Search Publications
Differences between the impact regimes of the terrestrial planets: Implications for primordial D:H ratios
Mousis, O.; Horner, J.; Petit, J. -M. +1 more
It is often assumed that the terrestrial worlds have experienced identical impact regimes over the course of their formation and evolution, and, as a result, would have started life with identical volatile budgets. In this work, through illustrative dynamical simulations of the impact flux on Venus, the Earth, and Mars, we show that these planets …
Multi-resolution topographic data extraction from Martian stereo imagery
Muller, J. -P.; Kim, J. R.
The acquisition of high resolution topographic data such as Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) and orthoimages from various Martian stereo imagery is now readily available. The very successful European Space Agency (ESA) Mars Express mission includes the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) which has provided, since March 2004, an increasingly global s…
The C1XS X-ray Spectrometer on Chandrayaan-1
Grande, M.; Foing, B.; Huovelin, J. +27 more
The Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS) is a compact X-ray spectrometer for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission. It exploits heritage from the D-CIXS instrument on ESA's SMART-1 mission. As a result of detailed developments to all aspects of the design, its performance as measured in the laboratory greatly…
Plasma electrons in Saturn's magnetotail: Structure, distribution and energisation
Lewis, G. R.; Coates, A. J.; Russell, C. T. +11 more
In this paper Saturn's nightside and pre-dawn electron (0.5 eV-28 keV) plasma sheet is studied using Cassini plasma electron and magnetic field data from 2006. Case studies are presented which exemplify the typical and atypical states of the plasma sheet, and are complemented by a statistical study of the plasma sheet. It will be shown that Saturn…
Storm clouds on Saturn: Lightning-induced chemistry and associated materials consistent with Cassini/VIMS spectra
Nicholson, Philip D.; Baines, Kevin H.; Buratti, Bonnie J. +4 more
Thunderstorm activity on Saturn is associated with optically detectable clouds that are atypically dark throughout the near-infrared. As observed by Cassini/VIMS, these clouds are ~20% less reflective than typical neighboring clouds throughout the spectral range from 0.8 µm to at least 4.1 µm. We propose that active thunderstorms origi…
Regional differences in gully occurrence on Mars: A comparison between the Hale and Bond craters
Hiesinger, H.; Hauber, E.; Reiss, D. +1 more
The observation of gullies on Mars raised questions about the presence of liquid water in the recent past. In some regions like Hale and Bond crater, gullies occur in one crater (Hale) but do not in another crater nearby (Bond). These regional differences have been interpreted as an argument for a formation of the gullies related to groundwater. T…
New insights on Titan's plasma-driven Schumann resonance inferred from Huygens and Cassini data
Sotin, C.; Kurth, W. S.; Berthelier, J. J. +8 more
After a preliminary analysis of the low-frequency data collected with the electric antenna of the Permittivity, Wave and Altimetry (PWA) experiment onboard the Huygens Probe that landed on Titan on 14 January, 2005, it was anticipated in a previous article [Béghin et al., 2007. A Schumann-like resonance on Titan driven by Saturn's magnetosphere po…
Plasma environment of Jupiter family comets
Coates, A. J.; Jones, G. H.
As any comet nears the Sun, gas sublimes from the nucleus taking dust with it. Jupiter family comets are no exception. The neutral gas becomes ionized, and the interaction of a comet with the solar wind starts with ion pickup. This key process is also important in other solar system contexts wherever neutral particles become ionized and injected i…
A global climate model of Titan's atmosphere and surface
West, Robert A.; Orton, Glenn S.; Friedson, A. James +2 more
We present the formulation of a global climate model (GCM) of Titan's atmosphere and surface and report initial results. The model is a fully three-dimensional, modified version of NCAR's terrestrial global climate model, CAM3. It includes forcing by Saturn's gravitational tides; a treatment of the planetary boundary layer and surface interactions…
Model of Saturn's internal planetary magnetic field based on Cassini observations
Russell, C. T.; Dougherty, M. K.; Burton, M. E.
We have derived a model of Saturn's internal planetary magnetic field from data obtained during the first three years of the Cassini Mission. This model is based on the most complete set of observations yet obtained in Saturn's magnetosphere and includes data from forty-five periapsis passes at a wide variety of geometries. Due to uncertainties in…