5 Aug '07 Major News

APEX submillimeter telescope in Chile. Copyright: ESO.

The 12-meter ESO APEX (Atacama Pathfinder Experiment) submillimeter (0.2-1.5mm) telescope in Chile's high Atacama Desert has put into service the "world's largest bolometer camera." Among other research, it will study star formation and may also be used to observe Solar System small objects such as comets and KBOs. See news below. Copyright ESO.

Contents on 5 August '07

Minor-Object News -- three items
Minor-Object Science -- two papers
IAU Minor Planet Center
- NEOCP Activity -- two listings: 2 updated
- New MPECs -- one MPEC
- Observers -- eight observing facilities
Impact Risk Monitoring -- nothing to report
Chronology

Resources:

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Minor-Object News on 5 August '07

"First Light for Word's Largest 'Thermometer Camera'," ESO 4 Aug. - Quote: "The world's largest bolometer camera for submillimetre astronomy is now in service at the 12-m APEX telescope, located on the 5100m high Chajnantor plateau in the Chilean Andes. LABOCA was specifically designed for the study of extremely cold astronomical objects and, with its large field of view and very high sensitivity, will open new vistas in our knowledge of how stars form and how the first galaxies emerged from the Big Bang... The Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) where LABOCA [LArge BOlometer Camera] is installed is a new-technology 12-m telescope, based on an ALMA prototype antenna, and operating at the ALMA site." - Note: See a photo of APEX above. {permalink}
"Meteor shower tells long tale," Honolulu Star-Bulletin 5 Aug. - Quote: "If the skies are clear next Sunday, you might be able to see comet dust raining fire." - Note: This is a nice introductory wrapup of Solar System small bodies (meteors, comets, etc.), what we know and want to know about them, and space missions to study them. {permalink}
ANU Reporter: An article in the Autumn editon of the Australian National University Reporter, "The Night Watchman," tells that "Most nights, as the southern hemisphere sleeps, Rob McNaught is awake and on guard" at Siding Spring. And, "If anything, McNaught's expectations were lower than usual when he began routine scans at the Uppsala Schmidt telescope on the night of 7 August 2006," which is when he discovered what would become a daylight comet, C/2006 P1 (McNaught). {permalink}

Minor-Object Science on 5 August '07

"The Primordial Excitation and Clearing of the Asteroid Belt -- Revisited" by O'Brien, D.P. with A. Morbidelli & W.F. Bottke, PDF from David P. O'Brien 8 June - Quote: "We have performed new simulations of two different scenarios for the excitation and depletion of the primordial asteroid belt, assuming Jupiter and Saturn on initially circular orbits as predicted by the Nice Model of the evolution of the outer Solar System... First, we study the effects of sweeping secular resonances driven by the depletion of the solar nebula. We find that these sweeping secular resonances are incapable of giving sufficient dynamical excitation to the asteroids for nebula depletion timescales consistent with estimates for solar-type stars, and in addition cannot cause significant mass depletion in the asteroid belt or produce the observed radial mixing of different asteroid taxonomic types. Second, we study the the effects of planetary embryos embedded in the primordial asteroid belt. These embedded planetary embryos, combined with the action of Jovian and Saturnian resonances, can lead to dynamical excitation and radial mixing comparable to the current asteroid belt. The mass depletion driven by embedded planetary embryos alone, even in the case of an eccentric Jupiter and Saturn, is roughly 10-20x less than necessary to explain the current mass of the main belt, and thus a secondary depletion event, such as that which occurs naturally in the Nice Model, is required." {permalink}
"Capture of Irregular Satellites during Planetary Encounters" by Nesvorny, David with David Vokrouhlicky & Allesandro Morbidelli, PDF from Allesandro Morbidelli 2007 - Quote: "More than 90 irregular moons of the Jovian planets have recently been discovered. These moons are an enigmatic part of the solar system inventory. Their origin, which is intimately linked with the origin of the planets themselves, has yet to be adequately explained. Here we investigate the possibility that the irregular moons were captured from the circumsolar planetesimal disk by three-body gravitational reactions. These reactions may have been a frequent occurrence during the time when the outer planets migrated within the planetesimal disk. We propose a new model for the origin of irregular satellites in which these objects are captured from the planetesimal disk during encounters between the outer planets themselves in the model for outer planet migration advocated by Tsiganis and collaborators. Through a series of numerical simulations we show that nearby planetesimals can be deflected into planet-bound orbits during close encounters between planets, and that the overall efficiency of this capture process is large enough to produce populations of observed irregular satellites at Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune... Jupiter, which typically does not have close encounters with other planets in the model of Tsiganis and coworkers, must have acquired its irregular satellites by a different mechanism. Alternatively, the migration model should be modified to accommodate Jupiter's encounters. Moreover, we find that the original size-frequency distribution of the irregular moons must have significantly evolved by collisions to produce their present populations. Our new model may also provide a plausible explanation for the origin of Neptune's large moon Triton." {permalink}

