I started off Wednesday at a lunar science session where presenters focused on results from the Japanese Kaguya mission and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). Robert Reedy of the Planetary Science Institute discussed Kaguya maps of the Moon. The probe measured gamma rays to study the distribution of elements, and it produced the first global uranium map of the Moon.
Editor's note: Liz is posting updates regularly from DPS09 to Twitter.com/AstronomyMag.
A few presenters talked about early LRO results — that mission is already chugging out some great science. And it’s only been taking data for (depending on the instrument) 1-3 months. Benjamin Greenhagen of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory presented information about the Diviner instrument, which measures surface temperatures. Early findings with this instrument were actually in the news a few weeks ago: Scientists used this device to discover portions of the permanently shadowed regions at the Moon’s south polar region are around 35 kelvin. That means these regions are looking like the coldest areas in the solar system. Greenhagen added that we’re approaching lunar summer now, so it appears these regions are warming a small amount, but they’re still under 50 K. That’s cold.
Next I headed over to a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) session. Mike Nolan of Arecibo Observatory talked about the diversity among NEAs, which I found extremely informative. Astronomers split NEAs into the following categories: irregular bodies (potato-like), spheroids, binaries, and bars (elongated asteroids, termed “bifurcated asteroids”). The bifurcated ones look like someone smashed two play-doh spheres together. As Nolan is also the observatory director, he touched on how important radar observations of NEAs are; this is one type of research astronomers use Arecibo for. He ended his talk on a fairly sad note regarding funding for the next few years. It sounds like they have significantly less funding starting in 2011.
After a quick lunch, I sat in on another exoplanet session. This one focused on transiting exoplanets — those that pass in front of their stars from our point of view — and observing and modeling some of those planets’ atmospheres. While I already knew about this method (characterizing some extrasolar planet atmospheres), it was interesting to hear more about how the researchers do this. It sounds like this area will continue to grow … just like the entire field of exoplanet research.
To end the day, I walked through the exhibit hall and looked over some of the posters. Tomorrow I’ll bounce around between another exoplanet session and an asteroid session. Then I’m off for a day to explore the natural side of Puerto Rico (I’ll do a bit of kayaking and hiking).
On Saturday I head to Arecibo Observatory to tour the huge instrument before flying back to cold Wisconsin.
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