Search Publications
Patterned ground in martian high northern latitudes: Morphology and age constraints
Korteniemi, J.; Kreslavsky, M. A.
We performed a systematic survey of typical surface patterns and small (5-50 m) impact craters in a zone between 50° and 70° latitude in the Northern Lowlands of Mars. We found that small-scale (<10 m) polygonal pattern formed by narrow fractures is typical in the northern half of the studied zone. We interpret this pattern to be formed by acti…
Comparative analysis of airglow emissions in terrestrial planets, observed with VIRTIS-M instruments on board Rosetta and Venus Express
Piccioni, G.; Capaccioni, F.; Gérard, J. -C. +3 more
Airglow emissions are optimal processes to investigate the chemistry and dynamics in planetary atmospheres. In this study, we focus on the O2 and OH airglow emissions in Venus, Earth, and Mars atmospheres, which are controlled by chemical reactions common to the three planets. By studying these phenomena on Venus, Earth, and Mars using …
Temperature and variability of Pillan, Wayland Patera, and Loki Patera on Io from Cassini ISS data
Radebaugh, Jani; Stephens, Denise C.; Allen, Daniel R.
Cassini spacecraft images of Io obtained during its flyby of Jupiter in late 2000 and early 2001 were used to determine the lava composition and eruption style of three faint hot spots, Pillan, Wayland Patera, and Loki Patera. We found a maximum color temperature of 1130 ± 289 K for Pillan and maximum color temperatures of 1297 ± 289 K and 1387 ± …
Age and evolution of the lower NW flank of the Hecates Tholus volcano, Mars, based on crater size-frequency distribution on CTX images
Michael, G. G.; de Pablo, M. A.; Centeno, J. D.
We present results of crater size-frequency distribution (SFD) analysis of the lower NW flank of the Hecates Tholus volcano, Elysium volcanic province of Mars, by the use of images acquired by the Context (CTX) instrument on board of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (6 m/pixel in resolution). Previous similar works were focused on the caldera complex o…
Comparison of general circulation model atmospheric wave simulations with wind observations of venusian mesosphere
Aoki, Shohei; Kasaba, Yasumasa; Nakagawa, Hiromu +5 more
Simulations from our venusian general circulation model (GCM) forcing the presence of planetary-scale waves and mesoscale gravity waves were compared with infrared (IR) heterodyne observations of Doppler wind velocities in the venusian mesospheric altitude region (110 km). Observations confirmed the strong short-term variations in the venusian mes…
Titan's Xanadu region: Geomorphology and formation scenario
Lunine, Jonathan I.; Mitri, Giuseppe; Langhans, Migrjam
Based on comprehensive mapping of the region, the recent theories of Xanadu's origin are examined and a chronology of geologic processes is proposed. The geologic history of Titan's Xanadu region is different from that of the other surface units on Saturn's moon. A previously proposed origin of western Xanadu from a giant impact in the early histo…
Remote sensing of the energy of auroral electrons in Saturn’s atmosphere: Hubble and Cassini spectral observations
Bonfond, B.; Nichols, J. D.; Clarke, J. T. +6 more
Saturn’s north ultraviolet aurora has been successfully observed twice between March and May 2011 with the STIS long-slit spectrograph on board the Hubble Space Telescope. Spatially resolved spectra at ∼12 Å spectral resolution have been collected at different local times from dawn to dusk to determine the amount of hydrocarbon absorption. For thi…
Evidence for Amazonian mid-latitude glaciation on Mars from impact crater asymmetry
Mangold, Nicolas; Conway, Susan J.
We find that crater slopes in the mid-latitudes of Mars have a marked north-south asymmetry, with the pole-facing slopes being shallower. We mapped impact craters in two southern hemisphere sites (Terra Cimmeria and Noachis Terra) and one northern hemisphere site (Acidalia Planitia) and used elevation data from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (H…
The dark side of Saturn’s B ring: Seasons as clues to its structure
Ferrari, C.; Reffet, E.
The unlit side of the dense B ring of Saturn does not receive direct sunlight. Yet it cools down as the Sun sets on the ring from solstice to equinox. A multi-scale thermal model that treats the heat transfer through a packed ensemble of particles is built to study the orbital and seasonal temperature variations of both lit and unlit sides of this…
Retrieval of jovian cloud structure from the Cassini ISS limb-darkening data. I. Continuum scattering phase functions for cloud and haze in the South Tropical Zone
Kasaba, Y.; Sato, T. M.; Satoh, T.
We have deduced the scattering properties of aerosols in the jovian upper troposphere by analyzing imaging data obtained at a wide variety of solar phase angles (4-140°) by the Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) during its flyby of Jupiter. The limb-darkening curves along the South Tropical Zone (STrZ) are extracted …