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The calibration of the Cassini-Huygens CAPS Electron Spectrometer
Schippers, P.; André, N.; Lewis, G. R. +15 more
We present the two-stage method used to calibrate the electron spectrometer (ELS), part of the plasma spectrometer (CAPS) on board the Cassini spacecraft currently in orbit around Saturn. The CAPS-ELS is a top-hat electrostatic analyser designed to measure electron fluxes between 0.5 eV and 26 keV. The on-ground calibration method described here i…
Interplanetary coronal mass ejection influence on high energy pick-up ions at Venus
Fedorov, A.; Luhmann, J. G.; Zhang, T. L. +4 more
We have used the ion mass analyzer (IMA) and magnetometer (MAG) on Venus Express (VEX) to study escaping O + during interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs). Data from 389 VEX orbits during 2006 and 2007 revealed 265 samples of high energy pick-up ion features in 197 separate orbits. Magnetometer data during the same time period sh…
Statistical analysis of the energetic ion and ENA data for the Titan environment
Krupp, N.; Dandouras, I.; Garnier, P. +7 more
The MIMI experiment (Magnetosphere Imaging Instrument) onboard Cassini is dedicated to the study of energetic particles, with in particular LEMMS analyzing charged particles, or the INCA detector which can image the Energetic Neutral Atoms produced by charge exchange collisions between cold neutrals and energetic ions. The MIMI experiment is thus …
Three years of Ulysses dust data: 2005 to 2007
Dikarev, V.; Krüger, H.; Srama, R. +16 more
The Ulysses spacecraft has been orbiting the Sun on a highly inclined ellipse ( i=79∘, perihelion distance 1.3 AU, aphelion distance 5.4 AU) since it encountered Jupiter in February 1992. Since then it has made almost three revolutions about the Sun. Here we report on the final three years of data taken by the on-board dust detector. Du…
Concatenation of HRSC colour and OMEGA data for the determination and 3D-parameterization of high-altitude CO 2 clouds in the Martian atmosphere
Montmessin, Franck; Gondet, Brigitte; Hoffmann, Harald +3 more
We used Mars Express HRSC and OMEGA data to investigate mesospheric cloud features observed in the equatorial belt of Mars from December 2007 until early March 2008. This period corresponds to early northern spring of Martian year 29. The reflection peak at 4.26 µm in OMEGA data identifies the clouds as CO 2 ice clouds. HRSC obser…
Radiative transfer in the atmosphere of Venus and application to surface emissivity retrieval from VIRTIS/VEX measurements
Haus, Rainer; Arnold, Gabriele
The radiation measurements of VIRTIS-M-IR (1-5 µm) on Venus Express provide a valuable database for systematic studies of the atmosphere and surface of the Earth's sister planet. The present paper focuses on the investigation of physical parameters that determine the retrieval accuracy of deep atmosphere and surface features of Venus includi…
Millimeter and submillimeter measurements of asteroid (2867) Steins during the Rosetta fly-by
Davidsson, B.; Hartogh, P.; Lellouch, E. +18 more
The European Space Agency Rosetta Spacecraft passed within 803 km of the main belt asteroid (2867) Steins on 5 September 2008. The Rosetta Spacecraft carries a number of scientific instruments including a millimeter and submillimeter radiometer and spectrometer. The instrument, named MIRO (Microwave Instrument for the Rosetta Orbiter), consists of…
Determination of asteroid masses from their close encounters with Mars
Laskar, J.; Fienga, A.; Kuchynka, P. +1 more
An obstacle to the asteroid mass determination lies in the difficulty in isolating the gravitational perturbation exerted by a single asteroid on the planets, being strongly correlated and mixed up with those of many other asteroids. This hindrance may be avoided by the method of analysis presented here: an asteroid mass is estimated in correspond…
Racetrack and Bonnie Claire: southwestern US playa lakes as analogs for Ontario Lacus, Titan
Lorenz, Ralph D.; Hayes, Alex; Jackson, Brian
We note the geomorphological and meteorological processes at Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park, as analogs for those at Ontario Lacus on Titan. Although Ontario is ∼50× larger, the planforms of the two features are nearly identical, both are extremely flat, and are in environments where infrequent rainfall occurs against a climate, where…
Dynamics of Saturn's magnetodisk near Titan's orbit: Comparison of Cassini magnetometer observations from real and virtual Titan flybys
Dougherty, Michele K.; Kriegel, Hendrik; Simon, Sven +4 more
We analyze the variability of the ambient magnetospheric field along Titan's orbit at 20.3 Saturn radii. However, while our preceding study ( Simon et al., 2010) focused on Cassini magnetometer observations from the 62 Titan flybys (TA-T62) between October 2004 and October 2009, the present work discusses magnetic field data that were collected ne…