The Sun and the Solar System Commons^™

Methanogens, Plausible Extraterrestrial Life Forms On Mars, And Their Tolerance To Increasing Concentrations Of Illite Clay, Chandler Kern

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Methanogens, some of Earth’s most primitive prokaryotic organisms, are candidates for possible life forms capable of inhabiting Mars. Specifically, four different species (Methanobacterium formicicum, Methanococcus maripaludis, Methanosarcina barkeri, Methanothermobacter wolfeii) were analyzed for their tolerance to the presence of illite clay. Illite is a crystalline mineral that has been identified from regions of Mars’s surface. Results indicated that all four species grew with some success in the illite at different concentrations. This experimentation with methanogens’ abilities to survive and reproduce in the presence of illite allows for a more accurate understanding of the potential capability of microbial …

Book Review: Life On Mars: What To Know Before We Go, T. D. Oswalt

Publications

This document is Dr. Oswalt’s review of Life on Mars: what to know before we go. Princeton, 2018. 302p index ISBN 9780691180533, $29.95; ISBN 9781400889945 ebook, contact publisher for price.

Reason In Motion, Luke Francis

Student Works

This essay will explain the historical models of the solar system, which was the known universe for most of human history. There is far more to each model than simply positioning different celestial bodies at the center of the system, and the stories of the astronomers who derived the controversial theories are not discussed often enough. The creation of these theories is part of a much broader revolution in scientific thought and marked the start of a series of observational discoveries that would change the the philosophy of science for centuries to come.

The Undeniable Attraction Of Lunar Swirls, Cierra Waller, Dhananjay Ravat

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Lunar swirls are complex patterns on the Moon with distinct brightness signatures and magnetic characteristics. Current research has suggested that the formation of lunar swirls relies on local magnetic fields to shield impinging solar wind, based on a shift in electromagnetic wavelength peaks related to solar radiation and space weathering. Our research combined recent models and methods to characterize these anomalies at the surface of the Moon, exploring the effects of field strength and position. We have produced a high resolution map of a famous swirl named Reiner Gamma using magnetic dipole modeling. These maps and models are considered when …

Gravity's Light In The Shadow Of The Moon, Andri Gretarsson, Preston Jones, Douglas Singleton

Publications

In this essay we look at the possibility of vacuum production of very low frequency electromagnetic radiation from a gravitational wave background (i.e. gravity's light). We also propose that this counterpart electromagnetic radiation should be detectable by a lunar orbiting satellite which is periodically occulted by the Moon (i.e., in the shadow of the Moon). For concreteness we consider the possibility of detection of both the gravitational wave and hypothesized electromagnetic radiation counterpart from the supernova core collapse of Betelgeuse

Totality In Carbondale, Grant Haynes

The Hilltop Review

August 21 was one of the high points of 2017. That day a total solar eclipse tracked over much of the continental U.S. An early morning train ride brought me to Carbondale Illinois, the location of the eclipses longest duration. As totality neared clouds obscured this amazing celestial wonder, but they soon parted, and I was able to get a few spectacular photos of the eclipse, this one with the clouds that almost ruined it, is my favorite.

Effect Of Chemistry On Electrodynamics In The Martian Dynamo Region, Morgan M. Matheny

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Electromagnetic interactions between Mars remnant crustal magnetic fields and solar and planetary ions lead to time and space variations of the ionosphere. In this work, we continue the investigations started by Riousset et al. [2013] and address the effect of chemistry on ion populations in the dynamo region, where ion dynamics are driven by collisions while electrons are still mostly magnetized. We adopt a mesoscale model to simulate dynamics of electrons and ions in the upper atmosphere (100–400 km). Our approach focuses on numerical studies using the Martian Multifluid Magnetohy drodynamic (MF-MHD) Model (M4). The dynamo is a region which …

Characterization Of Eight Potentially Hazardous Near Earth Asteroids: Rotation Period Analysis And Structure Modeling Via Light Curve Inversion Techniques, Stacy Jo Hicks

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The term “homeland security”, seems to have become synonymous with terrorism in the minds of the general public. However, there are other threats to the security of the United States homeland that can be just as, if not more, devastating than terrorism. Included among these other threats is the potential of an asteroid collision with Earth. Historically, asteroid impact events have been responsible for the devastation of our planet and many of the mass extinction events encountered throughout the geologic record. Knowledge of physical parameters such as structure and rotational dynamics of the asteroid are critical parameters in developing interception …

An Investigation Into The Suitability Of Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria As Models For Martian Forward Contamination, Maxwell M. W. Silver

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The NASA Planetary Protection policy requires interplanetary space missions do not compromise the target body for a current or future scientific investigation and do not pose an unacceptable risk to Earth, including biologic materials. Robotic missions to Mars pose a risk to planetary protection in the forms of forward and reverse contamination. To reduce these risks, a firm understanding of microbial response to Mars conditions is required. Sulfate-reducing bacteria are prime candidates for potential forward contamination on Mars. Understanding the potential for forward-contamination of sulfate-reducers on Mars calls for the characterization of sulfate-reducers under Mars atmosphere, temperature, and sulfate-brines. This …

Lunar Ice Cube: Development Of A Numerical Model For Attitude Control, Alexander Roberts, Benjamin Malphrus, Kevin Brown

Celebration of Student Scholarship Poster Sessions Archive

No abstract provided.

