The Sun and the Solar System Commons^™

Development Of A Fluxgate Magnetometer Model, Eleonora Olsmats

Honors Theses and Capstones

As a part of the UNH SWFO-L1 mission to monitor space weather and the sun’s behavior, the fluxgate magnetometer is an important component to measure external magnetic fields. The basic principle of a fluxgate magnetometer is to detect changes in the ambient magnetic field by inducing a magnetic field in a ferromagnetic material via a drive winding. Each magnetometer is unique due to the ferromagnetic properties of the core material which can be seen in the hysteresis loop which is a relationship between the magnetic field strength (H) and the induced magnetic field (B). Measuring the hysteresis of a fluxgate …

Investigating Signs Of Orbital Decay In The Tres-1 Exoplanetary System, Amanda F. Wester

Honors Theses and Capstones

Transit observations of exoplanetary systems can be used to investigate orbital decay. TrES-1b is an exoplanet hypothesized to be experiencing orbital decay due to observed transit timing variations (TTVs) [12]. Numerous transits must be observed to establish a long term pattern to conclusively determine if the planet’s orbit is decaying. Measurements were made using the UNH Observatory where 2 transits were observed of the TrES-1b transiting system on February 27, 2022 and March 5, 2022. A CCD camera was used to image the transit and capture calibration images. The software AstroImageJ (AIJ) was used to calibrate the images and perform …

Surface Morphologies In A Mars-Analog Ca-Sulfate Salar, High Andes, Northern Chile, Nancy W. Hinman, Michael H. Hofmann, Kimberly Warren-Rhodes, Michael S. Phillips, Nora Noffke, Nathalie A. Cabrol, Guillermo Chong Diaz, Cecilia Demergasso, Cinthya Tebes-Cayo, Oscar Cabestro, Janice L. Bishop, Virginia C. Gulick, David Summers, Pablo Sobron, Michael Mcinenly, Jeffrey Moersch, Constanza Rodriguez, Philippe Sarazzin, Kevin L. Rhodes, Camila Javiera Riffo Contreras, David Wettergreen, Victor Parro

OES Faculty Publications

Salar de Pajonales, a Ca-sulfate salt flat in the Chilean High Andes, showcases the type of polyextreme environment recognized as one of the best terrestrial analogs for early Mars because of its aridity, high solar irradiance, salinity, and oxidation. The surface of the salar represents a natural climate-transition experiment where contemporary lagoons transition into infrequently inundated areas, salt crusts, and lastly dry exposed paleoterraces. These surface features represent different evolutionary stages in the transition from previously wetter climatic conditions to much drier conditions today. These same stages closely mirror the climate transition on Mars from a wetter early Noachian to …

The Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability From The Perspective Of Hybrid Simulations, Peter A. Delamere, Nathan P. Barnes, Xuanye Ma, Jay R. Johnson

Faculty Publications

The flow shear-driven Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability is ubiquitous in planetary magnetospheres. At Earth these surface waves are important along the dawn and dusk flanks of the magnetopause boundary while at Jupiter and Saturn the entire dayside magnetopause boundary can exhibit KH activity due to corotational flows in the magnetosphere. Kelvin-Helmholtz waves can be a major ingredient in the so-called viscous-like interaction with the solar wind. In this paper, we review the KH instability from the perspective of hybrid (kinetic ions, fluid electrons) simulations. Many of the simulations are based on parameters typically found at Saturn’s magnetopause boundary, but the results …

Newgrange Skyscape In Stellarium, Frank Prendergast

Articles

Newgrange Skyscape in Stellarium is a new customised landscape planetarium model giving the user the unique ability to interrogate the dynamic sky above the Boyne Valley on any date of interest during the hours of daylight or darkness. Archaeological, astronomical and topographical points of interest are labelled in the model and visible even during the hours of darkness. These are summarily described in a short gazetteer appended at the end of the instruction document to encourage further exploration of the wonderful heritage found in the Boyne Valley and beyond.

Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=aGPsVGBXkY4

Watch on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/493351576

Analysis Of Titan's Fluvial Features Using Numerical Modeling, Jeshurun Horton

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

River channels have been observed near the Huygens probe landing site on the surface of Titan, along with evidence of rounded water ice boulders transported through fluid flow. Evidence near the landing site suggests active flow of liquid methane, which has motivated the study of the effects of sediment load and channel sizes on Titan’s fluvial features. A numerical model is used to determine the viscosity, flow velocity, and critical boulder transport diameter based on channel size, slope, and a range of sediment concentrations. This model achieves two ends: first, observed boulder diameters are used to determine the ideal channel …

The Poissonian Origin Of Power Laws In Solar Flare Waiting Time Distributions, Markus J. Aschwanden, Jay R. Johnson

