EAGER: Undergraduate Astronomy Research and Education through Observation of Jupiter Impact Flashes to Characterize Small-Body Populations in the Outer Solar System

美国国家科学基金会使用探索性研究的早期概念拨款（EAGER）资助机制来支持在未经测试但具有潜在变革性的研究思路或方法的早期阶段的探索性工作。这个EAGER项目是由于Dear Colleague Letter NSF 16-080邀请来自历史上的黑人学院和大学的申请者提交提案，以加强该机构教师的研究能力而获得的。汉普顿大学的这个项目旨在探测小行星撞击巨行星木星所产生的闪光。正如业余天文学家最近记录的撞击所证明的那样，撞击闪光的强度表明了撞击者的大小；如果观测到足够多的闪光，测量结果将揭示这些撞击物的大小分布。这反过来又有助于了解外太阳系自形成以来是如何演变的。该项目将有助于安装一个屋顶天文台，其中一架望远镜将由一组本科生操作，他们将负责进行木星的撞击调查。屋顶天文台还将使大学能够为当地的小学和高中学生以及公众举办外展活动。该项目的目标是测量木星撞击体的大小分布，这些撞击体被认为是起源于海王星轨道之外的木星家族彗星（JFC）的成员。大多数jfc太暗，无法从地球上直接用望远镜观测，因此该项目将通过观测木星的撞击来测量物体的大小，否则这些物体是不可能观测到的。如果JFC的大小分布显示出过去多次碰撞的迹象，那么它将与天王星和海王星在太阳系历史早期猛烈向外迁移并分散原始行星小天体的假设相一致。如果JFC中包含的小碎片比预期的要多，那么它将揭示大多数彗星在与太阳的反复近距离接触中最终会破裂。如果JFC人口包含很少的小天体，这将表明至少有一些JFC自太阳系形成以来没有受到干扰。这里的主要技术挑战是检测足够数量的撞击，以建立统计上显著的大小分布。当前勘探项目的目标是减少每年影响数量的不确定性，以便将来进行更大规模的影响调查。该EAGER项目由数学和物理科学理事会共同资助。

The National Science Foundation uses the Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) funding mechanism to support exploratory work in its early stages on untested, but potentially transformative, research ideas or approaches. This EAGER project was awarded as a result of the invitation in the Dear Colleague Letter NSF 16-080 to proposers from Historically Black Colleges and Universities to submit proposals that would strengthen research capacity of faculty at the institution. The project at Hampton University aims to detect flashes caused by small objects impacting the giant planet Jupiter. As demonstrated by recent impacts recorded by amateur astronomers, the intensity of impact flashes indicates the size of the impactors; if enough flashes are observed, the measurements will reveal the size distribution of those impactors. This in turn can help understand how the outer solar system has evolved since its formation. The project will facilitate installing a roof-top observatory, in which a telescope will be operated by a team of undergraduate students who will take charge of conducting the Jovian impact survey. The roof-top observatory will also enable the university to host outreach events for local students from elementary and high schools as well as the general public.The project's objective is to measure the size distribution of Jovian impactors, which are thought to be members of the Jupiter Family Comets (JFC) that originate beyond Neptune's orbit. Most JFCs are too dim for direct telescopic observation from Earth, so the project will observe Jupiter impacts to measure the sizes of objects that are otherwise impossible to observe. If the JFC size distribution shows signs of numerous collisions in the past, it would be consistent with the hypothesis that Uranus and Neptune violently migrated outward early in the solar system history and scattered primordial planetesimal objects. If the JFC population contains more small fragments than expected from collisions, it would reveal that most comets eventually break up during their repeated close encounters with the sun. If the JFC population contains few small objects, it would indicate that at least some JFCs have been left undisturbed since the formation of the solar system. The main technical challenge here is to detect a sufficient number of impacts to build a statistically significant size distribution. The goal of the current exploratory project is to reduce uncertainties regarding the number of impacts per year to enable a larger impact survey in the future.This EAGER project is co-funded by the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences.