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Planetary Science Seminar - spring-2019

The Strange Case of Phaethon

April 5, 2019
noon - 1 p.m.
Slichter 3853

Presented By:

  • David Jewitt - UCLA
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Active asteroid Phaethon is the source of a famous and massive debris stream (the “Geminids”). I will discuss my recent work attempting to understand why and how this asteroid ejects matter.

The formation and timing of near-subsurface Na-carbonate deposits on Ceres

April 12, 2019
noon - 1 p.m.
Slichter 3853

Presented By:

  • Nathan Stein - Caltech
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Ceres’ surface is dotted with hundreds of anomalously bright Na-carbonate-bearing regions that provide a signature of recent and potentially ongoing aqueous chemical processes. I will review the surface observations and modeling that reveal how and when Ceres’ bright spots formed and their implications for Ceres as a geologically active world.

The NEOCam Mission: Goals, Design, and Status

April 19, 2019
noon - 1 p.m.
Slichter 3853

Presented By:

  • Joe Masiero - JPL
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The Near-Earth Object Camera (NEOCam) is a proposed mission to NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office to conduct a next-generation survey for near-Earth asteroids and comets using a space-based thermal infrared telescope. The NEOCam data would be a treasure-trove of information on the orbits and physical properties for millions of minor planets out to the orbit of Jupiter. I will discuss the goals of the NEOCam mission, the instrument and survey design that will allow us to meet those goals, and the current status of the mission.

UCLA Grad Talks: Taylor Dorn, William Misener, Sanjana Desai

April 26, 2019
noon - 1 p.m.
Slichter 3853

Presented By:

  • Taylor Dorn, William Misener, Sanjana Desai - UCLA
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TAYLOR DORN:"Temporal variations in wind patterns within Jezero crater, Mars" - Abstract: Aeolian features such as yardangs, dunes, and wind streaks can be used to infer prevailing wind directions. We use these features (and more!) to understand the ancient and modern wind regime within Jezero crater on Mars. WILLIAM MISENER:"Dust Grain Growth and Transport in Protoplanetary Disks" - Abstract: Dust grain transport and growth in a protoplanetary disk are interdependent, yet many studies consider the two separately. I will present my work on modeling grain growth and dynamics together to see how these processes affect the radial redistribution of materials in the early stages of planet formation. SANJANA DESAI:"Radar Observation of Near-Earth Asteroids at Arecibo" - Abstract: Radar is a unique technique that provides useful information about the physical and orbital properties of asteroids. I will present radar observations of 1999 KW4, 1999 VF22, and 2010 NY65 that highlight the Yarkovsky, YORP, and BYORP effects.

Life in Deep Ice: Searching for life in Deep Ice on Earth and the Ocean Worlds of the Solar System.

May 3, 2019
noon - 1 p.m.
Slichter 3853

Presented By:

  • Mike Malaska - JPL
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Recent work has discovered microbes living over 2 kilometers deep in the frigid dark of Earth’s ice caps. We will explore the Deep Ice physical environment and biology and our efforts to develop instrumentation for potential in situ planetary missions.

Curiosity results from Vera Rubin Ridge

May 10, 2019
noon - 1 p.m.
Slichter 3853

Presented By:

  • Abigail Fraeman - JPL
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The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover recently completed an in situ investigation of Vera Rubin ridge, which was associated with a strong spectral signature of hematite in orbital data. In situ Curiosity data suggest cementation by diagenetic fluids created the topographic ridge and generated spectral and color variability visible from orbit.”

Cometary Volatiles in Inner Solar System

May 17, 2019
noon - 1 p.m.
Slichter 3853

Presented By:

  • Paul Hayne - University of Colorado
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Comets are icy remnants from early solar system formation, which are composed mainly of volatiles condensed beyond the “frost line.” In this talk, I will present evidence for cometary volatiles in shadowed regions on the Moon and other inner solar system bodies, highlighting their scientific and exploration importance.

Paraboloids are the New Spheres: a Novel Set Up for Simulating Core Convection

May 24, 2019
noon - 1 p.m.
Slichter 3853

Presented By:

  • Ashna Aggarwal - UCLA EPSS
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Earth's dynamo is driven by rotating convection in the liquid iron outer core. We present a novel paraboloidal laboratory-numerical set up designed to investigate core-style turbulence, with theoretical justification and preliminary findings.

Accretion and Final Mass of Gas Giants

May 31, 2019
noon - 1 p.m.
Slichter 3853

Presented By:

  • Sivan Ginzburg - Berkeley
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What set the mass of the gas giants? One option is that their gas accretion was regulated by a gap (annular density cavity) in the solar nebula. I will revisit this idea using modern gap-opening theory, and show how the mass of Jupiter emerges as a natural scale.

Forming Hot Jupiters Near and Far

June 7, 2019
noon - 1 p.m.
Slichter 3853

Presented By:

  • Elizabeth Bailey - Caltech
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The nature of hot Jupiter formation remains the oldest open problem of exoplanetary science. I will discuss the production of these planets through two channels—long-range migration and in-situ core accretion—and provide an explanation for how predominance of the latter mechanism might account for the mass-period distribution of the hot Jupiters.