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The basics of the model (REGO) are summarized including diffusive water vapor transport, ice content, adsorption and the isotopic ratios of the various water species. Inclusion of a temperature and stress–strain solution is also described as are the effects of cracking when the tensile breaking strengths are exceeded. Cracking is viewed as a multi-scale phenomena, whereby the larger cracks are produced...
We have investigated the cloud top structure of Venus by analyzing ground-based images taken at the mid-infrared wavelengths of 8.66μm and 11.34μm. Venus at a solar phase angle of ∼90°, with the morning terminator in view, was observed by the Cooled Mid-Infrared Camera and Spectrometer (COMICS), mounted on the 8.2-m Subaru Telescope, during the period October 25–29, 2007. The disk-averaged brightness...
The aim of this study was to discover remnants of the 1908 Tunguska meteorite. Field studies identified exotic rocks, furrows, and penetration funnels reported by the first eyewitnesses. Main methods included decoding of aerial survey photographs, systematic survey of epicenter area of the Tunguska explosion, exploratory excavations, reconstruction studies of the exotic rocks, mineralogical and spectral...
This study illuminates scenarios whereby the heat produced by the dissipation of ocean tides is significant in the heat budgets maintaining liquid oceans on icy satellites in the outer Solar System. It has been shown in previous work that ocean tides, if resonantly forced, can supply heat at or exceeding the rates necessary for maintaining these oceans. It has also been shown that because of feedbacks...
We investigate the effects of varying Saturn’s orbit on the atmospheric circulation and surface methane distribution of Titan. Using a new general circulation model of Titan’s atmosphere, we simulate its climate under four characteristic configurations of orbital parameters that correspond to snapshots over the past 42kyr, capturing the amplitude range of long-period cyclic variations in eccentricity...
Hydrated sulfate minerals record the history of water and habitable environments on Mars, yet prior studies of them have neglected a vast region surrounding the planet’s south pole. Some of the few sulfates reported there are localized to putative ancient volcanoes that may have erupted under an ice sheet, possibly forming sulfates via hydrothermal alteration. Alternatively, sulfates may have formed...
Mid-infrared spectral observations Uranus acquired with the Infrared Spectrometer (IRS) on the Spitzer Space Telescope are used to determine the abundances of C2H2, C2H6, CH3C2H, C4H2, CO2, and tentatively CH3 on Uranus at the time of the 2007 equinox. For vertically uniform eddy diffusion coefficients in the range 2200–2600cm2s−1, photochemical models that reproduce the observed methane emission...
Calcium perchlorate (Ca(ClO4)2) is a highly deliquescent salt that may exist on the surface of present-day Mars; however, its water uptake properties have not been well characterized at temperatures and relative humidity conditions relevant to Mars. Here, we quantify the deliquescent relative humidity (DRH) and efflorescent relative humidity (ERH) of Ca(ClO4)2 as a function of temperature (223–273K)...
We couple a two-stream electron transport model to a three-dimensional model of Titan’s plasma interaction to calculate the global precipitation of magnetospheric electrons into Titan’s atmosphere. We describe energy deposition rates from eleven simulations that vary the following parameters: relative orientation of the solar and magnetospheric ram directions, initial electron distribution, electron...
Radar provides a unique means to analyze the surface and subsurface physical properties of geologic deposits, including their wavelength-scale roughness, the relative depth of the deposits, and some limited compositional information. The NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s (LRO) Miniature Radio Frequency (Mini-RF) instrument has enabled these analyses on the Moon at a global scale. Mini-RF has accumulated...
The aim of the Titan Haze Simulation (THS) experiment is to contribute to a better understanding of aerosol formation in Titan’s atmosphere through the study of the chemical formation pathways that link the simpler gas phase molecules resulting from the first steps of the N2–CH4 chemistry, to the more complex gas phase precursors of aerosols; and more specifically, to investigate the role of polycyclic...
The fission of an asteroid due to fast rotation can expose sub-surface material that was never previously exposed to any space weathering process. We examine the spectral properties of asteroid pairs that were disrupted in the last 2 million years to examine whether the site of the fission can be revealed. We studied the possibility that the sub-surface material, perhaps on one hemisphere, has spectral...
Titan’s atmospheric methane most likely originates from lakes at the surface and subsurface reservoirs. Accordingly, it has been commonly assumed that Titan’s tropopause region, where the vertical temperature profile is a minimum, acts as a cold trap for convecting methane, leading to the expectation that the formation of methane clouds in Titan’s stratosphere would be rare. The additional assumption...
Infrared spectroscopic observations have established the presence of hydrocarbon ices on Pluto and other TNOs, but the abundances of such molecules cannot be deduced without accurate optical constants (n, k) and reference spectra. In this paper we present our recent measurements of near- and mid-infrared optical constants for ethane (C2H6) and ethylene (C2H4) in multiple ice phases and at multiple...
The lunar nearside large volcanic complexes, such as the Rümker Hills, Aristarchus Plateau, and Marius Hills are likely sites of intense and sustained magmatic activity. These volcanic complexes, recently proposed to be shield volcanoes, are generally located at regionally high elevations and some feature relatively well-localized positive gravity anomalies. Applying localized spectral analyses on...
We present a series of numerical integrations of observed and fictitious Jupiter Trojan asteroids, under the gravitational effects of the four outer planets, for time-spans comparable with the age of the Solar System. From these results we calculate the escape rate from each Lagrange point, and construct dynamical maps of “permanence” time in different regions of the phase space.Fictitious asteroids...
Discoveries of rocky worlds around other stars have inspired diverse geophysical models of their plausible structures and tectonic regimes. Severe limitations of observable properties require many inexact assumptions about key geophysical characteristics of these planets. We present the output of an analytical galactic chemical evolution (GCE) model that quantitatively constrains one of those key...
On 2007 December 16–17, spectra were acquired of the disk of Uranus by the Spitzer Infrared Spectrometer (IRS), ten days after the planet’s equinox, when its equator was close to the sub-Earth point. This spectrum provides the highest-resolution broad-band spectrum ever obtained for Uranus from space, allowing a determination of the disk-averaged temperature and molecule composition to a greater degree...
The Flora family resides in the densely populated inner main belt, bounded in semimajor axis by the ν6 secular resonance and the Jupiter 3:1 mean motion resonance. The presence of several large families that overlap dynamically with the Floras (e.g., the Vesta, Baptistina, and Nysa-Polana families), and the removal of a significant fraction of Floras via the nearby ν6 resonance complicates the Flora...
We present the results of an investigation using near-infrared spectra of Pluto taken on 72 separate nights using SpeX/IRTF. These data were obtained between 2001 and 2013 at various sub-observer longitudes. The aim of this work was to confirm the presence of ethane ice and to determine any longitudinal trends on the surface of Pluto. We computed models of the continuum near the 2.405μm band using...
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