Category: News

At a May 10 reception held in the CNSI Auditorium, Earth & Space Sciences’ Hilke Schlichting was awarded the 2012 Chancellor’s Award for Postdoctoral Research at UCLA. This award honors important postdoctoral contributions to the university’s interrelated missions of research, teaching, and public service.

Hilke is a theoretical astrophysicist interested in the formation of planetary systems, and has been a Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow at UCLA since 2010. Her diverse research accomplishments at UCLA have addressed different aspects of the Kuiper Belt, which is a ring of a billion bodies located beyond Neptune, discovered in 1992 by David Jewitt, also of UCLA Earth & Space Sciences. The Kuiper Belt is central to planet formation studies as a primordial relic of the accretion phase. It is also the source of short-period comets.

Recently, Schlichting used Kuiper Belt binaries (double objects held together by gravity) to assess the outward motion of Neptune 4.5 billion years ago. She then formulated a collisional growth model to understand the size distribution of Kuiper belt objects, extending this model in another paper to account for velocity dispersion in a self-consistent way.

Stepping outside her “theoretical” training, Hilke conducted a massive analysis of Hubble telescope data in search of occultation events, finding two (to-date) in competition with much larger, international groups of observers who have so far found none. As a side-project, she discovered a simple explanation for a long-standing puzzle concerning the addition of late-added material on Earth (detected by geochemists) and, with ESS’s Paul Warren, wrote one of the few papers ever to have both dynamicists and geochemists as authors.

Watch Hilke describing her research in the videos below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09jYeadv7mk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sugR_bKC7v8

Hilke Schlichting’s Webpage

At last week’s iPLEX lunch, we were treated to a special talk by Maarten Roos of Lightcurve Films. Maarten, who is an astrophysicist turned professional science filmmaker, described his transition from working behind the telescope to behind the camera, and demonstrated his use of film as a tool for educating and informing the public about science.

As a bonus to this multimedia presentation, we also had the opportunity to see Maarten’s composer, William Zeitler, play one of the most rare and least heard musical instruments in the world. The glass armonica  was invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761, after hearing music played by rubbing the rims of wine glasses (“Being charmed by the sweetness of its tones…I wished only to see the glasses disposed in a more convenenient form”).  It is one of the world’s “endangered musical instruments”, with only a handful of modern-day musicians able to play it. A video of William’s performance is linked below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTY8yXLxQyA

The 5th Annual Earth and Planetary Sciences Student Symposium takes place today from 10 AM to 5 PM. There will be two oral sessions and a poster session followed by a Post-Symposium BBQ from 5 til 8 PM.

We are please to host not only students from the UCLA departments of Earth and Space Sciences, Physics and Astronomy, and Atmospheres and Oceanic Science, but also students from Cal State Northridge.

All are welcome for the BBQ. Tickets are priced as follows: $5 undergraduate / $8 graduate / $10 postdocs, staff & faculty. Breakfast and lunch are open to symposium registrants only.

Scientists have long known that certain surface patches on Mercury, the planet first in line from the sun in our solar system, reflect radar signals just like ice does in the polar regions of Earth. To their delight, new data from the orbiting NASA MESSENGER spacecraft confirm the thesis: The radar-bright spots correspond to the darkest parts of the craters at the north and south poles of the planet where it is cold enough to preserve water ice.

Click here to read the full article by Kathleen Micham on UCLA Today

The Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC), held March 19–23, 2012 in Woodlands, Texas, was a memorable one. In the face of disheartening news of a proposed 20% cut to NASA’s planetary science budget, it was very encouraging to see a huge turnout from UCLA at this year’s LPSC. Highlights included new results from DAWN at Vesta and Messenger at Mercury, as well as new isotopic studies of extraterestrial samples and theoretical work concerning Enceladus’ plumes.  Not only did we have more than 20-25 people (counting recent graduates) presenting work on topics ranging from Vesta, the Moon, Mars, Earth impacts and the early solar system, but UCLA was also a dominant force in starting the “Young Scientists for Planetary Exploration” movement, which was set up as a means of lobbying congress to restore planetary funding. Here are this year’s UCLA LPSC Abstracts:

