Search Publications
Compressive strength and elastic modulus at Agilkia on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko derived from the SESAME/CASSE touchdown signals
Flandes, Alberto; Krüger, Harald; Arnold, Walter +8 more
We report an analysis of the Comet Acoustic Surface Sounding Experiment (CASSE) acceleration signals at Philae's first touchdown site Agilkia on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The signals yield the forces in the contact zone foot-sole and comet surface, and from these forces a compression strength of approximately 10 kPa can be derived. The sole…
Large catchment area recharges Titan's Ontario Lacus
Barnes, Jason W.; Kirk, Randolph L.; Dhingra, Rajani D. +1 more
We seek to address the question of what processes are at work to fill Ontario Lacus while other, deeper south polar basins remain empty. Our hydrological analysis indicates that Ontario Lacus has a catchment area spanning 5.5% of Titan's surface and a large catchment area to lake surface area ratio. This large catchment area translates into large …
Aerosol properties in the upper clouds of Venus from glory observations by the Venus Monitoring Camera (Venus Express mission)
Markiewicz, Wojciech J.; Petrova, Elena V.; Shalygina, Oksana S.
From the angular positions of the glory features observed on the upper cloud deck of Venus in three VMC channels (at 0.365, 0.513, and 0.965 µm), the dominating sizes of cloud particles and their refractive indices have been retrieved, and their spatial and temporal variations have been analyzed. For this, the phase profiles of brightness we…
Glory on Venus and selection among the unknown UV absorbers
Petrova, Elena V.
The comparison of the phase profiles of glories observed on the cloud top of Venus by the Venus Monitoring Camera (Venus Express) and the light-scattering characteristics of sulfuric acid droplets, containing admixtures with a high refractive index, makes it easier to choose between some candidates for the so-called unknown UV absorber in the Venu…
Mars radar clutter and surface roughness characteristics from MARSIS data
Schroeder, Dustin M.; Whitten, Jennifer L.; Campbell, Bruce A.
Radar sounder studies of icy, sedimentary, and volcanic settings can be affected by reflections from surface topography surrounding the sensor nadir location. These off-nadir ;clutter; returns appear at similar time delays to subsurface echoes and complicate geologic interpretation. Additionally, broadening of the radar echo in delay by surface re…
Aeolian slipface dynamics and grainflow morphologies on Earth and Mars
Bourke, Mary C.; Cornwall, Carin; Jackson, Derek W. T. +1 more
In 2015, an active dune field on Mars was visited up close by the Curiosity rover in Gale Crater providing the first high resolution ground images of fine scale windblown features not previously resolved from orbital-based imagery. For the first time, these images allow for direct comparison with terrestrial aeolian dynamics and provide critical g…
Evolution of H2O production in comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) as inferred from forbidden oxygen and OH emission
Harris, Walter M.; Cochran, Anita L.; Weaver, Harold +5 more
We present H2O production rates for comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) derived from observations of [O I] and OH emission during its inbound leg, covering a heliocentric distance range of 1.8-0.44 AU. Our production rates are in agreement with previous measurements using a variety of instruments and techniques and with data from the various observa…
Compositional studies of Mare Moscoviense: New perspectives from Chandrayaan-1 VIS-NIR data
Bhatt, Megha; Mall, Urs; Bhardwaj, Anil +5 more
Moscoviense is one of the prominent mare-filled basin on the lunar far side holding key insights about volcanic activity on the far side. Here, we present spectral and elemental maps of mare Moscoviense, using the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) and Infrared Spectrometer-2 (SIR-2) data-sets. The different mare units are mapped based on thei…
The pristine shape of Olympus Mons on Mars and the subaqueous origin of its aureole deposits
De Blasio, Fabio Vittorio
The tallest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons on Mars, is bordered by at least ten enormous sub-circular hummocky deposits forming a welded halo, termed the aureole. The aureole units (or simply aureoles), which are the deposits of landslides from Olympus Mons, have dramatically transformed the pristine size and shape of the volcanic edifi…
Properties of a Martian local dust storm in Atlantis Chaos from OMEGA/MEX data
Bellucci, G.; Oliva, F.; D'Aversa, E. +5 more
In this study we present the analysis of the dust properties of a local storm imaged in the Atlantis Chaos region on Mars by the OMEGA imaging spectrometer on March 2nd, 2005. We use the radiative transfer model MITRA to study the dust properties at solar wavelengths between 0.5 µm and 2.5 µm and infer the connection between the local …