Faculty Publications

In this study we aim for a deeper understanding of the power-law slope, α, of waiting time distributions. Statistically independent events with linear behavior can be characterized by binomial, Gaussian, exponential, or Poissonian size distribution functions. In contrast, physical processes with nonlinear behavior exhibit spatiotemporal coherence (or memory) and "fat tails" in their size distributions that fit power-law-like functions, as a consequence of the time variability of the mean event rate, as demonstrated by means of Bayesian block decomposition in the work of Wheatland et al. In this study we conduct numerical simulations of waiting time distributions N( …

The Solar Memory From Hours To Decades, Markus J. Aschwanden, Jay R. Johnson

Faculty Publications

Waiting-time distributions allow us to distinguish at least three different types of dynamical systems, including (i) linear random processes (with no memory); (ii) nonlinear, avalanche-type, nonstationary Poisson processes (with memory during the exponential growth of the avalanche rise time); and (iii) chaotic systems in the state of a nonlinear limit cycle (with memory during the oscillatory phase). We describe the temporal evolution of the flare rate λ(t) ∝ t p with a polynomial function, which allows us to distinguish linear (p ≈ 1) from nonlinear (p  2) events. The power-law slopes α of the observed waiting times (with full …

Global 3d Radiation Hydrodynamic Simulations Of Proto-Jupiter’S Convective Envelope, Zhaohuan Zhu, Yan-Fei Jiang, Hans Baehr, Andrew N. Youdin, Philip J. Armitage, Rebecca G. Martin

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

The core accretion model of giant planet formation has been challenged by the discovery of recycling flows between the planetary envelope and the disc that can slow or stall envelope accretion. We carry out 3D radiation hydrodynamic simulations with an updated opacity compilation to model the proto-Jupiter’s envelope. To isolate the 3D effects of convection and recycling, we simulate both isolated spherical envelopes and envelopes embedded in discs. The envelopes are heated at given rates to achieve steady states, enabling comparisons with 1D models. We vary envelope properties to obtain both radiative and convective solutions. Using a passive scalar, we …

Mosaic: A Satellite Constellation To Enable Groundbreaking Mars Climate System Science And Prepare For Human Exploration, Robert J. Lillis, David Mitchell, Luca Montabone, Nicholas Heavens, Tanya Harrison, Cassie Stuurman, Et. Al.

Publications

The Martian climate system has been revealed to rival the complexity of Earth's. Over the last 20 yr, a fragmented and incomplete picture has emerged of its structure and variability; we remain largely ignorant of many of the physical processes driving matter and energy flow between and within Mars' diverse climate domains. Mars Orbiters for Surface, Atmosphere, and Ionosphere Connections (MOSAIC) is a constellation of ten platforms focused on understanding these climate connections, with orbits and instruments tailored to observe the Martian climate system from three complementary perspectives. First, low-circular near-polar Sun-synchronous orbits (a large mothership and three smallsats spaced …

Gw Ori: Circumtriple Rings And Planets, Jeremy L. Smallwood, Rebecca Nealon, Cheng Chen, Rebecca G. Martin, Jiaqing Bi, Ruobing Dong, Christophe Pinte

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

GW Ori is a hierarchical triple star system with a misaligned circumtriple protoplanetary disc. Recent Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations have identified three dust rings with a prominent gap at 100 au and misalignments between each of the rings. A break in the gas disc may be driven by the torque from either the triple star system or a planet that is massive enough to carve a gap in the disc. Once the disc is broken, the rings nodally precess on different time-scales and become misaligned. We investigate the origins of the dust rings by means of N-body integrations and …

Terrestrial Planet Formation In A Circumbinary Disc Around A Coplanar Binary, Anna C. Childs, Rebecca G. Martin

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

With N-body simulations, we model terrestrial circumbinary planet (CBP) formation with an initial surface density profile motivated by hydrodynamic circumbinary gas disc simulations. The binary plays an important role in shaping the initial distribution of bodies. After the gas disc has dissipated, the torque from the binary speeds up the planet formation process by promoting body-body interactions but also drives the ejection of planet building material from the system at an early time. Fewer but more massive planets form around a close binary compared to a single star system. A sufficiently wide or eccentric binary can prohibit terrestrial planet formation. …

Radiation Effects On Space Solar Cells At Various Earth And Jupiter Orbital Altitudes, Naazneen Rana

Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship

Solar cells are used as the primary power source for earth-orbiting satellites and as a primary/secondary power source for various missions within the solar system. However, high energy particles from the sun, planetary magnetospheres, and the galaxy can affect the performance and life expectancy of the space solar cell and associated power systems. As the interests for interplanetary travel and the exploration of planets within our solar system increase, the need to understand a device’s performance within a particular planet’s environment is necessary. Therefore, this study will analyze the performance of space solar cells, particularly the SolAero IMM-α, at various …

