2010 Annual Research Report

Sykes has continued his work in support of the NASA Discovery mission, Dawn, which successfully launched on Sept. 27, 2007. Instruments and the ion propulsion system have all continued to operate normally and Dawn is now on its way to its first rendezvous target, Vesta, at which it will arrive in July 2011. It will arrive at Ceres in February 2015. Sykes has been working on many aspects of the mission, including the satellite search strategy and understand the otential range of geology and compositional variation that may be detected on Vesta's surface. He continued working with P. Tricarico on the effects of gravitational perterbations during orbit transitions at Vesta as a consequence of using low-thrust propulsion.

Sykes participated in the analysis of Hubble observations of Vesta, in which the southern hemisphere was mapped and divided into units that are eucrite-rich, possessing low-Ca eucrite material, diogenite-rich, space weathered and freshly exposed.

Dust in the orbit of the Rosetta target P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko consintued to be studied with J. Argawal (ESA) and others.

Papers:

Tricarico, P. and M.V. Sykes (2010). The dynamical environment of Dawn at Vesta.

Planet. Sp. Sci. 58, 1516-1525.  

Li, J-Y., L.A. McFadden, P.C. Thomas, M.J. Mutchler, J.W. Parker, E.F. Young, 

C.T. Russell, M.V. Sykes, B.E. Schmidt (2010). Photometric mapping of Asteroid 

(4) Vesta‚Äôs southern hemisphere with Hubble Space Telescope. Icarus 208, 

238-251.

Agarwal, J., M. Mueller, W.T. Reach, M.V. Sykes, H. Boehnhardt, E. Gruen (2010).

The dust trail of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko between 2004 and 2006. Icarus 

207, 992-1012.

Abstracts:

Sykes, M.V., P. Tricarico, J-Y. Li (2010).  Constraining thermophysical models 

of Vesta with Dawn. B.A.A.S. 42, 1033.

Li, J-Y., P.C. Thomas, L.A. McFadden, J.W. Parker, C.T. Russell, S.A. Stern, 

M.V. Sykes, and E.F. Young (2010). Hubble Space Telescope observation of 

Asteroid 1 Ceres in 2003/04. Astrobiology Science Conference 2010: Evolution 

and Life: Surviving Catastrophes and Extremes on Earth and Beyond. LPI 

Contribution No. 1538, p.5455.

Jensen, E.A., F. Vilas, and M.V. Sykes (2010). Searching for satellites of 

Vesta. LPSC 41, 2556.

Tricarico, P., M.V. Sykes (2010). The dynamics of Dawn at Vesta. LPSC 41, 2289.