Msu And Citizen Cate: A High Definition Look At The Sun’S Inner Corona During The 2017 Solar Eclipse Over Hopkinsville, Kentucky., Jessie Anderson, Ethan Caudill

Celebration of Student Scholarship Poster Sessions Archive

No abstract provided.

Experimental Investigation Of A New Spiral Wingtip, Naseeb Ahmed Siddiqui, Mohammed Aldheeb, Waqar Asrar, Erwin Sulaeman

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Experiments on the relative merits and demerits of slotted wingtips mimicking a bird’s primary feathers have been performed. The real emargination length of feather tips, their flexibility and curved shapes during cruise are considered in the present study. The experiments were performed at a Reynolds number of 3.7 x 10⁵ on a symmetric flat plate half wing of aspect ratio 3. Lift, drag and pitching moments were measured using a six component aerodynamic balance. Four different shapes inspired by bird primary feathers have been analysed. The rigid curved tip performed the best increasing the L/D ratio by 20%. This …

Data From: Polar Topside Ionosphere During Geomagnetic Storms: Comparison Of Isis-Ii With Tdim, Jan J. Sojka, Dan Rice, Michael David, Robert W. Schunk, Robert Benson, H. G. James

Browse all Datasets

Output files from runs of the TDIM ionospheric model used for calculations and electron density profiles from ISIS-II and TDIM used in figures in the article in Radio Science.

Thinking Out Loud On Early Creation Through The Lens Of Hermeneutics Of Sherlock Holmes (Towards A Model Of Universe Based On Turbulence-Generated Sound Theory), Victor Christianto, Florentin Smarandache

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

In recent years, apparently the Big Bang as described by the Lambda CDM-Standard Model Cosmology has become widely accepted by majority of physics and cosmology communities. Even some people have concluded that it has no serious alternative in horizon. Is that true? First, as we argued elsewhere, Big Bang story relies on singularity. In other words, when we are able to describe the observed data without invoking singularity, then Big Bang model is no longer required. Therefore, here we explore a few alternative stories other than Big Bang story, which most cosmologists believe it is the nearest to Biblical account …

Strategies For Detecting Biological Molecules On Titan, Catherine Neish, Ralph Lorenz, Elizabeth Turtle, Jason Barnes, Melissa Trainer, Bryan Stiles, Randolph Kirk, Charles Hibbitts, Michael Malaska

Earth Sciences Publications

Saturn’s moon Titan has all the ingredients needed to produce “life as we know it”. When exposed to liquid water, organic molecules analogous to those found on Titan produce a range of biomolecules such as amino acids. Titan thus provides a natural laboratory for studying the products of prebiotic chemistry. In this work, we examine the ideal locales to search for evidence of, or progression towards, life on Titan. We determine that the best sites to identify biological molecules are deposits of impact melt on the floors of large, fresh impact craters, specifically Sinlap, Selk, and Menrva craters. We find …

Solar Alignment And The Irish Passage Tomb Tradition, Frank Prendergast

Book/Book Chapter

A succinct and very useful, illustrated, explanatory guide to the phenomenon of solar alignment in the irish Passage Tomb tradition. Includes a listing of where to visit the 15 known astronomically aligned passage tombs in the 32 counties.

Written by Dr Frank Prendergast who is now Emeritus at the Dublin Institute of Technology, where he researches Irish prehistoric monuments and their landscapes from a cultural astronomy perspective. His current interests and publications are on the meaning of the dark sky in the prehistoric past and on the conservation of archaeological landscapes from light pollution.

Heritage Guides are included free with …

Determining The Small-Scale Structure And Particle Properties In Saturn's Rings From Stellar And Radio Occultations, Richard Jerousek

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Saturn's rings consist of icy particles of various sizes ranging from millimeters to several meters. Particles may aggregate into ephemeral elongated clumps known as self-gravity wakes in regions where the surface mass density and epicyclic frequency give a Toomre critical wavelength which is much larger than the largest individual particles (Julian and Toomre 1966). Optical depth measurements at different wavelengths can be used to constrain the sizes of individual particles (Zebker et al. 1985, Marouf et al. 1983) while measurements of optical depths spanning many viewing geometries can be used to determine the properties of self-gravity wakes (Colwell et al. …

The Earth's Magnetosphere, Soren Ormseth

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) is an Earth orbiting satellite launched in 2008; designed to map the boundary of our Solar System. In this presentation, we focus on how data collected by the IBEX-Hi sensor can be used to map the distribution of hot ions within the Earth's magnetosphere. As opposed to other satellites, IBEX images the magnetosphere from afar rather than by going through it. An improvement on the previous imaging techniques was developed, and we compare the new results to the old.