Processing of methane and acetylene ices by galactic cosmic rays and implications to the color diversity of Kuiper Belt objects.

Kuiper Belt objects exhibit a wider color range than any other solar system population. The origin of this color diversity is unknown, but likely the result of the prolonged irradiation of organic materials by galactic cosmic rays (GCRs). Here, we combine ultrahigh-vacuum irradiation experiments with comprehensive spectroscopic analyses to examine the color evolution during GCR processing methane and acetylene under Kuiper Belt conditions.

A binary main-belt comet.

Asteroids are primitive Solar System bodies that evolve both collisionally and through disruptions arising from rapid rotation. These processes can lead to the formation of binary asteroids and to the release of dust, both directly and, in some cases, through uncovering frozen volatiles. In a subset of the asteroids called main-belt comets, the sublimation of excavated volatiles causes transient comet-like activity.

A recent disruption of the main-belt asteroid P/2010 A2.

Most inner main-belt asteroids are primitive rock and metal bodies in orbit about the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. Disruption, through high-velocity collisions or rotational spin-up, is believed to be the primary mechanism for the production and destruction of small asteroids and a contributor to dust in the Sun's zodiacal cloud, while analogous collisions around other stars feed dust to their debris disks. Unfortunately, direct evidence about the mechanism or rate of disruption is lacking, owing to the rarity of the events.

On the state of water ice on saturn's moon Titan and implications to icy bodies in the outer solar system.

The crystalline state of water ice in the Solar System depends on the temperature history of the ice and the influence of energetic particles to which it has been exposed. We measured the infrared absorption spectra of amorphous and crystalline water ice in the 10-50 K and 10-140 K temperature ranges, respectively, and conducted a systematic experimental study to investigate the amorphization of crystalline water ice via ionizing radiation irradiation at doses of up to 160 +/- 30 eV per molecule. We found that crystalline water ice can be converted only partially to amorphous ice by electron irradiation.

Mechanistical studies on the formation of isotopomers of hydrogen peroxide (HOOH), hydrotrioxy (HOOO), and dihydrogentrioxide (HOOOH) in electron-irradiated H(2)(18)O/O(2) ice mixtures.

In order to investigate the chemical reactions inside water-oxygen ice mixtures in extreme environments, and to confirm the proposed reaction mechanisms in pure water ice, we conducted a detailed infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry study on the electron irradiation of H(2)(18)O/O(2) ice mixtures. The formation of molecular hydrogen, isotopically substituted oxygen molecules (18)O(18)O and (16)O(18)O, ozone ((16)O(16)O(16)O, (16)O(16)O(18)O, and (16)O(18)O(16)O), hydrogen peroxide (H(18)O(18)OH, H(16)O(16)OH and H(16)O(18)OH), hydrotrioxy (HOOO), and dihydrogentrioxide (HOOOH) were detected. Kinetic models and reaction mechanisms are proposed to form these molecules in water and oxygen-rich solar system ices.

A population of comets in the main asteroid belt.

Comets are icy bodies that sublimate and become active when close to the Sun. They are believed to originate in two cold reservoirs beyond the orbit of Neptune: the Kuiper Belt (equilibrium temperatures of approximately 40 kelvin) and the Oort Cloud (approximately 10 kelvin). We present optical data showing the existence of a population of comets originating in a third reservoir: the main asteroid belt.

Crystalline water ice on the Kuiper belt object (50000) Quaoar.

The Kuiper belt is a disk-like structure consisting of solid bodies orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune. It is the source of the short-period comets and the likely repository of the Solar System's most primitive materials. Surface temperatures in the belt are low ( approximately 50 K), suggesting that ices trapped at formation should have been preserved over the age of the Solar System.

An abundant population of small irregular satellites around Jupiter.

Irregular satellites have eccentric orbits that can be highly inclined or even retrograde relative to the equatorial planes of their planets. These objects cannot have formed by circumplanetary accretion, unlike the regular satellites that follow uninclined, nearly circular and prograde orbits. Rather, they are probably products of early capture from heliocentric orbits.

Direct stenting may limit myocardial injury during percutaneous coronary intervention.

Background: Direct coronary stenting has been shown to be safe and feasible, with a demonstrable reduction in cost, procedural time and radiation exposure. Direct stenting may limit distal embolization of atherosclerotic plaque and consequently reduce myocardial cell injury following percutaneous coronary intervention, which may have important prognostic implications.

Methods And Results: We assessed cardiac troponin I (cTnI) release in the 24 hours following direct coronary stenting (DS) as compared to stenting with balloon predilatation (PD) in a total of 311 patients and 440 vessels/lesions (vessel to lesion ratio = 1:1) (DS: n = 107 patients and 149 vessels/lesions; PD: n = 204 patients and 291 vessels/lesions).