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Hubble observations of asteroids, comets, and dwarf planets 

Hubble observations of asteroids, comets, and dwarf planets  Max Mutchler Research and Instrument Scientist Space Telescope Science Institute Baltimore, Maryland

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Hubble observations of asteroids, comets, and dwarf planets 

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  1. Hubble observations of asteroids, • comets, and dwarf planets  • Max MutchlerResearch and Instrument ScientistSpace Telescope Science Institute • Baltimore, Maryland • Max Mutchlerhas been working on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) for the entire 20-year mission, including the final Space Shuttle servicing mission last year. As an expert on Hubble's cameras, Max has been involved in a wide range of scientific observations of the universe. • Many of Max’s Solar System observations with Hubble have supported the planning of other missions. This includes the Dawn mission, currently en route to asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres, and the Rosetta mission which flew by asteroid Lutetia in July. Asteroid “6815 Mutchler” was named in honor of Max’s discovery of Pluto’s moons, Nix & Hydra, in collaboration with the New Horizons mission, which is currently en route to Pluto. Max’s interest in astronomy began while growing up in Racine, Wisconsin. He has degrees in Physics, Astronomy, and Space Science from the University of Wisconsin and Florida Tech. Max is also very active in educational and public outreach, largely because he appreciates the experiences that inspired him to study science when he was young, and he is now in a position to return the favor. Max enjoys showing students how fun and fulfilling scientific research can be, sometimes by engaging them directly in aspects of his research projects. He is also currently planning “citizen science” projects. • Max is also a member of the Hubble Heritage Team, which intentionally strives to produce evocative and iconic images with Hubble, to inspire people with the beauty of their universe, and encourage them to keep abreast of what scientists are learning about it. This recently includes spectacular images from Hubble’s new Wide Field Camera 3, which was installed by astronauts last year.  Max recently began working on Hubble’s successor, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

  2. Themes Hubble Space Telescope • Hubble servicing missions, and support for planetary missions • The small bodies of the Solar System: “ready for their close-up” • Solar System collisions in our past, present…and future

  3. Hubble was deployed and is serviced by the Space Shuttle 1990 1993 1997 1999 2002 2009

  4. Astronaut John Grunsfeld “spacewalking”… he’s now at STScI

  5. Goddard Spaceflight Center…16-hour shift during camera repair and first tests!

  6. Hubble Early Release Observations: Solar System feeling left out?

  7. Before we were really ready for it…

  8. Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks up and impacts Jupiter in July 1994, shortly after the first Hubble servicing mission How many other impacts have we missed?

  9. What if Comet SL9 hit Earth instead of Jupiter? Much less likely, but maybe we should try to understand these events?

  10. G B Comet 73P/SW3 breaks into many fragments in 2006

  11. Evolving very rapidly over 3 days: difficult to follow the many fragments Comet 73P/SW3 Fragment B on 18 April 2006

  12. Evolving very rapidly over 3 days: difficult to follow the many fragments Comet 73P/SW3 Fragment B on 19 April 2006

  13. Evolving very rapidly over 3 days: difficult to follow the many fragments Comet 73P/SW3 Fragment B on 20 April 2006

  14. Strange eruption of a comet Hubble: no fragments Hal Weaver, Max Mutchler, Philippe Lamy, ImreToth, Casey Lisse, Bill Reach, Jeremy Vaubaillon

  15. Comet Holmes: not particularly close to the Sun or Jupiter at outburst. Might have thought it was a collision, but Hubble saw no fragments…and a similar event happened in 1892.

  16. Comet Tempel 1: Collision on demand

  17. Asteroids and comets visited by spacecraft

  18. Comets: icy, with elliptical orbits

  19. Comets: icy, with elliptical orbits

  20. Asteroids: rocky, with circular orbits between Mars and Jupiter… …but there are some icy “Main Belt Comets”, and Near-Earth Objects Main Asteroid Belt

  21. Water Ice Discovered on Asteroid for First Time By Clara MoskowitzSPACE.com Senior Writer28 April 2010 Water ice has been found on the surface of a nearby asteroid for the first time – a discovery that could help explain how Earth got its oceans. Two teams of researchers independently verified that the asteroid 24 Themis – a large rock hurtling through space in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter – is coated in a layer of frost. They also found that the asteroid contains organic material, including some molecules that might be ingredients for life. The discovery might even provide clues about the origin of water on Earth. "Our data are certainly at least consistent with the idea that you could bring in plenty of water from impacts,“ said Andrew Rivkin of Johns Hopkins University.

