Computer Science
Scientific paper
Jul 2004
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004hst..prop10102s&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #10102
Computer Science
Hst Proposal Id #10102 Solar System
Scientific paper
Last year, our Uranian ring and moon observing program {GO-9823} resulted in the discovery of two moons, S/2003 U 1 and S/2003 U 2. We imaged two additional small moons, Ophelia and S/1986 U 10, that had not been seen since the Voyager encounter of 1986. Furthermore, our data show faint arcs and clumps orbiting within the rings, which were not seen by Voyager and are completely unexpected. We employed several "tricks" of the HRC to achieve this remarkable senstivity; specifically, we used the CLEAR filter and oriented the images so that the planet, though vastly overexposed, did not interfere with the ring/moon region of interest to us. This allowed us to detect 25th-magnitude moons circling a 5th-magnitude planet. Now we propose to complete the task by carrying out a comprehensive survey of the system using the same techniques. Our goals are to recover the moons, better discern their orbital elements, and learn more about the dynamics of the ring clumps. In particular, we need to {1} understand the long-term stability of S/2003 U 2, which orbits perilously close to the larger moon Belinda; {2} complete our search for moons, which was only 50% complete last year, and {3} better understand how the clumps and arcs within the ring system might relate to nearby "shepherding" moons, seen or unseen. This program is now a merger of two programs 10275 and 10102. The former is our new program, whereas the latter is the second year of our three-year program to study the light scattering properties of Uranus's rings as they approach their edge-on presentation in 2007.
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