ALBERT

Description: Author(s): M. B. Stone, Y. Chen, D. H. Reich, C. Broholm, G. Xu, J. R. D. Copley, and J. C. Cook We examine the magnetic field dependent excitations of the dimerized spin-1/2 chain, copper nitrate, with antiferromagnetic intradimer exchange J1=0.44(1)meV and exchange alternation α=J2/J1=0.26(2). Magnetic excitations in three distinct regimes of magnetization are probed through inelastic neutron... [Phys. Rev. B 90, 094419] Published Mon Sep 29, 2014

Description: The Pluto system was recently explored by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, making closest approach on 14 July 2015. Pluto's surface displays diverse landforms, terrain ages, albedos, colors, and composition gradients. Evidence is found for a water-ice crust, geologically young surface units, surface ice convection, wind streaks, volatile transport, and glacial flow. Pluto's atmosphere is highly extended, with trace hydrocarbons, a global haze layer, and a surface pressure near 10 microbars. Pluto's diverse surface geology and long-term activity raise fundamental questions about how small planets remain active many billions of years after formation. Pluto's large moon Charon displays tectonics and evidence for a heterogeneous crustal composition; its north pole displays puzzling dark terrain. Small satellites Hydra and Nix have higher albedos than expected.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Stern, S A -- Bagenal, F -- Ennico, K -- Gladstone, G R -- Grundy, W M -- McKinnon, W B -- Moore, J M -- Olkin, C B -- Spencer, J R -- Weaver, H A -- Young, L A -- Andert, T -- Andrews, J -- Banks, M -- Bauer, B -- Bauman, J -- Barnouin, O S -- Bedini, P -- Beisser, K -- Beyer, R A -- Bhaskaran, S -- Binzel, R P -- Birath, E -- Bird, M -- Bogan, D J -- Bowman, A -- Bray, V J -- Brozovic, M -- Bryan, C -- Buckley, M R -- Buie, M W -- Buratti, B J -- Bushman, S S -- Calloway, A -- Carcich, B -- Cheng, A F -- Conard, S -- Conrad, C A -- Cook, J C -- Cruikshank, D P -- Custodio, O S -- Dalle Ore, C M -- Deboy, C -- Dischner, Z J B -- Dumont, P -- Earle, A M -- Elliott, H A -- Ercol, J -- Ernst, C M -- Finley, T -- Flanigan, S H -- Fountain, G -- Freeze, M J -- Greathouse, T -- Green, J L -- Guo, Y -- Hahn, M -- Hamilton, D P -- Hamilton, S A -- Hanley, J -- Harch, A -- Hart, H M -- Hersman, C B -- Hill, A -- Hill, M E -- Hinson, D P -- Holdridge, M E -- Horanyi, M -- Howard, A D -- Howett, C J A -- Jackman, C -- Jacobson, R A -- Jennings, D E -- Kammer, J A -- Kang, H K -- Kaufmann, D E -- Kollmann, P -- Krimigis, S M -- Kusnierkiewicz, D -- Lauer, T R -- Lee, J E -- Lindstrom, K L -- Linscott, I R -- Lisse, C M -- Lunsford, A W -- Mallder, V A -- Martin, N -- McComas, D J -- McNutt, R L Jr -- Mehoke, D -- Mehoke, T -- Melin, E D -- Mutchler, M -- Nelson, D -- Nimmo, F -- Nunez, J I -- Ocampo, A -- Owen, W M -- Paetzold, M -- Page, B -- Parker, A H -- Parker, J W -- Pelletier, F -- Peterson, J -- Pinkine, N -- Piquette, M -- Porter, S B -- Protopapa, S -- Redfern, J -- Reitsema, H J -- Reuter, D C -- Roberts, J H -- Robbins, S J -- Rogers, G -- Rose, D -- Runyon, K -- Retherford, K D -- Ryschkewitsch, M G -- Schenk, P -- Schindhelm, E -- Sepan, B -- Showalter, M R -- Singer, K N -- Soluri, M -- Stanbridge, D -- Steffl, A J -- Strobel, D F -- Stryk, T -- Summers, M E -- Szalay, J R -- Tapley, M -- Taylor, A -- Taylor, H -- Throop, H B -- Tsang, C C C -- Tyler, G L -- Umurhan, O M -- Verbiscer, A J -- Versteeg, M H -- Vincent, M -- Webbert, R -- Weidner, S -- Weigle, G E 2nd -- White, O L -- Whittenburg, K -- Williams, B G -- Williams, K -- Williams, S -- Woods, W W -- Zangari, A M -- Zirnstein, E -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Oct 16;350(6258):aad1815. doi: 10.1126/science.aad1815.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA. astern@boulder.swri.edu. ; Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80303, USA. ; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center, Space Science Division, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA. ; Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 28510, USA. ; Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA. ; Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA. ; Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA. ; Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA. ; Universitat der Bundeswehr Munchen, Neubiberg 85577, Germany. ; Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA. ; KinetX Aerospace, Tempe, AZ 85284, USA. ; NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, La Canada Flintridge, CA 91011, USA. ; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. ; University of Bonn, Bonn D-53113, Germany. ; NASA Headquarters (retired), Washington, DC 