Search Publications
Gas flow in near surface comet like porous structures: Application to 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Hartogh, Paul; Thomas, Nicolas; Kührt, Ekkehard +6 more
We performed an investigation of a comet like porous surface to study how sub-surface sublimation with subsequent flow through the porous medium can lead to higher gas temperatures at the surface. A higher gas temperature of the emitted gas at the surface layer, compared to the sublimation temperature, will lead to higher gas speeds as the gas exp…
Solar cycle variation of the venus magnetic barrier
Zhang, T. L.; Xiao, S. D.
Although there is no intrinsic magnetic field at Venus, the convected interplanetary magnetic field piles up to form an induced magnetosphere around the planetary ionosphere. Previous investigations show that the magnetic barrier, the part of the induced magnetosphere in the dayside inner magnetosheath, can act as an effective obstacle to the sola…
Water vapor deposition from the inner gas coma onto the nucleus of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Thomas, N.; Marschall, R.; Su, C. C. +4 more
Rosetta has detected water ice existing on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in various types of features. One of particular interest is the frost-like layer observed at the edge of receding shadows during the whole mission, interpreted as the recondensation of a thin layer of water ice. Two possible mechanisms, (1) subsurface ice sub…
Virtual Planetary Space Weather Services offered by the Europlanet H2020 Research Infrastructure
André, N.; Budnik, E.; Grande, M. +25 more
Under Horizon 2020, the Europlanet 2020 Research Infrastructure (EPN2020-RI) will include an entirely new Virtual Access Service, "Planetary Space Weather Services" (PSWS) that will extend the concepts of space weather and space situational awareness to other planets in our Solar System and in particular to spacecraft that voyage through it. PSWS …
New precise astrometric observations of Nereid in 2012-2017
Cheng, X.; Yan, D.; Qiao, R. C. +4 more
Nereid is one of the most distinctive natural satellites that we know in the Solar system. The orbit of Nereid is highly eccentric and inclined with respect to the equator of its primary, Neptune. Studying Nereid is one of the inspiring ways to acquire better knowledge of the Solar system. Due to its faintness, the ground-based observations of Ner…
The future of stellar occultations by distant solar system bodies: Perspectives from the Gaia astrometry and the deep sky surveys
Bérard, D.; Sicardy, B.; Desmars, J. +5 more
Distant objects in the solar system are crucial to better understand the history and evolution of its outskirts. The stellar occultation technique allows the determination of their sizes and shapes with kilometric accuracy, a detailed investigation of their immediate vicinities, as well as the detection of tenuous atmospheres. The prediction of su…
Automatic Coregistration and orthorectification (ACRO) and subsequent mosaicing of NASA high-resolution imagery over the Mars MC11 quadrangle, using HRSC as a baseline
Muller, Jan-Peter; Sidiropoulos, Panagiotis; Watson, Gillian +2 more
This work presents the coregistered, orthorectified and mosaiced high-resolution products of the MC11 quadrangle of Mars, which have been processed using novel, fully automatic, techniques. We discuss the development of a pipeline that achieves fully automatic and parameter independent geometric alignment of high-resolution planetary images, start…
PSUP: A Planetary SUrface Portal
Gondet, B.; Poulet, F.; Quantin-Nataf, C. +9 more
The large size and complexity of planetary data acquired by spacecraft during the last two decades create a demand within the planetary community for access to the archives of raw and high level data and for the tools necessary to analyze these data. Among the different targets of the Solar System, Mars is unique as the combined datasets from the …
Online characterization of planetary surfaces: PlanetServer, an open-source analysis and visualization tool
Rossi, A. P.; Marco Figuera, R.; Pham Huu, B. +3 more
The lack of open-source tools for hyperspectral data visualization and analysis creates a demand for new tools. In this paper we present the new PlanetServer, a set of tools comprising a web Geographic Information System (GIS) and a recently developed Python Application Programming Interface (API) capable of visualizing and analyzing a wide variet…
SMART-1 technology, scientific results and heritage for future space missions
Grande, M.; Koschny, D.; Grieger, B. +8 more
ESA's SMART-1 mission to the Moon achieved record firsts such as: 1) first Small Mission for Advanced Research and Technology; with spacecraft built and integrated in 2.5 years and launched 3.5 years after mission approval; 2) first mission leaving the Earth orbit using solar power alone; 3) most fuel effective mission (60 L of Xenon) and longest …