• K. Ziegler, M. Zolensky, E. D. Young, A. Ivanov Oxygen Isotope Compositions of the Kaidun Meteorite — Indications for Aqueous Alteration of E-Chondrites
• E. A. Bell, T. M. Harrison Trace Elements Reveal a Possible Link Between Jack Hills Detrital Zircons and the Late Heavy Bombardment
• V. S. Heber, A. J. G. Jurewicz, P. Janney, M. Wadhwa, K. D. McKeegan, D. S. Burnett Magnesium Isotopic Composition of Solar Wind as Test for Sun-Solar Wind Isotopic Fractionation: A Progress Report
• P. H. Warren Constraints on the Impact-Accreted Carapace Hypothesis for the Lunar Farside Highlands
• D. A. Paige, J. K. Harmon, D. E. Smith, M. T. Zuber, G. A. Neumann, S. C. Solomon Thermal Stability of Frozen Volatiles in the North Polar Region of Mercury
• J. R. Lyons CO Self-Shielding by Various Stellar Sources
• L. P. Keller, K. D. McKeegan, Z. D. Sharp The Oxygen Isotopic Composition of MIL 090001: A CR2 Chondrite with Abundant Refractory Inclusions
• P. O. Hayne, O. Aharonson, J. L. Bandfield, B. T. Greenhagen, D. A. Paige The Surface Roughness of the Moon from Diviner Infrared Observations
• J. W. Boyce, C. Ma, J. M. Eiler, M. B. Baker, Y. Liu, E. M. Stolper, L. A. Taylor Sulfur Speciation in Lunar and Terrestrial Apatite
• G. A. Neumann, J. F. Cavanaugh, X. Sun, E. Mazarico, D. E. Smith, M. T. Zuber, S. C. Solomon, D. A. Paige Dark Material at the Surface of Polar Crater Deposits on Mercury
• P. H. Warren, A. E. Rubin The Miller Range 090340 Dunite: Not a Uniquely Ferroan Ureilite, not even a Ureilite
• A. Shahar, L. A. Kaufman, M. F. Horan, T. D. Mock, L. Deng, C. A. Macris Iron Isotope Fractionation During Planetary Differentiation
• F. Zambon, M. C. De Sanctis, E. Ammannito, M. T. Capria, F. Capaccioni, F. Carraro, S. Fonte, A. Frigeri, G. Magni, S. Marchi, E. Palomba, F. Tosi, D. T. Blewett, C. A. Raymond, C. T. Russell, T. N. Titus Classification of Dawn VIR hyperspectral Data of Vesta
• T. Roatsch, E. Kersten, K.-D. Matz, F. Preusker, F. Scholten, R. Jaumann, C. A. Raymond, C. T. Russell High Resolution Vesta HAMO Atlas Derived from Dawn FC Images
• J. Marin-Carbonne, K. D. McKeegan, A. D. Davis, G. J. MacPherson, R. A. Mendybaev, F. M. Richter O, Si and Mg Isotopic Compositions of FUN Inclusion Vigarano 1623-5
• J. G. Luhmann, M. Villarreal, Y. J. Ma, C. T. Russell, H. Y. Wei, T. L. Zhang The Venus Solar Wind Interaction — Is It Purely Ionospheric?
• J. L. Bandfield, E. Song, P. O. Hayne, R. R. Ghent, D. A. Paige Lunar “Cold Spots”: A New Class of Thermophysically and Morphologically Distinct Craters
• J. Isa, A. E. Rubin, J. T. Wasson Bulk Compositions of CV and CK Chondrites: Support for a Close Relationship
• S. C. Ingalls, E. D. Young, M. Gounelle Do Magnesium Isotope Systematics of Al-Rrich Chondrules Offer Insights into the History of Chondrule Formation in General?
• Y.-D. Jia, C. T. Russell, K. K. Khurana, T. I. Gombosi Constraining Seasonal Changes of the Enceladus Plume
• J. E. C. Scully, C. T. Russell, A. Yin, D. A. Williams, D. T. Blewett, D. L. Buczkowski, E. Ammannito, T. Roatsch, F. Preusker, L. Le Corre, R. A. Yingst, W. B. Garry, R. Jaumann, C. M. Pieters, C. A. Raymond Geologic Mapping of the Av-4 Domitia Quadrangle of Asteroid 4 Vesta
• D. E. Moser, K. R. Chamberlain, K. T. Tait, A. K. Schmitt, I. R. Barker, B. C. Hyde, J. R. Darling Microstructure and U-Pb Dates of Martian Baddeleyite Rimmed by Zircon Indicate a ‘Young’ Igneous and Metamorphic History for Shergottite NWA 5298
• E. D. Young, A. Shahar
