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Microwaving Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus and Phoebe: Insights into the regolith properties and geological history of Saturn's icy satellites
Lellouch, Emmanuel; Wall, Stephen; Le Gall, Alice A. +4 more
While Saturn's main airless moons are all composed largely of water ice, their respective thermal histories and near environments have led to different regolith compositions and structures. Part of this history is recorded in their subsurface which can be probed by microwaves. Using a combined thermal and radiative transfer model, we here investig…
Change detection and monitoring of active Martian surface phenomena with the Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO)
Seelos, Frank P.; Tornabene, Livio L.; Osinski, Gordon R. +10 more
Mars is host to a variety of active surface processes that relate to changes in seasonal ice/frost, slope activity, wind and processes potentially relating to liquid water. Regular monitoring and change detection of these phenomena is crucial to not only provide us insights into present day Martian surface conditions, but also its past geologic an…
Water production rates from SOHO/SWAN observations of comets C/2020 S3 (Erasmus), C/2021 A1 (Leonard) and C/2021 O3 (PanSTARRS)
Bertaux, J. -L.; Combi, M. R.; Quémerais, E. +2 more
In 2021 and 2022 the hydrogen comae of three long period comets, C/2020 S3 (Erasmus), C/2021 A1 (Leonard) and C/2021 O3 (PanSTARRS) were observed with the Solar Wind ANisotropies (SWAN) all-sky hydrogen Lyman-alpha camera on the SOlar and Heliosphere Observer (SOHO) satellite. SWAN obtains nearly daily full-sky images of the hydrogen Lyman-α distr…
Chronology, composition, and mineralogy of mare basalts in the junction of Oceanus Procellarum, Mare Imbrium, Mare Insularum, and Mare Vaporum
Chen, Jian; Zhao, Zixu; Ling, Zongcheng +2 more
The timeline of volcanic activity is critical for constraining the thermal evolution of the Moon. The spatial extents of mare basalts, major products of lunar volcanism, have been precisely extracted from LROC (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera) image mosaics. With the maria extents newly extracted from LROC mosaics, we found that a large area o…
The brightness of the CO Cameron bands in the martian discrete aurora: A study based on revised cross sections
Daerden, F.; Neary, L.; Gérard, J. -C. +2 more
We analyze the consequences of the new laboratory measurements of the emissions cross sections of the Cameron bands excited by electron impact on CO2 and CO in the Mars aurora. We use Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the importance of these changes and their dependence on the initial electron energy. The Mars Climate Database (MCD…
Minor species in Venus' night side troposphere as observed by VIRTIS-H/Venus Express
Robert, S.; Montmessin, F.; Bertaux, J. -L. +10 more
The 2 . 3 µm spectral window has been used to constrain the composition of the lower atmosphere (in the 30-40 km altitude range) on the night side of Venus for more than thirty years. Here, we present a follow-up study of Marcq et al. (2008), but using the full VIRTIS-H/Venus Express data archive as well as an updated radiative transfer forw…
Differential apparent thermal inertia of sloping terrain on Mars: Implications for the magmatic intrusions at Olympus Mons
Ciazela, M.; Ciazela, J.; Pieterek, B.
Mars, which exhibits exceptionally high surface temperature gradients due to the lack of vegetation and thin atmosphere, is especially suitable for the DATI approach. Taking advantage of this Mars property, we propose a new DATI-based method for thermal inertia calculation on Mars based on albedo and short-time-intervals of temperature difference.…
An updated global survey of alluvial fans on Mars: Distinguishing alluvial fans from other fan-shaped features through morphologic characterization
Moersch, Jeffrey E.; Mondro, Claire A.; Fedo, Christopher M.
Alluvial fans formed on Mars during the late Hesperian to early Amazonian in a climatic transition from a time of regular surface water activity to the current dry and cold climate. The depositional environments recorded by alluvial fans represent the final era of potential habitability on the Martian surface. Alluvial fan deposits can often look …
Assessing slope uncertainties of martian Digital Elevation Models from numerical propagation of errors on synthetic geological surfaces
Quantin-Nataf, C.; Leyrat, C.; Millot, C. +2 more
Digital Elevation Models (DEM) are widely used in planetary sciences, including for the specific case of Mars. DEMs allow us to extract topography parameters necessary in geomorphological studies. However, DEMs are not free from vertical errors, which yields uncertainties in calculations of parameters such as local slopes. In addition, slope maps …
OMEGA/Mars Express: A new martian atmospheric dust hunter
Vincendon, Mathieu; Leseigneur, Yann
While dust is a key parameter of Mars climate, its behaviour from one year to the next can appear erratic. This variability is notably related to Global Dust Storms (GDS) which occur only certain years with different onset, duration and intensity. The interannual variabilities of the dust cycle may notably explain some characteristics of Recurring…