Search Publications
Tidally-induced melting events as the origin of south-pole activity on Enceladus
Čadek, Ondřej; Tobie, Gabriel; Běhounková, Marie +1 more
The intense activity at the south pole of Enceladus hints at an internal water reservoir. However, there is no direct evidence of liquid water at present and its long-term stability in the interior remains problematic. By modeling heat production and transfer in the ice shell in a spherical geometry, we show that tidal heating naturally leads to a…
The origin and evolution of Saturn’s 2011-2012 stratospheric vortex
Fletcher, Leigh N.; Sánchez-Lavega, A.; García-Melendo, E. +12 more
The planet-encircling springtime storm in Saturn’s troposphere (December 2010-July 2011, Fletcher, L.N. et al. [2011]. Science 332, 1413-1414; Sánchez-Lavega, A. et al. [2011]. Nature 475, 71-74; Fischer, G. et al. [2011]. Nature 475, 75-77) produced dramatic perturbations to stratospheric temperatures, winds and composition at mbar pressures that…
Mid- and far-infrared absorption spectroscopy of Titan’s aerosols analogues
Vinatier, Sandrine; Mahjoub, Ahmed; Anderson, Carrie M. +7 more
In this work we present mid- and far-infrared absorption spectra of Titan’s aerosol analogues produced in the PAMPRE experimental setup. The evolution of the linear absorption coefficient ɛ (cm-1) is given as a function of the wavenumber.
We provide a complete dataset regarding the influence that the concentration of methane vapor …Small-scale temperature fluctuations seen by the VeRa Radio Science Experiment on Venus Express
Pätzold, M.; Hinson, D. P.; Bird, M. K. +6 more
The Venus Express Radio Science Experiment VeRa retrieves atmospheric profiles in the mesosphere and troposphere of Venus in the approximate altitude range of 40-90 km. A data set of more than 500 profiles was retrieved between the orbit insertion of Venus Express in 2006 and the end of occultation season No. 11 in July 2011. The atmospheric profi…
Orbital identification of clays and carbonates in Gusev crater
Poulet, Francois; Carter, John
Gusev crater was selected as the landing site of one of the two NASA Mars Exploration Rovers because water once could have ponded within the crater and partly filled it with sediments as suggested by the presence of a feeder channel and the fluvial-lacustrine morphology of the in-filling. However, the paucity of mineralogical evidence for fluvial-…
Optical extinction due to aerosols in the upper haze of Venus: Four years of SOIR/VEX observations from 2006 to 2010
Bertaux, Jean-Loup; Vandaele, Ann Carine; Robert, Séverine +3 more
The variability of the aerosol loading in the mesosphere of Venus is investigated from a large data set obtained with SOIR, a channel of the SPICAV instrument suite onboard Venus Express. Vertical profiles of the extinction due to light absorption by aerosols are retrieved from a spectral window around 3.0 µm recorded in many solar occultati…
Observations of Titan’s Northern lakes at 5 µm: Implications for the organic cycle and geology
Le Mouélic, S.; Rodriguez, S.; Sotin, C. +13 more
Since Titan entered Northern spring in August 2009, the North Pole has been illuminated allowing observations at optical wavelengths. On June 5, 2010 the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) onboard the Cassini spacecraft observed the Northern Pole area with a pixel size from 3 to 7 km. Since, as we demonstrate, little of the solar flux…
Interpretation of combined infrared, submillimeter, and millimeter thermal flux data obtained during the Rosetta fly-by of Asteroid (21) Lutetia
Capaccioni, F.; Lee, S.; Hofstadter, M. +9 more
The European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft is the first Solar System mission to include instrumentation capable of measuring planetary thermal fluxes at both near-IR (VIRTIS) and submillimeter-millimeter (smm-mm, MIRO) wavelengths. Its primary mission is a 1 year reconnaissance of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko beginning in 2014. During a 201…
Vertical structure of the Venus cloud top from the VeRa and VIRTIS observations onboard Venus Express
Pätzold, M.; Drossart, P.; Piccioni, G. +6 more
We investigate the Venus cloud top structure by joint analysis of the data from Visual and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) and the atmospheric temperature sounding by the Radio Science experiment (VeRa) onboard Venus Express. The cloud top altitude and aerosol scale height are derived by fitting VIRTIS spectra at 4-5 µm with t…
Major episodes of geologic history of Isidis Planitia on Mars
Hiesinger, H.; Ivanov, M. A.; Erkeling, G. +2 more
We have mapped the area of Isidis Planitia (1-27°N, 75-103°E) in order to assess the geologic history of this region using modern data sets such as MOLA topography and the high-resolution images provided by the HRSC, CTX, and HiRISE cameras. Results of our mapping show that the geologic history of Isidis Planitia consists of three principal episod…