Porosity and the ecology of icy satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Croft, Steven K.

1993-01-01

The case for a significant role for porosity in the structure and evolution of icy bodies in the Solar System has been difficult to establish. We present a relevant new data set and a series of structure models including a mechanical compression, not thermal creep, model for porosity that accounts satisfactorily for observed densities, moments of inertia, geologic activity, and sizes of tectonic features on icy satellites. Several types of observational data sets have been used to infer significant porosity, but until recently, alternative explanations have been preferred. Our first area of concern is the occurrence of cryovolcanism as a function of satellite radius; simple radiogenic heating models of icy satellites suggest minimum radii for melting and surface cryovolcanism to be 400 to 500 km, yet inferred melt deposits are seen on satellites half that size. One possible explanation is a deep, low conductivity regolith which lowers conductivity and raises internal temperatures, but other possibilities include tidal heating or crustal compositions of low conductivity. Our second area of concern is the occurrence and magnitude of tectonic strain; tectonic structures have been seen on icy satellites as small as Mimas and Proteus. The structures are almost exclusively extensional, with only a few possible compression Al features, and inferred global strains are on the order of 1 percent expansion. Expansions of this order in small bodies like Mimas and prevention of late compressional tectonics due to formation of ice mantles in larger bodies like Rhea are attained only in structure models including low-conductivity, and thus possibly high porosity, crusts. Thirdly, inferred moments of inertia less than 0.4 in Mimas and Tethys can be explained by high-porosity crusts, but also by differentiation of a high density core. Finally, the relatively low densities of smaller satellites like Mimas and Miranda relative to larger neighbors can be explained by deep porosity

Outer planets and icy satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Drobyshevski, E. M.

1991-01-01

The resources offered by the outer bodies in the Solar System, starting with the main belt asteroids and Jovian System, are not only larger and more diverse but may even be easier to reach than, say, those of Mars. The use of their material, including water and organic matter, depends exclusively on the general strategy of exploration of the Solar System. Of major interest in this respect are the large ice satellites - Titan, Ganymede, and Callisto. Motion through the planetary magnetospheres excites in their ice envelopes megampere currents which, in the presence of rocky, etc., inclusions with electronic conduction should lead to the bulk electrolysis of ice and accumulation in it of 2H2 + O2 in the form of a solid solution. With the concentration of 2H2 + O2 reaching about 15 wt. percent, the solution becomes capable of detonation by a strong meteoritic impact. An explosion of Ganymede's ice envelope about 0.5 By ago could account for the formation of the Trojans and irregular satellites, all known differences between Ganymede and Callisto, and many other things. The explosion of a small icy planet with M approx less than 0.5 Moon created the asteroid belt. Two to three explosions occurred on Io, and two on Europa. The specific features of the longperiod comets close to Saturn's orbit permit dating Titan's envelope explosion as 10,000 yr ago, which produced its thick atmosphere, young Saturn's rings, as well as a reservoir of ice fragments saturated by 2H2 + O2, i.e., cometary nuclei between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. Thus these nuclei should contain, besides organic matter, also 2H2 + O2, which could be used for their transportation as well as for fuel for spaceships. Ices of such composition can reside deep inside Deimos, the Trojans, C-asteroids, etc. The danger of a future explosion of Callisto's electrolyzed ices, which would result in a catastrophic bombardment of the Earth by comets, may be high enough to warrant a revision of the priorities and

Outer planets and icy satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drobyshevski, E. M.

The resources offered by the outer bodies in the Solar System, starting with the main belt asteroids and Jovian System, are not only larger and more diverse but may even be easier to reach than, say, those of Mars. The use of their material, including water and organic matter, depends exclusively on the general strategy of exploration of the Solar System. Of major interest in this respect are the large ice satellites - Titan, Ganymede, and Callisto. Motion through the planetary magnetospheres excites in their ice envelopes megampere currents which, in the presence of rocky, etc., inclusions with electronic conduction should lead to the bulk electrolysis of ice and accumulation in it of 2H2 + O2 in the form of a solid solution. With the concentration of 2H2 + O2 reaching about 15 wt. percent, the solution becomes capable of detonation by a strong meteoritic impact. An explosion of Ganymede's ice envelope about 0.5 By ago could account for the formation of the Trojans and irregular satellites, all known differences between Ganymede and Callisto, and many other things. The explosion of a small icy planet with M approx less than 0.5 Moon created the asteroid belt. Two to three explosions occurred on Io, and two on Europa. The specific features of the longperiod comets close to Saturn's orbit permit dating Titan's envelope explosion as 10,000 yr ago, which produced its thick atmosphere, young Saturn's rings, as well as a reservoir of ice fragments saturated by 2H2 + O2, i.e., cometary nuclei between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. Thus these nuclei should contain, besides organic matter, also 2H2 + O2, which could be used for their transportation as well as for fuel for spaceships. Ices of such composition can reside deep inside Deimos, the Trojans, C-asteroids, etc. The danger of a future explosion of Callisto's electrolyzed ices, which would result in a catastrophic bombardment of the Earth by comets, may be high enough to warrant a revision of the priorities and

The Scattering Properties of Natural Terrestrial Snows versus Icy Satellite Surfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Domingue, Deborah; Hartman, Beth; Verbiscer, Anne

1997-01-01

Our comparisons of the single particle scattering behavior of terrestrial snows and icy satellite regoliths to the laboratory particle scattering measurements of McGuire and Hapke demonstrate that the differences between icy satellite regoliths and their terrestrial counterparts are due to particle structures and textures. Terrestrial snow particle structures define a region in the single particle scattering function parameter space separate from the regions defined by the McGuire and Hapke artificial laboratory particles. The particle structures and textures of the grains composing icy satellites regoliths are not simple or uniform but consist of a variety of particle structure and texture types, some of which may be a combination of the particle types investigated by McGuire and Hapke.

Large Impact Features on Icy Galilean Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, J. M.; Schenk, P. M.; Korycansky, D. G.

2017-01-01

Impact crater morphology can be a very useful tool for probing planetary interiors, but nowhere in the solar system is a greater variety of crater morphologies observed (Fig. 1) than on the large icy Galilean satellites Ganymede and Callisto [e.g., 1- 3]. As on the rocky terrestrial planets, impact crater morphology becomes more complex with increasing size on these satellites. With increasing size, however, these same craters become less like their counterparts on the rocky planets. Several impact landforms and structures (multiring furrows, palimpsests, and central domes, for example), have no obvious analogs on any other planets. Further, several studies [e.g., 4-6] have drawn attention to impact landforms on Europa which are unusual, even by Galilean satellite standards. These radical differences in morphology suggest that impact into icy lithospheres that are mechanically distinct from silicate lithospheres may be responsible. As such, large impact structures may be important probes of the interiors of these bodies over time [e.g., 7]. The first goal of this work is to integrate and correlate the detailed morphologic and morphometric measurements and observations of craters on icy Galilean satellites [e.g., 4, 8-12] with new detailed mapping of these structures from Galileo high-resolution images. As a result, we put forward a revised crater taxonomy for Ganymede and Callisto in order to simplify the nonuniform impact crater nomenclature cluttering the literature. We develop and present an integrated model for the development of these unusual crater morphologies and their implications for the thermal evolution of these bodies.

Scattering properties of natural snow and frost - Comparison with icy satellite photometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Verbiscer, Anne J.; Veverka, Joseph

1990-01-01

The Hapke (1986) equation is presently fit to ascertain the single-scattering albedo of the icy satellites of Uranus and Neptune and the one-term Henyey-Greenstein particle-phase function g for each of the Middleton and Mungall (1952) goniophotometric data samples. There emerge both very high single-scattering albedos and strongly forward-scattering particle phase functions; while these are in keeping with Mie theory-based theoretical considerations, they contrast with the observed backscattering behavior of icy satellites. It is suggested the icy satellite frost grains are aggregated into particles of complex texture, which produce the unusual backscattering behavior.

Ultraviolet Spectroscopy of the Surfaces of the Inner Icy Saturnian Satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hendrix, A. R.; Hansen, C. J.

2008-12-01

The Cassini mission has provided a unique opportunity to make high-resolution, multi-spectral measurements of Saturn's icy moons, to investigate their surface compositions, processes and evolution. Here we present results from the Ultraviolet Imaing Spectrograph (UVIS). This instrument allows for the first measurements of the icy satellites in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) to far-ultraviolet (FUV) wavelength range. The icy satellites of the Saturn system exhibit a remarkable amount of variability: Dark, battered Phoebe orbiting at a distant 200 RS, black-and-white Iapetus, the wispy streaks of Dione, cratered Rhea and Mimas, bright Tethys and geologically active Enceladus. Phoebe, Iapetus and Hyperion all orbit largely outside Saturn's magnetosphere, while the inner icy satellites Mimas, Enceladus, Dione Tethys and Rhea all orbit within the magnetosphere. Furthermore, the inner icy satellites all orbit within the E-ring - so the extent of exogenic effects on these icy satellites is wide-ranging. We present an overview of UVIS results from Tethys, Dione, Mimas, Enceladus and Rhea, focusing on surface investigations. We expect that the UV signatures of these icy satellites are strongly influenced not only by their water ice composition, but by external effects and magnetospheric environments. We study the FUV reflectance spectra to learn about the surface composition, map out water ice grain size variations, investigate effects of coating by E-ring grains, examine disk-resolved and hemispheric compositional and brightness variations, and investigate the presence of radiation products. This is new work: FUV spectra of surfaces have not been well-studied in the past. Spectra of the inner icy moons have been used to better develop spectral models, to further understand existing lab data of water ice and to help with understanding instrument performance. Analysis is challenged by a lack of laboratory data in this wavelength region, but intriguing results are being found

Astrobiological and Geological Implications of Convective Transport in Icy Outer Planet Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pappalardo, Robert T.; Zhong, Shi-Jie; Barr, Amy

2005-01-01

The oceans of large icy outer planet satellites are prime targets in the search for extraterrestrial life in our solar system. The goal of our project has been to develop models of ice convection in order to understand convection as an astrobiologically relevant transport mechanism within icy satellites, especially Europa. These models provide valuable constraints on modes of surface deformation and thus the implications of satellite surface geology for astrobiology, and for planetary protection. Over the term of this project, significant progress has been made in three areas: (1) the initiation of convection in large icy satellites, which we find probably requires tidal heating; (2) the relationship of surface features on Europa to internal ice convection, including the likely role of low-melting-temperature impurities; and (3) the effectiveness of convection as an agent of icy satellite surface-ocean material exchange, which seems most plausible if tidal heating, compositional buoyancy, and solid-state convection work in combination. Descriptions of associated publications include: 3 published papers (including contributions to 1 review chapter), 1 manuscript in revision, 1 manuscript in preparation (currently being completed under separate funding), and 1 published popular article. A myriad of conference abstracts have also been published, and only those from the past year are listed.

Charged particle modification of ices in the Saturnian and Jovian systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, R. E.; Barton, L. A.; Boring, J. W.; Jesser, W. A.; Brown, W. L.

1985-01-01

The modification by ion bombardment of the surfaces of icy objects in the Saturnian and Jovian systems is discussed. Chemical changes in ices are induced by breaking of bonds and by implantation of incident ions. Long-term irradiation by fast ions produces physical changes such as increasing the surface reflectivity and ability to scatter light. On large satellites, molecules which are ejected by ion bombardment are redistributed across the surfaces of large satellites. For small satellites and ring particles bombarded by ions, such as those of Saturn, most or all of the sputtered material is lost to space, forming a neutral torus in the locale of the satellite orbits and rings and supplying ions to the magnetosphere. Noting the existence of such a torus, the sputter erosion and possible stabilization of the E-ring of Saturn is discussed.

Modeling Spectra of Icy Satellites and Cometary Icy Particles Using Multi-Sphere T-Matrix Code

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolokolova, Ludmilla; Mackowski, Daniel; Pitman, Karly M.; Joseph, Emily C. S.; Buratti, Bonnie J.; Protopapa, Silvia; Kelley, Michael S.

2016-10-01

The Multi-Sphere T-matrix code (MSTM) allows rigorous computations of characteristics of the light scattered by a cluster of spherical particles. It was introduced to the scientific community in 1996 (Mackowski & Mishchenko, 1996, JOSA A, 13, 2266). Later it was put online and became one of the most popular codes to study photopolarimetric properties of aggregated particles. Later versions of this code, especially its parallelized version MSTM3 (Mackowski & Mishchenko, 2011, JQSRT, 112, 2182), were used to compute angular and wavelength dependence of the intensity and polarization of light scattered by aggregates of up to 4000 constituent particles (Kolokolova & Mackowski, 2012, JQSRT, 113, 2567). The version MSTM4 considers large thick slabs of spheres (Mackowski, 2014, Proc. of the Workshop ``Scattering by aggregates``, Bremen, Germany, March 2014, Th. Wriedt & Yu. Eremin, Eds., 6) and is significantly different from the earlier versions. It adopts a Discrete Fourier Convolution, implemented using a Fast Fourier Transform, for evaluation of the exciting field. MSTM4 is able to treat dozens of thousands of spheres and is about 100 times faster than the MSTM3 code. This allows us not only to compute the light scattering properties of a large number of electromagnetically interacting constituent particles, but also to perform multi-wavelength and multi-angular computations using computer resources with rather reasonable CPU and computer memory. We used MSTM4 to model near-infrared spectra of icy satellites of Saturn (Rhea, Dione, and Tethys data from Cassini VIMS), and of icy particles observed in the coma of comet 103P/Hartley 2 (data from EPOXI/DI HRII). Results of our modeling show that in the case of icy satellites the best fit to the observed spectra is provided by regolith made of spheres of radius ~1 micron with a porosity in the range 85% - 95%, which slightly varies for the different satellites. Fitting the spectra of the cometary icy particles requires icy

Experimental Constraints on the Fatigue of Icy Satellite Lithospheres by Tidal Forces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hammond, Noah P.; Barr, Amy C.; Cooper, Reid F.; Caswell, Tess E.; Hirth, Greg

2018-02-01

Fatigue can cause materials that undergo cyclic loading to experience brittle failure at much lower stresses than under monotonic loading. We propose that the lithospheres of icy satellites could become fatigued and thus weakened by cyclical tidal stresses. To test this hypothesis, we performed a series of laboratory experiments to measure the fatigue of water ice at temperatures of 198 K and 233 K and at a loading frequency of 1 Hz. We find that ice is not susceptible to fatigue at our experimental conditions and that the brittle failure stress does not decrease with increasing number of loading cycles. Even though fatigue was not observed at our experimental conditions, colder temperatures, lower loading frequencies, and impurities in the ice shells of icy satellites may increase the likelihood of fatigue crack growth. We also explore other mechanisms that may explain the weak behavior of the lithospheres of some icy satellites.

Modelling Ocean Dissipation in Icy Satellites: A Comparison of Linear and Quadratic Friction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hay, H.; Matsuyama, I.

2015-12-01

Although subsurface oceans are confirmed in Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, and strongly suspected in Enceladus and Titan, the exact mechanism required to heat and maintain these liquid reservoirs over Solar System history remains a mystery. Radiogenic heating can supply enough energy for large satellites whereas tidal dissipation provides the best explanation for the presence of oceans in small icy satellites. The amount of thermal energy actually contributed to the interiors of these icy satellites through oceanic tidal dissipation is largely unquantified. Presented here is a numerical model that builds upon previous work for quantifying tidally dissipated energy in the subsurface oceans of the icy satellites. Recent semi-analytical models (Tyler, 2008 and Matsuyama, 2014) have solved the Laplace Tidal Equations to estimate the time averaged energy flux over an orbital period in icy satellite oceans, neglecting the presence of a solid icy shell. These models are only able to consider linear Rayleigh friction. The numerical model presented here is compared to one of these semi-analytical models, finding excellent agreement between velocity and displacement solutions for all three terms to the tidal potential. Time averaged energy flux is within 2-6% of the analytical values. Quadratic (bottom) friction is then incorporated into the model, replacing linear friction. This approach is commonly applied to terrestrial ocean dissipation studies where dissipation scales nonlinearly with velocity. A suite of simulations are also run for the quadratic friction case which are then compared to and analysed against recent scaling laws developed by Chen and Nimmo (2013).

Near-infrared brightness of the Galilean satellites eclipsed in Jovian shadow: A new technique to investigate Jovian upper atmosphere

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tsumura, K.; Arimatsu, K.; Matsuura, S.

2014-07-10

Based on observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Subaru Telescope, we have discovered that Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto are bright around 1.5 μm even when not directly lit by sunlight. The observations were conducted with non-sidereal tracking on Jupiter outside of the field of view to reduce the stray light subtraction uncertainty due to the close proximity of Jupiter. Their eclipsed luminosity was 10{sup –6}-10{sup –7} of their uneclipsed brightness, which is low enough that this phenomenon has been undiscovered until now. In addition, Europa in eclipse was <1/10 of the others at 1.5 μm, a potential cluemore » to the origin of the source of luminosity. Likewise, Ganymede observations were attempted at 3.6 μm by the Spitzer Space Telescope, but it was not detected, suggesting a significant wavelength dependence. It is still unknown why they are luminous even when in the Jovian shadow, but forward-scattered sunlight by hazes in the Jovian upper atmosphere is proposed as the most plausible candidate. If this is the case, observations of these Galilean satellites while eclipsed by the Jovian shadow provide us with a new technique to investigate the Jovian atmospheric composition. Investigating the transmission spectrum of Jupiter by this method is important for investigating the atmosphere of extrasolar giant planets by transit spectroscopy.« less

Life detection strategy for Jovian's icy moons: Lessons from subglacial Lake Vostok exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bulat, Sergey; Alekhina, Irina; Marie, Dominique; Petit, Jean-Robert

2010-05-01

The objective was to estimate the microbial content of accretion ice originating from the subglacial Lake Vostok buried beneath 4-km thick East Antarctic ice sheet with the ultimate goal to discover microbial life in this extreme icy environment. The DNA study constrained by Ancient DNA research criteria was used as a main approach. The flow cytometry was implemented in cell enumerating. As a result, both approaches showed that the accretion ice contains the very low unevenly distributed biomass indicating that the water body should also be hosting a highly sparse life. Up to now, the only accretion ice featured by mica-clay sediments presence allowed the recovery a pair of bacterial phylotypes. This unexpectedly included the chemolithoautotrophic thermophile Hydrogenophilus thermoluteolus and one more unclassified phylotype both passing numerous contaminant controls. In contrast, the deeper and cleaner accretion ice with no sediments presence and near detection limit gas content gave no reliable signals. Thus, the results obtained testify that the search for life in the Lake Vostok is constrained by a high chance of forward-contamination. The subglacial Lake Vostok seems to represent the only extremely clean giant aquatic system on the Earth providing a unique test area for searching for life on icy worlds. The life detection strategy for (sub)glacial environments elsewhere (e.g., Jovian's Europa) should be based on stringent decontamination procedures in clean-room facilities, establishment of on-site contaminant library, implementation of appropriate methods to reach detection level for signal as low as possible, verification of findings through ecological settings of a given environment and repetition at an independent laboratory within the specialized laboratory network.

Planetary Analogs in Antarctica: Icy Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malin, M. C.

1985-01-01

As part of a study to provide semi-quantitative techniques to date past Antarctic glaciations, sponsored by the Antarctic Research Program, field observations pertinent to other planets were also acquired. The extremely diverse surface conditions, marked by extreme cold and large amounts of ice, provide potential terrain and process analogs to the icy satellites of Jupiter and Saturn. Thin ice tectonic features and explosion craters (on sea ice) and deformation features on thicker ice (glaciers) are specifically addressed.

2.7- to 4.1-micron spectrophotometry of icy satellites of Saturn and Jupiter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lebofsky, L. A.; Feierberg, M. A.

1985-01-01

Spectrophotometry is presented in the 2.7-4.1 micrometer spectral region for icy satellites of Saturn (Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus and Hyperion) and Jupiter (Europa, Ganymede and Callisto). The 3.6-micrometer reflectance peak characteristic of fine-grained water ice is observed prominently on the satellites of Saturn, faintly on the leading side of Europa, and not at all on Ganymede, Callisto or the dark side of Iapetus. The spectral reflectances of these icy satellites may be affected by their equilibrium surface temperatures and magnetospheric effects.

Thermal evolution of trans-Neptunian objects, icy satellites, and minor icy planets in the early solar system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhatia, Gurpreet Kaur; Sahijpal, Sandeep

2017-12-01

Numerical simulations are performed to understand the early thermal evolution and planetary scale differentiation of icy bodies with the radii in the range of 100-2500 km. These icy bodies include trans-Neptunian objects, minor icy planets (e.g., Ceres, Pluto); the icy satellites of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; and probably the icy-rocky cores of these planets. The decay energy of the radionuclides, 26Al, 60Fe, 40K, 235U, 238U, and 232Th, along with the impact-induced heating during the accretion of icy bodies were taken into account to thermally evolve these planetary bodies. The simulations were performed for a wide range of initial ice and rock (dust) mass fractions of the icy bodies. Three distinct accretion scenarios were used. The sinking of the rock mass fraction in primitive water oceans produced by the substantial melting of ice could lead to planetary scale differentiation with the formation of a rocky core that is surrounded by a water ocean and an icy crust within the initial tens of millions of years of the solar system in case the planetary bodies accreted prior to the substantial decay of 26Al. However, over the course of billions of years, the heat produced due to 40K, 235U, 238U, and 232Th could have raised the temperature of the interiors of the icy bodies to the melting point of iron and silicates, thereby leading to the formation of an iron core. Our simulations indicate the presence of an iron core even at the center of icy bodies with radii ≥500 km for different ice mass fractions.

Space Weathering on Icy Satellites in the Outer Solar System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clark, R. N.; Perlman, Z.; Pearson, N.; Cruikshank, D. P.

2014-01-01

Space weathering produces well-known optical effects in silicate minerals in the inner Solar System, for example, on the Moon. Space weathering from solar wind and UV (ultraviolet radiation) is expected to be significantly weaker in the outer Solar System simply because intensities are low. However, cosmic rays and micrometeoroid bombardment would be similar to first order. That, combined with the much higher volatility of icy surfaces means there is the potential for space weathering on icy outer Solar System surfaces to show optical effects. The Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn is providing evidence for space weathering on icy bodies. The Cassini Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) instrument has spatially mapped satellite surfaces and the rings from 0.35-5 microns and the Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) instrument from 0.1 to 0.2 microns. These data have sampled a complex mixing space between H2O ice and non-ice components and they show some common spectral properties. Similarly, spectra of the icy Galilean satellites and satellites in the Uranian system have some commonality in spectral properties with those in the Saturn system. The UV absorber is spectrally similar on many surfaces. VIMS has identified CO2, H2 and trace organics in varying abundances on Saturn's satellites. We postulate that through the spatial relationships of some of these compounds that they are created and destroyed through space weathering effects. For example, the trapped H2 and CO2 observed by VIMS in regions with high concentrations of dark material may in part be space weathering products from the destruction of H2O and organic molecules. The dark material, particularly on Iapetus which has the highest concentration in the Saturn system, is well matched by space-weathered silicates in the .4 to 2.6 micron range, and the spectral shapes closely match those of the most mature lunar soils, another indicator of space weathered material.

Astronomical studies of the major planets, natural satellites and asteroids using the 2.24 m telescope

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jefferies, J. T.

1982-01-01

Directional features in the Jovian sodium torus, high quality CCD images of the major planets, methane bands in the spectrum of Triton, the central wavelength of the SO2 absorption band on Io, a component on the icy surfaces of the satellites of Uranus, fluctuation of Io's volcanic radiation, standard stars, and thermal radiation from the four brightest satellites of Uranus are discussed.

Intriguing differences and similarities in the surface compositions of the icy Saturnian and Galilean satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hibbitts, C.

2006-12-01

Many materials in addition to water ice have been discovered in the surfaces of the icy Galilean and Saturnian satellites. Spacecraft infrared spectroscopy show intriguing differences and similarities suggestive of variations in primordial compositions and subsequent alteration. However, within the diverse compositions in their surfaces are similarities that cross between the systems. For instance, when nonice material is detected on these satellites, it is always hydrated. CO2 is detected in both systems where it is trapped in a host material except possibly for Enceladus where it may be deposited as ice from plumes [1-7]. Satellites in both systems contain aromatic hydrocarbons [8] and possibly CN-bearing materials [9]. The surfaces of Callisto, Ganymede, Europa, Iapetus, Phoebe, Hyperion, and Dione each contain some low albedo non-ice materials. The spectra have a broad 3-micron absorption feature due to structural OH or adsorbed water. However, the band is not sharp like a well-ordered clay mineral but broad, similar in some regards to less well-structured palagonite, goethite, or Murchison meteorite. The hydration of Jovian satellite nonice materials is greater for surfaces that have experienced more tectonism and alteration (i.e. increases from Callisto inward to Europa). The nonice material on Callisto appears to be a single composition (though itself possibly a mixture) that is slightly hydrated [10]. The nonice material on Europa is also of uniform composition everywhere observed, a very heavily hydrated material, perhaps a salt, hydrated SO4 (i.e. sulfuric acid), or both, that either originates from the subsurface ocean, radiolytically altered surface material, or both [11-13]. Ganymede appears to contain two types nonice materials; one an unidentified heavily hydrated material spectrally distinct from the Europa hydrate [11] and a second much less-abundant, less hydrated material spectrally similar to the Callisto nonice material that is largely

Analyzing surface features on icy satellites using a new two-layer analogue model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morales, K. M.; Leonard, E. J.; Pappalardo, R. T.; Yin, A.