20546, USA. ; University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. ; Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. ; NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546, USA. ; Rheinisches Institut fur Umweltforschung an der Universitat zu Koln, Cologne 50931, Germany. ; Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA. ; Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. ; Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA. ; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA. ; National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, AZ 26732, USA. ; NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 35812, USA. ; Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. ; Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA. ; University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA. ; Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX 77058, USA. ; Michael Soluri Photography, New York, NY 10014, USA. ; Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA. ; Roane State Community College, Jamestown, TN 38556, USA. ; George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA. ; Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26472913" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 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 ~40 kilometers for Nix and Hydra and ~10 kilometers for Styx and Kerberos. They are also highly elongated, with maximum to minimum axis ratios of ~2. All four moons have high albedos (~50 to 90%) suggestive of a water-ice surface composition. Crater densities on Nix and Hydra imply surface ages of at least 4 billion years. 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.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Weaver, H A -- Buie, M W -- Buratti, B J -- Grundy, W M -- Lauer, T R -- Olkin, C B -- Parker, A H -- Porter, S B -- Showalter, M R -- Spencer, J R -- Stern, S A -- Verbiscer, A J -- McKinnon, W B -- Moore, J M -- Robbins, S J -- Schenk, P -- Singer, K N -- Barnouin, O S -- Cheng, A F -- Ernst, C M -- Lisse, C M -- Jennings, D E -- Lunsford, A W -- Reuter, D C -- Hamilton, D P -- Kaufmann, D E -- Ennico, K -- Young, L A -- Beyer, R A -- Binzel, R P -- Bray, V J -- Chaikin, A L -- Cook, J C -- Cruikshank, D P -- Dalle Ore, C M -- Earle, A M -- Gladstone, G R -- Howett, C J A -- Linscott, I R -- Nimmo, F -- Parker, J Wm -- Philippe, S -- Protopapa, S -- Reitsema, H J -- Schmitt, B -- Stryk, T -- Summers, M E -- Tsang, C C C -- Throop, H H B -- White, O L -- Zangari, A M -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2016 Mar 18;351(6279):aae0030. doi: 10.1126/science.aae0030.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA. hal.weaver@jhuapl.edu. ; Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA. ; NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA. ; Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA. ; National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, AZ 26732, USA. ; SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. ; Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA. ; Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA. ; Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA. ; Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX 77058, USA. ; Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA. ; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA. ; Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA. ; SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA. ; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. ; University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. ; Independent science writer, Arlington, VT, USA. ; Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78238, USA. ; Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. ; University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA. ; Universite Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, F-38000 Grenoble, France. ; Roane State Community College, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA. ; George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA. ; Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26989256" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The New Horizons spacecraft mapped colors and infrared spectra across the encounter hemispheres of Pluto and Charon. The volatile methane, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen ices that dominate Pluto's surface have complicated spatial distributions resulting from sublimation, condensation, and glacial flow acting over seasonal and geological time scales. Pluto's water ice "bedrock" was 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's near-infrared spectra reveal highly localized areas with strong ammonia absorption tied to small craters with relatively fresh-appearing impact ejecta.