral analysis (1)
- Simulation (1)
- Stellar Astrophysics (1)
- Telescopes (1)
- Publication
- Publication Type
Articles 1 - 10 of 10
Full-Text Articles in Stars, Interstellar Medium and the Galaxy
Out Of This World: An Exoplanetary Workshop, Monica Storss, Bart Kuipers
Out Of This World: An Exoplanetary Workshop, Monica Storss, Bart Kuipers
ELO (un)supervised 2026
The workshop investigates how scientific constraints can productively defamiliarize human experience and create new frameworks for creativity and expression. Participants will produce original work while considering broader questions about environment, perception, and cultural formation in speculative contexts, and how the arts, sciences, and technology inform each other in relational multiplicities. This generative workshop explores how astronomical data from confirmed exoplanets can generate new poetic forms and linguistic constraints. Participants will examine how exoplanetary conditions can shape language, metaphor, and narrative structure. We'll develop from writing exercises that respond to non-terrestrial physical parameters: alternative light spectra, gravitational variations, and atmospheric compositions. …
Archival Stellar Flare Follow-Up In Evryscope Observations, Tyler J. Thomas
Archival Stellar Flare Follow-Up In Evryscope Observations, Tyler J. Thomas
Honors Undergraduate Theses
M dwarfs, the most abundant stars in the galaxy, are prime targets in the search for habitable exoplanets. However, their high flare activity may compromise planetary atmospheres, with Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) increasing this risk. Despite this, the relationship between M dwarf flares and CMEs is not well understood. This study uses archival data from Evryscope North and South, crossmatched with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and Gaia data, to investigate this relationship. This crossmatching demonstrated an abundance of stars within the 20 arcsecond Evryscope uncertainty. The analysis also revealed a modest excess of K1 and F9 type stars but …
Physical Properties And Chemical Composition Of Comets, Olga Harrington
Physical Properties And Chemical Composition Of Comets, Olga Harrington
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023
Comets and Centaurs are icy remnants from the formation of the solar system. Analyzing the physical properties of their nuclei and their production rates can serve as powerful tools for tracing primitive solar system material. The four research projects in this dissertation examine these properties in comets and Centaurs. The first project focuses on observations of main belt comet 176P/LINEAR that were obtained with the Kepler space telescope. Optical lightcurves were used to constrain models of the nucleus's spin pole axis, shape and activity level. The second project used millimeter-wavelength spectra from the Arizona Radio Observatory Submillimeter Telescope and infrared …
Impact On Infinite Asteroids: Analysis Of Ejecta Outcomes In Small Body Binary Systems, Jennifer Larson
Impact On Infinite Asteroids: Analysis Of Ejecta Outcomes In Small Body Binary Systems, Jennifer Larson
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023
Binary asteroid systems make up roughly 15% of objects occupying near-Earth space, the Main Belt, and trans-Neptunian space. The impact history of asteroids in binary systems represents an interesting aspect of the general problem pertaining to the nature and evolution of surfaces for such objects. Specifically, the post-impact dynamics of ejecta and its relation to surface modification is a challenging question owing, in part, to the unusual gravitational field in a binary system and the subsequent capture and emplacement of debris on either binary component. Observable differences or similarities between the two bodies in the color, reflectance, thermal properties, and …
Development Of Regolith Simulants Of Lunar Permanently Shadowed Regions And Jupiter Trojan Asteroids, Karlis Slumba
Development Of Regolith Simulants Of Lunar Permanently Shadowed Regions And Jupiter Trojan Asteroids, Karlis Slumba
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023
Every scientific experiment or innovation goes through a phase of testing equipment. This is not only true for experiments in the laboratory, but also very relevant for experiments on other planetary bodies. In order to test tools and robotic equipment that are destined for another planet, moon, asteroid or comet, it is necessary to simulate the regolith environment on that surface. In this thesis we have provided an overview of two methods for regolith simulant development. In one approach we made simulants in different compositions to find the best spectral fit to Jupiter Trojan asteroids. At visible to near-infrared (VNIR) …
A Theoretical Study Of Elementary Processes In Interstellar Plasma, Joshua Forer
A Theoretical Study Of Elementary Processes In Interstellar Plasma, Joshua Forer
Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024
Interstellar plasma — interstellar clouds in particular — play an important role in determining the structure and evolution of galaxies. Understanding the time evolution of such plasmas requires knowledge of the chemical processes that drive their dynamics. Two processes are studied in this dissertation: radiative electron attachment (REA) via dipole-bound states (DBSs) and dissociative recombination (DR). Of the several hundred molecules detected in the interstellar medium, only eight anions have been detected: CN-, C3N-, C5N-, C7N-, C4H-, C6H-, C8H-, and C10H-. Their production mechanism is not well known; REA was suggested as a possible formation pathway, but previous theoretical studies …
Osiris-Rex Surface Imaging To Constrain Properties Of The Asteroid (101955) Bennu, Alicia Allen
Osiris-Rex Surface Imaging To Constrain Properties Of The Asteroid (101955) Bennu, Alicia Allen
Honors Undergraduate Theses
This study used images taken from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft sample-return mission and projected onto a three-dimensional shape model to determine surface properties of the asteroid (101955) Bennu. Two major projects were completed. For the first project, images of the pre-sampled Nightingale site and post-sampled Nightingale were compared to determine how the TAGSAM sampling maneuver effected the surface of the asteroid directly at the sampling site and in the surrounding area. This analysis demonstrated how spacecraft can potentially affect a small body during this and future sample-return missions. For the second project, several craters on Bennu’s surface were selected and all …
Spectral Characterization And Age Of The Moon And Primitive Asteroids, Vanessa Lowry
Spectral Characterization And Age Of The Moon And Primitive Asteroids, Vanessa Lowry
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023
In this dissertation work we sought to answer questions about the age, composition, and origin of planetary bodies. We implemented multiple approaches to answer these questions. To determine the age of the Clarissa asteroid family we implemented a modified version of SWIFT: a Solar System integration software package by Levison & Duncan (1994) to account for gravitational as well as thermal perturbations. This work constrained the age of the Clarissa asteroid family to be 56 ± 6 My. Next, we used a sum to one constraint weighted least squares (STO WLS) modeling approach to model thermal infrared (TIR) spectra of …
Simulating Systematic Errors In Exoplanetary Transits For The James Webb Space Telescope, David C. Wright Iii
Simulating Systematic Errors In Exoplanetary Transits For The James Webb Space Telescope, David C. Wright Iii
Honors Undergraduate Theses
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a next-generation space telescope that will be capable of making transformative observations of planetary transits. As its launch date grows ever closer, it becomes imperative that astronomers have access to accurate simulations of JWST observations in order to best plan observations and devise data analysis pipelines. Unfortunately, available simulation tools do not provide the most accurate or realistic simulations, including noise and systematic errors. In this thesis, I present an open-source time-domain simulator of planetary transits that is capable of accurately modeling these effects in observations made by JWST.
Exoplanets: Correlated Noise And Cautionary Tales, Ryan Challener
Exoplanets: Correlated Noise And Cautionary Tales, Ryan Challener
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023
Transiting exoplanets provide the best opportunity for planetary characterization, and thus the search for life outside the Solar System. These planets orbit such that they pass in front ("transit'') and behind ("eclipse'') their host star, and a spectrum of the lost flux constrains the atmospheric properties of the planet. In transits, the flux modulation scales with the cross-sectional area of the planet, and the spectrum includes signatures of molecules in the upper atmosphere of the planet's terminator, which the host star's light passes through on the way to the observer. With eclipses, the lost flux is the direct emission of …