2017-12-01

The appearance of similar surface morphologies across many icy satellites suggests potentially unified formation mechanisms. Constraining the processes that shape the surfaces of these icy worlds is fundamental to understanding their rheology and thermal evolution—factors that have implications for potential habitability. Analogue models have proven useful for investigating and quantifying surface structure formation on Earth, but have only been sparsely applied to icy bodies. In this study, we employ an innovative two-layer analogue model that simulates a warm, ductile ice layer overlain by brittle surface ice on satellites such as Europa and Enceladus. The top, brittle layer is composed of fine-grained sand while the ductile, lower viscosity layer is made of putty. These materials were chosen because they scale up reasonably to the conditions on Europa and Enceladus. Using this analogue model, we investigate the role of the ductile layer in forming contractional structures (e.g. folds) that would compensate for the over-abundance of extensional features observed on icy satellites. We do this by simulating different compressional scenarios in the analogue model and analyzing whether the resulting features resemble those on icy bodies. If the resulting structures are similar, then the model can be used to quantify the deformation by calculating strain. These values can then be scaled up to Europa or Enceladus and used to quantity the observed surface morphologies and the amount of extensional strain accommodated by certain features. This presentation will focus on the resulting surface morphologies and the calculated strain values from several analogue experiments. The methods and findings from this work can then be expanded and used to study other icy bodies, such as Triton, Miranda, Ariel, and Pluto.

Dielectric properties of Jovian satellite ice analogs for subsurface radar exploration: A review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pettinelli, Elena; Cosciotti, Barbara; Di Paolo, Federico; Lauro, Sebastian Emanuel; Mattei, Elisabetta; Orosei, Roberto; Vannaroni, Giuliano

2015-09-01

The first European mission dedicated to the exploration of Jupiter and its icy moons (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer—JUICE) will be launched in 2022 and will reach its final destination in 2030. The main goals of this mission are to understand the internal structure of the icy crusts of three Galilean satellites (Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto) and, ultimately, to detect Europa's subsurface ocean, which is believed to be the closest to the surface among those hypothesized to exist on these moons. JUICE will be equipped with the 9 MHz subsurface-penetrating radar RIME (Radar for Icy Moon Exploration), which is designed to image the ice down to a depth of 9 km. Moreover, a parallel mission to Europa, which will host onboard REASON (Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface) equipped with 9MHz and 60MHz antennas, has been recently approved by NASA. The success of these experiments strongly relies on the accurate prediction of the radar performance and on the optimal processing and interpretation of radar echoes that, in turn, depend on the dielectric properties of the materials composing the icy satellite crusts. In the present review we report a complete range of potential ice types that may occur on these icy satellites to understand how they may affect the results of the proposed missions. First, we discuss the experimental results on pure and doped water ice in the framework of the Jaccard theory, highlighting the critical aspects in terms of a lack of standard laboratory procedures and inconsistency in data interpretation. We then describe the dielectric behavior of extraterrestrial ice analogs like hydrates and icy mixtures, carbon dioxide ice and ammonia ice. Building on this review, we have selected the most suitable data to compute dielectric attenuation, velocity, vertical resolution, and reflection coefficients for such icy moon environments, with the final goal being to estimate the potential capabilities of the radar missions as a

Infrared observations of Jovian aurora from Juno's first orbits: Main oval and satellite footprints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mura, A.; Adriani, A.; Altieri, F.; Connerney, J. E. P.; Bolton, S. J.; Moriconi, M. L.; Gérard, J.-C.; Kurth, W. S.; Dinelli, B. M.; Fabiano, F.; Tosi, F.; Atreya, S. K.; Bagenal, F.; Gladstone, G. R.; Hansen, C.; Levin, S. M.; Mauk, B. H.; McComas, D. J.; Sindoni, G.; Filacchione, G.; Migliorini, A.; Grassi, D.; Piccioni, G.; Noschese, R.; Cicchetti, A.; Turrini, D.; Stefani, S.; Amoroso, M.; Olivieri, A.

2017-06-01

The Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) is an imager/spectrometer on board NASA/Juno mission for the study of the Jovian aurorae. The first results of JIRAM's imager channel observations of the H3+ infrared emission, collected around the first Juno perijove, provide excellent spatial and temporal distribution of the Jovian aurorae, and show the morphology of the main ovals, the polar regions, and the footprints of Io, Europa and Ganymede. The extended Io "tail" persists for 3 h after the passage of the satellite flux tube. Multi-arc structures of varied spatial extent appear in both main auroral ovals. Inside the main ovals, intense, localized emissions are observed. In the southern aurora, an evident circular region of strong depletion of H3+ emissions is partially surrounded by an intense emission arc. The southern aurora is brighter than the north one in these observations. Similar, probably conjugate emission patterns are distinguishable in both polar regions.

Dark-ray and dark-floor craters on Ganymede, and the provenance of large impactors in the Jovian system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schenk, Paul M.; Mckinnon, William B.

1991-01-01

The dark-floor and dark-ray craters on the icy Jovian satellite, Ganymede, may derive their visual characteristics from impactor contamination. It is presently hypothesized that the rays darken as a result of the near-surface concentration of impactor material; this could occur, first, due to magnetic sputtering while the rays are bright, and subsequently, once a critical albedo is reached, due to thermal sublimation into discrete icy and nonicy patches. Voyager visible spectra of dark rays indicate that most large-ray systems are 'redder' than grooved or cratered terrains, and are among the 'reddest' units on Ganymede. More than half of the recent impactors on Ganymede may have been reddish D-type asteroids or comets, accounting for the albedos and colors of dark terrains on both Ganymede and Callisto.

Polymerization of Building Blocks of Life on Europa and Other Icy Moons.

PubMed

Kimura, Jun; Kitadai, Norio

2015-06-01

The outer Solar System may provide a potential habitat for extraterrestrial life. Remote sensing data from the Galileo spacecraft suggest that the jovian icy moons--Europa, Ganymede, and possibly Callisto--may harbor liquid water oceans underneath their icy crusts. Although compositional information required for the discussion of habitability is limited because of significantly restricted observation data, organic molecules are ubiquitous in the Universe. Recently, in situ spacecraft measurements and experiments suggest that amino acids can be formed abiotically on interstellar ices and comets. These amino acids could be continuously delivered by meteorite or comet impacts to icy moons. Here, we show that polymerization of organic monomers, in particular amino acids and nucleotides, could proceed spontaneously in the cold environment of icy moons, in particular the jovian icy moon Europa as a typical example, based on thermodynamic calculations, though kinetics of formation are not addressed. Observed surface temperature on Europa is 120 and 80 K in the equatorial region and polar region, respectively. At such low temperatures, Gibbs energies of polymerization become negative, and the estimated thermal structure of the icy crust should contain a shallow region (i.e., at a depth of only a few kilometers) favorable for polymerization. Investigation of the possibility of organic monomer polymerization on icy moons could provide good constraints on the origin and early evolution of extraterrestrial life.

Production of O2 on icy satellites by electronic excitation of low-temperature water ice.

PubMed

Sieger, M T; Simpson, W C; Orlando, T M

1998-08-06

The signature of condensed molecular oxygen has been reported in recent optical-reflectance measurements of the jovian moon Ganymede, and a tenuous oxygen atmosphere has been observed on Europa. The surfaces of these moons contain large amounts of water ice, and it is thought that O2 is formed by the sputtering of ice by energetic particles from the jovian magnetosphere. Understanding how O2 might be formed from low-temperature ice is crucial for theoretical and experimental simulations of the surfaces and atmospheres of icy bodies in the Solar System. Here we report laboratory measurements of the threshold energy, cross-section and temperature dependence of O2 production by electronic excitation of ice in vacuum, following electron-beam irradiation. Molecular oxygen is formed by direct excitation and dissociation of a stable precursor molecule, rather than (as has been previously thought) by diffusion and chemical recombination of precursor fragments. The large cross-section for O2 production suggests that electronic excitation plays an important part in the formation of O2 on Ganymede and Europa.

A 1-D evolutionary model for icy satellites, applied to Enceladus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malamud, Uri; Prialnik, Dina

2016-04-01

We develop a long-term 1-D evolution model for icy satellites that couples multiple processes: water migration and differentiation, geochemical reactions and silicate phase transitions, compaction by self-gravity, and ablation. The model further considers the following energy sources and sinks: tidal heating, radiogenic heating, geochemical energy released by serpentinization or absorbed by mineral dehydration, gravitational energy and insolation, and heat transport by conduction, convection, and advection. We apply the model to Enceladus, by guessing the initial conditions that would render a structure compatible with present-day observations, assuming the initial structure to have been homogeneous. Assuming the satellite has been losing water continually along its evolution, we postulate that it was formed as a more massive, more icy and more porous satellite, and gradually transformed into its present day state due to sustained long-term tidal heating. We consider several initial compositions and evolution scenarios and follow the evolution for the age of the Solar System, testing the present day model results against the available observational constraints. Our model shows the present configuration to be differentiated into a pure icy mantle, several tens of km thick, overlying a rocky core, composed of dehydrated rock at the center and hydrated rock in the outer part. For Enceladus, it predicts a higher rock/ice mass ratio than previously assumed and a thinner ice mantle, compatible with recent estimates based on gravity field measurements. Although, obviously, the model cannot be used to explain local phenomena, it sheds light on the internal structure invoked in explanations of localized features and activities.

Growth and evolution of satellites in a Jovian massive disc

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moraes, R. A.; Kley, W.; Vieira Neto, E.

2018-03-01

The formation of satellite systems in circum-planetary discs is considered to be similar to the formation of rocky planets in a proto-planetary disc, especially super-Earths. Thus, it is possible to use systems with large satellites to test formation theories that are also applicable to extrasolar planets. Furthermore, a better understanding of the origin of satellites might yield important information about the environment near the growing planet during the last stages of planet formation. In this work, we investigate the formation and migration of the Jovian satellites through N-body simulations. We simulated a massive, static, low-viscosity, circum-planetary disc in agreement with the minimum mass sub-nebula model prescriptions for its total mass. In hydrodynamic simulations, we found no signs of gaps, therefore type II migration is not expected. Hence, we used analytic prescriptions for type I migration, eccentricity and inclination damping, and performed N-body simulations with damping forces added. Detailed parameter studies showed that the number of final satellites is strong influenced by the initial distribution of embryos, the disc temperature, and the initial gas density profile. For steeper initial density profiles, it is possible to form systems with multiple satellites in resonance while a flatter profile favours the formation of satellites close to the region of the Galilean satellites. We show that the formation of massive satellites such as Ganymede and Callisto can be achieved for hotter discs with an aspect ratio of H/r ˜ 0.15 for which the ice line was located around 30RJ.

Shock vaporization and the accretion of the icy satellites of Jupiter and Saturn

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ahrens, T. J.; Okeefe, J. D.

1984-01-01

The role of impact vaporization acting during the formation of the Jovian and Saturnian satellites is examined in an attempt to explain the observed density in terms of composition of these rock and ice objects. A hypothesis is examined which states that the smaller satellites of Saturn having mean densities in the 1.1 to 1.4 Mg/cu m range represent primordial accreted planetesimal condensates formed in the proto-Jovian and Saturnian accretionary planetary discs. These densities are in the range expected for water-ice/silicate mixtures constrained in the solar values of O/Si and O/Mg atomic ratios. It is demonstrated that if the large satellites accreted from the same group of planetesimals which formed the small Saturnian satellites impact vaporization of water upon accretion in a porous regolith, at low H2O partial pressure, can account for the increase in mean planetesimal density from 1.6 Mg/cu m (43% H2O + 57% silicate) to a mean planetary density of 1.9 Mg/cu m for Ganymedean-sized water silicate objects. If impact volatilization of initially porous planetesimals is assumed, it can be demonstrated starting with planetesimals composed of 54% H2O and 40% silicate partial devolatilization upon accretion will yield a Ganymede-sized planet, having a radius of 2600 km and a density of 1.85 kg/cu m, similar to that of Ganymede, Callisto, and Titan.

JUICE: a European mission to the Jovian system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Titov, Dmitrij; Dougherty, Michele K.; Wahlund, Jan-Erik; Barabash, Stas; Palumbo, Pasquale; Iess, Luciano; Piccioni, Giuseppe; Hussmann, Hauke; Langevin, Yves; Jaumann, Ralf; Altobelli, Nicolas; Fletcher, Leigh; Gurvits, Leonid; Gladstone, Randy; Erd, Christian; Hartogh, Paul; Bruzz, Lorenzo

JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) will perform detailed investigations of Jupiter and its system with particular emphasis on Ganymede as a planetary body and potential habitat. The overarching theme for JUICE is: The emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants. At Ganymede, the mission will characterize in detail the ocean layers; provide topographical, geological and compositional mapping of the surface; study the physical properties of the icy crusts; characterize the internal mass distribution, investigate the exosphere; study Ganymede’s intrinsic magnetic field and its interactions with the Jovian magnetosphere. For Europa, the focus will be on the non-ice chemistry, understanding the formation of surface features and subsurface sounding of the icy crust over recently active regions. Callisto will be explored as a witness of the early solar system. JUICE will perform a multidisciplinary investigation of the Jupiter system as an archetype for gas giants. The circulation, meteorology, chemistry and structure of the Jovian atmosphere will be studied from the cloud tops to the thermosphere. The focus in Jupiter’s magnetosphere will include an investigation of the three dimensional properties of the magnetodisc and in-depth study of the coupling processes within the magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere. Aurora and radio emissions will be elucidated. JUICE will study the moons’ interactions with the magnetosphere, gravitational coupling and long-term tidal evolution of the Galilean satellites. JUICE highly capable scientific payload includes 10 state-of-the-art instruments onboard the spacecraft plus one experiment that uses the spacecraft telecommunication system with ground-based radio telescopes. The remote sensing package includes a high-resolution multi-band visible imager (JANUS) and spectro-imaging capabilities from the ultraviolet to the sub-millimetre wavelengths (MAJIS, UVS, SWI). A geophysical package consists of a laser altimeter (GALA

Polymerization of Building Blocks of Life on Europa and Other Icy Moons

PubMed Central

Kitadai, Norio

2015-01-01

Abstract The outer Solar System may provide a potential habitat for extraterrestrial life. Remote sensing data from the Galileo spacecraft suggest that the jovian icy moons—Europa, Ganymede, and possibly Callisto—may harbor liquid water oceans underneath their icy crusts. Although compositional information required for the discussion of habitability is limited because of significantly restricted observation data, organic molecules are ubiquitous in the Universe. Recently, in situ spacecraft measurements and experiments suggest that amino acids can be formed abiotically on interstellar ices and comets. These amino acids could be continuously delivered by meteorite or comet impacts to icy moons. Here, we show that polymerization of organic monomers, in particular amino acids and nucleotides, could proceed spontaneously in the cold environment of icy moons, in particular the jovian icy moon Europa as a typical example, based on thermodynamic calculations, though kinetics of formation are not addressed. Observed surface temperature on Europa is 120 and 80 K in the equatorial region and polar region, respectively. At such low temperatures, Gibbs energies of polymerization become negative, and the estimated thermal structure of the icy crust should contain a shallow region (i.e., at a depth of only a few kilometers) favorable for polymerization. Investigation of the possibility of organic monomer polymerization on icy moons could provide good constraints on the origin and early evolution of extraterrestrial life. Key Words: Planetary science—Europa—Planetary habitability and biosignatures—Extraterrestrial life—Extraterrestrial organic compounds. Astrobiology 15, 430–441. PMID:26060981

A Radiation Hard Multi-Channel Digitizer ASIC for Operation in the Harsh Jovian Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aslam, Shahid; Aslam, S.; Akturk, A.; Quilligan, G.

2011-01-01

In 1995, the Galileo spacecraft arrived at Jupiter to conduct follow-up experiments on pathfinder Pioneer and key Voyager discoveries especially at Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. These new observations helped expand our scientific knowledge of the prominent Galilean satellites; studies revealed diversity with respect to their geology, internal structure, evolution and degree of past and present activity. Jupiter's diverse Galilean satellites, of which three are believed to harbor internal oceans, are central to understanding the habitability of icy worlds. Galileo provided for the first time compelling evidence of a near-surface global ocean on Europa. Furthermore, by understanding the Jupiter system and unraveling the history of its evolution from initial formation to the emergence of possible habitats and life, gives insight into how giant planets and their satellite systems form and evolve. Most important, new light is shed on the potential for the emergence and existence of life in icy satellite oceans. In 2009, NASA released a detailed Jupiter Europa Mission Study (EJSM) that proposed an ambitious Flagship Mission to understand more fully the satellites Europa and Ganymede within the context of the Jovian system. Key to EJSM is the NASA led Jupiter Europa Orbiter (JEO) and the ESA led Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter (JGO). JEO and JGO would execute a choreographed exploration of the Jovian system before settling into orbit around Europa and Ganymede, respectively. The National Academies Planetary Decadal Survey, 2011 has listed the NASA-led JEO as the second highest priority mission for the decade 2013-2022, and if chosen it would be launched in 2020 with arrival at Jupiter in 2025. If the JEO mission is not chosen it is anticipated that there will be opportunities in future decadal cycles. Jupiter Orbit Insertion (JOI) begins a 30-month Jovian system tour followed by nine months of science mapping after Europa Orbit Insertion (EOI) in July 2028. The orbiter will

JANUS: the visible camera onboard the ESA JUICE mission to the Jovian system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palumbo, Pasquale; Jaumann, Ralf; Cremonese, Gabriele; Hoffmann, Harald; Debei, Stefano; Della Corte, Vincenzo; Holland, Andrew; Lara, Luisa Maria

2014-05-01

The JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) mission [1] was selected in May 2012 as the first Large mission in the frame of the ESA Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program. JUICE is now in phase A-B1 and its final adoption is planned by late 2014. The mission is aimed at an in-depth characterization of the Jovian system, with an operational phase of about 3.5 years. Main targets for this mission will be Jupiter, its satellites and rings and the complex relations within the system. Main focus will be on the detailed investigation of three of Jupiter's Galilean satellites (Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto), thanks to several fly-bys and 9 months in orbit around Ganymede. JANUS (Jovis, Amorum ac Natorum Undique Scrutator) is the camera system selected by ESA to fulfill the optical imaging scientific requirements of JUICE. It is being developed by a consortium involving institutes in Italy, Germany, Spain and UK, supported by respective Space Agencies, with the support of Co-Investigators also from USA, France, Japan and Israel. The Galilean satellites Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto show an increase in geologic activity with decreasing distance to Jupiter [e.g., 2]. The three icy Galilean satellites Callisto, Ganymede and Europa show a tremendous diversity of surface features and differ significantly in their specific evolutionary paths. Each of these moons exhibits its own fascinating geologic history - formed by competition and also combination of external and internal processes. Their origins and evolutions are influenced by factors such as density, temperature, composition (volatile compounds), stage of differentiation, volcanism, tectonism, the rheological reaction of ice and salts to stress, tidal effects, and interactions with the Jovian magnetosphere and space. These interactions are still recorded in the present surface geology. The record of geological processes spans from possible cryovolcanism through widespread tectonism to surface degradation and impact cratering

Compositional Analyses and Implications of Visible/Near-Infrared Spectra of Outer Irregular Jovian Satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vilas, Faith; Hendrix, Amanda

2017-10-01

The existence of a visible-near infrared absorption feature attributed to aqueous alteration products has been suggested in both grey and reddened broadband photometry of some outer irregular jovian satellites. Moderate resolution VNIR narrowband spectroscopy was obtained of the jovian irregular satellites JVI Himalia, JVII Elara, JVIII Pasiphae, JIX Sinope, JX Lysithea, JXI Carme, JXII Ananke and JXVII Callirrhoe in 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010 using the MMT Observatory facility Red Channel spectrograph to confirm the presence of this feature. The spectra are centered near 0.64 μm in order to cover the 0.7-μm feature entirely (generally ranging from 0.57 to 0.83 μm). The spectra generally have a dispersion/element of ~0.6 nm (6Å) some spectra are smoothed. These spectra sample three prograde (i = 28o), four retrograde (i = 149o, 165o) and one independent satellite.We observe these findings among the spectra:- An absorption feature centered near 0.7 µm exists in the spectra of the three prograde (i = 28o) satellites. This feature is spectrally broader than the 0.7-µm feature observed in C-complex asteroids. None appears spectrally reddened. This suggests that these prograde satellites have a common parent body.- A different absorption feature appears in the spectra of the three retrograde (i = 149o) satellites, also suggesting a common parent body. Varying reddening is observed. This feature is similar in spectral location and width to the 0.7-µm feature.- Reddening is observed in the individual observation of JXI Carme (i = 165o), and independent satellite JIX Sinope, similar to the D-class asteroid spectra dominating the Trojan population. A suggested absorption feature is being investigated.Mixing modeling of combinations of both expected and proposed compositions including carbonaceous materials, phyllosilicates, mafic silicates, and other opaque materials, is currently underway. Results will be reported and discussed at the meeting.Acknowledgments: The

Cratering at the Icy Satellites: Experimental Insights

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bruck Syal, M.; Schultz, P. H.

2013-12-01

Impact cratering processes play a central role in shaping the evolution of icy satellites and in guiding interpretations of various geologic features at these bodies. Accurate reconstruction of icy satellite histories depends in large part upon observed impact crater size-frequency distributions. Determining the extent of impact-induced thermal processing and the retention rates for impact-delivered materials of interest, e.g. organics, at these outer solar system moons is of fundamental importance for assessing their habitability and explaining differing geophysical histories. Hence, knowledge of how the impact process operates in ices or ice-rich materials is critically important. Recent progress in the development of water equations of state, coupled with increasingly efficient 3-D hydrocode calculations, has been used to construct careful numerical studies of melt and vapor generation for water ice targets. Complementary to this approach is experimental work to constrain the effects of differing ice target conditions, including porosity, rock mass fraction, and impact angle. Here we report on results from hypervelocity impact experiments (v~5.5 km/s) into water ice targets, performed at the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range (AVGR). The setup at the AVGR allows for the use of particulate targets, which is useful for examining the effects of target porosity. Photometry and geophysical modeling both suggest that regolith porosity at the icy satellites is significant. We use a combination of half-space and quarter-space geometries, enabling analysis of the impact-generated vapor plume (half-space geometry), along with shock wave and transient crater growth tracking in a cross-sectional view (quarter-space geometry). Evaluating the impact-generated vapor from porous (φ = 0.5) and non-porous water ice targets provides an extension to previously published vapor production results for dolomite and CO2 ice targets. For the case of a 90 degree impact into porous ice, we

Generation and Similarity of the Jovian Satellite Footprints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonfond, B.

2017-12-01

A long chain of processes connects the satellite auroral footprints to the moon-magnetosphere interaction from which they originate. These processes include Alfvén waves' generation, filamentation, reflection, and bi-directional electron acceleration. The Io footprint is the most studied auroral footprint, because it is both the brightest one and the most isolated from other auroral emissions. It is made of at least three separate spots and an extended tail in the downstream direction. Early detections of the Europa and Ganymede footprints only identified single spots for these footprints, but re-analysis of the large dataset of Hubble Space Telescope images of the Jovian aurorae showed that they can also be made of multiple spots and display a tail. Moreover, the relative motion of these spots as a function of the location of the satellite is consistent with previous observations of the Io footprint, indicating that this dynamics corresponds to universal processes. Furthermore, a number of recent studies focused on the evolution of the brightness of these spots, with timescales ranging from minutes to days, and the signification of these changes will be reviewed. Finally, a discussion of the theoretical models explaining the footprint tails and their properties will be provided.

Physical Conditions and Exobiology Potential of Icy Satellites of the Giant Planets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simakov, M. B.

2017-05-01

All giant planets of the Solar system have a big number of satellites. A small part of them consist very large bodies, quite comparable to planets of terrestrial type, but including very significant share of water ice. Galileo spacecraft has given indications, primarily from magnetometer and gravity data, of the possibility that three of Jupiter's four large moons, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto have internal oceans. Formation of such satellites is a natural phenomenon, and satellite systems definitely should exist at extrasolar planets. The most recent models of the icy satellites interior lead to the conclusion that a substantial liquid layer exists today under relatively thin ice cover inside. The putative internal water ocean provide some exobiological niches on these bodies. We can see all conditions needed for origin and evolution of biosphere - liquid water, complex organic chemistry and energy sources for support of biological processes - are on the moons. The existing of liquid water ocean within icy world can be consequences of the physical properties of water ice, and they neither require the addition of antifreeze substances nor any other special conditions. On Earth life exists in all niches where water exists in liquid form for at least a portion of the year. Possible metabolic processes, such as nitrate/nitrite reduction, sulfate reduction and methanogenesis could be suggested for internal oceans of Titan and Jovanian satellites. Excreted products of the primary chemoautotrophic organisms could serve as a source for other types of microorganisms (heterotrophes). Subglacial life may be widespread among such planetary bodies as satellites of extrasolar giant planets, detected in our Galaxy.

Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer: mission status after the Definition Phase

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Titov, Dmitri; Barabash, Stas; Bruzzone, Lorenzo; Dougherty, Michele; Erd, Christian; Fletcher, Leigh; Gare, Philippe; Gladstone, Randall; Grasset, Olivier; Gurvits, Leonid; Hartogh, Paul; Hussmann, Hauke; Iess, Luciano; Jaumann, Ralf; Langevin, Yves; Palumbo, Pasquale; Piccioni, Giuseppe; Sarri, Giuseppe; Wahlund, Jan-Erik; Witasse, Olivier

2015-04-01

JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE), the ESA first large-class mission within the Cosmic Vision Program 2015-2025, was adopted in November 2014. The mission will perform detailed investigations of Jupiter and its system with particular emphasis on Ganymede as a planetary body and potential habitat. The overarching theme for JUICE is: The emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants. At Ganymede, the mission will characterize in detail the ocean layers; provide topographical, geological and compositional mapping of the surface; study the physical properties of the icy crusts; characterize the internal mass distribution, investigate the exosphere; study Ganymede's intrinsic magnetic field and its interactions with the Jovian magnetosphere. For Europa, the focus will be on the non-ice chemistry, understanding the formation of surface features and subsurface sounding of the icy crust over recently active regions. Callisto will be explored as a witness of the early solar system. JUICE will perform a multidisciplinary investigation of the Jupiter system as an archetype for gas giants. The circulation, meteorology, chemistry and structure of the Jovian atmosphere will be studied from the cloud tops to the thermosphere. The focus in Jupiter's magnetosphere will include an investigation of the three dimensional properties of the magnetodisc and in-depth study of the coupling processes within the magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere. Aurora and radio emissions will be elucidated. JUICE will study the moons' interactions with the magnetosphere, gravitational coupling and long-term tidal evolution of the Galilean satellites. JUICE highly capable scientific payload includes 10 state-of-the-art instruments onboard the spacecraft plus one experiment that uses the spacecraft telecommunication system with ground-based radio telescopes. The remote sensing package includes a high-resolution multi-band visible imager (JANUS) and spectro-imaging capabilities from the

Similarity of the Jovian satellite footprints: Spots multiplicity and dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonfond, B.; Grodent, D.; Badman, S. V.; Saur, J.; Gérard, J.-C.; Radioti, A.

2017-08-01

In the magnetospheres of Jupiter and Saturn, the intense interaction of the satellites Io, Europa, Ganymede and Enceladus with their surrounding plasma environment leaves a signature in the aurora of the planet. Called satellite footprints, these auroral features appear either as a single spot (Europa and Enceladus) or as multiple spots (Io and Ganymede). Moreover, they can be followed by extended trailing tails in the case of Io and Europa, while no tail has been reported for Ganymede and Enceladus, yet. Here we show that all Jovian footprints can be made of several spots. Furthermore, the footprints all experience brightness variations on timescale of 2-3 min. We also demonstrate that the satellite location relative to the plasma sheet is not the only driver for the footprint brightness, but that the plasma environment and the magnetic field strength also play a role. These new findings demonstrate that the Europa and Ganymede footprints are very similar to the Io footprint. As a consequence, the processes expected to take place at Io, such as the bi-directional electron acceleration by Alfvén waves or the partial reflection of these waves on plasma density gradients, can most likely be extended to the other footprints, suggesting that they are indeed universal processes.

Convection in Icy Satellites: Implications for Habitability and Planetary Protection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barr, A. C.; Pappalardo, R. T.

2004-01-01

Solid-state convection and endogenic resurfacing in the outer ice shells of the icy Galilean satellites (especially Europa) may contribute to the habitability of their internal oceans and to the detectability of any biospheres by spacecraft. If convection occurs in an ice I layer, fluid motions are confined beneath a thick stagnant lid of cold, immobile ice that is too stiff to participate in convection. The thickness of the stagnant lid varies from 30 to 50% of the total thickness of the ice shell, depending on the grain size of ice. Upward convective motions deliver approximately 10(exp 9) to 10(exp 13) kg yr(sup -1) of ice to the base of the stagnant lid, where resurfacing events driven by compositional or tidal effects (such as the formation of domes or ridges on Europa, or formation of grooved terrain on Ganymede) may deliver materials from the stagnant lid onto the surface. Conversely, downward convective motions deliver the same mass of ice from the base of the stagnant lid to the bottom of the satellites ice shells. Materials from the satellites surfaces may be delivered to their oceans by downward convective motions if material from the surface can reach the base of the stagnant lid during resurfacing events. Triggering convection from an initially conductive ice shell requires modest amplitude (a few to tens of kelvins) temperature anomalies to soften the ice to permit convection, which may require tidal heating. Therefore, tidal heating, compositional buoyancy, and solid-state convection in combination may be required to permit mass transport between the surfaces and oceans of icy satellites. Callisto and probably Ganymede have thick stagnant lids with geologically inactive surfaces today, so forward contamination of their surfaces is not a significant issue. Active convection and breaching of the stagnant lid is a possibility on Europa today, so is of relevance to planetary protection policy.

10 years of mapping the icy saturnian satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roatsch, Thomas; Kersten, Elke; Matz, Klaus-Dieter; Porco, Carolyn

2014-05-01

The Cassini spacecraft started its tour through the Saturnian system in July 2004. The Imaging Science Subsystem onboard the orbiter con-sists of a high-resolution Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) with a focal length of 2000 mm and a Wide Angle Camera (WAC) with a focal length of 200 mm [1]. One of the main objectives of the Cassini mission is to investigate the icy Saturnian satellites. These satellites were imaged in many flybys during the no-minal mission between 2004 and 2008. The imaging campaign continued during the first extended mission (''Equinox mission'') between 2008 and 2010 and continues during the current second extended mission (''Solstice mission''). It is now possible to image also the Northern parts of the Icy satellites which were not illuminated during the nominal mission. Mosaicking: The image data processing chain con-sists of the same steps as described in [2]: radiometric calibration, geometric correction, map projection, and mosaicking. Spacecraft position and camera pointing data are available in the form of SPICE kernels (http://naif.jpl.nasa.gov). While the orbit information is sufficiently accurate to be used directly for mapping purposes, the pointing information must be corrected using limb fits (semi-controlled mosaics) or by photo-grammetric bundle adjustment (controlled mosaics). The coordinate system adopted by the Cassini mis-sion for satellite mapping is the IAU ''planetographic'' system, consisting of planetographic latitude and posi-tive West longitude. The surface position of the prime meridian as defined by the IAU cartography working group [3] is defined by small craters. New values for the rotational parameter W0 which defines the location of the prime meridian at January 1, 2000 were calcula-ted based on the high-resolution mosaics to be consis-tent with this definition [4] and approved by the IAU [3]. Cartographic maps: Three different quadrangle schemes were used for the generation of the maps and the atlases [5]: • A

Descent with Modification: Thermal Reactions of Subsurface H2O2 of Relevance to Icy Satellites and Other Small Bodies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hudson, Reggie L.; Loefler, Mark J.

2012-01-01

Laboratory experiments have demonstrated that magnetospheric radiation in the Jovian system drives reaction chemistry in ices at temperatures relevant to Europa and other icy satellites. Similarly, cosmic radiation (mainly protons) acting on cometary and interstellar ices can promote extensive chemical change. Among the products that have been identified in irradiated H20-ice is hydrogen peroxide (H202), which has been observed on Europa and is suspected on other worlds. Although the infrared spectra and radiation chemistry of H2O2-containing ices are well documented, the thermally-induced solid-phase chemistry of H2O2 is largely unknown. Therefore, in this presentation we report new laboratory results on reactions at 50 - 130 K in ices containing H2O2 and other molecules, both in the presence and absence of H2O. As an example of our results, we find that warming H2O + H2O2 + SO2 ices promotes SO2 oxidation to SO4(2-). We suspect that such redox chemistry may explain some of the observations related to the presence and distribution of H2O2 across Europa's surface as well as the lack of H2O2 on Ganymede and Callisto. If other molecules prove to be just as reactive with frozen H2O2 then it may explain why H2O2 has been absent from surfaces of many of the small icy bodies that are known to be exposed to ionizing radiation. Our results also have implications for the survival of H2O2 as it descends towards a subsurface ocean on Europa.

Laboratory Reference Spectroscopy of Icy Satellite Candidate Surface Materials (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dalton, J. B.; Jamieson, C. S.; Shirley, J. H.; Pitman, K. M.; Kariya, M.; Crandall, P.

2013-12-01

The bulk of our knowledge of icy satellite composition continues to be derived from ultraviolet, visible and infrared remote sensing observations. Interpretation of remote sensing observations relies on availability of laboratory reference spectra of candidate surface materials. These are compared directly to observations, or incorporated into models to generate synthetic spectra representing mixtures of the candidate materials. Spectral measurements for the study of icy satellites must be taken under appropriate conditions (cf. Dalton, 2010; also http://mos.seti.org/icyworldspectra.html for a database of compounds) of temperature (typically 50 to 150 K), pressure (from 10-9 to 10-3 Torr), viewing geometry, (i.e., reflectance), and optical depth (must manifest near infrared bands but avoid saturation in the mid-infrared fundamentals). The Planetary Ice Characterization Laboratory (PICL) is being developed at JPL to provide robust reference spectra for icy satellite surface materials. These include sulfate hydrates, hydrated and hydroxylated minerals, and both organic and inorganic volatile ices. Spectral measurements are performed using an Analytical Spectral Devices FR3 portable grating spectrometer from .35 to 2.5 microns, and a Thermo-Nicolet 6500 Fourier-Transform InfraRed (FTIR) spectrometer from 1.25 to 20 microns. These are interfaced with the Basic Extraterrestrial Environment Simulation Testbed (BEEST), a vacuum chamber capable of pressures below 10-9 Torr with a closed loop liquid helium cryostat with custom heating element capable of temperatures from 30-800 Kelvins. To generate optical constants (real and imaginary index of refraction) for use in nonlinear mixing models (i.e., Hapke, 1981 and Shkuratov, 1999), samples are ground and sieved to six different size fractions or deposited at varying rates to provide a range of grain sizes for optical constants calculations based on subtractive Kramers-Kronig combined with Hapke forward modeling (Dalton and

Large Impact Features on Saturn's Middle-sized Icy Satellites: Global Image Mosaics and Topography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schenk, P. M.; Moore, J. M.; McKinnon, W. B.

2003-01-01

With the approach of Cassini to the Saturn system, attention naturally focuses on the planet, its rings and Titan, but the Saturn system is also populated by a number of smaller satellites. The seven middle-sized icy satellites, along with those of Uranus, (between 400 and 1500 km wide) are distinctly different geophysically and geologically from their much larger Galilean-class brethren [e.g., 1]. Topographic mapping of these bodies is a critical part of understanding their geologic evolution. Here we describe our recent efforts to map the topography of these satellites using Voyager data.

Laboratory studies on the rheology of cryogenic slurries with implications for icy satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carey, Elizabeth; Mitchell, Karl; Choukroun, Mathieu; Zhong, Fang

2015-04-01

Interpretation of Cassini RADAR and VIMS data has suggested some landforms on Titan may be due to effusive cryovolcanic processes that created cones, craters and flows. High-resolution Voyager 2 images of Triton also show strong evidence of cryovolcanic features. Fundamental to modeling of cryovolcanic features is the understanding of the rheological properties of cryogenic icy slurries in a thermodynamic and fluid mechanical context, i.e., how they deform and flow or stall under an applied stress. A series of measurements were performed on methanol-water mixtures and ammonia-water mixtures. We measured the rheology of the slurries as a function of temperature and strain rate, which revealed development of yield stress-like behaviors, shear-rate dependence, and thixotropic behavior, even at relatively low crystal fractions. Visualization of icy slurries supports the current hypothesis that crystallization dominates rheological properties. We shall discuss these findings and their implications for cryovolcanism on icy satellites.

Large Impact Features on Saturn's Middle-sized Icy Satellites: Global Image Mosaics and Topography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schenk, P. M.; Moore, J. M.; McKinnon, W. B.

2003-03-01

New topographic maps of Saturn's middle-sized icy satellites derived from stereo imaging and 2D photoclinometry provide a sneak peak at the surprises in store when Cassini arrives at Saturn. We reexamine the morphology of large impact craters and describe their relaxation state.

The Jovian Electron and Ion Spectrometer (JEI) for the JUICE mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fränz, M.; Bührke, U.; Ferreira, P.; Fischer, H.; Heumüller, P.; Krupp, N.; Kühne, W.; Roussos, E.

2017-09-01

The magnetosphere of Jupiter is apart from the Sun the strongest source of charged particles in the Solar system. The interaction of these particles with the exospheres of the Jovian moons forms one of the most complex plasma laboratories encountered by human space flight. For this reason the plasma analyzer package forms a crucial experiment of the Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE). As part of the Plasma Environment Package (PEP) we here describe a combined electron and ion spectrometer which is able to measure the electron and ion distribution functions in the energy range 1 to 50000 eV with high sensitivity and time resolution. This instrument is called the Jovian Electron and Ion Analyzer, JEI.

The sub-Alfvénic interaction of the Galilean satellites with the Jovian magnetosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neubauer, Fritz M.

1998-09-01

Recent observations by the Galileo spacecraft and Earth-based techniques have motivated us to reconsider the sub-Alfvénic interaction between the Galilean satellites of Jupiter and the magnetosphere. (1) We show that the atomic processes causing the interaction between the magnetoplasma and a neutral atmosphere can be described by generalized collision frequencies with contributions from elastic collisions, ion pickup, etc. Thus there is no fundamental difference in the effect of these processes on the plasma dynamics claimed in the recent literature. For a magnetic field configuration including possible internal fields, we show that the sub-Alfvénic, low-beta interaction can be described by an anisotropically conducting atmosphere joined to an Alfvén wing as one extreme case and the Jovian ionosphere as the other extreme case. (2) The addition of a small magnetic field of internal origin does not modify the general Alfvén wing model qualitatively but only quantitatively. All magnetic moments discussed in the literature for Io are small in this sense. For an aligned internal dipole and ambient Jovian magnetic field the interaction will be enhanced by focusing of the electric field. (3) A qualitative change occurs by the additional occurrence of closed magnetic field lines for larger internal magnetic fields as in the case of Ganymede. Here the focusing is even enhanced. (4) The first discussion of nonstationary plasma flows at the satellites shows that electromagnetically induced magnetic fields may play an important role if the satellite interiors are highly conducting. From the point of view of the external excitation, induction effects may be strong for Callisto, Io, Europa, and Ganymede in order of decreasing importance. The magnetic field observations at the first Callisto encounter can be explained by these effects.

Europa's Icy Shell: A Bridge Between Its Surface and Ocean

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schenk, Paul; Mimmo, Francis; Prockter, Louise

2004-01-01

Europa, a Moon-sized, ice-covered satellite of Jupiter, is second only to Mars in its astrobiological potential. Beneath the icy surface, an ocean up to 150 km deep is thought to exist, providing a potential habitat for life,and a tempting target for future space missions. The Galileo mission to the Jovian system recently ended, but there are already long-range plans to send much more capable spacecraft,such as the proposed Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO), to take a closer look at Europa and her siblings, Ganymede and Callisto, some time in the next two decades. Europak outer icy shell is the only interface between this putative ocean and the surface, but many aspects of this shell are presently poorly understood; in particular, its composition, thickness, deformational history, and mechanical properties. To discuss the ice shell and our current understanding of it, 78 scientists from the terrestrial and planetary science communities in the United States and Europe gathered for a 3-day workshop hosted by the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston in February. A key goal was to bring researchers from disparate disciplines together to discuss the importance and limitations of available data on Europa with a post-Galileo perspective. The workshop featured 2 days of reviews and contributed talks on the composition, physical properties, stratigraphy, tectonics, and future exploration of the ice shell and underlying ocean. The final morning included an extended discussion period, moderated by a panel of noted experts, highlighting outstanding questions and areas requiring future research.

Phase behavior and thermodynamic modeling of ices - implications for the geophysics of icy satellites. (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choukroun, M.

2010-12-01

Ground-based observations and space missions to the outer Solar System (Voyager, Galileo, Cassini-Huygens) have evidenced recent geologic activity on many satellites of the giant planets. The diversity in surface expression of these icy moons’ activity is striking: from a scarred and young surface on Europa,1 with hydrated salts that may originate from a liquid layer buried at depth,2 to the South Polar plumes of Enceladus,3 where water ice particles are expelled along with a myriad of more complex molecules,4 to Titan, largest satellite of Saturn, with a dense atmosphere and a hydrocarbon cycle similar to the hydrological cycle on Earth.5 Large icy moons, i.e. with a radius greater than 500 km, share two particularities: a high content in water (on the order of a 30-70% bulk composition), and an interior segregated between a water-dominated mantle and a silicate-dominated core. The many forms water may have beneath the surface (ice polymorphs, liquid, hydrated compounds) bear a crucial role in the detected or alleged activity, and in the potential for astrobiological relevance. Indeed, any endogenic activity can only be approached through geophysical modelling of the internal structure and the thermal evolution. Current internal structure models for the icy moonse.g.,6 rely mainly on the contribution of each internal layer to the moment of inertia, generating non-unique solutions due to the large variability in density of H2O-bearing phases. Thermal evolution models,e.g.,7 can help constrain further the internal structure and geophysical activity, by starting with a given initial composition and state and investigating the thickening of icy layers through time. However, such models require both observational datasets and a precise description, as a function of pressure, temperature, and composition, of the thermophysical properties of the individual layers. Over the past century, experimental studies have provided a comprehensive view of the phase diagram of

The ammonia-water system and the chemical differentiation of icy satellites

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hogenboom, D.L.; Kargel, J.S.; Consolmagno, G.J.; Holden, T.C.; Lee, L.; Buyyounouski, M.

1997-01-01

We report the discovery of the first high-pressure polymorphs of ammonia hydrates: ammonia monohydrate II and ammonia dihydrate II. The subsolidus transitions and melting curves of these substances are shown by their volume-temperature functions; uncalibrated calorimetry corroborates these phase changes. From 20 to 300 MPa ammonia dihydrate and ice melt at a eutectic to form water-rich liquids; at lower and higher pressures, ammonia dihydrate melts incongruently to ammonia-rich liquids. The new data are consistent with independently known thermodynamic parameters of the ammonia-water system. These results fill in an important region of pressure-temperature space not previously studied; a body of previous data reported by other investigators covers a complementary region (higher pressures), but in the light of the new data those earlier results now appear to have been misinterpreted. We show that a suitable reinterpretation of the previous data supports the identification of at least one high-pressure polymorph of each compound. The behavior of the system H2O-NH3in many ways follows that of MgO-SiO2, and the roles of ammonia-water in icy satellite evolution may parallel those of magnesium silicates in Earth's structure, volcanism, and deep mantle tectonism. Pressure-related effects, including a pressure influence on the ammonia content of cryomagmas, might be significant in determining some potentially observable aspects of cryovolcanic morphologies, surface compositions, and interior structures of icy satellites. ?? 1997 Academic Press.

JUICE: a European mission to Jupiter and its icy moons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Titov, D.; Erd, C.; Duvet, L.; Wielders, A.; Torralba-Elipe, I.; Altobelli, N.

2013-09-01

JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) is the first L-class mission selected for the ESA's Cosmic Vision programme 2015-2025 which has just entered the definition phase. JUICE will perform detailed investigations of Jupiter and its system in all their inter-relations and complexity with particular emphasis on Ganymede as a planetary body and potential habitat. Investigations of Europa and Callisto will complete a comparative picture of the Galilean moons. By performing detailed investigations of Jupiter's system, JUICE will address in depth two key questions of the ESA's Cosmic Vision programme: (1) What are the conditions for planet formation and the emergence of life? and (2) How does the Solar System work? The overarching theme for JUICE has been formulated as: The emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants. At Ganymede the mission will characterize in detail the ocean layers; provide topographical, geological and compositional mapping of the surface; study the physical properties of the icy crusts; characterize the internal mass distribution, investigate the exosphere; study Ganymede's intrinsic magnetic field and its interactions with the Jovian magnetosphere. For Europa, the focus will be on the non-ice chemistry, understanding the formation of surface features and subsurface sounding of the icy crust over recently active regions. Callisto will be explored as a witness of the early solar system. JUICE will perform a comprehensive multidisciplinary investigation of the Jupiter system as an archetype for gas giants including exoplanets. The circulation, meteorology, chemistry and structure of the Jovian atmosphere will be studied from the cloud tops to the thermosphere. The focus in Jupiter's magnetosphere will include an investigation of the three dimensional properties of the magnetodisc and in-depth study of the coupling processes within the magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere. Aurora and radio emissions and their response to the solar wind will be

Estimation of a melting probe's penetration velocity range to reach icy moons' subsurface ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erokhina, Olga; Chumachenko, Eugene

2014-05-01

In modern space science one of the actual branches is icy satellites explorations. The main interest is concentrated around Jovian's moons Europa and Ganymede, Saturn's moons Titan and Enceladus that are covered by thick icy layer according to "Voyager1", "Voyager2", "Galileo" and "Cassini" missions. There is a big possibility that under icy shell could be a deep ocean. Also conditions on these satellites allow speculating about possible habitability, and considering these moons from an astrobiological point of view. One of the possible tasks of planned missions is a subsurface study. For this goal it is necessary to design special equipment that could be suitable for planetary application. One of the possible means is to use a melting probe which operates by melting and moves by gravitational force. Such a probe should be relatively small, should not weight too much and should require not too much energy. In terrestrial case such kind of probe has been successfully used for glaciers study. And it is possible to extrapolate the usage of such probe to extraterrestrial application. One of the tasks is to estimate melting probe's penetration velocity. Although there are other unsolved problems such as analyzing how the probe will move in low gravity and low atmospheric pressure; knowing whether hole will be closed or not when probe penetrate thick enough; and considering what order could be a penetration velocity. This study explores two techniques of melting probe's movement. One of them based on elasto-plastic theory and so-called "solid water" theory, and other one takes phase changing into account. These two techniques allow estimating melting probe's velocity range and study whole process. Based on these technique several cases of melting probe movement were considered, melting probe's velocity range estimated, influence of different factors studied and discussed and an easy way to optimize parameters of the melting probe proposed.

Ionospheres of outer planet satellites: The legacy of Galileo and the promise of Cassini

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kliore, A. J.; Nagy, A. F.

The Galileo spacecraft was placed into orbit about Jupiter in 1995 and until the end of 2003 it has provided multiple opportunities for the study of the plasma environments of the icy Galilean satellites Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto by means of radio occultation of its S-band (13.5 cm. wavelength) signal. There have been four occultations each by Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto that have provided useful data, in addition to five occultations by the volcanic satellite Io.. Analysis of these data revealed small excursions in the received frequency (of the order of 0.01 Hz, or about 4 parts in 1012), which indicated the presence of tenuous plasma above the surfaces of these bodies. When observed, the maximum electron densities range from about 5 to about 20 x 103 cm-3. The vertical structure of these plasma layers range from classical ionospheric profiles observed at Callisto on two occasions, to multi-peaked structures observed at Europa. On several occasions no discernible plasma was observed. These observations could be explained by a process in which a tenuous neutral atmosphere (about 1010 cm-3), consisting dissociation products of H2O, is created on the trailing hemisphere of the satellite by sputtering from the icy surface by energetic particles of the Jovian magnetosphere. If the trailing hemisphere is at that time also illuminated by the Sun, plasma is produced by photoionization, and is observed by radio occultation. The configuration of this plasma is, however, determined by its interaction with the corotating Jovian magnetospheric plasma, which under certain geometries would lead to the observation of multipeaked structures. The Cassini orbiter, which will be placed into orbit about Saturn in 2004 , will provide at least four occultations of Titan. In contrast to Galileo, Cassini has three downlink frequencies - in addition to s-band, it also has x-band (˜ 5.5 cm), and Ka-band (˜ 1 cm) downlinks, which will provide excellent data on Titan's ionosphere

Phase diagram for ammonia-water mixtures at high pressures - Implications for icy satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cynn, H. C.; Boone, S.; Koumvakalis, A.; Nicol, M.; Stevenson, D. J.

1989-01-01

The (NH3)x(H2O)1-x phase diagram for X from 0 to 0.50 has been reexamined at temperatures from 125 K to 400 K and at pressures from 6.0 GPa using diamond anvil cells, and the implications of the findings for icy satellites are addressed. Titan is likely to have a thicker NH3-H2O ocean than previously suspected, because the stability field of NH3-H2O is found to be smaller than previously supposed. The implications for methane and ammonia volcanism on Titan are briefly discussed. The experimentally observed reactivity between the liquid and iron may also have implications for planetary and satellite evolution.

Instrumentation for Testing Whether the Icy Moons of the Gas and Ice Giants Are Inhabited.

PubMed

Chela-Flores, Julian

2017-10-01

Evidence of life beyond Earth may be closer than we think, given that the forthcoming missions to the jovian system will be equipped with instruments capable of probing Europa's icy surface for possible biosignatures, including chemical biomarkers, despite the strong radiation environment. Geochemical biomarkers may also exist beyond Europa on icy moons of the gas giants. Sulfur is proposed as a reliable geochemical biomarker for approved and forthcoming missions to the outer solar system. Key Words: JUICE mission-Clipper mission-Geochemical biomarkers-Europa-Moons of the ice giants-Geochemistry-Mass spectrometry. Astrobiology 17, 958-961.