NEOCP Activity on 5 August '07

The MPC's NEO Confirmation Page has 2 listings: 2 updated

When last checked at 2354 UTC today, the Minor Planet Center's NEO discovery Confirmation Page (NEOCP) had two updated listings.

To learn how observers use the NEOCP, see Suno Observatory's Practical guide on how to observe NEOCP object.

New MPECs on 5 August '07

Minor Planet Electronic Circulars

As of last check at 2354 UTC, there has been one MPEC issued today from the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

<< DOU on 5 Aug. '07 >> MPEC 2007-P13 - "06:07 UT" - Daily Orbit Update

K07N05C 2007 NC5 (q=0.278 AU, Q=4.615 AU, arc=32 days, H=17.9 ~891m) from Eschenberg Obs. (Aug. 4.86p3) and Capannoli Obs. (Aug. 5.03-04p2)
K07M06L 2007 ML6 (arc=45 days, H=18.6 ~645m) from Suno Obs. (Aug. 5.10p3)
K07L32R 2007 LR32 (arc=72 days, H=17.2 ~1.23 km) from Capannoli Obs. (Aug. 4.06-09p8 & 5.07p2)
K07L15A 2007 LA15 (arc=53 days, H=19.5 ~426m) from Verona Obs. (Aug. 1.84-85p4) and Eschenberg Obs. (Aug. 4.84p3)
K07H15E 2007 HE15 (arc=104 days, H=19.6 ~407m) from Capannoli Obs. (Aug. 4.10-11p2) and Guidestar Obs. (Aug. 4.88-90p3)
K07F01E 2007 FE1 (arc=140 days, H=18.8 ~589m) from the Siding Spring Survey (SSS) (Aug. 4.48-49p4)
K07DA3T 2007 DT103 (arc=160 days, H=19.0 ~537m) from Eschenberg Obs. (Aug. 4.91p15), Naef Obs. (Aug. 4.94-95p5), and Guidestar Obs. (Aug. 4.95-96p3)
K07D83B 2007 DB83 (arc=3 opp, H=18.3 ~741m) from New Millennium Obs. (March 15.97-00p3)
K07D41A 2007 DA41 (arc=3 opp, H=17.5 ~1.07 km) from Guidestar Obs. (Aug. 4.92-94p2)
K07C26O 2007 CO26 (Q=4.511 AU, arc=58 days, H=21.3 ~186m) from New Millennium Obs. (March 16.00p1)
K07C26K 2007 CK26 (arc=2 opp, H=19.0 ~537m) from Guidestar Obs. (Aug. 4.90-92p3)
K07C19A 2007 CA19 (Q=5.089 AU, arc=66 days, H=17.6 ~1.02 km) from New Millennium Obs. (March 15.90-93p4)
K06V13D 2006 VD13 (arc=2 opp, H=19.0 ~537m) from New Millennium Obs. (March 15.85-87p4)
K05G22O 2005 GO22 (q=0.336 AU, arc=2 opp, H=18.7 ~616m) from Eschenberg Obs. (Aug. 4.92p7)
K04Q01F 2004 QF1 (arc=3 opp, H=18.2 ~776m) from SSS (Aug. 4.45-47p3)
J99D07B 1999 DB7 (arc=3 opp, H=19.9 ~355m) from Eschenberg Obs. (Aug. 5.03p6)
F4007 154007 2002 BY from New Millennium Obs. (March 15.93-99p6)
F2895 152895 2000 CQ101 from New Millennium Obs. (March 15.87-97p6)
E5656 145656 4788 P-L from Eschenberg Obs. (Aug. 4.83p7)
D8883 138883 2000 YL29 from New Millennium Obs. (March 16.00p1)
86039 86039 1999 NC43 from New Millennium Obs. (March 15.83-89p6)
85275 85275 1994 LY from Eschenberg Obs. (Aug. 4.82p7)
53435 53435 1999 VM40 from New Millennium Obs. (March 15.86-97p9)
53426 53426 1999 SL5 from Guidestar Obs. (Aug. 4.86-87p3)
31221 31221 1998 BP26 from New Millennium Obs. (March 15.90-92p3 & 15.97p1)
22771 22771 1999 CU3 from New Millennium Obs. (March 15.90-97p6)
21277 21277 1996 TO5 from Verona Obs. (Aug. 3.92-94p4)
16636 16636 1993 QP from Verona Obs. (Aug. 3.89-90p4)
05626 5626 1991 FE from New Millennium Obs. (March 15.86-97p9)
05496 5496 1973 NA from Suno Obs. (Aug. 4.87-88p3)
05143 5143 Heracles (1991 VL) from Eschenberg Obs. (Aug. 4.95-96p7)
04544 4544 Xanthus (1989 FB) from New Millennium Obs. (March 15.94-01p5)
04183 4183 Cuno (1959 LM) from Eschenberg Obs. (Aug. 5.02p3)
03554 3554 Amun (1986 EB) from New Millennium Obs. (March 15.79-85p6)
03199 3199 Nefertiti (1982 RA) from New Millennium Obs. (March 15.95-01p5)
03103 3103 Eger (1982 BB) from New Millennium Obs. (March 15.87-98p10)
01943 1943 Anteros (1973 EC) from New Millennium Obs. (March 15.81p2)
01866 1866 Sisyphus (1972 XA) from New Millennium Obs. (March 15.83-93p10)
01627 1627 Ivar (1929 SH) from New Millennium Obs. (March 15.83-93p10)

