Footprints of a possible Ceres asteroid paleo-family

The case of the missing Ceres family

Habitability Potential of Ceres, a Warm Icy Body in the Asteroid Belt

Large, low-density C-type asteroids are abundant in the main belt. The most prominent of these objects is the dwarf planet Ceres, which presents an advanced stage of evolution. Ceres is almost twice as large as Enceladus, and both objects contain more than 50% of water in volume [1]. Although asteroids cannot benefit from tidal heating like outer planet satellites, their proximity to the Sun pr...

Structure of Possible Long-lived Asteroid Belts

High resolution simulations are used to map out the detailed structure of two long-lived stable belts of asteroid orbits in the inner Solar system. The Vulcanoid belt extends from 0.09 to 0.20 astronomical units (au), though with a gaps at 0.15 and 0.18 au corresponding to de-stabilising mean motion resonances with Mercury and Venus. As collisional evolution proceeds slower at larger heliocentr...

A Possible Massive Asteroid Belt around Ζ Lep

We have used the Keck I telescope to image at 11.7 μm and 17.9 μm the dust emission around ζ Lep, a main sequence A-type star at 21.5 pc from the Sun with an infrared excess. The excess is at most marginally resolved at 17.9 μm. The dust distance from the star is probably ≤ 6 AU, although some dust may extend to 9 AU. The mass of observed dust is ∼ 10 g. Since the lifetime of dust particles is ...

A POSSIBLE MASSIVE ASTEROID BELT AROUND z LEPORIS

We have used the Keck I telescope to image at 11.7 and 17.9 mm the dust emission around z Leporis, a mainsequence A-type star at 21.5 pc from the Sun with an infrared excess. The excess is at most marginally resolved at 17.9 mm. The dust distance from the star is probably ≤6 AU, although some dust may extend to 9 AU. The mass of observed dust is ∼1022 g. Since the lifetime of dust particles is ...