Medium-sized icy satellites in the outer solar system - differentiation due to radiogenic heating in Charon or the moons of Uranus?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Multhaup, K.; Spohn, T.

2007-08-01

A thermal history model developed for medium-sized icy satellites containing silicate rock at low volume fractions is applied to Charon and five satellites of Uranus. The model assumes stagnant lid convection in homogeneously accreted bodies either confined to a spherical shell or encompassing the whole interior below the immobile surface layer. We employ a simple model for accretion assuming that infalling planetesimals deposit a fraction of their kinetic energy as heat at the instantaneous surface of the growing moon. Rheology parameters are chosen to match those of ice I, although the satellites under consideration likely contain admixtures of lighter constituents. Consequences thereof are discussed. Thermal evolution calculations considering radiogenic heating by long-lived isotopes suggest that Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon and Charon may have started to differentiate after a few hundred million years of evolution. Results for Miranda - the smallest satellite of Uranus - however, indicate that it never convected or differentiated. Miranda's interior temperature was found to be not even close to the melting temperatures of reasonable mixtures of water and ammonia. This finding is in contrast to its heavily modified surface and supports theories that propose alternative heating mechanisms such as early tidal heating. Except for Miranda, our results lend support to differentiated icy satellite models. We also point out parallels to previously published results obtained for several of Saturn's icy satellites (Multhaup and Spohn, 2007). The predicted early histories of Ariel, Umbriel and Charon are evocative of Dione's and Rhea's, while Miranda's resembles that of Mimas.

Cassini radar and radiometry observations of Saturn's airless icy satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le Gall, A. A.; West, R.; Janssen, M. A.; Leyrat, C.; Bonnefoy, L.; Lellouch, E.

2017-12-01

The Cassini Radar is a multimode microwave sensor operating in the Ku-band, at a wavelength of 2.2 cm. While it was initially designed to examine the surface of Titan through the veil of its optically-opaque atmosphere, it is occasionally used to observe airless Saturn's moons from long ranges (>50 000 km) and, less frequently, during targeted flybys. In its active mode, the instrument measures the surface reflectivity in the backscattering direction. In its passive mode - or radiometry mode - it records the microwave thermal emission from the near-surface (typically few meters). Doing so, it provides insights into the degree of purity and maturity of the water-ice regolith of the investigated objects. In particular, it can reveal hemispheric dichotomies or regional anomalies and satellite-to-satellite variabilities which give clues into what is common and what is specific to the history of each satellite and to the processes that have shaped their surface/subsurface. In this paper, we will give an overview of the Cassini radar/radiometry observations of Saturnian icy moons, most of which have not been published yet. Now that the mission has come to an end, we will describe how the radio investigation of these objects can be pursued from Earth-based radiotelescopes.

Experimental simulation of impact cratering on icy satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Greeley, R.; Fink, J. H.; Gault, D. E.; Guest, J. E.

1982-01-01

Cratering processes on icy satellites were simulated in a series of 102 laboratory impact experiments involving a wide range of target materials. For impacts into homogeneous clay slurries with impact energies ranging from five million to ten billion ergs, target yield strengths ranged from 100 to 38 Pa, and apparent viscosities ranged from 8 to 200 Pa s. Bowl-shaped craters, flat-floored craters, central peak craters with high or little relief, and craters with no relief were observed. Crater diameters increased steadily as energies were raised. A similar sequence was seen for experiment in which impact energy was held constant but target viscosity and strength progressively decreases. The experiments suggest that the physical properties of the target media relative to the gravitationally induced stresses determined the final crater morphology. Crater palimpsests could form by prompt collapse of large central peak craters formed in low target strength materials. Ages estimated from crater size-frequency distributions that include these large craters may give values that are too high.

Implications of Voyager data for energetic ion erosion of the icy satellites of Saturn

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lanzerotti, L. J.; Maclennan, C. G.; Brown, W. L.; Johnson, R. E.; Barton, L. A.; Reimann, C. T.; Garrett, J. W.; Boring, J. W.

1983-01-01

The possible production of a neutral-particle torus by magnetosphere-particle sputtering of the icy satellites (Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea) of Saturn is discussed. Particle spectra from the Voyager low-energy-charged-particle experiment are used together with laboratory-derived erosion rates and velocity distributions for the ejected species. An extended torus region in the inner magnetosphere of Saturn is expected, with H2O escape fluxes in the vicinities of the satellites varying from about 2 to 7 x 10 to the 7th mol/sq cm sec for incident protons and from about 6 to 14 x 10 to the 9th mol/sq cm sec if the incident ions are all oxygen.

Photometry of icy satellites: How important is multiple scattering in diluting shadows?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Buratti, B.; Veverka, J.

1984-01-01

Voyager observations have shown that the photometric properties of icy satellites are influenced significantly by large-scale roughness elements on the surfaces. While recent progress was made in treating the photometric effects of macroscopic roughness, it is still the case that even the most complete models do not account for the effects of multiple scattering fully. Multiple scattering dilutes shadows caused by large-scale features, yet for any specific model it is difficult to calculate the amount of dilution as a function of albedo. Accordingly, laboratory measurements were undertaken using the Cornell Goniometer to evaluate the magnitude of the effect.

A 1-D evolutionary model for icy satellites, applied to Enceladus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prialnik, Dina; Malamud, Uri

2015-11-01

A 1-D long-term evolution code for icy satellites is presented, which couples multiple processes: water migration, geochemical reactions, water and silicate phase transitions, crystallization, compaction by self-gravity, and ablation. The code takes into account various energy sources: tidal heating, radiogenic heating, geochemical energy released by serpentinization or absorbed by mineral dehydration, gravitational energy, and insolation. It includes heat transport by conduction, convection, and advection.The code is applied to Enceladus, by guessing the initial conditions that would render a structure compatible with present-day observations, and adopting a homogeneous initial structure. Assuming that the satellite has been losing water continually along its evolution, it follows that it was formed as a more massive, more ice-rich and more porous object, and gradually transformed into its present day state, due to sustained tidal heating. Several initial compositions and evolution scenarios are considered, and the evolution is simulated for the age of the Solar System. The results corresponding to the present configuration are confronted with the available observational constraints. The present configuration is shown to be differentiated into a pure icy mantle, several tens of km thick, overlying a rocky core, composed of dehydrated rock in the central part and hydrated rock in the outer part. Such a differentiated structure is obtained not only for Enceladus, but for other medium size ice-rich bodies as well.Predictions for Enceladus are a higher rock/ice mass ratio than previously assumed, and a thinner ice mantle, compatible with recent estimates based on gravity field measurements. Although, obviously, the 1-D model cannot be used to explain local phenomena, it sheds light on the internal structure invoked in explanations of localized features and activities.

Thickness Constraints on the Icy Shells of the Galilean Satellites from a Comparison of Crater Shapes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schenk, Paul M.

2002-01-01

A thin outer ice shell on Jupiter's large moon Europa would imply easy exchange between the surface and any organic or biotic material in its putative subsurface ocean. The thickness of the outer ice shell is poorly constrained, however, with model-dependent estimates ranging from a few kilometers of depths of impact craters on Europa, Ganymede and Callisto that reveal two anomalous transitions in crater shape with diameter. The first transition is probably related to temperature-dependent ductility of the crust at shallow depths (7-8 km on Europa). The second transition is attributed to the influence of subsurface oceans on all three satellites, which constrains Europa's icy shell to be at least 19 km thick. The icy lithospheres of Ganymede and Callisto are equally ice-rich, but Europa's icy shell has a thermal structure about 0.25-0.5 times the thickness of Ganymede's or Callisto's shells, depending on epoch. The appearances of the craters on Europa are inconsistent with thin-ice-shell models and indicate that exchange of oceanic and surface material could be difficult.

WISE/NEOWISE OBSERVATIONS OF THE JOVIAN TROJAN POPULATION: TAXONOMY

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grav, T.; Mainzer, A. K.; Bauer, J. M.

2012-11-01

We present updated/new thermal model fits for 478 Jovian Trojan asteroids observed with the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Using the fact that the two shortest bands used by WISE, centered on 3.4 and 4.6 {mu}m, are dominated by reflected light, we derive albedos of a significant fraction of these objects in these bands. While the visible albedos of both the C-, P-, and D-type asteroids are strikingly similar, the WISE data reveal that the albedo at 3.4 {mu}m is different between C-/P- and D-types. The albedo at 3.4 {mu}m can thus be used to classify the objects, with C-/P-typesmore » having values less than 10% and D-types have values larger than 10%. Classifying all objects larger than 50 km shows that the D-type objects dominate both the leading cloud (L {sub 4}), with a fraction of 84%, and trailing cloud (L {sub 5}), with a fraction of 71%-80%. The two clouds thus have very similar taxonomic distribution for these large objects, but the leading cloud has a larger number of these large objects, L {sub 4}/L {sub 5} = 1.34. The taxonomic distribution of the Jovian Trojans is found to be different from that of the large Hildas, which is dominated by C- and P-type objects. At smaller sizes, the fraction of D-type Hildas starts increasing, showing more similarities with the Jovian Trojans. If this similarity is confirmed through deeper surveys, it could hold important clues to the formation and evolution of the two populations. The Jovian Trojans does have similar taxonomic distribution to that of the Jovian irregular satellites, but lacks the ultra red surfaces found among the Saturnian irregular satellites and Centaur population.« less

Mass Movement and Landform Degradation on the Icy Galilean Satellites: Results of the Galileo Nominal Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Jeffrey M.; Asphaug, Erik; Morrison, David; Spencer, John R.; Chapman, Clark R.; Bierhaus, Beau; Sullivan, Robert J.; Chuang, Frank C.; Klemaszewski, James E.; Greeley, Ronald

1999-01-01

The Galileo mission has revealed remarkable evidence of mass movement and landform degradation on the icy Galilean satellites of Jupiter. Weakening of surface materials coupled with mass movement reduces the topographic relief of landforms by moving surface materials down-slope. Throughout the Galileo orbiter nominal mission we have studied all known forms of mass movement and landform degradation of the icy galilean satellites, of which Callisto, by far, displays the most degraded surface. Callisto exhibits discrete mass movements that are larger and apparently more common than seen elsewhere. Most degradation on Ganymede appears consistent with sliding or slumping, impact erosion, and regolith evolution. Sliding or slumping is also observed at very small (100 m) scale on Europa. Sputter ablation, while probably playing some role in the evolution of Ganymede's and Callisto's debris layers, appears to be less important than other processes. Sputter ablation might play a significant role on Europa only if that satellite's surface is significantly older than 10(exp 8) years, far older than crater statistics indicate. Impact erosion and regolith formation on Europa are probably minimal, as implied by the low density of small craters there. Impact erosion and regolith formation may be important on the dark terrains of Ganymede, though some surfaces on this satellite may be modified by sublimation-degradation. While impact erosion and regolith formation are expected to operate with the same vigor on Callisto as on Ganymede, most of the areas examined at high resolution on Callisto have an appearance that implies that some additional process is at work, most likely sublimation-driven landform modification and mass wasting. The extent of surface degradation ascribed to sublimation on the outer two Galilean satellites implies that an ice more volatile than H2O is probably involved.

Tectonics of icy satellites driven by melting and crystallization of water bodies inside their ice shells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnston, Stephanie Ann

Enceladus and Europa are icy satellites that currently support bodies of liquid water in the outer solar system Additionally, they show signs of being geologically active. Developing numerical models informed by observations of these icy satellites allows for the development of additional constraints and an improved understanding of the tectonics and evolution of icy satellites. The formation mechanisms for both chaos and ridges on Europa are thought to involve water as albedo changes observed in association with them imply the deposition of salt-rich water near these features. Ridges are the most ubiquitous feature on Europa and are described as central troughs flanked by two raised edifices, range in height from tens to hundreds of meters. Europan ridges can extend hundreds of km continuously along strike but are only about 2 km across. A model of a crystallizing dike--like water intrusion is able to match the overall morphology of ridges, and is consistent the long continuous strike. However, the intrusion of a large volume of water is required to match the most common heights of the ridges. Chaos on Europa is defined as a large area of disrupted ice that contain blocks of pre-existing material separated by a hummocky matrix. A proposed mechanism for the formation of Chaos is that a region of heterogeneous ice within the shell is melted and then recrystallizes. Comparing the model results with the geology of Thera Macula, a region where it has been proposed that Chaos is currently forming, suggests that additional processes may be needed to fully understand the development of Chaos. Water-rich plumes erupt from the south pole of Enceladus, suggesting the presence of a pressurized water reservoir. If a pressurized sea is located beneath the south polar terrain, its geometry and size in the ice shell would contribute to the stress state in the ice shell. The geometry and location of such an ocean, as well as the boundary conditions and thickness of an ice shell

Pamela observational capabilities of Jovian electrons component

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

di Felice, V.; PAMELA Collaboration

PAMELA is a satellite-borne experiment that will be launched in the first half of 2006 It will make long duration measurements of cosmic radiation over an extended energy range 80Mev to 200 GeV Specifically PAMELA will measure the cosmic-ray antiproton and positron spectra over the largest energy range ever achieved 80MeV -- 190 GeV and will search for antinuclei with unprecedented sensitivity Furthermore it will measure the light nuclear component of cosmic rays and investigate phenomena connected with solar and earth physics The apparatus consists of a time of flight system a magnetic spectrometer an electromagnetic imaging calorimeter a shower tail catcher scintillator a neutron detector and an anticoincidence system In this work a study of the PAMELA capabilities to detect Jovian electrons is presented The Jovian magnetosphere is a powerful accelerator of electrons to several tens of MeV as observed at first by Pioneer 10 spacecraft 1973 The propagation of Jovian electrons to Earth is affected by modulation due to Corotating Interaction Regions CIR Their flux at Earth is moreover modulated because every sim 13 months Earth and Jupiter are aligned along the average direction of the Parker spiral of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field PAMELA will be able to measure the high energy tail of the Jovian electrons in the energy range from 50 MeV up to 130 MeV Moreover it will be possible to extract the Jovian component reaccelated at the solar wind termination shock above 130 MeV up to 2 GeV from the galactic flux

Compositional Remote Sensing of Icy Planets and Satellites Beyond Jupiter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roush, T. L.

2002-01-01

The peak of the solar energy distribution occurs at visual wavelengths and falls off rapidly in the infrared. This fact, improvements in infrared detector technology, and the low surface temperatures for most icy objects in the outer solar system have resulted in the bulk of telescopic and spacecraft observations being performed at visual and near-infrared wavelengths. Such observations, begun in the early 1970's and continuing to present, have provided compositional information regarding the surfaces of the satellites of Saturn and Uranus, Neptune's moon Triton, Pluto, Pluto's moon Charon, Centaur objects, and Kuiper belt objects. Because the incident sunlight penetrates the surface and interacts with the materials present there, the measured reflected sunlight contains information regarding the surface materials, and the ratio of the reflected to incident sunlight provides a mechanism of identifying the materials that are present.

Thickness constraints on the icy shells of the galilean satellites from a comparison of crater shapes.

PubMed

Schenk, Paul M

2002-05-23

A thin outer ice shell on Jupiter's large moon Europa would imply easy exchange between the surface and any organic or biotic material in its putative subsurface ocean. The thickness of the outer ice shell is poorly constrained, however, with model-dependent estimates ranging from a few kilometres to ten or more kilometres. Here I present measurements of depths of impact craters on Europa, Ganymede and Callisto that reveal two anomalous transitions in crater shape with diameter. The first transition is probably related to temperature-dependent ductility of the crust at shallow depths (7 8 km on Europa). The second transition is attributed to the influence of subsurface oceans on all three satellites, which constrains Europa's icy shell to be at least 19 km thick. The icy lithospheres of Ganymede and Callisto are equally ice-rich, but Europa's icy shell has a thermal structure about 0.25 0.5 times the thicknesses of Ganymede's or Callisto's shells, depending on epoch. The appearances of the craters on Europa are inconsistent with thin-ice-shell models and indicate that exchange of oceanic and surface material could be difficult.

A Power Conversion Concept for the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mason, Lee S.

2003-01-01

The Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) is a bold new mission under development by the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters. ITMO is examining the potential of Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP) technology to efficiently deliver scientific payloads to three Jovian moons: Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa. A critical element of the NEP vehicle is the reactor power system, consisting of the nuclear reactor, power conversion, heat rejection, and power management and distribution (PMAD). The emphasis of this paper is on the non-nuclear elements of the reactor power system.

Photon-induced electro-chemical processes in airless icy bodies analogues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marchione, Demian; Gudipati, Murthy

2016-10-01

Previous laboratory studies have shown that radiation-induced ionization of impurities in water-rich ices drives the formation of ionized species resulting in charge generation and accumulation in ices [1-3]. It is expected that some of these impurity ions are decomposed into smaller volatile species and ejected into the vacuum. These processes are relevant to the chemical composition of the near-surface tenuous (thin) atmosphere of icy bodies such as the Jovian satellites like Europa.Our work aims at investigating photocurrents from organic impurity embedded water ices of several microns thick and understanding how these measurements correlate with the desorption of volatiles during UV and electron irradiation. These experiments are performed in an ultrahigh vacuum chamber around Europa's surface temperature (100 - 150 K) conditions using a low-pressure hydrogen flow-discharge lamp emitting primarily at Lyα (121.6 nm), a 2 keV electron source, and a substrate-less electrode. Photoionization of organic impurities in the water matrix results in charge pair (electron and ion) separation within the ice, and hence in detectable currents that are measured as a function of the applied bias and the temperature (5 K - 200 K). Photodesorption products are also identified by a quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS) and correlated with conductivity measurements. We will discuss these results in the context of expected Europa's surface photoconductivity and near-surface volatile production.References:[1] M. S. Gudipati, and L. J. Allamandola, Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2003, 596(2), L195-L198.[2] M. S. Gudipati, Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2004, 108(20), 4412-4419.[3] S. H. Cuylle, L. J. Allamandola, and H. Linnartz, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2014, 562, A22.This work has been carried out at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and funded by NASA under Planetary Atmospheres

Pioneer 11 observations of trapped particle absorption by the Jovian ring and the satellites 1979, J1, J2, and J3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pyle, K. R.; Mckibben, R. B.; Simpson, J. A.

1983-01-01

Pioneer 11 low energy telescope observation of charged particles around the Jovian satellites Amalthea, 1979 J1, J2, and J3, and the Jupiter ring are examined in the light of Voyager optical data from the same region. Good agreement was found in the absorption features of 0.5-8.7 MeV protons, electrons with energies of 3.4 MeV or more, and medium-Z nuclei. The heavier nuclei are suggested to be oxygen and sulfur particles with energies exceeding 70 MeV/nucleon. The observed intensity features in the regularly spaced radiation bands are interpreted as ring and satellite absorption.

Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopy of Saturn's Icy Moon Rhea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elowitz, Mark; Hendrix, Amanda; Mason, Nigel J.; Sivaraman, Bhalamurugan

2018-01-01

We present an analysis of spatially resolved, far-UV reflectance spectra of Saturn’s icy satellite Rhea, collected by the Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS). In recent years ultraviolet spectroscopy has become an important tool for analysing the icy satellites of the outer solar system (1Hendrix & Hansen, 2008). Far-UV spectroscopy provides unique information about the molecular structure and electronic transitions of chemical species. Many molecules that are suspected to be present in the icy surfaces of moons in the outer solar system have broad absorption features due to electronic transitions that occur in the far-UV portion of the spectrum. The studies show that Rhea, like the other icy satellites of the Saturnian system are dominated by water-ice as evident by the 165-nm absorption edge, with minor UV absorbing contaminants. Far-UV spectra of several Saturnian icy satellites, including Rhea and Dione, show an unexplained weak absorption feature centered near 184 nm. To carry out the geochemical survey of Rhea’s surface, the UVIS observations are compared with vacuum-UV spectra of thin-ice samples measured in laboratory experiments. Thin film laboratory spectra of water-ice and other molecular compounds in the solid phase were collected at near-vacuum conditions and temperatures identical to those at the surface of Rhea. Comparison between the observed far-UV spectra of Rhea’s surface ice and modelled spectra based on laboratory absorption measurements of different non-water-ice compounds show that two possible chemical compounds could explain the 184-nm absorption feature. The two molecular compounds include simple chlorine molecules and hydrazine monohydrate. Attempts to explain the source(s) of these compounds on Rhea and the scientific implications of their possible discovery will be summarized.[1] Hendrix, A. R. & Hansen, C. J. (2008). Icarus, 193, pp. 323-333.

Methods of Estimating Initial Crater Depths on Icy Satellites using Stereo Topography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Persaud, D. M.; Phillips, C. B.

2014-12-01

Stereo topography, combined with models of viscous relaxation of impact craters, allows for the study of the rheology and thermal history of icy satellites. An important step in calculating relaxation of craters is determining the initial depths of craters before viscous relaxation. Two methods for estimating initial crater depths on the icy satellites of Saturn have been previously discussed. White and Schenk (2013) present the craters of Iapetus as relatively unrelaxed in modeling the relaxation of craters of Rhea. Phillips et al. (2013) assume that Herschel crater on Saturn's satellite Mimas is unrelaxed in relaxation calculations and models of Rhea and Dione. In the second method, the depth of Herschel crater is scaled based on the different crater diameters and the difference in surface gravity on the large moons to predict the initial crater depths for Rhea and Dione. In the first method, since Iapetus is of similar size to Dione and Rhea, no gravity scaling is necessary; craters of similar size on Iapetus were chosen and their depths measured to determine the appropriate initial crater depths for Rhea. We test these methods by first extracting topographic profiles of impact craters on Iapetus from digital elevation models (DEMs) constructed from stereo images from the Cassini ISS instrument. We determined depths from these profiles and used them to calculate initial crater depths and relaxation percentages for Rhea and Dione craters using the methods described above. We first assumed that craters on Iapetus were relaxed, and compared the results to previously calculated relaxation percentages for Rhea and Dione relative to Herschel crater (with appropriate scaling for gravity and crater diameter). We then tested the assumption that craters on Iapetus were unrelaxed and used our new measurements of crater depth to determine relaxation percentages for Dione and Rhea. We will present results and conclusions from both methods and discuss their efficacy for

PAMELA observational capabilities of Jovian electrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

di Felice, V.; Casolino, M.; de Simone, N.; Picozza, P.

PAMELA is a satellite-borne experiment that has been launched on June 15th, 2006. It is designed to make long duration measurements of cosmic radiation over an extended energy range. Specifically, PAMELA is able to measure the cosmic ray antiproton and positron spectra over the largest energy range ever achieved and will search for antinuclei with unprecedented sensitivity. Furthermore, it will measure the light nuclear component of cosmic rays and investigate phenomena connected with solar and earth physics. The apparatus consists of: a time of flight system, a magnetic spectrometer, an electromagnetic imaging calorimeter, a shower tail catcher scintillator, a neutron detector and an anticoincidence system. In this work a study of the PAMELA capabilities to detect electrons is presented. The Jovian magnetosphere is a powerful accelerator of electrons up to several tens of MeV as observed at first by Pioneer 10 spacecraft (1973). The propagation of Jovian electrons to Earth is affected by modulation due to Corotating Interaction Regions (CIR). Their flux at Earth is, moreover, modulated because every ˜13 months Earth and Jupiter are aligned along the average direction of the Parker spiral of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field. PAMELA will be able to measure the high energy tail of the Jovian electrons in the energy range from 50 up to 130 MeV. Moreover, it will be possible to extract the Jovian component reaccelerated at the solar wind termination shock (above 130 MeV up to 2 GeV) from the galactic flux.

Photographer : JPL Range : 225,000 kilometers (140,625 miles) This image of the Jovian moon Europa

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

Photographer : JPL Range : 225,000 kilometers (140,625 miles) This image of the Jovian moon Europa was taken by Voyager 2 along the evening terminator, which best shows the surface topography of complex narrow ridges, seen as curved bright streaks, 5 to 10 kilometers wide, and typically 100 kilometers in length. The area shown is about 600 by 800 kilometers, and the smallest features visible are about 4 kilometers in size. Also visable are dark bands, more diffused in character, 20 to 40 kilometers wide and hundreds to thousands of kilometers in length. A few features are suggestive of impact craters but are rare, indication that the surface thought to be dominantly ice is still active, perhaps warmed by tidal heating like Io. The larger icy satellites, Callisto and Ganymede, are evidently colder with much more rigid crusts and ancient impact craters. The complex intersection of dark markings and bright ridges suggest that the surface has been fractured and material from beneath has welled up to fill the cracks.

Jovian longitudinal asymmetry in Io-related and Europa-related auroral hot spots

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dessler, A. J.; Chamberlain, J. W.

1979-01-01

Auroral emissions generated by the Jovian moons Io and Europa, originating at the foot of the magnetic flux tubes of the satellites, may be largely limited to longitudes where the planet's ionospheric conductivity is enhanced. The enhanced conductivity is produced by trapped energetic electrons that drift into the Jovian atmosphere in regions where the planet's magnetic field is anomalously weak. The most active auroral hot-spot emissions lie in a sector of the northern hemisphere defined by decametric radio emission. Weaker auroral hot spots are found in the southern hemisphere along a magnetic conjugate trace. The brightness and the longitude of the Jovian hot spots predicted in this paper are in agreement with observations reported by Atreya et al. (1977).