  Magnesium, Silicon, and Oxygen Isotopic Consequences of CAI Evaporation and Inversion for Primordial Melt Compositions
• C. C. Allen, B. T. Greenhagen, K. L. Donaldson Hanna, D. Z. Oehler, D. A. Paige Derivation of FeO Abundances in Lunar Pyroclastic Deposits Using LRO Diviner
• M. E. Walker, J. L. Mitchell A Model for the Elastic Libration of Europa’s Ice Shell
• A. E. Rubin Impact-Induced Aqueous Alteration of CM and CV Carbonaceous Chondrites
• J. R. Lyons Isotope Signatures in Organics due to CO and N_2 Self-Shielding
• C. J. Snead, K. D. McKeegan, M. Burchell, A. T. Kearsley Oxygen Isotope Measurements of Simulated Wild 2 Impact Crater Residues
• M. M. Wielicki, T. M. Harrison, P. Boehnke, A. K. Schmitt Modeling Zircon Saturation Within Simulated Impact Events: Implications on Impact Histories of Planetary Bodies
• J.-P. Williams, A. V. Pathare Scaling Effective Diameters of Small Impact Crater Clusters on Mars
• J.-P. Williams Stagnant Lid Heterogeneity on Mars
• C. J. Budney, L. L. Lowes, A. M. Sohus, A. S. Wessen, T. D. Stelzner, A. Urban NASA Planetary Science Summer School: Preparing the Next Generation of Planetary Mission Leaders
• B. J. Travis, G. Schubert Hydrothermal Flow Within Enceladus
• R. A. Mendybaev, F. M. Richter, J. Marin-Carbonne, K. D. McKeegan Crystallization of Evaporating Forsterite-Rich Melts: Texture and Magnesium and Silicon Isotopic Compositions of the Evaporation Residues
• J.-Ph. Combe, T. B. McCord, E. Palomba, M. C. De Sanctis, T. H. Prettyman, C. M. Pieters, E. Ammannito, F. Capaccioni, M. T. Capria, C. A. Raymond, C. T. Russell Water and Other Volatiles on Vesta After the Lunar Case
• T. B. McCord, J.-Ph. Combe, C. Taffin Composition of a Comet Nucleus: Preparing for Rosetta Observations
• M. A. Siegler, B. G. Bills, D. A. PaigeSpatio-Temporal Evolution of Lunar Polar Cold Traps
• E. J. Foote, D. A. Paige, M. K. Shepard, J. R. Johnson, W. M. Grundy, S. F. Biggar, B. T. Greenhagen, C. C. Allen Laboratory and Diviner Bidirectional Reflectance Measurements of Apollo Soils
• W. B. Garry, M. V. Sykes, D. L. Buczkowski, D. A. Williams, R. A. Yingst, S. C. Mest, R. Jaumann, C. M. Pieters, T. Roatsch, F. Preusker, C. T. Russell, C. A. Raymond, G. Filacchione, Dawn Science Team Geologic Mapping of Av-10 Oppia Quadrangle of Asteroid 4 Vesta
• F. Capaccioni, M. C. De Sanctis, E. Ammannito, J. Y. Li, A. Longobardo, D. W. Mittlefehldt, E. Palomba, C. M. Pieters, S. E. Schroeder, F. Tosi, H. Hiesinger, D. T. Blewett, C. T. Russell, C. A. Raymond Spectral Characterization of Bright Materials on Vesta
• T. Hoogenboom, P. Schenk, O. L. White, D. Williams, H. Heisinger, W. B. Garry, R. A. Yingst, D. L. Buczkowski, T. B. McCord, R. Jaumann, C. M. Pieters, R. W. Gaskell, G. Neukum, N. Schmedemann, S. Marchi, A. Nathues, L. LeCorre, T. Roatsch, F. Preusker, M. C. De Sanctis, G. Fillacchione, C. A. Raymond, C. T. Russell Geologic Mapping of the Av-11 Pinaria Quadrangle of Asteroid 4 Vesta
• M. D. Hopkins, S. J. Mojzsis Early Thermal Events Recorded in Zircon U-Th-Pb Depth Profiles from Eucrite Meteorites and Lunar Impact Breccias
• J. P. Greenwood, S. Itoh, N. Sakamoto, P. H. Warren, L. A. Taylor, H. Yurimoto Towards a Wetter Moon: Implications of High Volatile Abundances in Lunar Apatite
• A. Morschhauser, M. Grott, V. Lesur A New Model of the Lithospheric Field of Mars Using MGS-MPO Data and L1-Regularization
