I. R. Linscott

Palo Alto University

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S. A. Stern

Southwest Research Institute

H. A. Weaver

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

C. B. Olkin

Southwest Research Institute

L. A. Young

Southwest Research Institute

W. M. Grundy

Lowell Observatory

Kimberly Ennico

Ames Research Center

A. F. Cheng

University of Georgia

Richard P. Binzel

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

J. R. Spencer

Southwest Research Institute

Dennis C. Reuter

Goddard Space Flight Center

Cooperative Institutions

Southwest Research Institute

141

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

136

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

University of Colorado Boulder

Stanford University

Johns Hopkins University

California Institute of Technology

Planetary Science Institute

Goddard Space Flight Center

Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

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Initial results from the New Horizons exploration of 2014 MU ₆₉ , a small Kuiper Belt object

Science (2019)

S. A. Stern H. A. Weaver J. R. Spencer C. B. Olkin G. R. Gladstone

The Kuiper Belt is a distant region of the Solar System. On 1 January 2019, the New Horizons spacecraft flew close to (486958) 2014 MU69, a Cold Classical Kuiper Belt Object, a class of objects that have never been heated by the Sun and are therefore well preserved since their formation. Here we describe initial results from these encounter observations. MU69 is a bi-lobed contact binary with a flattened shape, discrete geological units, and noticeable albedo heterogeneity. However, there is little surface color and compositional heterogeneity. No evidence for satellites, ring or dust structures, gas coma, or solar wind interactions was detected. By origin MU69 appears consistent with pebble cloud collapse followed by a low velocity merger of its two lobes.

Nice model

Albedo (alchemy)

10.1126/science.aaw9771

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Citations (136)

The small satellites of Pluto as observed by New Horizons

Science (2016)

H. A. Weaver M. W. Buie B. J. Buratti W. M. Grundy Tod R. Lauer

The New Horizons mission has provided resolved measurements of Pluto's moons Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra. All four are small, with equivalent spherical diameters of $\approx$40 km for Nix and Hydra and ~10 km for Styx and Kerberos. They are also highly elongated, with maximum to minimum axis ratios of $\approx$2. All four moons have high albedos ( $\approx$50-90 %) suggestive of a water-ice surface composition. Crater densities on Nix and Hydra imply surface ages $\gtrsim$ 4 Ga. The small moons rotate much faster than synchronous, with rotational poles clustered nearly orthogonal to the common pole directions of Pluto and Charon. These results reinforce the hypothesis that the small moons formed in the aftermath of a collision that produced the Pluto-Charon binary.

Pluto

New horizons

Dwarf planet

Lernaean Hydra

Tidal locking

10.1126/science.aae0030

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Citations (89)

Identifying the occurrence of lightning and transient luminous events by nadir spectrophotometric observation

Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics (2016)

Toru Adachi Mitsuteru Sato Tomoo Ushio Atsushi Yamazaki Makoto Suzuki

Lightning

Nadir

10.1016/j.jastp.2016.04.010

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Citations (15)

Pluto's haze as a surface material

Icarus (2018)

W. M. Grundy Tanguy Bertrand Richard P. Binzel M. W. Buie B. J. Buratti

Pluto

Haze

Sublimation

Bedrock

Cloud condensation nuclei

10.1016/j.icarus.2018.05.019

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Citations (56)

The geology and geophysics of Kuiper Belt object (486958) Arrokoth

Science (2020)

J. R. Spencer S. A. Stern J. M. Moore H. A. Weaver K. N. Singer

The Cold Classical Kuiper Belt, a class of small bodies in undisturbed orbits beyond Neptune, are primitive objects preserving information about Solar System formation. The New Horizons spacecraft flew past one of these objects, the 36 km long contact binary (486958) Arrokoth (2014 MU69), in January 2019. Images from the flyby show that Arrokoth has no detectable rings, and no satellites (larger than 180 meters diameter) within a radius of 8000 km, and has a lightly-cratered smooth surface with complex geological features, unlike those on previously visited Solar System bodies. The density of impact craters indicates the surface dates from the formation of the Solar System. The two lobes of the contact binary have closely aligned poles and equators, constraining their accretion mechanism.

