PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

'Trojan' asteroids in far reaches of solar system more common than previously thought

UBC astronomers have discovered the first Trojan asteroid sharing the orbit of Uranus and believe it is part of a larger-than-expected population of similar objects

2013-08-30
(Press-News.org) VIDEO: This is a short-term animation showing the motion of 2011 QF99, as seen from above the north pole of the solar system.
Click here for more information.

BC astronomers have discovered the first Trojan asteroid sharing the orbit of Uranus, and believe 2011 QF99 is part of a larger-than-expected population of transient objects temporarily trapped by the gravitational pull of the Solar System's giant planets.

Trojans are asteroids that share the orbit of a planet, occupying stable positions known as Lagrangian points. Astronomers considered their presence at Uranus unlikely because the gravitational pull of larger neighbouring planets would destabilize and expel any Uranian Trojans over the age of the Solar System.

To determine how the 60 kilometre-wide ball of rock and ice ended up sharing an orbit with Uranus the astronomers created a simulation of the Solar System and its co-orbital objects, including Trojans.

"Surprisingly, our model predicts that at any given time three per cent of scattered objects between Jupiter and Neptune should be co-orbitals of Uranus or Neptune," says Mike Alexandersen, lead author of the study to be published tomorrow in the journal Science. This percentage had never before been computed, and is much higher than previous estimates.

Several temporary Trojans and co-orbitals have been discovered in the Solar System during the past decade. QF99 is one of those temporary objects, only recently (within the last few hundred thousand years) ensnared by Uranus and set to escape the planet's gravitational pull in about a million years.

"This tells us something about the current evolution of the Solar System," says Alexandersen. "By studying the process by which Trojans become temporarily captured, one can better understand how objects migrate into the planetary region of the Solar System."

UBC astronomers Brett Gladman, Sarah Greenstreet and colleagues at the National Research Council of Canada and Observatoire de Besancon in France were part of the research team.



INFORMATION:

Contacts

Mike Alexandersen
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
http://www.phas.ubc.ca/~mikea/
mikea@astro.ubc.ca
Lab: (604) 827-5319
Mobile: (778) 838-6504

Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Coordinator, Communications
Faculty of Science
Phone: (604) 827-5001
silvia.moreno-garcia@science.ubc.ca

Images, animations and videos

One of three discovery images of 2011 QF99 (frame1.png) taken from CFHT on 2011 October 24 (2011 QF99 is inside the green circle). This is the first of three images of the same patch of sky, taken one hour apart, that were then compared to find moving light-sources.

The motion of 2011 QF99 over the next 59 kyr (fig1.png). Shown here is the trajectory of 2011 QF99, according to the best fit to the observations. The current position is marked by a red square, and the black line shows the trajectory 59 kyr into the future. L4 and L5 are the triangular Lagrange points, the points in space which

Short-term Animation showing the motion of 2011 QF99 (4.3 MB video.avi, 6.4 MB video.mpg), as seen from above the north pole of the Solar System.

Medium-term animation showing the motion of 2011 QF99 (3.6 MB video2.avi, 4.7 MB video2.mpg), as seen from above the north pole of the Solar System.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Spider venom reveals new secret

2013-08-30
University of Arizona researchers led a team that has discovered that venom of spiders in the genus Loxosceles, which contains about 100 spider species including the brown recluse, produces a different chemical product in the human body than scientists believed. The finding has implications for understanding how these spider bites affect humans and development of possible treatments for the bites. One of few common spiders whose bites can have a seriously harmful effect on humans, brown recluse spider venom contains a rare protein that can cause a blackened lesion at ...

A completely new atomic crystal dynamic of the white pigment titanium dioxide discovered

2013-08-30
Titanium dioxide is an inexpensive, yet versatile material. It is used as a pigment in wall paint, as a biocompatible coating in medical implants, as a catalyst in the chemical industry and as UV protection in sunscreen. When applied as a thin coating, it can keep all sorts of surfaces sparkling clean. The use of titanium oxide in the electronics industry is currently being investigated. Fundamental to all these properties could be the atomic properties discovered by Ulrike Diebold from the Institute of Applied Physics at TU Vienna and Annabella Selloni from the Frick ...

Genomic study: Why children in remission from rheumatoid arthritis experience recurrences

2013-08-30
BUFFALO, N.Y. – More children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis are experiencing remission of their symptoms, thanks to new biological therapies, but the remission is not well-understood. A new study published today in Arthritis Research & Therapy provides the first genomic characterization of remission in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis patients. "It turns out that even though these children in remission appear to be perfectly normal and symptom-free, their immune systems are still perturbed," says James N. Jarvis, MD, clinical professor of pediatrics in the University ...

