Search Publications
Search for ongoing volcanic activity on Venus: Case study of Maat Mons, Sapas Mons and Ozza Mons volcanoes
Roatsch, Th.; Basilevsky, A. T.; Markiewicz, W. J. +3 more
We report on attempts to find the ongoing volcanic activity from near-infrared night-time observations with the Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC) onboard of Venus Express. Here we consider VMC images of the areas of Maat Mons volcano and its vicinities, which, as it follows from analysis of the Magellan data, show evidence of geologically very recent …
Dissociative recombination of nitrile ions with implications for Titan's upper atmosphere
Vigren, E.; Semaniak, J.; Hamberg, M. +6 more
Nitrile ions are abundant in Titan's upper atmosphere and are expected to be lost mainly via dissociative recombination with free electrons. We review in this paper a series of experimental results on the dissociative recombination reactions of nitrile ions known/expected to be present in Titan's upper atmosphere. The experiments were all performe…
The surface energy balance at the Huygens landing site and the moist surface conditions on Titan
McKay, Christopher P.; Williams, Kaj E.; Persson, Fredrik
The Huygens Probe provided a wealth of data concerning the atmosphere of Titan. It also provided tantalizing evidence of a small amount of surface liquid. We have developed a detailed surface energy balance for the Probe landing site. We find that the daily averaged non-radiative fluxes at the surface are 0.7 W m-2, much larger than the…
The Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer: First results
Grande, M.; Koschny, D.; Rothery, D. A. +30 more
We present X-ray fluorescence observations of the lunar surface, made by the Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer during two solar flare events early in the mission (12th December 2008 and 10th January 2009). Modelling of the X-ray spectra with an abundance algorithm allows quantitative estimates of the MgO/SiO2 and Al2O3
First ever VLF monitoring of the lunar occultation of a solar flare during the 2010 annular solar eclipse and its effects on the D-region electron density profile
Chakrabarti, Sandip K.; Pal, Sujay; Maji, Surya K.
A ground based Very Low Frequency (VLF) radio receiver of Indian Centre for Space Physics located at Khukurdaha (22°27‧N, 87°45‧E) monitored the VLF signal at 19.8 kHz from the NWC station during a partial solar eclipse (maximum obscuration 75%) which took place on January 15, 2010. The receiver and the transmitter were on two opposite sides of th…
Rosetta fly-by at asteroid (21) Lutetia: An overview
Sierks, H.; Küppers, M.; Schulz, R. +1 more
On the journey to its target comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko the ESA Rosetta spacecraft had a close fly-by at the main-belt asteroid (21) Lutetia at a heliocentric distance of r=2.72 AU, and a geocentric distance of Δ=3.05 AU. Closest approach occurred on 10 July 2010, 15:45 UT at a distance of ∼3170 km. Rosetta passed the asteroid with a relative…
Bouncing on Titan: Motion of the Huygens probe in the seconds after landing
Karkoschka, Erich; Schröder, Stefan E.; Lorenz, Ralph D.
While landing on Titan, several instruments onboard Huygens acquired measurements that indicate the probe did not immediately come to rest. Detailed knowledge of the probe's motion can provide insight into the nature of Titan's surface. Combining accelerometer data from the Huygens Atmospheric Structure Instrument (HASI) and the Surface Science Pa…
Magnetic field measurements during the ROSETTA flyby at asteroid (21)Lutetia
Richter, I.; Glassmeier, K. H.; Carr, C. M. +5 more
On July 10, 2010, the ROSETTA spacecraft performed a flyby at asteroid (21)Lutetia at a solar distance of 2.72 AU. The spacecraft-asteroid distance at closest approach was 3120 km. The magnetometers onboard ROSETTA were operating but did not detect any conclusive signature of the asteroid. Any magnetic field signature which could possibly be attri…
On the prospective detection of polyoxymethylene in comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko with the COSIMA instrument onboard Rosetta
Briois, Christelle; Cottin, Hervé; Fray, Nicolas +5 more
The presence of polyoxymethylene (POM) in cometary grains has been debated years ago. Although never proven, its presence can not be excluded. Rosetta, the ESA mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, may answer this question. On board the spacecraft, COSIMA (COmetary Secondary Ion Mass Analyzer) will analyze the grains ejected from the nucleus…
A newly discovered impact crater in Titan's Senkyo: Cassini VIMS observations and comparison with other impact features
Le Mouélic, S.; Sotin, C.; Brown, R. H. +7 more
Senkyo is an equatorial plain on Titan filled with dunes and surrounded by hummocky plateaus. During the Titan targeted flyby T61 on August 25, 2009, the Cassini Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) onboard the Cassini spacecraft observed a circular feature, centered at 5.4° N and 341°W, that superimposes the dune fields and a bright pl…