An Experimental Study Of Evaporites On Titan: Implications For Lake Composition And Future Missions, Ellen Czaplinski

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Titan is the only other planetary body in the solar system with liquid on the surface. With a surface temperature and pressure of 89 – 94 K and 1.5 bar (N2), respectively, Titan’s lakes are comprised of liquid hydrocarbons, predominantly methane and ethane. Over time, Titan’s lakes may evaporate, leaving behind residual deposits (evaporites). The evaporation processes and composition of the evaporites is poorly understood. I address these outstanding questions by experimentally investigating the physical and spectral properties of evaporites at Titan surface conditions using an experimental chamber.

Chapter 1 addresses the formation of ethylene evaporites. Ethylene evaporites form more …

The Effects Of Water Ice Sublimation On Slope Failures Of Icy Regolith, Christopher Cox, Madison Weinberg, Trisha Joseph

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

The frost line in a planetary system represents the distance from the central star inside of which conditions are too warm for ice to form, while beyond this line it will be stable. When an icy object passes that line heading toward the Sun it will begin to sublimate and outgas, potentially causing mass loss and surface changes. One example is surface failures, which can lead to material being removed from the object. Evidence of this has been seen on cometary surfaces, where surfaces often show structures that appear to have suffered various mechanical failures like cracking and landslides. By …

Analysis Of The Primary Volatile Compositions In The Oort Cloud And Jupiter-Family Comets Towards The Goal Of Understanding Their Origin And Diversity, Mohammad Saki

Dissertations

Knowledge of the initial conditions present in the early solar nebula is required to understand the evolution and its current volatile content. Comets were some of the first objects to accrete in the solar nebula. They are among the most pristine (primitive) remnants of the solar system formation, and their present-day volatile composition likely reflects the composition and conditions where (and when) they formed. Therefore, they are fossils of the solar system formation. High-resolution near-infrared spectroscopy is a valuable tool for sampling the parent volatile (i.e., ices subliming directly from the nucleus) composition of comets via analysis of fluorescence emission …

A Consistent Model Of Terrestrial Planet Magnetospheres And Rotations In Our Solar System, Fred J. Cadieu

Publications and Research

The Sun comprises 99.9% of the solar system mass so it is expected that Sun terrestrial planet interactions can influence the motion as well as the rotation of the terrestrial planets.Gravity affects the planet orbital motions while the changing magnetic fields of the Sun can influence the planet rotations. Planets that manifest a magnetic field dominate any weaker magnetic fields from the Sun, but the rotation of terrestrial planets without a magnetic field interacts with the changing Sun’s field dependent on the electrical conductivity of the core region. It is determined that the average planet density becomes a useful quantity …

Late Amazonian Wind Regimes And Landscape Evolution In Northern Meridiani Planum, Mars, Thomas Stritch

Geology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Aeolian process have dominated the lower latitudes of Mars for billions of years. Aeolian landforms can act as records of current and past climates and landscape evolution processes. The etched deposits of Meridiani Planum, a vast suite of layered bedrock extending from southwest Arabia Terra to Schiaparelli crater, have long been noted to have been eroded by aeolian processes. However, little detailed work on the aeolian landforms of Meridiani Planum beyond the Opportunity rover landing site has been done. In this study, I examine wind streaks, aeolian bedforms (including dunes and large ripples), and yardangs in a valley about 370 …

Aztlán Del Sol, Marcus Zúñiga

Chamisa: A Journal of Literary, Performance, and Visual Arts of New Mexico and the Greater Southwest

An artistic writing developed from the themes and concepts of an of art installation made by a visual artist of Mexican-American descent from New Mexico. The work references the relationship of Aztec mythology to the American Southwest, art theoretical discourse in object oriented ontology and aesthetics, and key ideas in astronomy. Additionally interwoven is an expanded sense for interpreting ancestry and history under the constructs of multicultural conceptions of time, specifically cultures with notable spiritual rituals of Sun worship and observation.

Discovering Kepler’S Third Law From Planetary Data, Boyan Kostadinov, Satyanand Singh

Publications and Research

In this data-inspired project, we illustrate how Kepler’s Third Law of Planetary Motion can be discovered from fitting a power model to real planetary data obtained from NASA, using regression modeling. The power model can be linearized, thus we can use linear regression to fit the model parameters to the data, but we also show how a non-linear regression can be implemented, using the R programming language. Our work also illustrates how the linear least squares used for fitting the power model can be implemented in Desmos, which could serve as the computational foundation for this project at a lower …