  22. A comet in the asteroid belt? No, behaving more like an asteroid collision…

  23. Hubble imaging of Pallas: large asteroid with an impact crater? The Shape and Surface Variation of 2 Pallas from the Hubble Space Telescope Schmidt, B. E.; Thomas, P. C.; Bauer, J. M.; Li, J.-Y.; McFadden, L. A.; Mutchler, M. J.; Radcliffe, S. C.; Rivkin, A. S.; Russell, C. T.; Parker, J. Wm.; Stern, S. A.; 2009, Sci, 326, 275 -

  24. Hubble imaging of Pallas: large asteroid with an impact crater? The Shape and Surface Variation of 2 Pallas from the Hubble Space Telescope Schmidt, B. E.; Thomas, P. C.; Bauer, J. M.; Li, J.-Y.; McFadden, L. A.; Mutchler, M. J.; Radcliffe, S. C.; Rivkin, A. S.; Russell, C. T.; Parker, J. Wm.; Stern, S. A.; 2009, Sci, 326, 275 - Artist’s impression

  25. Hubble images of Ceres reveal roundness, surface features, and colors Three different faces of Ceres

  26. Hubble images of Ceres reveal roundness, surface features, and colors Three different faces of Ceres

  27. dwarf planet asteroid (small solar system body) Hey, no fair!

  28. Big collisions in the early Solar System: Earth-Moon formation Pluto and moons Vesta impact: created 50 smaller asteroids, and 20% of meteorites

  29. Same initial conditions, but different subsequent evolutions…and why aren’t we looking for life on Ceres? Thomas, P. et al., 2005, “Differentiation of the asteroid Ceres as revealed by its shape”, Nature Letters, Vol 437 Thomas, P. et al., 1997, “Impact excavation on asteroid 4 Vesta: Hubble Space Telescope results”, Science, Vol 277 Vesta’s impact crater, volcanic maria, dry?

  30. Vesta color composites, in phase sequence

  31. Hubble WFPC2 images of asteroid Vesta in May 2007: color composite movie Recent WFC3 images of Vesta helped refine the pole, will help Dawn orbit insertion

  32. Dawn will spend several months in polar orbit around Vesta, before leaving for Ceres. Over the last 16 years, Hubble observations have helped refine Vesta’s pole position, which can give Dawn extra time to do science, rather than making orbit adjustments. A more accurate knowledge of the pole position will also help identify when the extreme latitudes will have the best possible solar illumination, and are “ready for their close-up” . Improved Measurement of asteroid 4 Vesta’s rotational axis orientation Jian-Yang Li,, Peter C. Thomas, Brian Carcich, Max J. Mutchler, Lucy A. McFadden, Christopher T. Russell, Stacy S. Weinstein-Weiss, Marc D. Rayman, Carol A. Raymond (Icarus, submitted)

  33. Vesta satellite search Hill sphere (orbital stability zone) With Hubble, we also searched for moons and rings (arcs), which would have been exciting to discover, and given Dawn more to study. But setting upper limits on what could be orbiting Vesta is useful too. WF2 PC1 WF3 WF4

  34. Hubble imaging of asteroid 21 Lutetia An optical “ghost”… not a moon!

  35. Rosetta flyby of asteroid 21 Lutetia on 7 July 2010

  36. Waiting for their spaceships to come in… …2015 will be a very interesting year! Dawn New Horizons Pluto 2015 Ceres 2015 Vesta 2011

  37. Most collisions happened early in the Solar System’s history, as it was forming

  38. After the Earth cooled, asteroids and comets may have delivered the elements of life…. …and later, caused the largest mass extinction

  39. Fireball over Wisconsin on 14 April 2010: caused by an object only ~1 meter in diameter

  40. NASA's New Asteroid Mission Could Save the Planet By Tariq Malik SPACE.com Managing Editor16 April 2010 President Barack Obama set a lofty next goal this week for Americans in space: Visiting an asteroid by 2025. But reaching a space rock in a mere 15 years is a daunting mission, and one that might also carry the ultimate safety of the planet on its shoulders. "By 2025, we expect new spacecraft designed for long journeys to allow us to begin the first-ever crewed missions beyond the moon into deep space," Obama said. "We'll start we'll start by sending astronauts to an asteroid for the first time in history.“ Astrophysicist John Grunsfeld– a former NASA astronaut who three shuttle missions to fix the Hubble Space Telescope – suggested sending humans to purposely move an asteroid, to nudge the space rock to change its trajectory. Such a feat, he said, would show that humanity could deflect a space rock if one threatened to crash into the planet. Scientists estimate there are about 100,000 asteroids and comets near Earth, but only about 20,000 are expected to pose any risk of impact. NASA has found about 7,000 of those objects, 1,000 of them flying in orbits that could potentially threaten the Earth in the future, NASA scientists have said. Astronomer Donald Yeomans, head of NASA's Near-Earth Object program office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said there are about a dozen near-Earth asteroids that could be within reach of manned spacecraft, but most of those are relatively small. To make a crewed mission worth it, the target space rock would likely have to be at least 300 feet (100 meters) wide. For comparison, the space rock that exploded in a magnificent fireball over Wisconsin this week was just 3 feet (1 meter) wide, Yeomans said. But there are secrets locked away on asteroids that may hold the key to understanding the formation of the solar system. Asteroids are the thought to be the leftover remnants of the solar system's buildings blocks. The organic molecules and compounds on them may offer clues on how life began on Earth, and if it's possible elsewhere in the universe.

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