Planetary Group
The planetary group seeks to understand the origin and evolution of the Solar System. They accomplish this primarily by exploring the various constituents (comets, asteroids and planets) of the Solar System theoretically, observationally, and experimentally. Doug Hamilton and Derek Richardson focus on dynamical modeling of solar system motions, while Mike A'Hearn, Tony Farnham, Lucy McFadden and Dennis Wellnitz concentrate on observational work and Rosemary Killen's research emphasizes models based on observations. Planetary and small body studies do not have many opportunities for experimental work, but with Mike A'Hearn as Principal Investigator (PI) for the Deep Impact and EPOXI missions, the planetary group also accomplished its goals by directing a projectile into a comet and observing the results with a flyby spacecraft as well as earth-based telescopes.
The planetary group supports several projects including the Deep Impact mission, the Small Bodies Node of the Planetary Data Systems, and dynamical modeling using cutting-edge parallel processing technology.
- EPOXI
- The Deep Impact flyby spacecraft has sufficient fuel to undertake further studies. The new mission, named EPOXI (with PI Mike A'Hearn), is comprised of two projects with different scientific objectives. DIXI, the Deep Impact Extended Investigation, continues the original Deep Impact theme of studying comets by flying past comet Hartley 2. EPOCh, Extrasolar Planet Observation and Characterization, used (Jan-Aug 2008) the Deep Impact high-resolution instrument (HRI) to observe stars with known transiting giant planets to characterize those planets and to search for others.
- MESSENGER
- MESSENGER is the first satellite to orbit Mercury. Dr. Rosemary Killen is a participating scientist and Dr. Nelly Mouawad a postdoc on the atmospheres and magnetospheres discipline team for MESSENGER. She is modeling the tenuous atmosphere (exosphere) of Mercury and will use the observations from the UV/VIS spectrometer to determine the composition, spatial and temporal variations of the exosphere to deduce the sources and sinks for volatiles on the closest planet to the sun. MESSENGER flew-by Mercury successfully on January 14 and October 6, 2008. One more flyby will follow in September 2009 before orbital insertion in March 2011.
- DEEP IMPACT
- Deep Impact is a NASA Discovery mission led by PI Mike A'Hearn. The mission launched in January 2005 and encountered comet Tempel 1 in July 2005. The spacecraft was actually a dual craft composed of a flyby craft and an impactor that were launched as one unit and separated about 24 hours before the encounter. The 370kg impactor was released into the path of the comet and targeted itself to hit the comet. Lucy McFadden, a Co-Investigator, focused on determining the composition of the surface of the comet. She also managed the education and public outreach program for the mission. Dennis Wellnitz, Tony Farnham and Lori Feaga provided science support for the design, implementation and data analysis for the mission.
- PDS
- The Planetary Data System (PDS) is a distributed archive of solar system data, prepared in a standard format for use primarily by astronomical observers and mission planners, as well as educators and students. The Small Bodies Node (SBN) specializes in data concerning asteroids, comets and interplanetary dust and is located at the University of Maryland. Mike A'Hearn is the PI for this NASA project, Ludmilla Kolokolova is the archive manager. The database design and system programming is done by Anne Raugh.
Images of Shoemaker-Levy 9's impact into Jupiter, taken at Calar Alto by Doug Hamilton, debuted in 1999 on Germany's first holographic stamp!
More images from the planetary group.
