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The exosphere of Titan and its interaction with the kronian magnetosphere: MIMI observations and modeling
Krupp, N.; Dandouras, I.; Garnier, P. +7 more
Titan's nitrogen-rich atmosphere is directly bombarded by energetic ions, due to its lack of a significant intrinsic magnetic field. Singly charged energetic ions from Saturn magnetosphere undergo charge exchange collisions with neutral atoms in Titan's exosphere, being transformed into energetic neutral atoms (ENAs). The ion and neutral camera (I…
Descent motions of the Huygens probe as measured by the Surface Science Package (SSP): Turbulent evidence for a cloud layer
Zarnecki, John C.; Lorenz, Ralph D.; Leese, Mark R. +5 more
The Huygens probe underwent vigorous short-period motions during its parachute descent through the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan in January 2005, at least some of which were excited by the Titan environment. Several sensors in the Huygens Surface Science Package (SSP) detect these motions, indicating the transition to the smaller stabilizer pa…
Non-LTE infrared observations at Venus: From NIMS/Galileo to VIRTIS/Venus Express
Drossart, Pierre; López-Valverde, M. A.; Carlson, Robert +2 more
Recent improvements in a comprehensive non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) model of CO 2 atmospheres has permitted a better understanding of a number of Venusian atmospheric measurements taken more than a decade ago by the "Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer" (NIMS) on board the Galileo spacecraft during its Venus fly-by. Thos…
Near-surface winds at the Huygens site on Titan: Interpretation by means of a general circulation model
Tokano, Tetsuya
This study aims at interpreting the zonal and meridional wind in Titan's troposphere measured by the Huygens probe by means of a general circulation model. The numerical simulation elucidates the relative importance of the seasonal variation in the Hadley circulation and Saturn's gravitational tide in affecting the actual wind profile. The observe…
Huygens’ entry and descent through Titan's atmosphere—Methodology and results of the trajectory reconstruction
Lebreton, Jean-Pierre; Pérez-Ayúcar, Miguel; Sollazzo, Claudio +2 more
The European Space Agency's Huygens probe separated from the NASA Cassini spacecraft on 25 December 2004, after having been attached for a 7-year interplanetary journey and three orbits around Saturn. The probe reached the predefined NASA/ESA interface point on 14 January 2005 at 09:05:52.523 (UTC) and performed a successful entry and descent sequ…
Absorption and reflection of radio waves in the Martian ionosphere
Morgan, D. D.; Picardi, G.; Kirchner, D. L. +2 more
Radio wave absorption in the Martian ionosphere has been predicted and tested against MARSIS radar observations. Models of the ionosphere densities and of absorption in a CO2 neutral atmosphere were used. The appearance of ground reflections in the MARSIS observations is shown to be consistent with predictions of reflection and absorpti…
Statistics of low-frequency variations in solar wind, foreshock and magnetosheath: INTERBALL-1 and CLUSTER data
Du, J.; Shevyrev, N. N.; Zastenker, G. N.
The properties of small-scale ion flux and magnetic field fluctuations in the regions of undisturbed solar wind, foreshock and magnetosheath have been investigated. The systematic measurements of these parameters with very high time resolution, which were obtained onboard INTERBALL-1 spacecraft during 1996 2000, make it possible to examine their v…
The martian atmosphere in the region of Hellas basin as observed by the planetary Fourier spectrometer (PFS-MEX)
Forget, F.; Grassi, D.; Ignatiev, N. I. +4 more
This work presents a review of the observations acquired by the planetary Fourier spectrometer (PFS) in the region of the Hellas basin. Taking advantage of the high spectral resolution of PFS, the vertical air temperature profile can be investigated with a previously unexperienced vertical resolution. Extensive comparisons with the expectations of…
Ulysses observations of Jovian relativistic electrons in the interplanetary space near Jupiter: Determination of perpendicular particle transport coefficients and their energy dependence
Qin, Gang; Heber, Bernd; Zhang, Ming +3 more
Intensities of ∼1-10 MeV relativistic electrons in several energy channels of the high-energy telescope (HET) on Ulysses increase dramatically during its flybys of Jupiter in 1992 and 2004. Perpendicular diffusion coefficients of these particles are derived by fitting the spatial profile of Jovian electron intensity to a diffusion-convection model…
A review of SOHO/UVCS observations of sungrazing comets
Bemporad, A.; Poletto, G.; Giordano, S. +1 more
In the last 10 years more than 1000 sungrazing comets have been discovered by the LASCO coronagraphs aboard SOHO the spacecraft; from this huge amount of data it has been possible to study the common origin of these comets and to explain some of the main peculiarities observed in their lightcurves. Moreover, the UV Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) …