Search Publications
INPOP08, a 4-D planetary ephemeris: from asteroid and time-scale computations to ESA Mars Express and Venus Express contributions
Laskar, J.; Fienga, A.; Le Poncin-Lafitte, C. +6 more
The latest version of the planetary ephemerides developed at the Paris Observatory and at the Besançon Observatory is presented. INPOP08 is a 4-dimension ephemeris since it provides positions and velocities of planets and the relation between Terrestrial Time and Barycentric Dynamical Time. Investigations to improve the modeling of asteroids are d…
Structure of the Venus neutral atmosphere as observed by the Radio Science experiment VeRa on Venus Express
Tellmann, Silvia; Tyler, G. Leonard; Pätzold, Martin +2 more
The European Space Agency Venus Express Radio Science experiment (VeRa) obtained 118 radio occultation measurements of the Venusian atmosphere between July 2006 and June 2007. Southern latitudes are uniformly sampled; measurements in the northern hemisphere are concentrated near the pole. Radial profiles of neutral number density derived from the …
Altimetry of the Venus cloud tops from the Venus Express observations
Roatsch, Th.; Drossart, P.; Piccioni, G. +6 more
Simultaneous observations of Venus by Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer and Venus Monitoring Camera onboard the Venus Express spacecraft are used to map the cloud top altitude and to relate it to the ultraviolet (UV) markings. The cloud top altitude is retrieved from the depth of CO2 absorption band at 1.6 µm. In l…
A solar storm observed from the Sun to Venus using the STEREO, Venus Express, and MESSENGER spacecraft
Coates, A. J.; Winningham, J. D.; Frahm, R. A. +23 more
The suite of SECCHI optical imaging instruments on the STEREO-A spacecraft is used to track a solar storm, consisting of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and other coronal loops, as it propagates from the Sun into the heliosphere during May 2007. The 3-D propagation path of the largest interplanetary CME (ICME) is determined from the observat…
Steep, transient density gradients in the Martian ionosphere similar to the ionopause at Venus
Gurnett, D. A.; Winningham, J. D.; Frahm, R. A. +3 more
With the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS) on the Mars Express (MEX) spacecraft, the electron density can be measured by two methods: from the excitation of local plasma oscillations and from remote sounding. A study of the local electron density versus time for 1664 orbits revealed that in 132 orbits very sharp …
Venus Express mission
Witasse, O.; Svedhem, H.; Titov, D. +1 more
Venus Express is well and healthy and has now been providing exciting new data from Venus, our nearby twin planet, for over 2 years. Many of the new results are presented and discussed in the subsequent papers in this special section. The overall scientific objective of Venus Express is to carry out a detailed study of the atmosphere of Venus, inc…
Preliminary characterization of the upper haze by SPICAV/SOIR solar occultation in UV to mid-IR onboard Venus Express
Vandaele, A. C.; Montmessin, F.; Fedorova, A. +6 more
The Spectroscopy for Investigation of Characteristics of the Atmosphere of Venus/Solar Occultation at Infrared (SPICAV/SOIR) suite of instruments onboard the Venus Express spacecraft comprises three spectrometers covering a wavelength range from ultraviolet to midinfrared and an altitude range from 70 to >100 km. However, it is only recently (m…
Near-IR oxygen nightglow observed by VIRTIS in the Venus upper atmosphere
Drossart, P.; Piccioni, G.; García Muñoz, A. +5 more
We present observations of both the (0-0) and (0-1) bands at 1.27 and 1.58 µm of the O2(a1Δg - X3Σg -) nightglow made with the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) instrument aboard Venus Express. The observations were conducted in both nadir and limb vie…
Disappearing induced magnetosphere at Venus: Implications for close-in exoplanets
Russell, C. T.; Lammer, H.; Zhang, T. L. +4 more
The solar wind interaction with a planetary atmosphere produces a magnetosphere-like structure near the planet whether or not the planet has an intrinsic global magnetic field. In the case of planets like Venus or Mars, which have no global intrinsic magnetic field but possess a significant atmosphere, a magnetosphere is induced in the highly cond…
Venus cloud top winds from tracking UV features in Venus Monitoring Camera images
Jaumann, R.; Hviid, S. F.; Matz, K. -D. +10 more
To date dynamical observations of the Venus clouds have delivered mainly either only short-term or long-term averaged results. With the Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC) it finally became possible to investigate the global dynamics with a relatively high resolution in space and time on a long-term basis. Our findings from manual cloud feature wind tra…