Collagen clue reveals new drug target for untreatable form of lung cancer

2013-08-30
Collagen, the stuff of ligaments and skin, and the most abundant protein in the human body, has an extraordinary role in triggering chemical signals that help protect the body from cancer, a new study reveals. Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, have uncovered a series of chemical signals sent out by collagen that appear to protect against cancer's growth. Boosting those signals could act as an effective treatment for cancers that grow in the presence of collagen, including squamous cell lung cancer, for which no targeted treatments currently exist. And ...

NASA'S Chandra catches our galaxy's giant black hole rejecting food

2013-08-30
Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have taken a major step in explaining why material around the giant black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy is extraordinarily faint in X-rays. This discovery holds important implications for understanding black holes. New Chandra images of Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), which is located about 26,000 light-years from Earth, indicate that less than 1 percent of the gas initially within Sgr A*'s gravitational grasp ever reaches the point of no return, also called the event horizon. Instead, much of the gas is ejected ...

Novel topological crystalline insulator shows mass appeal

2013-08-30
CHESTNUT HILL, MA (Aug. 29, 2013) – Disrupting the symmetrical structure of a solid-state topological crystalline insulator creates mass in previously mass-less electrons and imparts an unexpected level of control in this nascent class of materials, an international team of researchers reports in the current edition of Science Express. The researchers not only confirmed several theoretical predictions about topological crystalline insulators (TCIs), but made a significant experimental leap forward that revealed even more details about the crystal structure and electronic ...

Time for tech transfer law to change? U-M doctor looks at history of Bayh-Dole and says yes

2013-08-30
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The law that has helped medical discoveries make the leap from university labs to the marketplace for more than 30 years needs revising, in part to ensure the American people benefit from science their tax dollars have paid for, says a University of Michigan Medical School physician and medical historian. In a new commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine, Howard Markel, M.D., Ph.D., director of the U-M Center for the History of Medicine, looks at the fluke-ridden history of how the law known as Bayh-Dole Technology Transfer Act was passed in ...

Virtual surgical planning aids in complex facial reconstructions

2013-08-30
Philadelphia, Pa. (August 29, 2013) – Virtual surgical planning technologies give surgeons a powerful new tool for their most challenging facial reconstruction cases, reports a paper in the September issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). "Use of virtual surgical planning allows for complex maxillofacial reconstruction with multiple simultaneous free flaps to be preformed reliably and successfully," according to the study by Dr. Adam Saad of Louisiana State University Health Sciences ...

Assay shown to be effective in measuring levels of mutant huntingtin protein

2013-08-30
An assay designed to measure normal and abnormal forms of the huntingtin protein – the mutated form of which causes Huntington's disease (HD) – was successful in detecting levels of the mutant protein in a large multicenter study of individuals at risk for the devastating neurological disorder. The report from a team of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators – which will appear in the Sept. 24 issue of Neurology and has been released online – also found changes in levels of the mutated protein that might predict when symptoms will appear. "Our validation ...

Study identifies better blood glucose monitor for burn care

2013-08-30
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Glucose monitoring systems with an autocorrect feature that can detect red blood cells (hematocrit), vitamin C and other common interferents in burn patients' blood are better for monitoring care, a pilot study conducted by UC Davis researchers at the School of Medicine and College of Engineering has found. The study was published in the Journal of Burn Care Research. Burn patients are at risk for high blood glucose levels, or hyperglycemia, due to the body's stress response. Intensive insulin therapy, which is commonly used to keep glucose under ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Are lifetimes of big appliances really shrinking?

Pink skies

Monkeys are world’s best yodellers - new research

Key differences between visual- and memory-led Alzheimer’s discovered

% weight loss targets in obesity management – is this the wrong objective?

An app can change how you see yourself at work

NYC speed cameras take six months to change driver behavior, effects vary by neighborhood, new study reveals

New research shows that propaganda is on the rise in China

Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds

Novel genes linked to rare childhood diarrhea

New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea

Novel point-of-care technology delivers accurate HIV results in minutes

Researchers reveal key brain differences to explain why Ritalin helps improve focus in some more than others

Study finds nearly five-fold increase in hospitalizations for common cause of stroke

Study reveals how alcohol abuse damages cognition

Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life

Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

Ancient amphibians as big as alligators died in mass mortality event in Triassic Wyoming

Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly

Alcohol makes male flies sexy

TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income

Study links teen girls’ screen time to sleep disruptions and depression

Scientists unveil starfish-inspired wearable tech for heart monitoring

Footprints reveal prehistoric Scottish lagoons were stomping grounds for giant Jurassic dinosaurs

AI effectively predicts dementia risk in American Indian/Alaska Native elders

First guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis calls for changes in practice to improve outcomes

Existing international law can help secure peace and security in outer space, study shows

Pinning down the process of West Nile virus transmission

UTA-backed research tackles health challenges across ages

In pancreatic cancer, a race against time

[Press-News.org] 'Trojan' asteroids in far reaches of solar system more common than previously thought
UBC astronomers have discovered the first Trojan asteroid sharing the orbit of Uranus and believe it is part of a larger-than-expected population of similar objects