Observers on 5 August '07

Eight observing facilities appear in today's MPECs.

`B09`	Capannoli Obs. in Italy, 3 in MPEC 2007-P13 -- 2007 NC5, 2007 LR32, 2007 HE15
`151`	Eschenberg Obs. in Switzerland, 9 in MPEC 2007-P13 -- 2007 NC5, 2007 LA15, 2007 DT103, 2005 GO22, 1999 DB7, 145656, 85275, 5143, 4183
`A17`	Guidestar Obs. in Germany, 5 in MPEC 2007-P13 -- 2007 HE15, 2007 DT103, 2007 DA41, 2007 CK26, 53426
`A13`	Naef Obs. in Switzerland, 1 in MPEC 2007-P13 -- 2007 DT103
`A24`	New Millennium Obs. in Italy, 19 in MPEC 2007-P13 -- 2007 DB83, 2007 CO26, 2007 CA19, 2006 VD13, 154007, 152895, 138883, 86039, 53435, 31221, 22771, 5626, 4544, 3554, 3199, 3103, 1943, 1866, 1627
`E12`	Siding Spring Survey in New South Wales, 2 in MPEC 2007-P13 -- 2007 FE1, 2004 QF1
`147`	Suno Obs. in Italy, 2 in MPEC 2007-P13 -- 2007 ML6, 5496
`A48`	Verona Obs. in Italy, 3 in MPEC 2007-P13 -- 2007 LA15, 21277, 16636

Impact Risk Monitoring on 5 August '07

At last check (NEODyS and JPL at 2354 UTC) there was no risk monitoring news to report yet today. See the CRT for activity in the last month.

Chronology on 5 August '07

Times are UTC for when the items were noted or added by Major News.

2046	Added link to news story, "Meteor shower tells long tale" Added link to news story, "First Light for Word's Largest 'Thermometer Camera'"
1454	Added MOS paper, "Capture of Irregular Satellites during Planetary Encounters" - see above Added MOS paper, "The Primordial Excitation and Clearing of the Asteroid Belt -- Revisited" - see above Added news report, "ANU Reporter"
1438	Grabbed MPEC 2007-P13 - Daily Orbit Update - see above

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