Engineering topics

Salo, H.

Publications and source records attributed to Salo, H..

7 records

NASA NTRS1989

Orbits and masses of Saturn's co-orbiting satellites, Janus and Epimetheus

An attempt is made to provide a constraint on the combined mass of Janus and Epimetheus from an analysis of Voyager I and Voyager 2 data and ground-based observations obtained during the 1966 and 1980 ring plane crossings. The results of the analysis presented here suggest that the total mass is 2.59 + or - 0.26 x 10 to the 21st g, the mass ratio is 3.61 + or - 0.01, and Janus' density is 0.67 + or - 0.10 g/cu cm. The low density of Janus is attributed to its porosity rather than composition.

Yoder, C. F.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Phase relations of high albedo asteroids - The unusual opposition brightening of 44 Nysa and 64 Angelina

The present photoelectric lightcurve observations of 44 Nysa at one aspect, and 64 Angelina at both polar aspects, indicate the presence of an opposition spike or brightening of approximately 0.25 mag within several deg of zero-phase angle. Since the three curves are identical within the bounds of observational scatter, the opposition spike cannot be judged anomalous within the asteroid taxonomic class E. The general similarity of the observed phase curves to those of the Uranian satellites and the rings of Saturn supports the status of the spike as an ordinary property of moderate-to-high albedo atmosphereless surfaces.

Harris, A. W.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Monte Carlo modeling of the net effects of coma scattering and thermal reradiation on the energy input to cometary nucleus

A Monte Carlo simulation method is presented that can, to an accuracy of a few percent, calculate the effects of a dusty coma on the total energy input to the cometary nucleus. This method treats nonconservative nonisotropic scattering, as well as the reflection from the nucleus surface. Results are presented as a function of the optical thickness of the dust column in the sun-comet axis. The total energy input to the nucleus appears to be only weakly dependent on the opacity of the coma, the radial distribution of the dust, or the details of the extinction processes.

Salo, H.↗

NASA NTRS1988

The dynamics of coorbital satellite systems

The dynamical behavior of N coorbital satellites moving with the same average mean motion around a primary has been studied both analytically and by numerical integrations for N from 2 to 9 satellites. Simplified dynamical equations are used to determine the different stationary configurations and their local stability against infinitesimal perturbations. The ring of equally spaced identical satellites is found to be locally unstable for N of six or less, while for N from two to eight there exists another stable compact stationary configuration with separations of 60 deg or less between adjacent satellites. For N of seven or more the equally spaced configuration becomes locally stable, and for N of nine or more it is the only stationary configuration. The motion becomes chaotic for large-amplitude perturbations. The chaotic motion fills a restricted region of phase space whose outer boundary is determined by the maximum velocity curve.

Salo, H.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Dynamics of coorbital satellite rings

The dynamical behavior of a coorbital satellite ring is studied for N = 2-9 satellites, in terms of a simplified dynamical description, in which the motion is reduced to the separation angles between satellites. The number and stability of different kinds of stationary configurations is explored, revealing that equally spaced rings are not stable against small perturbations for N not greater than 6, while for N = 2-8 there exists another, stable compact solution. Integrations of exact equations confirm these results. Moreover, the systems are found to display chaotic characteristics for a certain range of energy. The behavior can be interpreted in terms of maximum velocity curves, defining the allowed region of the motion in the phase space.

Salo, H.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Collisional evolution of rotating, non-identical particles

Hameen-Anttila's (1984) theory of self-gravitating collisional particle disks is extended to include the effects of particle spin. Equations are derived for the coupled evolution of random velocities and spins, showing that friction and surface irregularity both reduce the local velocity dispersion and transfer significant amounts of random kinetic energy to rotational energy. Results for the equilibrium ratio of rotational energy to random kinetic energy are exact not only for identical nongravitating mass points, but also if finite size, self-gravitating forces, or size distribution are included. The model is applied to the dynamics of Saturn's rings, showing that the inclusion of rotation reduces the geometrical thickness of the layer of cm-sized particles to, at most, about one-half, with large particles being less affected.

Salo, H.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Numerical simulations of collisions between rotating particles

Numerical simulations of Keplerian systems consisting of 200 mutually colliding rotating particles show that friction and surface irregularity reduce the equilibrium velocity dispersion and transfer some of the energy of random velocities to rotational velocities. The results confirm the theoretical predictions of Salo (1987). Simulations are performed for identical and different particle sizes, and for a power-law distribution of sizes. Taking rotation into account is not found to alter the previously observed Rayleigh distribution of eccentricities and inclinations, while the components of the rotational velocities are found to follow a Gaussian distribution. Application to the rarefied regions of Saturn's rings suggests that friction is able to reduce the equilibrium geometric thickness by about one-half.

Salo, H.↗