Thermal Regeneration of Sulfuric Acid Hydrates after Irradiation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Loeffler, Mark J.; Hudson, Reggie L.

2012-01-01

In an attempt to more completely understand the surface chemistry of the jovian icy satellites, we have investigated the effect of heating on two irradiated crystalline sulfuric acid hydrates, H2SO4 4H2O and H2SO4 H2O. At temperatures relevant to Europa and the warmer jovian satellites, post-irradiation heating recrystallized the amorphized samples and increased the intensities of the remaining hydrate's infrared absorptions. This thermal regeneration of the original hydrates was nearly 100% efficient, indicating that over geological times, thermally-induced phase transitions enhanced by temperature fluctuations will reform a large fraction of crystalline hydrated sulfuric acid that is destroyed by radiation processing. The work described is the first demonstration of the competition between radiation-induced amorphization and thermally-induced recrystallization in icy ionic solids relevant to the outer Solar System.

Crater Relaxation and Stereo Imaging of the Icy Satellites of Jupiter and Saturn

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phillips, C. B.; Beyer, R. A.; Nimmo, F.; Roberts, J. H.; Robuchon, G.

2010-12-01

Crater relaxation has been used as a probe of subsurface temperature structure for over thirty years, both on terrestrial bodies and icy satellites. We are developing and testing two independent methods for processing stereo pairs to produce digital elevation models, to address how crater relaxation depends on crater diameter, geographic location, and stratigraphic position on the icy satellites of Jupiter and Saturn. Our topographic profiles will then serve as input into two numerical models, one viscous and one viscoelastic, to allow us to probe the subsurface thermal profiles and relaxation histories of these satellites. We are constructing stereo topography from Galileo and Cassini image pairs using the NASA Ames Stereo Pipeline (Moratto et al. 2010), an automated stereogrammetry tool designed for processing planetary imagery captured from orbiting and landed robotic explorers on other planets. We will also be using the commercial program SOCET SET from BAE Systems (Miller and Walker 1993; 1995). Qualitatively, it is clear that there are large spatial variations in the degree of crater relaxation among Jupiter’s and Saturn’s satellites. However, our use of stereo topography will allow quantitative measures of crater relaxation (e.g. depth:diameter ratio or equivalent) to be derived. Such measures are essential to derive quantitative estimates of the heat fluxes responsible for this relaxation. Estimating how surface heat flux has varied with time provides critical constraints on satellite thermal (and orbital) evolution. Craters undergo viscous relaxation over time at a rate that depends on the temperature gradient and crater scale. We are investigating how the near-surface satellite heat flux varied in time and space, based on our crater relaxation observations. Once we have crater profiles from our DEMs, we use them as input to two theoretical approaches: a relatively simple (viscous) numerical model in which time-varying heat fluxes can be included, and

Ganymede and Europa and their Jovian polar footprints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sejkora, N.; Rucker, H. O.; Panchenko, M.

2017-09-01

The interactions between the Galilean moons Europa and Ganymede and the Jovian magnetosphere are studied. The focus lies on the satellites' auroral footprints observable in the polar regions of Jupiter. The work encompasses case studies of UV observations, obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), showing auroral features potentially triggered by either Europa or Ganymede. For those situations the footprint lead angles are determined, using different magnetic field models. The aim is to estimate the relationship between satellite longitude and lead angle. The delay between the local interaction at the satellite and the resulting auroral emission, which is implied by the obtained lead angles, is compared to the travel time of an Alfvén wave along a magnetic field line from the satellite to the planet.

Analysis and Modeling of Jovian Radio Emissions Observed by Galileo

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Menietti, J. D.

2003-01-01

Our studies of Jovian radio emission have resulted in the publication of five papers in refereed journals, with three additional papers in progress. The topics of these papers include the study of narrow-band kilometric radio emission; the apparent control of radio emission by Callisto; quasi-periodic radio emission; hectometric attenuation lanes and their relationship to Io volcanic activity; and modeling of HOM attenuation lanes using ray tracing. A further study of the control of radio emission by Jovian satellites is currently in progress. Abstracts of each of these papers are contained in the Appendix. A list of the publication titles are also included.

The Influence of The Galilean Satellites on Radio Emissions From The Jovian System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kurth, W. S.; Gurnett, D. A.; Menietti, J. D.

2000-01-01

The Galilean satellites influence radio emissions from the Jovian system in a variety of ways. The best and most familiar example of these is the Io control of decametric radiation discovered in 1964 by Bigg. Voyager observations of broadband kilometric radiation revealed a low-latitude shadow zone cast by the Io torus at frequencies between a few tens of kHz and about 1 MHz. Voyager also discovered narrowband kilometric radio emissions emanating from the outer edge of the torus. In this paper we will discuss expansions in the suite of satellite influences based on new observations by Galileo. These include the discovery of Ganymede's magnetosphere and evidence of radio emissions generated via mode conversion from upper hybrid waves in the frequency range of about 20 - 100 kHz. There is evidence that Ganymede may control some of the hectometric or low-frequency decametric radio emissions based on occultation measurements and statistical studies of radio emission occurrence as a function of Ganymede phase. Direction-finding measurements in the vicinity of Io suggest that a portion of the hectometric emissions may be generated near the lo L-shell. A rotationally modulated attenuation band in the hectometric emission appears to be the result of scattering at or near the Io L-shell where the waves propagate nearly parallel to the magnetic field. There is even a tantalizing hint of a Europa connection to the source of narrowband kilometric radiation.

Infrared Spectral Studies of the Thermally-Driven Chemistry Present on Icy Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Loeffler, Mark J.; Hudson, Reggie L.

2012-01-01

Remote sensing of Jupiters icy satellites has revealed that even though their surfaces arc composed mostly of water ice, molecules such as SO2, CO2, H2O2. O2, and O3 also are present. On Europa, a high radiation flux is believed to play a role in the formation of many of the minor species detected, and numerous laboratory studies have been devoted to explore this hypothesis. In this presentation we will discuss some of our recent research on another alteration pathway, thermally-driven chemical reactions, which are also important for understanding the chemical evolution of Europa's surface and sub-surface ices. We will focus on the infrared spectra of and reactions between H2O, SO2 and H2O2, at 80 - 130 K.

The Galilean Satellites

NASA Image and Video Library

1998-05-08

In this "family portrait," the four Galilean Satellites are shown to scale. These four largest moons of Jupiter shown in increasing distance from Jupiter are (left to right) Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. These global views show the side of volcanically active Io which always faces away from Jupiter, icy Europa, the Jupiter-facing side of Ganymede, and heavily cratered Callisto. The appearances of these neighboring satellites are amazingly different even though they are relatively close to Jupiter (350,000 kilometers for Io; 1, 800,000 kilometers for Callisto). These images were acquired on several orbits at very low "phase" angles (the sun, spacecraft, moon angle) so that the sun is illuminating the Jovian moons from completely behind the spacecraft, in the same way a full moon is viewed from Earth. The colors have been enhanced to bring out subtle color variations of surface features. North is to the top of all the images which were taken by the Solid State Imaging (SSI) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft. Io, which is slightly larger than Earth's moon, is the most colorful of the Galilean satellites. Its surface is covered by deposits from actively erupting volcanoes, hundreds of lava flows, and volcanic vents which are visible as small dark spots. Several of these volcanoes are very hot; at least one reached a temperature of 2000 degrees Celsius (3600 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer of 1997. Prometheus, a volcano located slightly right of center on Io's image, was active during the Voyager flybys in 1979 and is still active as Galileo images were obtained. This global view was obtained in September 1996 when Galileo was 485,000 kilometers from Io; the finest details that can be discerned are about 10 km across. The bright, yellowish and white materials located at equatorial latitudes are believed to be composed of sulfur and sulfur dioxide. The polar caps are darker and covered by a redder material. Europa has a very different surface from its rocky

Investigating the origins of the Irregular satellites using Cladistics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holt, Timothy; Horner, Jonti; Tylor, Christopher; Nesvorny, David; Brown, Adrian; Carter, Brad

2017-10-01

The irregular satellites of Jupiter and Saturn are thought to be objects captured during a period of instability in the early solar system. However, the precise origins of these small bodies remain elusive. We use cladistics, a technique traditionally used by biologists, to help constrain the origins of these bodies. Our research contributes to a growing body of work that uses cladistics in astronomy, collectively called astrocladistics. We present one of the first instances of cladistics being used in a planetary science context. The analysis uses physical and compositional characteristics of three prograde Jovian irregular satellites (Themisto, Leda & Himalia), five retrograde Jovian irregular satellites (Ananke, Carme, Pasiphae, Sinope & Callirrhoe), along with Phoebe, a retrograde irregular satellite of Saturn, and several other regular Jovian and Saturnian satellites. Each of these members are representatives of their respective taxonomic groups. The irregular satellites are compared with other well-studied solar system bodies, including satellites, terrestrial planets, main belt asteroids, comets, and minor planets. We find that the Jovian irregular satellites cluster with asteroids and Ceres. The Saturnian satellites studied here are found to form an association with the comets, adding to the narrative of exchange between the outer solar system and Saturnian orbital space. Both of these results demonstrate the utility of cladistics as an analysis tool for the planetary sciences.

Saturn's icy satellites investigated by Cassini-VIMS. II. Results at the end of nominal mission

USGS Publications Warehouse

Filacchione, G.; Capaccioni, F.; Clark, R.N.; Cuzzi, J.N.; Cruikshank, D.P.; Coradini, A.; Cerroni, P.; Nicholson, P.D.; McCord, T.B.; Brown, R.H.; Buratti, B.J.; Tosi, F.; Nelson, R.M.; Jaumann, R.; Stephan, K.

2010-01-01

We report the detailed analysis of the spectrophotometric properties of Saturn's icy satellites as derived by full-disk observations obtained by visual and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIMS) experiment aboard Cassini. In this paper, we have extended the coverage until the end of the Cassini's nominal mission (June 1st 2008), while a previous paper (Filacchione, G., and 28 colleagues [2007]. Icarus 186, 259-290, hereby referred to as Paper I) reported the preliminary results of this study. During the four years of nominal mission, VIMS has observed the entire population of Saturn's icy satellites allowing us to make a comparative analysis of the VIS-NIR spectral properties of the major satellites (Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Hyperion, Iapetus) and irregular moons (Atlas, Prometheus, Pandora, Janus, Epimetheus, Telesto, Calypso, Phoebe). The results we discuss here are derived from the entire dataset available at June 2008 which consists of 1417 full-disk observations acquired from a variety of distances and inclinations from the equatorial plane, with different phase angles and hemispheric coverage. The most important spectrophotometric indicators (as defined in Paper I: I/F continua at 0.55 ??m, 1.822 ??m and 3.547 ??m, visible spectral slopes, water and carbon dioxide bands depths and positions) are calculated for each observation in order to investigate the disk-integrated composition of the satellites, the distribution of water ice respect to "contaminants" abundances and typical regolith grain properties. These quantities vary from the almost pure water ice surfaces of Enceladus and Calypso to the organic and carbon dioxide rich Hyperion, Iapetus and Phoebe. Janus visible colors are intermediate between these two classes having a slightly positive spectral slope. These results could help to decipher the origins and evolutionary history of the minor moons of the Saturn's system. We introduce a polar representation of the spectrophotometric

The shadow of Saturn's icy satellites in the E ring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmidt, J.; Sremcevic, M.

2008-09-01

We analyze shadows that Saturnian satellites cast in the E ring, a faint, broad dust ring composed of icy grains. The brightness contrast of a moon's shadow relative to the surrounding ring allows to infer local properties of the size distribution of ring particles. We derive the shadow contrast from a large number of Cassini images of Enceladus taken in various filters in a range of phase angles 144 to 164 degrees. For Tethys and Dione we identify a clear shadow in images with phase angles larger than 160 degrees. From the data we obtain the number density of E ring grains at the orbits of Tethys and Dione relative to the one near Enceladus. The latter we constrain from the variation of the shadow contrast with color and phase angle. From the Enceladus data we construct the phase curve of the E ring dust between 144 and 164 degrees. We compare to data obtained from Earth-bound observations by de Pater et al 2004 and in situ measurements by the Cosmic Dust Analyzer onboard Cassini.

Exobiology of icy satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simakov, M. B.

At the beginning of 2004 the total number of discovered planets near other stars was 119 All of them are massive giants and met practically in all orbits In a habitable zone from 0 8 up to 1 1 AU at less 11 planets has been found starting with HD 134987 and up to HD 4203 It would be naive to suppose existence of life in unique known to us amino-nucleic acid form on the gas-liquid giant planets Nevertheless conditions for onset and evolutions of life can be realized on hypothetical satellites extrasolar planets All giant planets of the Solar system have a big number of satellites 61 of Jupiter 52 of Saturn known in 2003 A small part of them consist very large bodies quite comparable to planets of terrestrial type but including very significant share of water ice Some from them have an atmosphere E g the mass of a column of the Titan s atmosphere exceeds 15 times the mass of the Earth atmosphere column Formation or capture of satellites is a natural phenomenon and satellite systems definitely should exist at extrasolar planets A hypothetical satellite of the planet HD 28185 with a dense enough atmosphere and hydrosphere could have biosphere of terrestrial type within the limits of our notion about an origin of terrestrial biosphere As an example we can see on Titan the largest satellite of Saturn which has a dense nitrogen atmosphere and a large quantity of liquid water under ice cover and so has a great exobiological significance The most recent models of the Titan s interior lead to the conclusion that a substantial liquid layer

Saturn's icy satellites investigated by Cassini-VIMS. IV. Daytime temperature maps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Filacchione, Gianrico; D'Aversa, Emiliano; Capaccioni, Fabrizio; Clark, Roger N.; Cruikshank, Dale P.; Ciarniello, Mauro; Cerroni, Priscilla; Bellucci, Giancarlo; Brown, Robert H.; Buratti, Bonnie J.; Nicholson, Phillip D.; Jaumann, Ralf; McCord, Thomas B.; Sotin, Christophe; Stephan, Katrin; Dalle Ore, Cristina M.

2016-06-01

The spectral position of the 3.6 μm continuum peak measured on Cassini-VIMS I/F spectra is used as a marker to infer the temperature of the regolith particles covering the surfaces of Saturn's icy satellites. This feature is characterizing the crystalline water ice spectrum which is the dominant compositional endmember of the satellites' surfaces. Laboratory measurements indicate that the position of the 3.6 μm peak of pure water ice is temperature-dependent, shifting towards shorter wavelengths when the sample is cooled, from about 3.65 μm at T=123 K to about 3.55 μm at T=88 K. A similar method was already applied to VIMS Saturn's rings mosaics to retrieve ring particles temperature (Filacchione, G., Ciarniello, M., Capaccioni, F., et al., 2014. Icarus, 241, 45-65). We report here about the daytime temperature variations observed on the icy satellites as derived from three different VIMS observation types: (a) a sample of 240 disk-integrated I/F observations of Saturn's regular satellites collected by VIMS during years 2004-2011 with solar phase in the 20°-40° range, corresponding to late morning-early afternoon local times. This dataset is suitable to exploit the temperature variations at hemispherical scale, resulting in average temperature T <88 K for Mimas, T ≪88 K for Enceladus, T <88 K for Tethys, T=98-118 K for Dione, T=108-128 K for Rhea, T=118-128 K for Hyperion, T=128-148 and T > 168 K for Iapetus' trailing and leading hemispheres, respectively. A typical ±5 K uncertainty is associated to the temperature retrieval. On Tethys and Dione, for which observations on both leading and trailing hemispheres are available, in average daytime temperatures higher of about 10 K on the trailing than on the leading hemisphere are inferred. (b) Satellites disk-resolved observations taken at 20-40 km pixel-1 resolution are suitable to map daytime temperature variations across surfaces' features, such as Enceladus' tiger stripes and Tethys' equatorial dark lens

Radar Observations of the Icy Galilean Satellites During 2000 Opposition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harcke, L. J.; Zebker, H. A.; Jurgens, R. F.; Slade, M. A.; Butler, B. J.; Harmon, J. K.

2001-01-01

We report results of radar observation campaigns of Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto carried out during the November/December 2000 Jovian opposition using the Arecibo 12.6 cm, Goldstone 3.5 cm, and Goldstone/VLA 3.5 cm bistatic radars. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Spectroscopic classification of icy satellites of Saturn II: Identification of terrain units on Rhea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scipioni, F.; Tosi, F.; Stephan, K.; Filacchione, G.; Ciarniello, M.; Capaccioni, F.; Cerroni, P.

2014-05-01

Rhea is the second largest icy satellites of Saturn and it is mainly composed of water ice. Its surface is characterized by a leading hemisphere slightly brighter than the trailing side. The main goal of this work is to identify homogeneous compositional units on Rhea by applying the Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) classification technique to Rhea’s hyperspectral images acquired by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) onboard the Cassini Orbiter in the infrared range (0.88-5.12 μm). The first step of the classification is dedicated to the identification of Rhea’s spectral endmembers by applying the k-means unsupervised clustering technique to four hyperspectral images representative of a limited portion of the surface, imaged at relatively high spatial resolution. We then identified eight spectral endmembers, corresponding to as many terrain units, which mostly distinguish for water ice abundance and ice grain size. In the second step, endmembers are used as reference spectra in SAM classification method to achieve a comprehensive classification of the entire surface. From our analysis of the infrared spectra returned by VIMS, it clearly emerges that Rhea’ surface units shows differences in terms of water ice bands depths, average ice grain size, and concentration of contaminants, particularly CO2 and hydrocarbons. The spectral units that classify optically dark terrains are those showing suppressed water ice bands, a finer ice grain size and a higher concentration of carbon dioxide. Conversely, spectral units labeling brighter regions have deeper water ice absorption bands, higher albedo and a smaller concentration of contaminants. All these variations reflect surface’s morphological and geological structures. Finally, we performed a comparison between Rhea and Dione, to highlight different magnitudes of space weathering effects in the icy satellites as a function of the distance from Saturn.

Dielectric properties of analogs of icy planetary surfaces in the mm-submm domain: review, new results and implications for the submillimeter sounding of Jovian satellites subsurfaces.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brouet, Y.; Jacob, K.; Murk, A.; Cerubini, R.; Pommerol, A.; Thomas, N.

2017-12-01

Passive microwave radiometers are instruments which can sense thermal radiation coming from the subsurface (millimeters to centimeters) of an observed area. The penetration depth depends on the dielectric properties of the material, as they constrain the radiative transfer occurring below the surface. In order to interpret the data in terms of physical properties, the dielectric properties of material analogs as a function of several parameters (i.e., frequency, temperature, composition, porosity) have to be taken into account. Interpretations of radiometers data are limited by the few laboratory measurements developed in the millimeter domain, regarding measurements performed with rocky materials, planetary regolith simulants or volcanic ashes (Campbell and Ulrichs, 1969; Bertrand, 2004; Brouet et al., 2015). Furthermore, in preparation to the exploration of the Jupiter's icy moons with the JUICE mission and the Europa mission, Pettinelli et al. (2015) pointed out the lack of laboratory measurements in the microwave domain relevant for icy planetary subsurface observations. Firstly, we will review the existing data obtained with laboratory experiments operating in the millimeter-submillimeter domain relevant for radiometers aiming to determine subsurface properties of Solar System objects. Secondly, we will present an experimental set-up dedicated to the measurements of the dielectric properties of icy and dry samples in the millimeter-submillimeter domain, the sample preparation procedures and the first results. The measurements are based on a free-space reflection method and can be performed with sample temperatures below 200 K, as well as under dry air environment. First measurements have been performed in the 150 - 210 GHz range on a pure water ice sample and a pure hydrated sulfate (epsomite) sample, as well as on water ice/epsomite mixtures, which represent unique data in the mm-smm domain. Finally, we will discuss about the implications for the

Modeling of light scattering by icy bodies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolokolova, L.; Mackowski, D.; Pitman, K.; Verbiscer, A.; Buratti, B.; Momary, T.

2014-07-01

As a result of ground-based, space-based, and in-situ spacecraft mission observations, a great amount of photometric, polarimetric, and spectroscopic data of icy bodies (satellites of giant planets, Kuiper Belt objects, comet nuclei, and icy particles in cometary comae and rings) has been accumulated. These data have revealed fascinating light-scattering phenomena, such as the opposition surge resulting from coherent backscattering and shadow hiding and the negative polarization associated with them. Near-infrared (NIR) spectra of these bodies are especially informative as the depth, width, and shape of the absorption bands of ice are sensitive not only to the ice abundance but also to the size of icy grains. Numerous NIR spectra obtained by Cassini's Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) have been used to map the microcharacteristics of the icy satellites [1] and rings of Saturn [2]. VIMS data have also permitted a study of the opposition surge for icy satellites of Saturn [3], showing that coherent backscattering affects not only brightness and polarization of icy bodies but also their spectra [4]. To study all of the light-scattering phenomena that affect the photopolarimetric and spectroscopic characteristics of icy bodies, including coherent backscattering, requires computer modeling that rigorously considers light scattering by a large number of densely packed small particles that form either layers (in the case of regolith) or big clusters (ring and comet particles) . Such opportunity has appeared recently with a development of a new version MSTM4 of the Multi-Sphere T-Matrix code [5]. Simulations of reflectance and absorbance spectra of a ''target'' (particle layer or cluster) require that the dimensions of the target be significantly larger than the wavelength, sphere radius, and layer thickness. For wavelength-sized spheres and packing fractions typical of regolith, targets can contain dozens of thousands of spheres that, with the original MSTM

JUICE: A European Mission to Jupiter and its Icy Moons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grasset, Olivier; Witasse, Olivier; Barabash, Stas; Brandt, Pontus; Bruzzone, Lorenzo; Bunce, Emma; Cecconi, Baptiste; Cavalié, Thibault; Cimo, Giuseppe; Coustenis, Athena; Cremonese, Gabriele; Dougherty, Michele; Fletcher, Leigh N.; Gladstone, Randy; Gurvits, Leonid; Hartogh, Paul; Hoffmann, Holger; Hussmann, Hauke; Iess, Luciano; Jaumann, Ralf; Kasaba, Yasumasa; Kaspi, Yohai; Krupp, Norbert; Langevin, Yves; Mueller-Wodarg, Ingo; Palumbo, Pasquale; Piccioni, Giuseppe; Plaut, Jeffrey; Poulet, Francois; Roatsch, Thomas; Retherford, Kurt D.; Rothkaehl, Hanna; Stevenson, David J.; Tosi, Federico; Van Hoolst, Tim; Wahlund, Jan-Erik; Wurz, Peter; Altobelli, Nicolas; Accomazzo, A.; Boutonnet, Arnaud; Erd, Christian; Vallat, Claire

2016-10-01

JUICE - JUpiter ICy moons Explorer - is the first large mission in the ESA Cosmic Vision programme [1]. The implementation phase started in July 2015. JUICE will arrive at Jupiter in October 2029, and will spend 3 years characterizing the Jovian system, the planet itself, its giant magnetosphere, and the giant icy moons: Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. JUICE will then orbit Ganymede.The first goal of JUICE is to explore the habitable zone around Jupiter [2]. Ganymede is a high-priority target because it provides a unique laboratory for analyzing the nature, evolution and habitability of icy worlds, including the characteristics of subsurface oceans, and because it possesses unique magnetic fields and plasma interactions with the environment. On Europa, the focus will be on recently active zones, where the composition, surface and subsurface features (including putative water reservoirs) will be characterized. Callisto will be explored as a witness of the early Solar System.JUICE will also explore the Jupiter system as an archetype of gas giants. The circulation, meteorology, chemistry and structure of the Jovian atmosphere will be studied from the cloud tops to the thermosphere and ionosphere. JUICE will investigate the 3D properties of the magnetodisc, and study the coupling processes within the magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere. The mission also focuses on characterizing the processes that influence surface and space environments of the moons.The payload consists of 10 instruments plus a ground-based experiment (PRIDE) to better constrain the S/C position. A remote sensing package includes imaging (JANUS) and spectral-imaging capabilities from UV to sub-mm wavelengths (UVS, MAJIS, SWI). A geophysical package consists of a laser altimeter (GALA) and a radar sounder (RIME) for exploring the moons, and a radio science experiment (3GM) to probe the atmospheres and to determine the gravity fields. The in situ package comprises a suite to study plasma and

Photometric Properties of Icy Bodies: A Comparison

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arakalian, B. J.; Buratti, T.

1997-01-01

Photometry is the quantitative measurement of reflected or emitted radiation. In the past 15 years, the classical study on planetary surfaces of arbitrary albedo, including bright icy satellites (e.g., Hapke, 1981 JGR, 1984 and 1986, Icarus).

Coherent backscattering effect in spectra of icy satellites and its modeling using multi-sphere T-matrix (MSTM) code for layers of particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pitman, Karly M.; Kolokolova, Ludmilla; Verbiscer, Anne J.; Mackowski, Daniel W.; Joseph, Emily C. S.

