First Constraints on Rings in the Pluto System

@article{Steffl2007FirstCO,
  title={First Constraints on Rings in the Pluto System},
  author={Andrew J. Steffl and S. Alan Stern},
  journal={The Astronomical Journal},
  year={2007},
  volume={133},
  pages={1485-1489}
}
Simple theoretical calculations have suggested that small-body impacts onto Pluto's newly discovered small satellites, Nix and Hydra, are capable of generating time-variable rings or dust sheets in the Pluto system. Using Hubble Space Telescope ACS data obtained on 2006 February 15 and 2006 March 2, we find no observational evidence for such a ring system and present the first constraints on the present-day I/F and optical depth of a putative ring system, where I is the observed intensity and… Expand
View PDF on arXiv
20 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
5
Background Citations
8
Methods Citations
3
Results Citations
1

Figures and Tables from this paper

20 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

Limits on Pluto's ring system from the June 12 2006 stellar occultation and implications for the New Horizons impact hazard
Abstract The Pluto system passed in front of a 15th magnitude star on 12 June 2006. We observed this occultation from the 3.9 m Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT), and took photometric observations… Expand
An exploration of Pluto’s environment through stellar occultations
Context. Pluto has five known satellites with diameters ranging from ~1200 km down to ~40 km, a possible outcome of a collisional origin. Smaller objects probably exist and may maintain tenuous… Expand
Search for signatures of dust in the Pluto-Charon system using Herschel/PACS observations
In this letter we explore the environment of Pluto and Charon in the far infrared with the main aim to identify the signs of any possible dust ring, should it exist in the system. Our study is based… Expand
A Pluto–Charon Sonata: The Dynamical Architecture of the Circumbinary Satellite System
Using a large suite of n-body simulations, we explore the discovery space for new satellites in the Pluto-Charon system. For the adopted masses and orbits of the known satellites, there are few… Expand
The New Horizons and Hubble Space Telescope search for rings, dust, and debris in the Pluto-Charon system
Abstract We conducted an extensive search for dust or debris rings in the Pluto-Charon system before, during, and after the New Horizons encounter in July 2015. Methodologies included attempting to… Expand
Ejecta transfer in the Pluto system
Abstract The small satellites of the Pluto system (Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra) have very low surface escape velocities, and impacts should therefore eject a large amount of material from their… Expand
Small particles in Pluto's environment: effects of the solar radiation pressure
Impacts of micrometeoroids on the surfaces of the plutonian small satellites Nix and Hydra can generate dust particles. Even in this region so far from the Sun these tiny ejected particles are under… Expand
Interplanetary dust influx to the Pluto–Charon system
Abstract The influx of interplanetary dust grains (IDPs) to the Pluto–Charon system is expected to drive several physical processes, including the formation of tenuous dusty rings and/or exospheres,… Expand
Rings beyond the giant planets
Until 2013, only the giant planets were known to host ring systems. In June 2013, a stellar occulation revealed the presence of narrow and dense rings around Chariklo, a small Centaur object that… Expand
New Horizons Ring Collision Hazard: Constraints from Earth-based Observations
The New Horizons spacecraft's nominal trajectory crosses the planet's satellite plane at $\sim 10,000\ \rm{km}$ from the barycenter, between the orbits of Pluto and Charon. I have investigated the… Expand
...
1
2
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 20 REFERENCES
NEW CONSTRAINTS ON ADDITIONAL SATELLITES OF THE PLUTO SYSTEM
Observations of Pluto and its solar-tidal stability zone were made using the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) Wide Field Channel (WFC) on the Hubble Space Telescope on UT 2005 May 15 and May 18. Two… Expand
Comprehensive Photometry of the Rings and 16 Satellites of Uranus with the Hubble Space Telescope
Abstract Photometric properties of 4 rings and 16 satellites of Uranus are presented, based on 41 Hubble Space Telescope images taken in 1997. Up to 25 filters per object covered the wavelength range… Expand
A giant impact origin for Pluto's small moons and satellite multiplicity in the Kuiper belt
TLDR
It is argued that dust–ice rings of variable optical depths form sporadically in the Pluto system, and that rich satellite systems may be found—perhaps frequently—around other large Kuiper belt objects. Expand
Discovery of two new satellites of Pluto
TLDR
The discovery of two additional moons around Pluto are reported, provisionally designated S/2005 P 1 ( hereafter P1) and S/ 2005 P 2 (hereafter P2), which makes Pluto the first Kuiper belt object known to have multiple satellites. Expand
Separate Lightcurves of Pluto and Charon
We present new Hubble Space Telescope observations of the Pluto–Charon system taken with WFPC1 (PC6) between 1992 May 21 and 1993 August 18. Our observations consist of 52 images with the F555W… Expand
Orbits and Photometry of Pluto's Satellites: Charon, S/2005 P1, and S/2005 P2
We present new astrometry of Pluto's three satellites from images taken of the Pluto system during 2002-2003 with the High Resolution Camera mode of the Advanced Camera for Surveys instrument on the… Expand
A stability study of Pluto's moon system
The dynamical structure of the orbital element space of the Pluto–Charon system is studied in the model of the spatial circular restricted three-body problem by using numerical methods. With the two… Expand
The Second Ring-Moon System of Uranus: Discovery and Dynamics
TLDR
Deep exposures of Uranus taken with the Hubble Space Telescope reveal two small moons and two faint rings that constitute a densely packed, rapidly varying, and possibly unstable dynamical system. Expand
A Two-Color Map of Pluto’s Sub-Charon Hemisphere
Pluto and its satellite Charon regularly occulted or transited each others disks from 1985 through 1990. The light curves resulting from these events (collectively called ii mutual events ˇˇ) have… Expand
Collision Rates in the Present-Day Kuiper Belt and Centaur Regions: Applications to Surface Activation and Modification on Comets, Kuiper Belt Objects, Centaurs, and Pluto–Charon
Abstract We present results from our model of collision rates in the present-day Edgeworth–Kuiper Belt and Centaur region. We have updated previous results to allow for new estimates of the total… Expand
...
1
2
...