Search Publications
Modification of icy planetesimals by early thermal evolution and collisions: Constraints for formation time and initial size of comets and small KBOs
Jutzi, Martin; Golabek, Gregor J.
Comets and small Kuiper belt objects are considered to be among the most primitive objects in the solar system as comets like C/1995 O1 Hale-Bopp are rich in highly volatile ices like CO. It has been suggested that early in the solar system evolution the precursors of both groups, the so-called icy planetesimals, were modified by both short-lived …
Results from radiation environment measurements aboard ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter in Mars science orbit in May 2018-December 2019
Semkova, Jordanka; Koleva, Rositza; Benghin, Victor +19 more
ExoMars is a joint ESA - Rosscosmos program for investigating Mars. Two missions are foreseen within this program: one consisting of the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), that carries scientific instruments for the detection of trace gases in the Martian atmosphere and for the location of their source regions, launched on March 14, 2016; and the other, fea…
Density structures in the martian lower thermosphere as inferred by Trace Gas Orbiter accelerometer measurements
Bruinsma, S.; Siddle, A. G.; Mueller-Wodarg, I. C. F. +1 more
ESA's Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) undertook an aerobraking campaign to lower itself into the required science orbit. We present an overview of densities derived from TGO accelerometer data during aerobraking. With the addition of density data from NASA's MAVEN/NGIMS instrument, we infer that at TGO altitudes (105 km), the atmosphere is driven by dynam…
Io's SO2 atmosphere from HST Lyman-α images: 1997 to 2018
Giono, Gabriel; Roth, Lorenz
The atmosphere of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io consists of mainly sulfur dioxide (SO2), and this main constituent has been studied with a variety of observing techniques across many wavelengths over the years. Here we study absorption by SO2 at the hydrogen Ly-α line (1216 Å) in a large set of images taken by the Space Telescop…
Evidence for widespread glaciation in Arcadia Planitia, Mars
Osinski, Gordon R.; Golombek, Matthew P.; Williams, Nathan R. +2 more
Viscous flow features, including lobate debris aprons and lineated valley fill, are common ice-related features found across the mid-latitudes of Mars. These features are commonly found along the dichotomy boundary and around massifs where snow and ice can accumulate and flow to topographic lows during periods of higher obliquity. We have identifi…
Reconstructing the infilling history within Robert Sharp crater, Mars: Insights from morphology and stratigraphy
Mangold, Nicolas; Le Deit, Laetitia; Hauber, Ernst +2 more
Recent mineralogical studies suggest past aqueous activities in the 150-km-wide Robert Sharp impact crater, the western neighbor of Gale crater on Mars. Despite their mineralogical similarities, Robert Sharp and Gale craters display very different morphologies. Using high-resolution orbital images, we made morphological and stratigraphical analyse…
A new laboratory emissivity and reflectance spectral library for the interpretation of Mars thermal infrared spectral data
Maturilli, A.; Helbert, J.; Alemanno, G. +1 more
New spectral orbital thermal infrared data of Mars are being acquired by the thermal infrared channel TIRVIM (in honor of Vassily Ivanovich Moroz) of the Atmospheric Chemistry Suite (ACS) of spectrometers on board of ExoMars2016 mission. TIRVIM encompasses the spectral range of 1.7-17 µm. A major challenge brought by the analysis of these da…
Determination of the Venus eddy diffusion profile from CO and CO2 profiles using SOIR/Venus Express observations
Vandaele, A. C.; Robert, S.; Mahieux, A. +6 more
We present a study of the SOIR/Venus Express CO2 and CO profiles in order to constrain the eddy diffusion profile in the Venus mesosphere (80 to 130 km of altitude). We compute the mean number density profile of both species, and the hydrostatic temperature based on the CO2 mean density profile. We use a 1D-photochemical/diff…
Jupiter's third largest and longest-lived oval: Color changes and dynamics
Hueso, R.; Sánchez-Lavega, A.; Rojas, J. F. +7 more
The transition region between the North Equatorial Band (NEBn) and North Tropical Zone (NTrZ) in Jupiter is home to convective storms, systems of cyclones and anticyclones and atmospheric waves. Zonal winds are weak but have a strong latitudinal shear allowing the formation of cyclones (typically dark) and anticyclones (typically white) that remai…
Landform evolution of Oudemans crater and its bounding plateau plains on Mars: Geomorphological constraints on the Tharsis ice-cap hypothesis
Day, Mackenzie; Yin, An; Moon, Seulgi
In this study we address the question of whether the Tharsis rise that occupies ~25 % of the surface area of Mars was once covered by an ice cap, and the sudden ice-cap melting was responsible for the catastrophic development of the Late Hesperian (3.5-3.6 Ga) circum-Tharsis giant (>1000s km in length) outflow channels. To achieve this goal, we…