Search Publications
Simultaneous multi-spacecraft observations with VLBI radio telescopes to study the interplanetary phase scintillation
Molera Calvés, G.; Kummamuru, P.; Edwards, J. +3 more
Ground-based observations of spacecraft signals have been used to study space weather. However, single spacecraft measurements observed from the Earth have limitations in studying the structure and evolution of solar plasma as they are unable to differentiate spatial and temporal variations. To overcome this limitation and improve our understandin…
Evaluation of the performance of a CdZnTe-based soft γ -ray detector for CubeSat payloads
Parker, Quentin A.; Ritter, Andreas; Pal, Partha Sarathi +4 more
The low-energy γ -ray (0.1-30 MeV) sky has been relatively unexplored since the decommissioning of the COMPTEL instrument on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO) satellite in 2000. However, the study of this part of the energy spectrum (the "MeV gap") is crucial for addressing numerous unresolved questions in high-energy and multi-messenger as…
New Yarkovsky drift detections using astrometric observations of NEAs
Lisa, Bedini; Giacomo, Tommei
The Yarkovsky drift represents the semi-major axis variation of a celestial body due to the Yarkovsky effect. This thermodynamic effect acts more significantly on bodies with a diameter between ≈10 m and ≈30 km . Therefore, the orbits of many minor bodies of the solar system are affected: knowing the value of the Yarkovsky drift can be crucial to …
Forward modelling low-spectral-resolution Cassini/CIRS observations of Titan
Nixon, Conor A.; Irwin, Patrick G. J.; Teanby, Nicholas A. +1 more
The Composite InfraRed Spectrometer (CIRS) instrument onboard the Cassini spacecraft performed 8.4 million spectral observations of Titan at resolutions between 0.5-15.5 cm-1. More than 3 million of these were acquired at a low spectral resolution (SR) (13.5-15.5 cm-1), which have excellent spatial and temporal coverage in ad…
Cometary science with CUBES
Cremonese, Gabriele; Cambianica, Pamela; Lazzarin, Monica +6 more
The proposed CUBES spectrograph for ESO's Very Large Telescope will be an exceptionally powerful instrument for the study of comets. The gas coma of a comet contains a large number of emission features in the near-UV range covered by CUBES (305-400 nm), which are diagnostic of the composition of the ices in its nucleus and the chemistry in the com…
Performance of the polarization leakage correction in the PILOT data
Griffin, Matt; Savini, Giorgio; Hughes, Annie +34 more
The Polarized Instrument for Long-wavelength Observation of the Tenuous interstellar medium (PILOT) is a balloon-borne experiment that aims to measure the polarized emission of thermal dust at a wavelength of 240µm (1.2 THz). The PILOT experiment flew from Timmins, Ontario, Canada in 2015 and 2019 and from Alice Springs, Australia in April 2017. T…
Particle energization in space plasmas: towards a multi-point, multi-scale plasma observatory
Sorriso-Valvo, Luca; Retinò, Alessandro; McWilliams, Kathryn +27 more
This White Paper outlines the importance of addressing the fundamental science theme "How are charged particles energized in space plasmas" through a future ESA mission. The White Paper presents five compelling science questions related to particle energization by shocks, reconnection, waves and turbulence, jets and their combinations. Answering t…
A Case for Electron-Astrophysics
Verscharen, Daniel; D'Amicis, Raffaella; Bruno, Roberto +27 more
The smallest characteristic scales, at which electron dynamics determines the plasma behaviour, are the next frontier in space and astrophysical plasma research. The analysis of astrophysical processes at these scales lies at the heart of the research theme of electron-astrophysics. Electron scales are the ultimate bottleneck for dissipation of pl…
Determination of stellar parameters for Ariel targets: a comparison analysis between different spectroscopic methods
Danielski, Camilla; Adibekyan, Vardan; Delgado-Mena, Elisa +9 more
Ariel has been selected as the next ESA M4 science mission and it is expected to be launched in 2028. During its 4-year mission, Ariel will observe the atmospheres of a large and diversified population of transiting exoplanets. A key factor for the achievement of the scientific goal of Ariel is the selection strategy for the definition of the inpu…
AMBITION - comet nucleus cryogenic sample return
Henri, Pierre; Bianchi, Eleonora; Codella, Claudio +27 more
We describe the AMBITION project, a mission to return the first-ever cryogenically-stored sample of a cometary nucleus, that has been proposed for the ESA Science Programme Voyage 2050. Comets are the leftover building blocks of giant planet cores and other planetary bodies, and fingerprints of Solar System's formation processes. We summarise some…