Search Publications
Polarimetry observations of comets: Status, questions, future pathways
Hines, Dean C.; Levasseur-Regourd, Anny-Chantal
Polarimetric observations of comets have provided crucial insight into the composition and evolution of cometary dust particles. Herein, we present a brief overview of the polarization properties observed in comets, and some possible interpretations. We also discuss recent imaging polarimetry observations of C/2012 S1 (ISON) and 67P/Churyumov-Gera…
The color ratio-intensity relation in the Jovian aurora: Hubble observations of auroral components
Bonfond, B.; Gérard, J. -C.; Grodent, D. +1 more
Spectral observations made with the long slit of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on board Hubble have been used to construct spectral maps of the FUV Jovian aurora. They reveal that the amount of absorption by overlying methane shows significant spatial variations. In this report, we examine the relationship between the auroral bri…
Analytical model of Europa's O2 exosphere
Mura, Alessandro; Plainaki, Christina; Milillo, Anna +5 more
The origin of the exosphere of Europa is its water ice surface. The existing exosphere models, assuming either a collisionless environment (simple Monte Carlo techniques) or a kinetic approach (Direct Monte Carlo Method) both predict that the major constituent of the exosphere is molecular oxygen. Specifically, O2 is generated at the su…
Probing the interstellar dust in galaxies over >10 Gyr of cosmic history
York, Donald G.; Kulkarni, Varsha P.; Welty, Daniel E. +3 more
Dust has a profound effect on the physics and chemistry of the interstellar gas in galaxies and on the appearance of galaxies. Understanding the cosmic evolution of dust with time is therefore crucial for understanding the evolution of galaxies. Despite the importance of interstellar dust, very little is known about its nature and composition in d…