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Physical, spectral, and dynamical properties of asteroid (107) Camilla and its satellites
Kervella, P.; Berthier, J.; Carry, B. +24 more
The population of large 100+ km asteroids is thought to be primordial. As such, they are the most direct witnesses of the early history of our Solar System available. Those among them with satellites allow study of the mass, and hence density and internal structure. We study here the dynamical, physical, and spectral properties of the triple aster…
A reanalysis of ozone on Mars from assimilation of SPICAM observations
Lefèvre, Franck; Holmes, James A.; Lewis, Stephen R. +1 more
We have assimilated for the first time SPICAM retrievals of total ozone into a Martian global circulation model to provide a global reanalysis of the ozone cycle. Disagreement in total ozone between model prediction and assimilation is observed between 45°S-10°S from LS = 135-180° and at northern polar (60°N-90°N) latitudes during north…
Cloud morphology and dynamics in Saturn's northern polar region
del Río-Gaztelurrutia, Teresa; Sánchez-Lavega, Agustín; Antuñano, Arrate +1 more
We present a study of the cloud morphology and motions in the north polar region of Saturn, from latitude ∼ 70°N to the pole based on Cassini ISS images obtained between January 2009 and November 2014. This region shows a variety of dynamical structures: the permanent hexagon wave and its intense eastward jet, a large field of permanent ;puffy; cl…
Quantifying widespread aqueous surface weathering on Mars: The plateaus south of Coprates Chasma
Quantin-Nataf, C.; Millot, C.; Flahaut, J. +4 more
Pedogenesis has been previously proposed on the plateaus around Coprates Chasma, Valles Marineris to explain the presence of widespread clay sequences with Al-clays and possible hydrated silica over Fe/Mg-clays on the surface of the plateaus (Le Deit et al., 2012; Carter et al., 2015). We use previous observations together with new MRO targeted ob…
Ultraviolet spectral reflectance of carbonaceous materials
Gillis-Davis, Jeffrey J.; Hendrix, Amanda R.; Roush, Ted L. +5 more
A number of planetary spacecraft missions have carried instruments with sensors covering the ultraviolet (UV) wavelength range. However, there exists a general lack of relevant UV reflectance laboratory data to compare against these planetary surface remote sensing observations in order to make confident material identifications. To address this n…
HST-STIS spectra and the redness of Saturn's rings
French, Richard G.; Cuzzi, Jeffrey N.; Hendrix, Amanda R. +3 more
We have observed the main rings of Saturn with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrometer (STIS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), covering the spectral region from 180-570 nm (including for the first time the critical near-UV range 190-340 nm) with very good signal to noise ratio and a radial resolution of approximately 160-330 km. After correct…
A depth versus diameter scaling relationship for the best-preserved melt-bearing complex craters on Mars
Tornabene, Livio L.; Osinski, Gordon R.; Harrison, Tanya N. +4 more
We use topographic data to show that impact craters with pitted floor deposits are among the deepest on Mars. This is consistent with the interpretation of pitted materials as primary crater-fill impactite deposits emplaced during crater formation. Our database consists of 224 pitted material craters ranging in size from ∼1 to 150 km in diameter. …
Comet 67p/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, possible origin of the depression Hatmehit
Czechowski, Leszek; Kossacki, Konrad J.
On the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko numerous pits and depressions of different sizes are identified. In the present work the origin of depression Hatmehit is investigated. We propose a mechanism that includes recession of the surface due to sub-dust sublimation together with formation of cavities. Recession of the surface is calculat…
Mapping polar atmospheric features on Titan with VIMS: From the dissipation of the northern cloud to the onset of a southern polar vortex
Le Mouélic, S.; Cornet, T.; Rodriguez, S. +11 more
We have analyzed the complete archive of the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) data in order to monitor and analyze the evolution of the clouds and haze coverage at both poles of Titan during the entire Cassini mission. Our objective is to give a cartographic synopsis from a VIMS perspective, to provide a global view of the seasonal …
Haze and cloud structure of Saturn's North Pole and Hexagon Wave from Cassini/ISS imaging
Sánchez-Lavega, A.; Antuñano, A.; Pérez-Hoyos, S. +2 more
In this paper we present a study of the vertical haze and cloud structure in the upper two bars of Saturn's Northern Polar atmosphere using the Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) instrument onboard the Cassini spacecraft. We focus on the characterization of latitudes from 53° to 90° N. The observations were taken during June 2013 with five different …