• M. C. De Sanctis, A. Nathues, E. Ammannito, F. Capaccioni, A. Frigeri, L. Le Corre, R. Jauman, E. Palomba, C. M. Pieters, V. Reddy, K. Stephan, F. Tosi, A. Yingst, F. Zambon, M. A. Barucci, D. T. Blewett, M. T. Capria, J.-Ph. Combe, B. W. Denevi, H. U. Keller, S. Marchi, T. B. McCord, L A. McFadden, H. McSween, C. A. Raymond, C. T. Russell, J. Sunshine, M. Toplis, J. Y. Li First Mineralogical Maps of 4 Vesta
• K. Krohn, R. Jaumann, K. Stephan, C. M. Pieters, R. Wagner, R. A. Yingst, D. A. Williams, P. Schenk, G. Neukum, N. Schmedemann, T. Kneissl, M. C. De Sanctis, A. Nathues, D. L. Buczkowski, T. Roatsch, F. Preusker, E. Kersten, C. T. Russell, C. A. Raymond Geologic Mapping of the Av-12 Sextlia Quadrangle of Asteroid 4 Vesta
• J. Watkins, A. Yin Spatial and Temporal Relationships of Landslides in Valles Marineris, Mars: Constraints on Their Triggering Mechanisms
• D. W. Mittlefehldt, J.-Y. Li, C. M. Pieters, M. C. De Sanctis, S. E. Schroder, H. Hiesinger, D. T. Blewett, C. T. Russell, C. A. Raymond, R. A. Yingst, Dawn Science TeamTypes and Distribution of Bright Materials on 4 Vesta
• D. L. Domingue, F. Vilas, P. M. Travnicek, M. Benna, D. Schriver, M. Sarantos A Search for Latitudinal Variation in Space Weathering on Mercury’s Surface
• C. A. Crow, K. D. McKeegan, J. D. Gilmour, S. A. Crowther, D. J. Taylor Are Apollo Zircons Witness to a Lunar Cataclysm?
• K. D. Runyon, D. M. Blair, M. Lemelin, D. Nowka, C. E. Roberts, D. A. Paige, P. Spudis, D. A. Kring Volatiles at the Lunar South Pole: A Case Study for a Mission to Amundsen Crater
• C. E. Roberts, D. M. Blair, M. Lemelin, D. Nowka, K. D. Runyon, D. A. Paige, P. D. Spudis, D. A. Kring The Potential for Volatiles in the Intercrater Highlands of the Lunar North Pole
• T. B. McCord, J.-Ph. Combe, R. Jaumann, E. Palomba, V. Reddy, D. T. Blewett, H. Y. McSween Jr., C. A. Raymond, D. Williams, Dawn Team Dark Material on Vesta: Synthesis and Interpretations from Dawn Observations
• A. Yin High Mantle Viscosity Controls the Enormous Size of Martian Volcanoes: A Hypothesis Based on Inferences from Rayleigh-Taylor Instability Theory

This meeting is being held to follow-up on last years’ UCLA@JPL Planets day, and will be held on the UCLA campus on Monday, June 11. The idea behind these meetings is to improve science contacts between UCLA and JPL. The ultimate goal is a bridging organization (modeled on JIFRESSE but operationally different from it) that will make it easy and natural for scientists at one institution to spend science time at the other, so building stronger relations.

The meeting will consist of:

• brief overviews of current planetary and exoplanet research themes at UCLA

• interactions with UCLA planetary graduate students and postdocs

• tours of several laboratories in the Departments of Earth & Space and Physics and Astronomy.

Lunch will be provided and the arrival and departure times are selected to avoid traffic.

Please email David Jewitt if you have ideas, suggestions or requests for this meeting or for enhancing JPL-UCLA interactions.

SPECIAL NOTE: A separate, two-day conference on “Ices and Organics in the Inner Solar System” will be held at UCLA on June 12 and 13. If you are interested in this conference and wish to receive follow-up emails, please indicate so here.

AbSciCon 2012 is the next in a biennial series of meetings organized by the astrobiology community. The conference will convene scientists from all over the world who are working in the multidisciplinary field of astrobiology – the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe – to report on research findings and plan future endeavors.