2017-12-01

The coherent backscattering effect (CBE), the constructive interference of light scattering in particulate surfaces (e.g., regolith), manifests as a non-linear increase in reflectance, or opposition surge, and a narrow negative polarization feature at small solar phase angles. Due to a strong dependence of the amplitude and angular width of this opposition surge on the absorptive characteristics of the surface material, CBE also produces phase-angle-dependent variations in the near-infrared spectra. In this paper we present a survey of such variations in the spectra of icy satellites of Saturn obtained by the Cassini spacecraft's Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) and in the ground-based spectra of Oberon, a satellite of Uranus, obtained with TripleSpec, a cross-dispersed near-infrared spectrometer on the Astrophysical Research Consortium 3.5-m telescope located at the Apache Point Observatory near Sunspot, New Mexico. The paper also presents computer modeling of the saturnian satellite spectra and their phase-angle variations using the most recent version of the Multi-Sphere T-Matrix (MSTM) code developed to simulate light scattering by layers of randomly distributed spherical particles. The modeling allowed us not only to reproduce the observed effects but also to estimate characteristics of the icy particles that cover the surfaces of Rhea, Dione, and Tethys.

The Thermal Evolution and Internal Structure of Saturn's Midsize Icy Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Matson, Dennis L.; Castillo-Rogez, J. C.; Schubert, G.; Sotin, C.; McKinnon, William B.

2009-01-01

The Cassini-Huygens mission is returning new geophysical data for the midsize, icy satellites of Saturn (i.e., satellites with radii between 100 and 1,000 km). These data have enabled a new generation of geophysical model studies for Phoebe, Iapetus, Rhea, Mimas, Tethys, Dione, as well as Enceladus (see Spencer et al. 2009). Here we consider the new model studies that have reported significant results elucidating the evolutionary histories and internal structures of these satellites. Those results have included their age, the development of their internal structures and mineralogies, which for greatest fidelity must be done concomitantly with coupled dynamical evolutions. Surface areas, volumes, bulk densities, spin rates, orbit inclinations, eccentricities, and distance from Saturn have changed as the satellites have aged. Heat is required to power the satellites evolution, but is not overly abundant for the midsized satellites. All sources of heat must be evaluated and taken into account. This includes their intensities and when they occur and are available to facilitate evolution, both internal and dynamical. The mechanisms of heat transport must also be included. However, to model these to high fidelity the material properties of the satellite interiors must be accurately known. This is not the case. Thus, we discuss what is known about these properties and how the uncertainties affect the estimation of heat sources, transport processes, and the consequential changes in composition and evolution. Phoebe has an oblate shape that may be in equilibrium with its spin period of 9.3 h. Its orbital properties suggest that it is not one of the regular satellites, but is a captured body. Its density is higher than that of the other satellites, consistent with formation in the solar nebula rather than from material around Saturn. Oblate shape and high density are unusual for objects in this size range, and may indicate that Phoebe was heated by Al-26 decay soon after its

Dispersion of the Himalia family of jovian irregular satellites by planetesimal encounters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Daohai; Christou, Apostolos

2017-06-01

Giant planets are believed to have migrated significant radial distances due to interaction with a primordial planetesimal disk (Tsiganis et al. 2005). This process profoundly sculpted the solar system, shaping the distribution of the different types of heliocentric objects: the giant planets, the Trojans, the Main Asteroid Belt and the KBOs. Meanwhile, the same migration may have influenced the distribution of objects in the local planetocentric system as well. Since migration is achieved mainly by planet-planetesimal encounters, we focus on irregular satellites far from the host, thus susceptible to planetesimal perturbations. Specifically, we aim to reproduce a puzzling feature of the jovian Himalia group of prograde satellites: a wide spread in $a$ and $e$, with all group members being $>200$ m/s from Himalia and apparently too high to be consistent with a purely collisional origin. Here we investigate the evolution of a pre-existing Himalia group during planetary migration.We do this in a two-step procedure. Firstly, we perform migration simulations and record the states of planetesimals approaching Jupiter. Secondly, a nascent, closely-packed Himalia group with velocity dispersion of a few 10 m/s is integrated under the gravitational disturbance of the planetesimal fly-bys. We find that these planetesimal encounters disperse the group dramatically, bumping $\\sim 60\\%$ of the members to $>200$ m/s with respect to Himalia. Particularly, $a$ and $e$ suffer the most variation while the change in $i$ is often limited, matching the actual values for the observed group fairly well.Current models posit extensive collisional processing of the irregular satellite population following the planet migration phase (Bottke et al. 2010). In evaluating the collisional probability between a group member and Himalia, we find that the closer they are, the more likely that collisions occur. This suggests that members adjacent to Himalia are more likely to be collisionally

Ganymede’s stratigraphy and crater distributions in Voyager and Galileo SSI images: results from the anti-jovian hemisphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, Roland Josef; Schmedemann, Nico; Stephan, Katrin; Werner, Stephanie; Ivanov, Boris A.; Roatsch, Thomas; Jaumann, Ralf; Palumbo, Pasquale

2017-10-01

Crater size distributions are a valuable tool in planetary stratigraphy to derive the sequence of geologic events. In this study, we extend our previous work [1] in Ganymede’s sub-jovian hemisphere to the anti-jovian hemisphere. For geologic mapping, the map by [2] is used as a reference. Our study provides groundwork for the upcoming imaging by the JANUS camera aboard ESA’s JUICE mission [3]. Voyager-2 images are reprocessed using a map scale of 700 m/pxl achieved for parts of the anti-jovian hemisphere. To obtain relative ages from crater frequencies, we apply an updated crater scaling law for cratering into icy targets in order to derive a crater production function for Ganymede [1]. Also, we adopt the Poisson timing analysis method discussed and implemented recently [4] to obtain relative (and absolute model) ages. Results are compared to those from the sub-jovian hemisphere [1] as well as to support and/or refine the global stratigraphic system by [2]. Further emphasis is placed on local target areas in the anti-jovian hemisphere imaged by Galileo SSI at regional map scales of 100 to 300 m/pxl in order to study local geologic effects and processes. These areas incorporate (1) dark and (2) light tectonized materials, and (3) impact crater materials including an area with numerous secondaries from ray crater Osiris. References: [1] Wagner R. et al. (2014), DPS meeting #46, abstract 418.09. [2] Collins G. et al. (2013), U.S.G.S. Sci. Inv. Map 3237. [3] Della Corte V. et al. (2014), Proc. SPIE 9143, doi:10.1117/12.2056353. [4] Michael G. et al. (2016), Icarus 277, 279-285.

Laboratory Studies of Ammonia Ices Relevant to the Jovian Atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meharchand, R. T.; Boulter, J. E.; Baer, C. E.; Kalogerakis, K. S.

2004-12-01

Ammonia ice condensation and cloud formation microphysics are topics of relevance for understanding the atmospheres of the giant planets. Ammonia ices are also considered important components of the icy satellites found in the outer solar system, and are thought to play an important role in their geological activity. Although observational evidence and thermochemical models suggest ammonia clouds in the Jovian atmosphere should be ubiquitous, less than only 1% of Jupiter's atmosphere appears covered by spectrally identifiable ammonia clouds, with a clear preference in turbulent regions.1,2 The paradox of the rather scarce spectroscopic signatures of ammonia clouds and their appearance in turbulent regions suggests that the nascent ammonia clouds may undergo processing that modifies their spectroscopic properties. No relevant laboratory experimental results are available to resolve this problem. Two possible sources of processing that have been suggested in the literature include photochemical solid-state modification (''tanning'') and coating of ammonia particles by other substances present in the stratospheric haze.2,3 We are performing laboratory investigations with the objective to provide information on the photophysical and chemical processes that control the optical properties of the Jovian ammonia clouds. In the experiments, thin ice films of ammonia are coated with organic molecules, such as saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons, and characterized by infrared spectroscopy. Preliminary results indicate suppression of the ammonia absorption feature at 2.7 μ m by a thin layer of hydrocarbons. The implications for the spectral signatures of ammonia clouds in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn will be discussed. Funding from the NSF Planetary Astronomy Program under grant AST-0206270 is gratefully acknowledged. The participation of Rhiannon Meharchand and Christina Baer was made possible by the NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program under grant

Precision Navigation of Cassini Images Using Rings, Icy Satellites, and Fuzzy Bodies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

French, Robert S.; Showalter, Mark R.; Gordon, Mitchell K.

2016-10-01

Before images from the Cassini spacecraft can be analyzed, errors in the published pointing information (up to ~110 pixels for the Imaging Science Subsystem Narrow Angle Camera) must be corrected so that the line of sight vector for each pixel is known. This complicated and labor-intensive process involves matching the image contents with known features such as stars, rings, or moons. Metadata, such as lighting geometry or ring radius and longitude, must be computed for each pixel as well. Both steps require mastering the SPICE toolkit, a highly capable piece of software with a steep learning curve. Only after these steps are completed can the actual scientific investigation begin.We have embarked on a three-year project to perform these steps for all 400,000+ Cassini ISS images as well as images taken by the VIMS, UVIS, and CIRS instruments. The result will be a series of SPICE kernels that include accurate pointing information and a series of backplanes that include precomputed metadata for each pixel. All data will be made public through the PDS Ring-Moon Systems Node (http://www.pds-rings.seti.org). We expect this project to dramatically decrease the time required for scientists to analyze Cassini data.In a previous poster (French et al. 2014, DPS #46, 422.01) we discussed our progress navigating images using stars, simple ring models, and well-defined icy bodies. In this poster we will report on our current progress including the use of more sophisticated ring models, navigation of "fuzzy" bodies such as Titan and Saturn, and use of crater matching on high-resolution images of the icy satellites.

High-resolution CASSINI-VIMS mosaics of Titan and the icy Saturnian satellites

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jaumann, R.; Stephan, K.; Brown, R.H.; Buratti, B.J.; Clark, R.N.; McCord, T.B.; Coradini, A.; Capaccioni, F.; Filacchione, G.; Cerroni, P.; Baines, K.H.; Bellucci, G.; Bibring, J.-P.; Combes, M.; Cruikshank, D.P.; Drossart, P.; Formisano, V.; Langevin, Y.; Matson, D.L.; Nelson, R.M.; Nicholson, P.D.; Sicardy, B.; Sotin, Christophe; Soderbloom, L.A.; Griffith, C.; Matz, K.-D.; Roatsch, Th.; Scholten, F.; Porco, C.C.

2006-01-01

The Visual Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) onboard the CASSINI spacecraft obtained new spectral data of the icy satellites of Saturn after its arrival at Saturn in June 2004. VIMS operates in a spectral range from 0.35 to 5.2 ??m, generating image cubes in which each pixel represents a spectrum consisting of 352 contiguous wavebands. As an imaging spectrometer VIMS combines the characteristics of both a spectrometer and an imaging instrument. This makes it possible to analyze the spectrum of each pixel separately and to map the spectral characteristics spatially, which is important to study the relationships between spectral information and geological and geomorphologic surface features. The spatial analysis of the spectral data requires the determination of the exact geographic position of each pixel on the specific surface and that all 352 spectral elements of each pixel show the same region of the target. We developed a method to reproject each pixel geometrically and to convert the spectral data into map projected image cubes. This method can also be applied to mosaic different VIMS observations. Based on these mosaics, maps of the spectral properties for each Saturnian satellite can be derived and attributed to geographic positions as well as to geological and geomorphologic surface features. These map-projected mosaics are the basis for all further investigations. ?? 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Jovian rings as observed from Jupiter.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malinnikova Bang, A.; Joergensen, J. L.; Joergensen, P. S.; Denver, T.; Connerney, J. E. P.; Bolton, S. J.; Levin, S.

2017-12-01

Juno entered a highly eliptic orbit around Jupiter on the 4. July 2016. Since then, it has completed 8 perijove passages. The Magnetometer experiment consists of two measurement platforms mounted 10m and 12m from the spacecraft spin axis, on one of three large solar panels. Each magnetometer platform is equipped with two star trackers to provide accurate attitude information to the vector magnetometers. The star trackers are pointed 13deg from the (anti) spin vector, and clocked 180deg to avoid simultaneous blinding effects from bright Jupiter only 6000km away, during perijove. This brings Juno well inside the innermost known satellite, Metis. The star trackers pointing close to, and above the Jovian horizon for most of each rotation of Juno, has an excellent view of the Jovian ring systems with a beta-angle close to 180deg. We report on the ring imaging performed during the first 8 orbits, discuss the structure, optical depth and moon sheparding of the inner rings as measured so far.

Time-Variable Phenomena in the Jovian System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Belton, Michael J. S. (Editor); West, Robert A. (Editor); Rahe, Jurgen (Editor); Pereyda, Margarita

1989-01-01

The current state of knowledge of dynamic processes in the Jovian system is assessed and summaries are provided of both theoretical and observational foundations upon which future research might be based. There are three sections: satellite phenomena and rings; magnetospheric phenomena, Io's torus, and aurorae; and atmospheric phenomena. Each chapter discusses time dependent theoretical framework for understanding and interpreting what is observed; others describe the evidence and nature of observed changes or their absence. A few chapters provide historical perspective and attempt to present a comprehensive synthesis of the current state of knowledge.

The Galilean Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

In this 'family portrait,' the four Galilean Satellites are shown to scale. These four largest moons of Jupiter shown in increasing distance from Jupiter are (left to right) Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

These global views show the side of volcanically active Io which always faces away from Jupiter, icy Europa, the Jupiter-facing side of Ganymede, and heavily cratered Callisto. The appearances of these neighboring satellites are amazingly different even though they are relatively close to Jupiter (350,000 kilometers for Io; 1, 800,000 kilometers for Callisto). These images were acquired on several orbits at very low 'phase' angles (the sun, spacecraft, moon angle) so that the sun is illuminating the Jovian moons from completely behind the spacecraft, in the same way a full moon is viewed from Earth. The colors have been enhanced to bring out subtle color variations of surface features. North is to the top of all the images which were taken by the Solid State Imaging (SSI) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft.

Io, which is slightly larger than Earth's moon, is the most colorful of the Galilean satellites. Its surface is covered by deposits from actively erupting volcanoes, hundreds of lava flows, and volcanic vents which are visible as small dark spots. Several of these volcanoes are very hot; at least one reached a temperature of 2000 degrees Celsius (3600 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer of 1997. Prometheus, a volcano located slightly right of center on Io's image, was active during the Voyager flybys in 1979 and is still active as Galileo images were obtained. This global view was obtained in September 1996 when Galileo was 485,000 kilometers from Io; the finest details that can be discerned are about 10 km across. The bright, yellowish and white materials located at equatorial latitudes are believed to be composed of sulfur and sulfur dioxide. The polar caps are darker and covered by a redder material.

Europa has a very different surface from its

Outpost in Jovian system - a stepwise long-term undertaking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yasaka, Tetsuo

2003-11-01

Space has been attracting human attention since the dawn of our history, and clues thus given have triggered scientific and cultural evolutions. Now the space is in our hands. Near earth space has been developed, providing benefits to daily life. Moon and Mars will become the stage of human activity in a few decades. What will be the next logical step? The next step should be an undertaking that promises substantial influence to human history, both in knowledge and productive activities. Looking into the future directions of technology development combined with their outcome, Kyushu University selected a stepwise long-term undertaking toward establishment of an outpost in the Jovian system. Jupiter is our closest gas planet, which is a replica of the Sun. Its true understanding is essential to our knowledge of the universe. Its satellites abounds versatility providing not only the crucial knowledge of science but energy and materials vital to space activities. Jovian outpost consists of the central station on or around Callisto, controlling several laboratories on other Galilean satellites and dispatching probes to the main planet including Jovian-Crafts to cruise within its atmosphere and Deep Probes to explore the depth of the hydrogen ocean. Utilization of materials especially water on Europa will enable energy management of the stations and probes, and will further provide sound base toward exploration of the outskirts of the solar system and beyond. This understanding needs a long term endeavor that should be handed over many generations. This is a technology development program but education is an essential part of the process. The task is based on a series of short (5 year) targets. Each target provides stepwise solution to the objective, yet provides substantial outputs to the society and industries in a timely manner. The paper describes the overall program and details of the first 5 year targets.

Outpost in Jovian system—a stepwise long-term undertaking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yasaka, Tetsuo

2006-10-01

Space has been attracting human attention since the dawn of our history, and clues thus given have triggered scientific and cultural evolutions. Now the space is in our hands. Near earth space has been developed, providing benefits to daily life. Moon and Mars will become the stage of human activity in a few decades. What will be the next logical step? The next step should be an undertaking that promises substantial influence to human history, both in knowledge and productive activities. Looking into the future directions of technology development combined with their outcome, Kyushu University selected a stepwise long-term undertaking toward establishment of an outpost in the Jovian system. Jupiter is our closest gas planet, which is a replica of the Sun. Its true understanding is essential to our knowledge of the universe. Its satellites abounds versatility providing not only the crucial knowledge of science but energy and materials vital to space activities. Jovian outpost consists of the central station on or around Callisto, controlling several laboratories on other Galilean satellites and dispatching probes to the main planet including Jovian-Crafts to cruise within its atmosphere and Deep Probes to explore the depth of the hydrogen ocean. Utilization of materials especially water on Europa will enable energy management of the stations and probes, and will further provide sound base toward exploration of the outskirts of the solar system and beyond. This understanding needs a long-term endeavor that should be handed over many generations. This is a technology development program but education is an essential part of the process. The task is based on a series of short (5 year) targets. Each target provides stepwise solution to the objective, yet provides substantial outputs to the society and industries in a timely manner. The paper describes the overall program and details of the first 5 year targets.

Flow and fracture of ices, with application to icy satellites (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Durham, W. B.; Stern, L. A.; Pathare, A.; Golding, N.

2013-12-01

Exploration of the outer planets and their satellites by spacecraft over the past 4 decades has revealed that the prevailing low temperatures in the outer solar system have not produced "dead" cryoworlds of generic appearance. Rather, there is an extraordinary diversity in average densities, presence/absence and compositions of atmospheres and planetary rings, average albedos and their seasonal changes, near-surface compositions, and surface records of impact cratering and endogenic tectonic and igneous processes. One reason for this diversity is that the icy minerals present in abundance on many of these worlds are now or once were at significant fractions of their melting temperatures. Hence, a host of thermally activated processes related to endogenic activity (such as crystal defect migration, mass diffusion, surface transport, solid-solid changes of state, and partial melting) may occur that can enable inelastic flow on the surfaces and in the interiors of these bodies. Planetary manifestations include viscous crater relaxation in ice-rich terrain, cryovolcanism, the presence of a stable subsurface ocean, and the effects of solid-ice convection in deep interiors. We make the connection between theoretical mechanisms of deformation and planetary geology through laboratory experiment. Specifically, we develop quantitative constitutive flow laws (strain rate vs. stress) that describe the effects of relevant environmental variables (hydrostatic pressure, temperature, phase composition, chemical impurities). Our findings speak to topics including (1) the behavior of an outer ice I layer, its thickness, the depth to which a stagnant lid might extend, and possibility of wholesale overturn; (2) softening effects of dissolved species such as ammonia and perchlorate; (3) hardening effects of enclathration and of rock dust; and (4) effects of grain size on strength and factors affecting grain size. Other applications of lab data include dynamics of the deep interiors of

The Effects of Radiation on the Adsorption of CO2 by Nonice Materials Relevant to Icy Satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hibbitts, C.; Stockstill-Cahill, K.; Paranicas, C.; Wing, B. R.

2017-12-01

Water-ice and water-rich non-ice materials dominate the surfaces of the icy satellites of Jupiter and Saturn, with CO2 detected at trace amounts largely in the nonice materials [1,2]. Although, the mechanism by which CO2 is entrained within the nonice material has not yet been understood, one hypothesis is adsorption by van der Waals forces or induced dipole interactions, with laboratory measurements demonstrating some analog materials can stably retain adsorbed CO2 while under vacuum at the temperatures of the icy satellites [3,4]. The strength and spectral signature of the adsorbed CO2 is dependent upon the composition and temperature of the host material. So far, the most adsorptive analogs are complex expansive clays, probably because of the large microporosity and presence of charge compensating cations to act as adsorption sites. However, the surfaces of the airless Galilean and Saturnian satellites are bombarded by high-energy particles from the planetary magnetospheres, which could alter the nonice material affecting adsorptivity towards CO2 (and other volatiles). Thus, we have conducted experiments to explore the possibility that irradiation could increase the adsorptivity of other analogs more consistent with the expected composition of the satellites surfaces. This hypothesis is explored for CO2 adsorption onto pressed powder pellets that are cooled to the surface temperatures of the satellites' surfaces under solar illumination ( 125-150 K) and dosed with CO2 from directly above the surface of the pellet, while collecting spectra of the asymmetric stretch fundamental of the CO2 absorption band near 4.25 microns. After this initial spectrum, the pellet is warmed to degas any adsorbed CO2 and then recooled. The pellet is then irradiated with 40 keV electrons for 48-72 hours at a fluence of 80 microamps and the adsorption experiment is repeated. The infrared spectrum is a bidirectional reflectance measurement using a Bruker Vertex 70 FTIR with and external

Re-Analysis of the Solar Phase Curves of the Icy Galilean Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Domingue, Deborah; Verbiscer, Anne

1997-01-01

Re-analysis of the solar phase curves of the icy Galilean satellites demonstrates that the quantitative results are dependent on the single particle scattering function incorporated into the photometric model; however, the qualitative properties are independent. The results presented here show that the general physical characteristics predicted by a Hapke model (B. Hapke, 1986, Icarus 67, 264-280) incorporating a two parameter double Henyey-Greenstein scattering function are similar to the predictions given by the same model incorporating a three parameter double Henyey-Greenstein scattering function as long as the data set being modeled has adequate coverage in phase angle. Conflicting results occur when the large phase angle coverage is inadequate. Analysis of the role of isotropic versus anisotropic multiple scattering shows that for surfaces as bright as Europa the two models predict very similar results over phase angles covered by the data. Differences arise only at those phase angles for which there are no data. The single particle scattering behavior between the leading and trailing hemispheres of Europa and Ganymede is commensurate with magnetospheric alterations of their surfaces. Ion bombardment will produce more forward scattering single scattering functions due to annealing of potential scattering centers within regolith particles (N. J. Sack et al., 1992, Icarus 100, 534-540). Both leading and trailing hemispheres of Europa are consistent with a high porosity model and commensurate with a frost surface. There are no strong differences in predicted porosity between the two hemispheres of Callisto, both are consistent with model porosities midway between that deduced for Europa and the Moon. Surface roughness model estimates predict that surface roughness increases with satellite distance from Jupiter, with lunar surface roughness values falling midway between those measured for Ganymede and Callisto. There is no obvious variation in predicted surface

Evidence of Jovian active longitude: 3. Observational constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galopeau, P. H. M.; Boudjada, M. Y.

2010-12-01

The occurrence probability of the Io-controlled Jovian decameter radio emissions depends on the central meridian longitude and the orbital phase of the satellite Io. Investigations by Galopeau et al. (2004, 2007) have shown that some specific Jovian "active" longitudes favor the radiation. The authors proposed a model which involves the cyclotron maser instability (CMI) as the mechanism at the origin of the Jovian radio emissions produced near the local gyrofrequency, along an active magnetic field line carried away by Io through its revolution around Jupiter. Those studies brought out the existence of an active longitude anchored in Jupiter's magnetic field and directly related to the efficiency of the CMI. In the present analysis, we model the four occurrence regions associated to Io-controlled sources. This approach is in a reverse way of the parametric method developed by Galopeau et al. (2007). The properties of the propagation and polarization of the radio wave, derived from the CMI, are the key ingredients for the study of the beaming cone. It is shown that the lead angle of the active magnetic field line relative to Io has a significant effect on both the selection of the propagation conditions and the limit between the right- and left-hand polarization states. The modeled and observed occurrence regions are found to be similar for a lead angle of about 20°. However, it seems that the behaviors of the southern and northern sources are not alike despite a common generation mechanism.

Jovian "sub-storm" and Its Influence On The Hectometric (hom) and Kilometric (kom) Emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boudjada, M. Y.; Galopeau, P. H. M.; Rucker, H. O.

We analyse the variation of the Jovian radio emission in the frequency range from 10 kHz up to 6 MHz by combining Galileo and Wind observations. We consider the emis- sion observed during the second GalileoSs orbit which corresponds to the period from 31st August to 23rd October 1996. For a given period of time, the central meridian longitudes associated to the observer (Wind or Galileo spacecraft) were completely different. This opportunity allows us to compare the variation of the hectometric radi- ation as observed by the two satellites, Wind on the dayside and Galileo on the night- side. We show that periodic intermittent enhancements of hectometric emission during long (few days) or short (few hours) intervals are quasi-simultaneously recorded by both spacecraft. Such Jovian Ssub-stormsT seem to affect also lower frequencies and & cedil;in particular the Jovian kilometric radiation. We discuss the spectral boundaries of the HOM and KOM emission during these particular phases, and their inter-correlations.

On the injection of fine dust from the Jovian magnetosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maravilla, D.; Flammer, K. R.; Mendis, D. A.

1995-01-01

Using a simple aligned dipole model of the Jovian magnetic field, and exploiting integrals of the gravito-electrodynamic equation of motion of charged dust, we obtain an analytic result which characterizes the nature of the orbits of grains of different (fixed) charge-to-mass ratios launched at different velocities from different radial distances from Jupiter. This enables us to consider various possible sources of the dust-streams emanating from Jupiter which have been observed by the Ulysses spacecraft. We conclude that Jupiter's volcanically active satellite Io is the likely source, in agreement with the earlier calculations and simulations of Horanyi et al. using a detailed three-dimensional model of the Jovian magnetosphere. Our estimates of the size range and the velocity range of these dust grains are also in good agreement with those of the above authors and are within the error bars of the observations.