Neptune

Planetary science

Lunar mare

10.1126/science.aay3999

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Citations (37)

The Pluto system: Initial results from its exploration by New Horizons

Science (2015)

S. A. Stern F. Bagenal Kimberly Ennico G. R. Gladstone W. M. Grundy

New Horizons' views of Pluto The flyby of Pluto and its moon Charon by the New Horizons spacecraft generated news coverage around the world. Now Stern et al. report the first scientific results from the high-speed encounter. The surface of Pluto is surprisingly diverse, with large regions of differing brightness and composition. There is ample evidence for ongoing rich geological processes that act to sculpt its surface. Charon's surface is similarly complex, with numerous relief structures and varied coloration. Pluto's atmosphere is extensive but less dense than expected, whereas Charon has no detectable atmosphere. Science , this issue p. 10.1126/science.aad1815

Pluto

New horizons

10.1126/science.aad1815

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Citations (471)

Whistler Observations on DEMETER Compared with FWM Numerical Simulations

AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts (2012)

A. J. Compston Morris A. Cohen N. G. Lehtinen U. S. Inan I. R. Linscott

Whistler

Source

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Surface compositions across Pluto and Charon

Science (2016)

W. M. Grundy Richard P. Binzel B. J. Buratti J. C. Cook D. P. Cruikshank

The New Horizons spacecraft mapped colors and infrared spectra across the encounter hemispheres of Pluto and Charon. The volatile ices CH$_4$, CO, and N$_2$, that dominate Pluto's surface, have complicated spatial distributions resulting from sublimation, condensation, and glacial flow acting over seasonal and geological timescales. Pluto's H$_2$O ice "bedrock" is also mapped, with isolated outcrops occurring in a variety of settings. Pluto's surface exhibits complex regional color diversity associated with its distinct provinces. Charon's color pattern is simpler, dominated by neutral low latitudes and a reddish northern polar region. Charon near infrared spectra reveal highly localized areas with strong NH$_3$ absorption tied to small craters with relatively fresh-appearing impact ejecta.

Pluto

Sublimation

Bedrock

New horizons

Outcrop

10.1126/science.aad9189

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Citations (281)

Discovery and insights from DSX mission’s high-power VLF wave transmission experiments in the radiation belts

Scientific Reports (2022)

P. Song J. Tu Ivan Galkin J. P. McCollough G. P. Ginet

Abstract Space weather phenomena can threaten space technologies. A hazard among these is the population of relativistic electrons in the Van Allen radiation belts. To reduce the threat, artificial processes can be introduced by transmitting very-low-frequency (VLF) waves into the belts. The resulting wave-particle interactions may deplete these harmful electrons. However, when transmitting VLF waves in space plasma, the antenna, plasma, and waves interact in a manner that is not well-understood. We conducted a series of VLF transmission experiments in the radiation belts and measured the power and radiation impedance under various frequencies and conditions. The results demonstrate the critical role played by the plasma-antenna-wave interaction around high-voltage space antennae and open the possibility to transmit high power in space. The physical insight obtained in this study can provide guidance to future high-power space-borne VLF transmitter developments, laboratory whistler-mode wave injection experiments, and the interpretation of various astrophysical and optical phenomena.

Whistler

Space Weather

Van Allen Probes

Astrophysical plasma

Space environment

10.1038/s41598-022-18542-9

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Citations (5)

The Lyman‐α Sky Background as Observed by New Horizons

Geophysical Research Letters (2018)

G. R. Gladstone W. R. Pryor S. A. Stern Kimberly Ennico C. B. Olkin

Recent observations of interplanetary medium (IPM) atomic hydrogen Lyman-{\alpha} (Ly{\alpha}) emission in the outer solar system, made with the Alice ultraviolet spectrograph on New Horizons (NH), are presented. The observations include regularly spaced great-circle scans of the sky and pointed observations near the downstream and upstream flow directions of interstellar H atoms. The NH Alice data agree very well with the much earlier Voyager UVS results, after these are reduced by a factor of 2.4 in brightness, in accordance with recent re-analyses. In particular, the falloff of IPM Ly{\alpha} brightness in the upstream-looking direction as a function of spacecraft distance from the Sun is well-matched by an expected 1/r dependence, but with an added constant brightness of ~40 Rayleighs. This additional brightness is a possible signature of the hydrogen wall at the heliopause or of a more distant background. Ongoing observations are planned at a cadence of roughly twice per year.

Heliosphere

Interplanetary medium

Jupiter (rocket family)

10.1029/2018gl078808

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Citations (24)