Solar system

Abstract:

By the end of 2018, 42 years after the landing of the two Viking seismometers on Mars, InSight will deploy onto Mars’ surface the SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Internal Structure) instrument; a six-axes seismometer equipped with both a long-period three-axes Very Broad Band (VBB) instrument and a three-axes short-period (SP) instrument. These six sensors will cover a broad range of the seismic bandwidth, from 0.01 Hz to 50 Hz, with possible extension to longer periods. Data will be transmitted in the form of three continuous VBB components at 2 sample per second (sps), an estimation of the short period energy content from the SP at 1 sps and a continuous compound VBB/SP vertical axis at 10 sps. The continuous streams will be augmented by requested event data with sample rates from 20 to 100 sps. SEIS will improve upon the existing resolution of Viking’s Mars seismic monitoring by a factor of ∼ 2500 at 1 Hz and ∼200000 at 0.1 Hz. An additional major improvement is that, contrary to Viking, the seismometers will be deployed via a robotic arm directly onto Mars’ surface and will be protected against temperature and wind by highly efficient thermal and wind shielding. Based on existing knowledge of Mars, it is reasonable to infer a moment magnitude detection threshold of Mw∼ 3 at 40 ∘ epicentral distance and a potential to detect several tens of quakes and about five impacts per year. In this paper, we first describe the science goals of the experiment and the rationale used to define its requirements. We then provide a detailed description of the hardware, from the sensors to the deployment system and associated performance, including transfer functions of the seismic sensors and temperature sensors. We conclude by describing the experiment ground segment, including data processing services, outreach and education networks and provide a description of the format to be used for future data distribution.

Abstract:

Directional emissivity (DE) describes how the emissivity of an isothermal surface changes with viewing angle across thermal infrared wavelengths. The Oxford Space Environment Goniometer (OSEG) is a novel instrument that has been specifically designed to measure the DE of regolith materials derived from planetary surfaces. The DE of Nextel high emissivity black paint was previously measured by the OSEG and showed that the measured emissivity decreases with increasing emission angle, from an emissivity of 0.97 ± 0.01 at 0° emission angle to an emissivity of 0.89± 0.01 at 71° emission angle. The Nextel target measured was isothermal (<0.1 K surface temperature variation) and the observed change in emissivity was due to Fresnel related effects and was not due to non-isothermal effects. Here we apply several increasingly complex modelling techniques to model the measured DE of Nextel black paint. The modelling techniques used here include the Hapke DE model, the Fresnel equations, a multiple slope Fresnel model and a Monte Carlo ray-tracing model. It was found that only the Monte Carlo raytracing model could accurately fit the OSEG measured Nextel data. We show that this is because the Monte Carlo ray-tracing model is the only model that fully accounts for the surface roughness of the Nextel surface by including multiple scattering effects.

Abstract:

© ESO 2019. During their formation and early evolution, rocky planets undergo multiple global melting events due to accretionary collisions with other protoplanets. The detection and characterization of their post-collision afterglows (magma oceans) can yield important clues about the origin and evolution of the solar and extrasolar planet population. Here, we quantitatively assess the observational prospects to detect the radiative signature of forming planets covered by such collision-induced magma oceans in nearby young stellar associations with future direct imaging facilities. We have compared performance estimates for near- and mid-infrared instruments to be installed at ESO's Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), and a potential space-based mission called Large Interferometer for Exoplanets (LIFE). We modelled the frequency and timing of energetic collisions using N-body models of planet formation for different stellar types, and determine the cooling of the resulting magma oceans with an insulating atmosphere. We find that the probability of detecting at least one magma ocean planet depends on the observing duration and the distribution of atmospheric properties among rocky protoplanets. However, the prospects for detection significantly increase for young and close stellar targets, which show the highest frequencies of giant impacts. For intensive reconnaissance with a K band (2.2 μm) ELT filter or a 5.6 μm LIFE filter, the β Pictoris, Columba, TW Hydrae, and Tucana-Horologium associations represent promising candidates for detecting a molten protoplanet. Our results motivate the exploration of magma ocean planets using the ELT and underline the importance of space-based direct imaging facilities to investigate and characterize planet formation and evolution in the solar vicinity. Direct imaging of magma oceans will advance our understanding of the early interior, surface and atmospheric properties of terrestrial worlds.

Abstract:

© 2018 Of the C3Hxhydrocarbons, propane (C3H8) and propyne (methylacetylene, CH3C2H) were first detected in Titan's atmosphere during the Voyager 1 flyby in 1980. Propene (propylene, C3H6) was first detected in 2013 with data from the Composite InfraRed Spectrometer (CIRS) instrument on Cassini. We present the first measured abundance profiles of propene on Titan from radiative transfer modeling, and compare our measurements to predictions derived from several photochemical models. Near the equator, propene is observed to have a peak abundance of 10 ppbv at a pressure of 0.2 mbar. Several photochemical models predict the amount at this pressure to be in the range 0.3–1 ppbv and also show a local minimum near 0.2 mbar which we do not see in our measurements. We also see that propene follows a different latitudinal trend than the other C3molecules. While propane and propyne concentrate near the winter pole, transported via a global convective cell, propene is most abundant above the equator. We retrieve vertical abundances profiles between 125 km and 375 km for these gases for latitude averages between 60°S–20°S, 20°S–20°N, and 20°N–60°N over two time periods, 2004 through 2009 representing Titan's atmosphere before the 2009 equinox, and 2012 through 2015 representing time after the equinox. Additionally, using newly corrected line data, we determined an updated upper limit for allene (propadiene, CH2CCH2, the isomer of propyne). We claim a 3-σ upper limit mixing ratio of 2.5 × 10−9 within 30° of the equator. The measurements we present will further constrain photochemical models by refining reaction rates and the transport of these gases throughout Titan's atmosphere.