Titan's Impact Cratering Record: Erosion of Ganymedean (and other) Craters on a Wet Icy Landscape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schenk, P.; Moore, J.; Howard, A.

2012-04-01

We examine the cratering record of Titan from the perspective of icy satellites undergoing persistent landscape erosion. First we evaluate whether Ganymede (and Callisto) or the smaller low-gravity neighboring icy satellites of Saturn are the proper reference standard for evaluating Titan’s impact crater morphologies, using topographic and morphometric measurements (Schenk, 2002; Schenk et al. (2004) and unpublished data). The special case of Titan’s largest crater, Minrva, is addressed through analysis of large impact basins such as Gilgamesh, Lofn, Odysseus and Turgis. Second, we employ a sophisticated landscape evolution and modification model developed for study of martian and other planetary landforms (e.g., Howard, 2007). This technique applies mass redistribution principles due to erosion by impact, fluvial and hydrological processes to a planetary landscape. The primary advantage of our technique is the possession of a limited but crucial body of areal digital elevation models (DEMs) of Ganymede (and Callisto) impact craters as well as global DEM mapping of Saturn’s midsize icy satellites, in combination with the ability to simulate rainfall and redeposition of granular material to determine whether Ganymede craters can be eroded to resemble Titan craters and the degree of erosion required. References: Howard, A. D., “Simulating the development of martian highland landscapes through the interaction of impact cratering, fluvial erosion, and variable hydrologic forcing”, Geomorphology, 91, 332-363, 2007. Schenk, P. "Thickness constraints on the icy shells of the galilean satellites from impact crater shapes". Nature, 417, 419-421, 2002. Schenk, P.M., et al. "Ages and interiors: the cratering record of the Galilean satellites". In: Jupiter: The Planet, Satellites, and Magnetosphere, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 427-456, 2004.

The Feasibility of a Galileo-Style Tour of the Uranian Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heaton, Andrew F.; Longuski, James M.; Vanhooser, Teresa B. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Gravity-assist trajectories have been a key to outer Solar System exploration. In particular, the gravity-assist tour of the Jovian satellites has contributed significantly to the success of the Galileo mission. A comparison of the Jovian system to the Uranian system reveals that the two possess similar satellite/planet mass ratios. Tisserand graphs of the Uranian system also indicate the potential for tours at Uranus. In this paper. We devise tour strategies and design a prototypical tour of the Uranian satellites, proving that tours at Uranus are feasible.

High-Energy Electron-Induced SEUs and Jovian Environment Impact

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tali, Maris; Alía, Rubén García; Brugger, Markus; Ferlet-Cavrois, Veronique; Corsini, Roberto; Farabolini, Wilfrid; Mohammadzadeh, Ali; Santin, Giovanni; Virtanen, Ari

2017-08-01

We present experimental evidence of electron-induced upsets in a reference European Space Agency (ESA) single event upset (SEU) monitor, induced by a 200-MeV electron beam at the Very energetic Electronic facility for Space Planetary Exploration in harsh Radiation environments facility at CERN. Comparison of experimental cross sections and simulated cross sections is shown and the differences are analyzed. Possible secondary contributions to the upset rate by neutrons, flash effects, and cumulative dose effects are discussed, showing that electronuclear reactions are the expected SEU mechanism. The ESA Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer mission, to be launched in 2022, presents a challenging radiation environment due to the intense high-energy electron flux in the trapped radiation belts. Insight is given to the possible contribution of electrons to the overall upset rates in the Jovian radiation environment. Relative contributions of both typical electron and proton spectra created when the environmental spectra are transported through a typical spacecraft shielding are shown and the different mission phases are discussed.

Jovian System as a Demonstration of JWST’s Capabilities for Solar System Science: Status Update

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conrad, Al; Fouchet, Thierry

2018-06-01

Characterize Jupiter’s cloud layers, winds, composition, auroral activity, and temperature structureProduce maps of the atmosphere and surface of volcanically-active Io and icy satellite Ganymede to constrain their thermal and atmospheric structure, and search for plumesCharacterize the ring structure, and its sources, sinks and evolution.We will present our progress to date in planning these observations and provide an update on our expectations.Our program will utilize all JWST instruments in different observing modes to demonstrate the capabilities of JWST’s instruments on one of the largest and brightest sources in the Solar System and on very faint targets next to it. We will also observe weak emission/absorption bands on strong continua, and with NIRIS/AMI we will maximize the Strehl ratio on unresolved features, such as Io’s volcanoes.We will deliver a number of science enabling products that will facilitate community science, including, e.g.: i) characterizing Jupiter’s scattered light in the context of scientific observations, ii) resolve point sources with AMI in a crowded field (Io’s volcanoes), and compare this to classical observations, iii) develop tools to mosaic/visualize spectral datacubes using MIRI and NIRSpec on Jupiter. Finally, our program will also set a first temporal benchmark to study time variations in the jovian system and any interconnectivity (e.g., through its magnetic field) during JWST’s lifetime.

Subsurface Structure and Thermal History of Icy Satellites from Stereo Topography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phillips, C. B.; Hammond, N. P.; Roberts, J. H.; Nimmo, F.; Beyer, R. A.; robuchon, G.

2012-12-01

Stereo topography, in combination with numerical modeling, can be used to study the subsurface structure and thermal history of icy satellites. We are using stereo images of Saturn's icy satellites from the Cassini ISS instrument to construct digital elevation models (DEMs). We first extracted topographic profiles of impact craters on Dione and Rhea. Using the current crater depths, we then estimated the initial crater depth and calculated the viscous crater relaxation for each crater. Our results show that 100 km diameter craters on Rhea range from ~10-50% relaxed, while craters with D> 200 km have relaxations of 40-50%. In comparison, craters with D < 100 km on Dione are 30-50% relaxed, while craters with D >100 km were 60-75% relaxed. We then compared these observations with the results of a combined thermal and visco-elastic relaxation model based on the work of Robuchon et al. 2011 and Robuchon and Nimmo 2011. The model for Rhea predicts a maximum crater relaxation between 10% for smaller craters and 40% for larger craters. For Dione, which is modeled as differentiated, the maximum relaxation is even less: ~5% for smaller craters and ~10% for larger craters. Our model thus underpredicts the observed relaxation. We therefore require more heating early in the history of the satellites to produce the observed relaxation, requiring a subsurface ocean layer. Topographic profiles of tectonic features let us use flexure to estimate elastic thickness and therefore heat flux. We fit observations of the height and distance to observed flexural bulges at two sites on Dione to models of a flexing unbroken elastic plate, and found that the elastic thickness was ~2-5 km. This is consistent with work by Nimmo et al. (2011) that suggested an elastic thickness of 1.5-5 km based on long-wavelength topography. With a measurement of average strain of 0.03, we estimate a heat flux between 20-80 mW/m2. This is far higher than the heat flux of ~ 4 mW/m2 expected from radiogenic

What can we learn from the auroral footprints of the Jovian moons? (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonfond, B.

2010-12-01

The signature of electromagnetic interaction between the moons Io, Europa and Ganymede and the Jovian magnetosphere can be observed on Jupiter’s polar ionosphere in the form of auroral footprints. The observation campaigns carried out during the past few years by the Hubble Space Telescope in the Far UV domain provided not only a high spatial and temporal resolution but also an unprecedented System III longitude coverage. Consequently, these recent observations of the morphology and the dynamics of the footprints proved to be very powerful tools to probe these interactions. For example, the locations of the satellite footprints have been used as a valuable constraint for building Jovian magnetic field models. Moreover, analysis of the multiplicity of the Io footprint spots as well as their relative motion lead to new conclusions on the electron acceleration processes. The altitude of the Io footprint has also been used to infer the typical energy of the impinging electrons. Finally, the study of the three-dimensional shape and of the brightness of the different sub-structures of the footprints provides important clues on the processes at play between Io and the Jovian ionosphere. On the theoretical side, considerable efforts have also been recently carried out in order to model the propagation of the Alfvén waves generated at Io and the subsequent acceleration of auroral electrons. Coupled with HST images, radio decametric measurements and in situ data from the Galileo spacecraft, these advances provide a brand new understanding of the satellite footprints.

Evidence for a Trapped Radical (OH) on Ariel, Oberon, and Titania from Hubble Space Telescope Ultraviolet Spectra

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roush, Ted L.; Noll, Keith S.; Pendleton, Yvonne J.; DeVincenzi, Donald (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The moons Ariel, Titania, and Oberon have orbits lying within the magnetosphere of Uranus, exposing them to particle irradiation from trapped Ions. This Is similar to the situation experienced by the jovian moons Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, as well as the saturnian satellites Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, and Rhea. Identification of SO2 on Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, and O3 on Ganymede, Rhea, and Dione has supported suggestions that chemical modifications occur on icy bodies due to ion bombardment associated with the particles entrained within the magnetospheric fields of Jupiter and Saturn. Similar to the Jovian and saturnian satellites mentioned above, water ice is a major component on the larger uranian satellites", thus one might anticipate chemical modification to he an important process in the uranian system. Laboratory studies or the interaction of ultraviolet (uv) and charged-particle radiation with water ice show that in addition to molecular species, a variety of radicals are also produced. We report here evidence for an uv absorption feature in the spectra of Ariel, Titania, and Oberon that we identify as due, in part, to OH; providing the first evidence of a radical produced and trapped on an icy moon within our solar system.

Millimeter-wave spectra of the Jovian planets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Joiner, Joanna; Steffes, Paul G.

1991-01-01

The millimeter wave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum is critical for understanding the subcloud atmospheric structure of the Jovian planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune). This research utilizes a combination of laboratory measurements, computer modeling, and radio astronomical observation in order to obtain a better understanding of the millimeter-wave spectra of the Jovian planets. The pressure broadened absorption from gaseous ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) was measured in the laboratory under simulated conditions for the Jovian atmospheres. Researchers developed new formalisms for computing the absorptivity of gaseous NH3 and H2S based on their laboratory measurements. They developed a radiative transfer and thermochemical model to predict the abundance and distribution of absorbing constituents in the Jovian atmospheres. They used the model to compute the millimeter wave emission from the Jovian planets.

Exchange processes from the deep interior to the surface of icy moons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grasset, O.

present dynamics of icy surfaces: erosion, tectonics and cryovolcanism. This second topic is devoted to the description of the surface features. A synthesis of what has been seen in the jovian system and a presentation of what is now discovered in the saturnian system might be useful. 3) Internal processes: dynamics of icy mantles. Many works have been done specifically for icy moons (rheology of icy mantles, heating modes, effect of ice composition, internal activity of small moons, internal oceans,. . . ). Icy mantles present so many different convective processes, depending on parameters such as the ice composition, the heating mode, . . . , that a full review of the recent progress on the subject is required. 4) Physics and chemistry of ices: experimental constraints on hydrates, clathrates and organics. Nothing can be done without experimental data. Thermodynamical constraints, phase diagrams, but also mechanical properties of icy materials are required for constraining all models. Many progress have been made these last five years, especially for clathrate structures so important in the case of Titan. A review of these progresses is required. 5) Earth analogs: a tool for understanding surface/ internal features. Tectonic and volcanic features on icy moons are sometimes confronted to Earth structures. This procedure is very interesting. While materials are different (on Earth the melt is lighter than the rock, but on icy moons it is the contrary), tectonic and volcanic features can be very similar. Our good understanding of the Earth can be very useful for describing the processes responsible of tectonic/volcanic features on the moons. Discussing around the five themes described above may provide some constraints on open questions such as the characteristics of liquid layers within icy moons, the cryovolcanism on Titan, the resurfacing of Europa, the composition of Titan's surface, and the activity on Enceladus. 2

Searching for Thermal Anomalies on Icy Satellites: Step 1- Validation of the Three Dimensional Volatile-Transport (VT3D)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simmons, Gary G.; Howett, Carly J. A.; Young, Leslie A.; Spencer, John R.

2015-11-01

In the last few decades, thermal data from the Galileo and Cassini spacecraft have detected various anomalies on Jovian and Saturnian satellites, including the thermally anomalous “PacMan” regions on Mimas and Tethys and the Pwyll anomaly on Europa (Howett et al. 2011, Howett et al. 2012, Spencer et al. 1999). Yet, the peculiarities of some of these anomalies, like the weak detection of the “PacMan” anomalies on Rhea and Dione and the low thermal inertia values of the widespread anomalies on equatorial Europa, are subjects for on-going research (Howett et al. 2014, Rathbun et al. 2010). Further, analysis and review of all the data both Galileo and Cassini took of these worlds will provide information of the thermal inertia and albedos of their surfaces, perhaps highlighting potential targets of interest for future Jovian and Saturnian system missions. Many previous works have used a thermophysical model for airless planets developed by Spencer (1990). However, the Three Dimensional Volatile-Transport (VT3D) model proposed by Young (2012) is able to predict surface temperatures in significantly faster computation time, incorporating seasonal and diurnal insolation variations. This work is the first step in an ongoing investigation, which will use VT3D’s capabilities to reanalyze Galileo and Cassini data. VT3D, which has already been used to analyze volatile transport on Pluto, is validated by comparing its results to that of the Spencer thermal model. We will also present our initial results using VT3D to reanalyze the thermophysical properties of the PacMan anomaly previous discovered on Mimas by Howett et al. (2011), using temperature constraints of diurnal data from Cassini/CIRS. VT3D is expected to be an efficient tool in identifying new thermal anomalies in future Saturnian and Jovian missions.Bibliography:C.J.A. Howett et al. (2011), Icarus 216, 221.C.J.A. Howett et al. (2012), Icarus 221, 1084.C.J.A. Howett et al. (2014), Icarus 241, 239.J

Icy Saturnian satellites: Disk-integrated UV-IR characteristics and links to exogenic processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hendrix, Amanda R.; Filacchione, Gianrico; Paranicas, Chris; Schenk, Paul; Scipioni, Francesca

2018-01-01

Combined Cassini observations obtained at similar observing geometries in the ultraviolet through infrared spectral range, along with additional ultraviolet (UV) data from Hubble Space Telescope where available, are used to study system-wide trends in spectral albedos of the inner icy Saturnian satellites (Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea). We derive UV and visible geometric albedos and UV absorption strengths of the leading and trailing hemispheres and compare with E ring grain flux and charged particle intensities (electrons and ions of varying energies) to those hemispheres. We find that the UV absorption strength on the leading and trailing hemispheres is anti-correlated with E ring grain flux. On the trailing hemispheres, the UV absorption strength is correlated with intensity of electrons in the tens of keV range. We suggest that these relationships could imply links with the organic component of the E ring. Radiolytic processing of organics causes the products to become spectrally redder, increasing the UV absorption strength. Such processing occurs while organic-rich grains are in the E ring, and increases with exposure time in the E ring, such that grains interacting with Rhea are redder (more processed) than those impacting moons closer to Enceladus. Further processing (and associated darkening/reddening) occurs on the trailing hemispheres of the satellites, via radiolysis by electrons in the tens of keV range. Silicates and salts also redden with weathering; however because organics are present in the E ring in significantly greater abundance than salts or silicates, we suggest here that weathering of organics dominates the coloring of the inner Saturnian moons.

Jovian Antarctica.

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-02-04

Cyclones swirl around the south pole, and white oval storms can be seen near the limb -- the apparent edge of the planet -- in this image of Jupiter's south polar region taken by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft. The image was acquired on February 2, 2017, at 5:52 a.m. PST (8:52 a.m. EST) from an altitude of 47,600 miles (76,600 kilometers) above Jupiter's swirling cloud deck. Prior to the Feb. 2 flyby, the public was invited to vote for their favorite points of interest in the Jovian atmosphere for JunoCam to image. The point of interest captured here was titled "Jovian Antarctica" by a member of the public, in reference to Earth's Antarctica. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21380

On the state of water ice on saturn's moon Titan and implications to icy bodies in the outer solar system.

PubMed

Zheng, Weijun; Jewitt, David; Kaiser, Ralf I

2009-10-22

The crystalline state of water ice in the Solar System depends on the temperature history of the ice and the influence of energetic particles to which it has been exposed. We measured the infrared absorption spectra of amorphous and crystalline water ice in the 10-50 K and 10-140 K temperature ranges, respectively, and conducted a systematic experimental study to investigate the amorphization of crystalline water ice via ionizing radiation irradiation at doses of up to 160 +/- 30 eV per molecule. We found that crystalline water ice can be converted only partially to amorphous ice by electron irradiation. The experiments showed that a fraction of the 1.65 microm band, which is characteristic for crystalline water ice, survived the irradiation, to a degree that strongly depends on the temperature. Quantitative kinetic fits of the temporal evolution of the 1.65 mum band clearly demonstrate that there is a balance between thermal recrystallization and irradiation-induced amorphization, with thermal recrystallizaton dominant at higher temperatures. Our experiments show the amorphization at 40 K was incomplete, in contradiction to Mastrapa and Brown's conclusion (Icarus 2006, 183, 207.). At 50 K, the recrystallization due to thermal effects is strong, and most of the crystalline ice survived. Temperatures of most icy objects in the Solar System, including Jovian satellites, Saturnian satellites (including Titan), and Kuiper Belt Objects, are equal to or above 50 K; this explains why water ice detected on those objects is mostly crystalline.

Remote microscopy and volumetric imaging on the surface of icy satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soto, Alejandro; Nowicki, Keith; Howett, Carly; Feldkhun, Daniel; Retherford, Kurt D.

2017-10-01

With NASA PIDDP support we have applied recent advancements in Fourier-domain microscopy to develop an instrument capable of microscopic imaging from meter-scale distances for use on a planetary lander on the surface of an icy satellite or other planetary bodies. Without moving parts, our instrument projects dynamic patterns of laser light onto a distant target using a lightweight large-aperture reflector, which then collects the light scattered or fluoresced by the target on a fast photon-bucket detector. Using Fourier Transform based techniques, we reconstruct an image from the detected light. The remote microscope has been demonstrated to produce 2D images with better than 15 micron lateral resolution for targets at a distance of 5 meters and is capable of linearly proportionally higher resolution at shorter distances. The remote microscope is also capable of providing three-dimensional (3D) microscopic imaging capabilities, allowing future surface scientists to explore the morphology of microscopic features in surface ices, for example. The instrument enables microscopic in-situ imaging during day or night without the use of a robotic arm, greatly facilitating the surface operations for a lander or rover while expanding the area of investigation near a landing site for improved science targeting. We are developing this remote microscope for in-situ planetary exploration as a collaboration between the Southwest Research Institute, LambdaMetrics, and the University of Colorado.

Spectroscopic classification of icy satellites of Saturn I: Identification of terrain units on Dione

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scipioni, F.; Tosi, F.; Stephan, K.; Filacchione, G.; Ciarniello, M.; Capaccioni, F.; Cerroni, P.

2013-11-01

Dione is one of the largest and densest icy satellites of Saturn. Its surface shows a marked asymmetry between its leading and trailing hemispheres, the leading side being brighter than the trailing side, which shows regions mantled by a dark veneer whose origin is likely exogenic. In order to identify different terrain units we applied the Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) classification technique to Dione’s hyperspectral images acquired by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) onboard the Cassini Orbiter in the infrared range (0.88-5.12 μm). On a relatively limited portion of the surface of Dione we first identified nine spectral endmembers, corresponding to as many terrain units, which mostly distinguish for water ice abundance and ice grain size. We then used these endmembers in SAM to achieve a comprehensive classification of the entire surface. The analysis of the infrared spectra returned by VIMS shows that different regions of Dione have variations in water ice bands depths, in average ice grain size, and in the concentration of contaminants, such as CO2 and hydrocarbons, which are clearly connected to morphological and geological structures. Generally, the spectral units that classify optically dark terrains are those showing suppressed water ice bands, a finer ice grain size and a higher concentration of carbon dioxide. Conversely, spectral units labeling brighter regions have deeper water ice absorption bands, higher albedo and a smaller concentration of contaminants. We also considered VIMS cubes of the small satellite Helene (one of the two Dione’s trojan moons) and we compared its infrared spectra to those of the spectral units found on Dione. We observe that the closest match between the spectra of the two satellites occurs for one of the youngest and freshest terrain units on Dione: the Creusa crater region.

On the contribution of PRIDE-JUICE to Jovian system ephemerides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dirkx, D.; Gurvits, L. I.; Lainey, V.; Lari, G.; Milani, A.; Cimò, G.; Bocanegra-Bahamon, T. M.; Visser, P. N. A. M.

2017-11-01

The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission will perform detailed measurements of the properties of the Galilean moons, with a nominal in-system science-mission duration of about 3.5 years. Using both the radio tracking data, and (Earth- and JUICE-based) optical astrometry, the dynamics of the Galilean moons will be measured to unprecedented accuracy. This will provide crucial input to the determination of the ephemerides and physical properties of the system, most notably the dissipation in Io and Jupiter. The data from Planetary Radio Interferometry and Doppler Experiment (PRIDE) will provide the lateral position of the spacecraft in the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF). In this article, we analyze the relative quantitative influence of the JUICE-PRIDE observables to the determination of the ephemerides of the Jovian system and the associated physical parameters. We perform a covariance analysis for a broad range of mission and system characteristics. We analyze the influence of VLBI data quality, observation planning, as well as the influence of JUICE orbit determination quality. This provides key input for the further development of the PRIDE observational planning and ground segment development. Our analysis indicates that the VLBI data are especially important for constraining the dynamics of Ganymede and Callisto perpendicular to their orbital planes. Also, the use of the VLBI data makes the uncertainty in the ephemerides less dependent on the error in the orbit determination of the JUICE spacecraft itself. Furthermore, we find that optical astrometry data of especially Io using the JANUS instrument will be crucial for stabilizing the solution of the normal equations. Knowledge of the dissipation in the Jupiter system cannot be improved using satellite dynamics obtained from JUICE data alone, the uncertainty in Io's dissipation obtained from our simulations is similar to the present level of uncertainty.

Studying the Surfaces of the Icy Galilean Satellites With JIMO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prockter, L.; Schenk, P.; Pappalardo, R.

2003-12-01

The Geology subgroup of the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) Science Definition Team (SDT) has been working with colleagues within the planetary science community to determine the key outstanding science goals that could be met by the JIMO mission. Geological studies of the Galilean satellites will benefit from the spacecraft's long orbital periods around each satellite, lasting from one to several months. This mission plan allows us to select the optimal viewing conditions to complete global compositional and morphologic mapping at high resolution, and to target geologic features of key scientific interest at very high resolution. Community input to this planning process suggests two major science objectives, along with corresponding measurements proposed to meet them. Objective 1: Determine the origins of surface features and their implications for geological history and evolution. This encompasses investigations of magmatism (intrusion, extrusion, and diapirism), tectonism (isostatic compensation, and styles of faulting, flexure and folding), impact cratering (morphology and distribution), and gradation (erosion and deposition) processes (impact gardening, sputtering, mass wasting and frosts). Suggested measurements to meet this goal include (1) two dimensional global topographic mapping sufficient to discriminate features at a spatial scale of 10 m, and with better than or equal to 1 m relative vertical accuracy, (2) nested images of selected target areas at a range of resolutions down to the submeter pixel scale, (3) global (albedo) mapping at better than or equal to 10 m/pixel, and (4) multispectral global mapping in at least 3 colors at better than or equal to 100 m/pixel, with some subsets at better than 30 m/pixel. Objective 2. Identify and characterize potential landing sites for future missions. A primary component to the success of future landed missions is full characterization of potential sites in terms of their relative age, geological interest, and

Studies of Plasma Flow Past Jupiters Satellite Io

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Linker, Jon A.

1997-01-01

We have investigated the interaction of Io, Jupiter's innermost Galilean satellite, with the Io plasma torus, and the interaction of Ganymede with the corotating Jovian plasma. With the successful insertion of the Galileo spacecraft into orbit around Jupiter, many new observations have been made of the Jovian magnetosphere. Some of the most exciting results thus far have been in regards to Jupiter's satellites, Io and Ganymede. In both cases the large perturbations to the background (Jovian) magnetic field have been consistent with the satellites' possession of an intrinsic magnetic field. The gravity measurements implying a differentiated core at both Io and Ganymede makes internal generation of a magnetic field by dynamo action in these satellites plausible, and, in the case of Ganymede, the identification of an intrinsic field is apparently unambiguous. For Io the situation is less clear, and further analysis is necessary to answer this important question. During the past year, we have used time-dependent three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations to study these plasma-moon interactions. The results from these simulations have been used directly in the analysis of the Galileo magnetometer data. Our primary emphasis has been on the Io interaction, but we recently presented results on the Ganymede interaction as well. In this progress summary we describe our efforts on these problems to date.

Between ice and gas: CO2 on the icy satellites of Jupiter and Saturn

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hibbitts, C.