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Grundy, W M -- Binzel, R P -- Buratti, B J -- Cook, J C -- Cruikshank, D P -- Dalle Ore, C M -- Earle, A M -- Ennico, K -- Howett, C J A -- Lunsford, A W -- Olkin, C B -- Parker, A H -- Philippe, S -- Protopapa, S -- Quirico, E -- Reuter, D C -- Schmitt, B -- Singer, K N -- Verbiscer, A J -- Beyer, R A -- Buie, M W -- Cheng, A F -- Jennings, D E -- Linscott, I R -- Parker, J Wm -- Schenk, P M -- Spencer, J R -- Stansberry, J A -- Stern, S A -- Throop, H B -- Tsang, C C C -- Weaver, H A -- Weigle, G E 2nd -- Young, L A -- New Horizons Science Team -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2016 Mar 18;351(6279):aad9189. doi: 10.1126/science.aad9189.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA. w.grundy@lowell.edu. ; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. ; NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, La Canada Flintridge, CA 91011, USA. ; Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA. ; NASA Ames Research Center, Space Science Division, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA. ; NASA Ames Research Center, Space Science Division, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA. Carl Sagan Center, SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. ; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA. ; Universite Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, F-38000 Grenoble, France. ; Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA. ; Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA. ; Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA. ; Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. ; Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX 77058, USA. ; Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA. ; Planetary Science Institute, Mumbai, India. ; Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 28510, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26989260" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: An enzyme extracted from marine red algae, Bonnemaisonia hamifera, is capable of incorporating bromine into a number of organic substrates in the pH range 5 to 8. At pH 7.3, incubation of partially purified preparations of bromoperoxidase with hydrogen peroxide, bromide ion, and 3-oxooctanoic acid leads to the formation of three volatile brominated hydrocarbons: dibromomethane, bromoform, and 1-pentyl bromide. The presence of significant quantities of halometabolites including volatile halohydrocarbons in marine organisms, ocean waters, and the upper atmosphere may result from peroxidase-catalyzed halogenation reactions.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Theiler, R -- Cook, J C -- Hager, L P -- Siuda, J F -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 1978 Dec 8;202(4372):1094-6.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17777960" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The formation of Charon’s red poles from seasonally cold-trapped volatiles Nature 539, 7627 (2016). doi:10.1038/nature19340 Authors: W. M. Grundy, D. P. Cruikshank, G. R. Gladstone, C. J. A. Howett, T. R. Lauer, J. R. Spencer, M. E. Summers, M. W. Buie, A. M. Earle, K. Ennico, J. Wm. Parker, S. B. Porter, K. N. Singer, S. A. Stern, A. J. Verbiscer, R. A. Beyer, R. P. Binzel, B. J. Buratti, J. C. Cook, C. M. Dalle Ore, C. B. Olkin, A. H. Parker, S. Protopapa, E. Quirico, K. D. Retherford, S. J. Robbins, B. Schmitt, J. A. Stansberry, O. M. Umurhan, H. A. Weaver, L. A. Young, A. M. Zangari, V. J. Bray, A. F. Cheng, W. B. McKinnon, R. L. McNutt, J. M. Moore, F. Nimmo, D. C. Reuter & P. M. Schenk A unique feature of Pluto’s large satellite Charon is its dark red northern polar cap. Similar colours on Pluto’s surface have been attributed to tholin-like organic macromolecules produced by energetic radiation processing of hydrocarbons. The polar location on Charon implicates the temperature extremes that result from Charon’s high obliquity and long seasons in the production of this material. The escape of Pluto’s atmosphere provides a potential feedstock for a complex chemistry. Gas from Pluto that is transiently cold-trapped and processed at Charon’s winter pole was proposed as an explanation for the dark coloration on the basis of an image of Charon’s northern hemisphere, but not modelled quantitatively. Here we report images of the southern hemisphere illuminated by Pluto-shine and also images taken during the approach phase that show the northern polar cap over a range of longitudes. We model the surface thermal environment on Charon and the supply and temporary cold-trapping of material escaping from Pluto, as well as the photolytic processing of this material into more complex and less volatile molecules while cold-trapped. The model results are consistent with the proposed mechanism for producing the observed colour pattern on Charon.