2010-12-01

CO2 exists in the surfaces of the icy Galilean and Saturnian satellites [1-6], yet despite its discovery over a decade ago on Ganymede, and five years ago on the Saturnian satellites, its nature is still debated [7]. On the Galilean satellites Callisto and Ganymede, the CO2 that is detected is bound to, or trapped within, the non-ice materials that prevent it from sublimating or otherwise escaping from the surface. On Europa, it resides within both the ice and nonice materials [8,9]. While greater abundances of CO2 may exist in the interiors of these moons, or small amounts may be continually created through particle bombardment of the surface, the observed CO2 is only a trace material, with a few hundred molecules responsible for the deepest absorption features and an estimated molar abundance of 0.1% [2; 10-12]. Yet its presence may provide essential clues to processes that shape the surfaces of the moon [13] and potentially key to understanding the composition of potential oceans in the subsurfaces. We continue measurements of the infrared properties associated with CO2 adsorbed onto nonice materials under pressures and at temperatures relevant to these icy satellites using bidirectional reflectance spectroscopy from ~ 1.5 to 5.5 μm. Previous measurements, using transmission spectroscopy, demonstrated both a compositional and a temperature dependence on the spectral signature of adsorbed CO2 [14]. Bidirectional spectroscopy enables detection of lower concentrations of adsorbate on fine-grained materials such as clays due to their large surface area to volume ratios and thus large surface areas that may be covered by adsorbate [15]. The effectiveness of transmission spectroscopy was also limited by the strong absorption of light within the pressed sample and its impermeability, which limited the coverage by adsorbate to the pellet’s outer surface. All measurements demonstrate that CO2 adsorbs onto montmorillonite clays, possibly due to its quadrupole moment

Remote Sensing of Icy Galilean Moon Surface and Atmospheric Composition Using Low Energy (1 eV-4 keV) Neutral Atom Imaging

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Collier, M. R.; Sittler, E.; Chornay, D.; Cooper, J. F.; Coplan, M.; Johnson, R. E.

2004-01-01

We describe a low energy neutral atom imager suitable for composition measurements Europa and other icy Galilean moons in the Jovian magnetosphere. This instrument employs conversion surface technology and is sensitive to either neutrals converted to negative ions, neutrals converted to positive ions and the positive ions themselves depending on the power supply. On a mission such as the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO), two back-to-back sensors would be flown with separate power supplies fitted to the neutral atom and iodneutral atom sides. This will allow both remote imaging of 1 eV < E < 4 keV neutrals from icy moon surfaces and atmospheres, and in situ measurements of ions at similar energies in the moon ionospheres and Jovian magnetospheric plasma. The instrument provides composition measurements of the neutrals and ions that enter the spectrometer with a mass resolution dependent on the time-of-flight subsystem and capable of resolving molecules. The lower energy neutrals, up to tens of eV, arise from atoms and molecules sputtered off the moon surfaces and out of the moon atmospheres by impacts of more energetic (keV to MeV) ions from the magnetosphere. Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) models are used to convert measured neutral abundances to compositional distributions of primary and trace species in the sputtered surfaces and atmospheres. The escaping neutrals can also be detected as ions after photo- or plasma-ionization and pickup. Higher energy, keV neutrals come from charge exchange of magnetospheric ions in the moon atmospheres and provide information on atmospheric structure. At the jovicentric orbits of the icy moons the presence of toroidal gas clouds, as detected at Europa's orbit, provide M e r opportunities to analyze both the composition of neutrals and ions originating from the moon surfaces, and the characteristics of magnetospheric ions interacting with neutral cloud material. Charge exchange of low energy ions near the moons, and

Geology of the Icy Galilean Satellites: Understanding Crustal Processes and Geologic Histories Through the JIMO Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Figueredo, P. H.; Tanaka, K.; Senske, D.; Greeley, R.

2003-01-01

Knowledge of the geology, style and time history of crustal processes on the icy Galilean satellites is necessary to understanding how these bodies formed and evolved. Data from the Galileo mission have provided a basis for detailed geologic and geo- physical analysis. Due to constrained downlink, Galileo Solid State Imaging (SSI) data consisted of global coverage at a -1 km/pixel ground sampling and representative, widely spaced regional maps at -200 m/pixel. These two data sets provide a general means to extrapolate units identified at higher resolution to lower resolution data. A sampling of key sites at much higher resolution (10s of m/pixel) allows evaluation of processes on local scales. We are currently producing the first global geological map of Europa using Galileo global and regional-scale data. This work is demonstrating the necessity and utility of planet-wide contiguous image coverage at global, regional, and local scales.

Engineering a Solution to Jupiter Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clark, Karla; Magner, Thomas; Lisano, Michael; Pappalardo, Robert

2010-01-01

The Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) would be an international mission with the overall theme of investigating the emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants. Its goals are to (1) explore Europa to investigate its habitability, (2) characterize Ganymede as a planetary object including its potential habitability and (3) explore the Jupiter system as an archetype for gas giants. NASA and ESA have concluded a detailed joint study of a mission to Europa, Ganymede, and the Jupiter system with conceptual orbiters developed by NASA and ESA. The baseline EJSM architecture consists of two primary elements operating simultaneously in the Jovian system: the NASA-led Jupiter Europa Orbiter (JEO), and the ESA-led Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter (JGO). JEO and JGO would execute an intricately choreographed exploration of the Jupiter System before settling into orbit around Europa and Ganymede, respectively. EJSM would directly address themes concerning the origin and evolution of satellite systems and water-rich environments in icy satellites. The potential habitability of the ocean-bearing moons Europa and Ganymede would be investigated, by characterizing the geophysical, compositional, geological, and external processes that affect these icy worlds. EJSM would also investigate Io and Callisto, Jupiter's atmosphere, and the Jovian magnetosphere. By understanding the Jupiter system and unraveling its history, the formation and evolution of gas giant planets and their satellites would be better known. Most importantly, EJSM would shed new light on the potential for the emergence of life in the celestial neighborhood and beyond. The EJSM baseline architecture would provide opportunities for coordinated synergistic observations by JEO and JGO of the Jupiter and Ganymede magnetospheres, the volcanoes and torus of Io, the atmosphere of Jupiter, and comparative planetology of icy satellites. Each spacecraft would conduct both synergistic dual-spacecraft investigations and stand

Wave-clouds coupling in the Jovian troposphere.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaulme, P.; Mosser, B.

2003-05-01

First studies about Jovian oscillations are due to Vorontsov et al. (1976). Attempts to observe them started in the late 1980's (Deming et al. 1989, Mosser et al. 1991). The micro-satellite Jovis and ground-based observations campaign such as SŸMPA (e.g Baglin et al. 1999) account for an accurate analysis of the cloud response to an acoustic wave. Therefore, the propagation of sound or gravity waves in the Jovian troposphere is revisited, in order to estimate their effect on the highest clouds layer. From basic thermodynamics, the troposphere should be stratified in three major ice clouds layers: water-ammonia, ammonium-hydrosulfide and ammonia ice for the highest. The presence of ammonia ice clouds has been inferred from Kuiper in 1952, and was predicted to dominate the Jovian skies. However, they had been observed spectroscopically over less than one percent of the surface. This absence of spectral proof could come from a coating of ammonia particles from other substances (Baines et al. 2002). In this work, we study the behaviour of a cloud submitted to a periodic pressure perturbation. We suppose a vertical wave propagating in a plane parallel atmosphere including an ammonia ice cloud layer. We determine the relation between the Lagrangian pressure perturbation and the variation of the fraction of solid ammonia. The linearized equations governing the evolution of the Eulerian pressure and density perturbed terms allows us to study how the propagation is altered by the clouds and how the clouds move with the wave. Finally, because a pressure perturbation modifies the fraction of solid ammonia, we estimate how much an ammonia crystal should grow or decrease and how the clouds albedo could change with the wave. Baglin et al. 1999. BAAS 31, 813. Baines et al. 2002. Icarus 159, 74. Deming et al. 1989. Icarus 21, 943. Kuiper 1952.The atmospheres of the Earth and Planets pp. 306-405. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago. Mosser et al. 1991. A&A 251, 356. Vorontsov et al

The compression behavior of blödite at low and high temperature up to ~10GPa: Implications for the stability of hydrous sulfates on icy planetary bodies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Comodi, Paola; Stagno, Vincenzo; Zucchini, Azzurra

Recent satellite inferences of hydrous sulfates as recurrent minerals on the surface of icy planetary bodies link with the potential mineral composition of their interior. Blödite, a mixed Mg-Na sulfate, is here taken as representative mineral of icy satellites surface to investigate its crystal structure and stability at conditions of the interior of icy bodies. To this aim we performed in situ synchrotron angle-dispersive X-ray powder diffraction experiments on natural blödite at pressures up to ~10.4 GPa and temperatures from ~118.8 K to ~490.0 K using diamond anvil cell technique to investigate the compression behavior and establish a low-to-high temperaturemore » equation of state that can be used as reference when modeling the interior of sulfate-rich icy satellites such as Ganymede.« less

Gravity fields. [Jovian, Martian, Cytherean, Mercurian and lunar mass distributions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sjogren, W. L.; Anderson, J. D.; Phillips, R. J.; Trask, D. W.

1976-01-01

Detailed results on internal mass distribution have been obtained via earth-based Doppler radio tracking of deep space probes in the case of Mars, the earth's moon, Venus, Mercury, and Jupiter. Global gravity fields show close correlation with topography in the case of the moon and Mars, as data from orbiting spacecraft indicate. Some data are available on Jovian satellites. The gravity measuring instrumentation and data reduction techniques are described. Gravity profiles referable to lunar frontside mascons, craters, and mountain chains have been acquired from low-altitude (15-20 km) orbit surveys. Theoretically based cross sections through the moon and Jupiter are presented.

Simultaneous Modeling of the Thermophysical and Dynamical Evolution of Saturn's Icy Satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Torrence V.; Castillo-Rogez, J. C.; Matson, D. L.; Sotin, C.; Lunine, J. I.

2007-10-01

This poster describes the methodology we use in modeling the geophysical and dynamical evolution of the icy satellites of Saturn. For each of the model's modules we identify the relevant physical, chemical, mineralogical, and material science principals that are used. Then we present the logic of the modeling approach and its implementation. The main modules handle thermal, geological, and dynamical processes. Key parameters such as temperature, thermal conductivity, rigidity, viscosity, Young's modulus, dynamic Love number k2, and frequency-dependent dissipation factor Q(ω) are transmitted between the modules in the course of calculating an evolutionary sequence. Important initial conditions include volatile and nonvolatile compositions, formation time, rotation period and shape, orbital eccentricity and semimajor axis, and temperature and porosity profiles. The thermal module treats the thermal effects of accretion, melting of ice, differentiation and tidal dissipation. Heat transfer is by conduction only because in the cases thus far studied the criterion for convection is not met. The geological module handles the evolution of porosity, shape, and lithospheric strength. The dynamical module calculates despinning and orbital evolution. Chief outputs include the orbital evolution, the interior temperatures as a function of time and depth, and other parameters of interest such as k2, and Q(ω) as a function of time. This work was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory-California Institute of Technology, under contract to NASA.

Cost-Effective Icy Bodies Exploration using Small Satellite Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jonsson, Jonas; Mauro, David; Stupl, Jan; Nayak, Michael; Aziz, Jonathan; Cohen, Aaron; Colaprete, Anthony; Dono-Perez, Andres; Frost, Chad; Klamm, Benjamin;

Jovian Space Weather in the Juno Era: Remote Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacDowall, R. J.; Reiner, M. J.; Farrell, W. M.; Connerney, J. E. P.

2017-12-01

Jupiter is a large and rapidly rotating planet with a strong magnetic field, its magnetospheric dynamics only minimally influenced by the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). Yet, there are a number of manifestations of the Jovian magnetospheric interaction with elements of the solar wind and IMF. Variations in Jovian radio emissions are a prime example (Reiner et al. 2000, Zarka et al. 2004, Bose et al. 2008, Panchenko et al. 2012), as are auroral variations monitored in the infrared and ultraviolet.We present a review of the many journal papers that have examined the relationship between solar wind and IMF conditions (at the Jovian magnetosphere) and the Jovian radio burst variations and other associated phenomena.We present recent results from the joint observations by STEREO WAVES and WIND WAVES of Jovian radio emissions in the band of 1 - 15 MHz. The goal is to add a remote radio observation component to the determination of Jovian space weather, of particular use for data analysis by spacecraft orbiting the planet within the magnetosphere.

Cryovolcanic Conduit Evolution and Eruption on Icy Satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitchell, K. L.

2014-12-01

In silicate volcanism, such as on Earth or Io, eruptions typically result from fracture formation caused by interaction of tectonic stresses with inflating, pressurized magma sources, leading to transport of melt through an evolving conduit. On icy satellites the paradigm may be similar, resulting from some combination of tidal stresses and expansion of freezing water within, or near the base of, an ice shell. Such a fracture will result in eruption if mass continuity can be established, with buoyancy aided by exsolution and expansion of dissolved volatiles. After onset, conduit shape evolves due to: (1) shear-stresses or frictional erosional; (2) wallrock "bursting" due to massive wall stresses; (3) wall melting or condensation of particles due to heat transfer; or (4) changes in applied stresses. Preliminary thermodynamic and fluid mechanical analysis suggests some initial cooling during ascent resulting from exsolution and expansion of volatiles, thermally buffered by freezing, Conduit contraction may occur, and so evolution towards a deep, gas-filled plume chamber is difficult to accommodate without evoking a co-incidental process. Conduit flaring occurs near the surface where velocities are greatest, enhancing erosion. Here, viscous dissipative heating exceeds adiabatic cooling, and so some boiling (a few wt%) may occur. In contrast with silicate volcanism, decompression to below the triple point will occur within conduit, vent or jet, resulting in rapid freezing and boiling of the remaining water at a 6.8:1 ratio. Subsequent isentropic or adiabatic expansion within erupting jets may result in a few percent net of condensation or sublimation. These effects combined lead to ~4:1-7:1 solid:vapor ratios in the jet for most eruption conditions. These figures are consistent with the ~6:1 inferred in Enceladus' jets, supporting the hypothesis that the Enceladus plume draws from a subsurface body of liquids through a conduit. Similar results are anticipated if

Cratering rates on the Galilean satellites.

PubMed

Zahnle, K; Dones, L; Levison, H F

1998-12-01

We exploit recent theoretical advances toward the origin and orbital evolution of comets and asteroids to obtain revised estimates for cratering rates in the jovian system. We find that most, probably more than 90%, of the craters on the Galilean satellites are caused by the impact of Jupiter-family comets (JFCs). These are comets with short periods, in generally low-inclination orbits, whose dynamics are dominated by Jupiter. Nearly isotropic comets (long period and Halley-type) contribute at the 1-10% level. Trojan asteroids might also be important at the 1-10% level; if they are important, they would be especially important for smaller craters. Main belt asteroids are currently unimportant, as each 20-km crater made on Ganymede implies the disruption of a 200-km diameter parental asteroid, a destruction rate far beyond the resources of today's asteroid belt. Twenty-kilometer diameter craters are made by kilometer-size impactors; such events occur on a Galilean satellite about once in a million years. The paucity of 20-km craters on Europa indicates that its surface is of order 10 Ma. Lightly cratered surfaces on Ganymede are nominally of order 0.5-1.0 Ga. The uncertainty in these estimates is about a factor of five. Callisto is old, probably more than 4 Ga. It is too heavily cratered to be accounted for by the current flux of JFCs. The lack of pronounced apex-antapex asymmetries on Ganymede may be compatible with crater equilibrium, but it is more easily understood as evidence for nonsynchronous rotation of an icy carapace. c 1998 Academic Press.

Jovian magnetospheric weathering of Europa's nonice surface material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hibbitts, Charles A.; Paranicas, Christopher; Blaney, Diana L.; Murchie, Scott; Seelos, Frank

2016-10-01

Jovian plasma and energetic charged particles bombard the Galilean satellites. These satellites vary from volcanically active (Io) to a nearly primordial surface (Callisto). These satellites are imbedded in a harsh and complex particle radiation environment that weathers their surfaces, and thus are virtual laboratories for understanding how particle bombardment alters the surfaces of airless bodies. Europa orbits deeply in the Jovian radiation belts and may have an active surface, where space weathering and geologic processes can interact in complex ways with a range of timescales. At Europa's surface temperature of 80K to 130K, the hydrated nonice material and to a lesser extent, water ice, will be thermally stable over geologic times and will exhibit the effects of weathering. The ice on the surface of Europa is amorphous and contains trace products such as H2O2 [1] due to weathering. The nonice material, which likely has an endogenic component [2] may also be partially amorphous and chemically altered as a result of being weathered by electrons, Iogenic sulfur, or other agents [3]. This hydrated salt or frozen brine likely compositionally 'matures' over time as the more weakly bound constituents are preferentially removed compared with Ca and Mg [4]. Electron bombardment induces chemical reactions through deposition of energy (e.g., ionizations) possibly explaining some of the nonice material's redness [5,6]. Concurrently, micrometeroid gardening mixes the upper surface burying weathered and altered material while exposing both fresh material and previous altered material, potentially with astrobiological implications. Our investigation of the spectral alteration of nonice analog materials irradiated by 10s keV electrons demonstrates the prevalence of this alteration and we discuss relevance to potential measurements by the Europa MISE instrument.References: [1] Moore, M. and R. Hudson, (2000), Icarus, 145, 282-288; [2] McCord et al., (1998), Science, 280, 1242

Radio Science Concepts and Approaches for Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, J. D.; Asmar, S. W.; Castillo, J. C.; Folkner, W. M.; Konopliv, A. S.; Marouf, E. A.; Rappaport, N. J.; Schubert, G.; Spilker, T. R.; Tyler, G. L.

2003-01-01

Radio Science experiments have been conducted on most deep space missions leading to numerous scientific discoveries. A set of concepts and approaches are proposed for the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) to apply Radio Science tools to investigate the interior structures of the Galilean Satellites and address key questions on their thermal and dynamical evolution. Measurements are identified that utilize the spacecraft's telecommunication system. Additional instruments can augment these measurements in order to leverage observational synergies. Experiments are also offered for the purpose of investigating the atmospheres and surfaces of the satellites.

Detection of the high energy component of Jovian electrons at 1 AU with the PAMELA experiment.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casolino, M.; PAMELA Collaboration

PAMELA is a satellite-borne experiment that will be launched in the first half of 2006 It will make long duration measurements of cosmic radiation over an extended energy range 80Mev to 200 GeV Specifically PAMELA will measure the cosmic-ray antiproton and positron spectra over the largest energy range ever achieved 80MeV - 190 GeV and will search for antinuclei with unprecedented sensitivity Furthermore it will measure the light nuclear component of cosmic rays and investigate phenomena connected with solar and earth physics The apparatus consists of a time of flight system a magnetic spectrometer an electromagnetic imaging calorimeter a shower tail catcher scintillator a neutron detector and an anticoincidence system The Jovian magnetosphere is a powerful accelerator of electrons to several tens of MeV as observed at first by Pioneer 10 spacecraft 1973 The propagation of Jovian electrons to Earth is affected by modulation due to Corotating Interaction Regions CIR Their flux at Earth is moreover modulated because every 13 months Earth and Jupiter are aligned along the average direction of the Parker spiral of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field For its characteristics PAMELA will be able to measure the high energy tail of the Jovian electrons in the energy range from 50 MeV up to 130 MeV With long term observation it will also be possible to detect the Jovian component reaccelated at the solar wind termination shock from the galactic flux

Laboratory Simulations of Ammonia-Rich Oceans in Icy Worlds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vance, S. D.; Brown, J. M.

2011-01-01

Improved equations of state for ammonia-water solutions are important for properly understanding the interiors of large icy satellites hosting deep interior oceans. Titan is the primary example of such a world, but water-rich dwarf planets Measurements of solution density are now possible at relevant pressures (above approx. 250 megapascals) using the Simulator for Icy World Interiors. Analysis of sound velocity measurements in aqueous magnesium sulfate obtained in our laboratory, shows a correction on the order of 5% to 700 megapascals (7 kilobar) from -20 to 100 C and to 3 m (approx. 30 percentage by weight) concentration. Accurate prediction of density as a function of pressure, temperature, and ammonia concentration are needed for interpretation of remote observations to address questions of interior liquid layer depth, composition, and fluid dynamics.

Jovian deep magnetotail composition and structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McComas, D. J.; Allegrini, F.; Bagenal, F.; Ebert, R. W.; Elliott, H. A.; Nicolaou, G.; Szalay, J. R.; Valek, P.; Weidner, S.

2017-02-01

We analyze plasma ion observations from the Solar Wind Around Pluto instrument on New Horizons as it traveled back through the dusk flank of the Jovian magnetotail from 600 to more than 2500 Jovian radii behind the planet. We find that at all distances, light ions (mostly protons) dominate the heavy ions (S++ and O+) that are far more abundant in the near Jupiter plasma disk and that were expected to be the primary ions filling the Jovian magnetotail. This key new observation might indicate that heavy ions are confined closer to the equator than the spacecraft trajectory or a substantial addition of light ions via reconnection and/or mixing along the magnetopause boundary. However, because we find no evidence for acceleration of the tail plasma with distance, a more likely explanation seems to be that the heavy ions are preferentially released down the dawn flank of the magnetotail. Perhaps, this occurs as a part of the process where flux tubes, after expanding as they rotate across the near-tail region, need to pull back inward in order to fit within the dawnside of the magnetopause. A second major finding of this study is that there are two dominant periods of the plasma structures in the Jovian magnetotail: 3.53 (0.18 full width at half maximum (FWHM)) and 5.35 (0.38 FWHM) days. Remarkably, the first of these is identical within the errors to Europa's orbital period (3.55 days). Both of these results should provide important new fodder for Jovian magnetospheric theories and lead to a better understanding of Jupiter's magnetosphere.

Advanced methods of low cost mission design for Jovian moons exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grushevskii, Alexey; Koryanov, Victor; Tuchin, Andrey; Golubev, Yury; Tuchin, Denis

2016-07-01

DeltaV-low-cost gravity assists tours mission design of for the Jovian Moons exploration is considered (orbiters and probes around Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto), taking radiation hazard into account. Limited dynamic opportunities of using flybys require multiple gravity assists. Relevance of regular creation of optimum scenarios - sequences of passing of celestial bodies with definition of conditions of their execution is obvious. This work is devoted to the description of criteria for creation of such chains. New Multi-Tisserand coordinates [1,2] for this purpose are introduced for the best study of features for the radiation hazard decrease and the spacecraft asymptotic velocity reduction. One of main problems of the Jovian system mission design (JIMO, JUICE, Laplas P) is that the reduction of the asymptotic velocity of the spacecraft with respect to the satellite for the Jovian moon's capture is impossible. A valid reason is in the invariance of Jacobi integral and Tisserand parameter in a restricted three-body model (RTBP) [3]. Furthermore, the same-body flybys tour falls into the hazard radiation zone according the Tisserand-Poincaré graph. Formalized beam's algorithm to overcome this "problem of the ballistic destiny" with using full ephemeris model and with several coupled RTBP engaging has been implemented. Withal low-cost reduction of the spacecraft asymptotic velocity for the capture of the moon is required. The corresponding numerical scheme was developed with using Tisserand-Poincaré graph and the simulation of tens of millions of options. The Delta V-low cost searching was utilized also with help of the modeling of the multiple rebounds (cross gravity assists) of the beam of trajectories. The techniques are developed by the authors specifically to the needs of the mission "Laplas P" of Roscosmos. If we have answers to the questions "what kind of gravity assists", we need answer on the question "when". New Multi-Tisserand coordinates for this

Physics of the Jovian Magnetosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dessler, A. J.

2002-08-01

List of tables; Foreword James A. Van Allen; Preface; 1. Jupiter's magnetic field and magnetosphere Mario H. Acuña, Kenneth W. Behannon and J. E. P. Connerney; 2. Ionosphere Darrell F. Strobel and Sushil K. Atreya; 3. The low-energy plasma in the Jovian magnetosphere J. W. Belcher; 4. Low-energy particle population S. M. Krimigis and E. C. Roelof; 5. High-energy particles A. W. Schardt and C. K. Goertz; 6. Spectrophotometric studies of the Io torus Robert A. Brown, Carl B. Pilcher and Darrell F. Strobel; 7. Phenomenology of magnetospheric radio emissions T. D. Carr, M. D. Desch and J. K. Alexander; 8. Plasma waves in the Jovian magnetosphere D. A. Gurnett and F. L. Scarf; 9. Theories of radio emissions and plasma waves Melvyn L. Goldstein and C. K. Goertz; 10. Magnetospheric models T. W. Hill, A. J. Dessler and C. K. Goertz; 11. Plasma distribution and flow Vytenis M. Vasyliunas; 12. Microscopic plasma processes in the Jovian magnetosphere Richard Mansergh Thorne; Appendixes; References; Index.

A Global Magnetohydrodynamic Model of Jovian Magnetosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walker, Raymond J.; Sharber, James (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

The goal of this project was to develop a new global magnetohydrodynamic model of the interaction of the Jovian magnetosphere with the solar wind. Observations from 28 orbits of Jupiter by Galileo along with those from previous spacecraft at Jupiter, Pioneer 10 and 11, Voyager I and 2 and Ulysses, have revealed that the Jovian magnetosphere is a vast, complicated system. The Jovian aurora also has been monitored for several years. Like auroral observations at Earth, these measurements provide us with a global picture of magnetospheric dynamics. Despite this wide range of observations, we have limited quantitative understanding of the Jovian magnetosphere and how it interacts with the solar wind. For the past several years we have been working toward a quantitative understanding of the Jovian magnetosphere and its interaction with the solar wind by employing global magnetohydrodynamic simulations to model the magnetosphere. Our model has been an explicit MHD code (previously used to model the Earth's magnetosphere) to study Jupiter's magnetosphere. We continue to obtain important insights with this code, but it suffers from some severe limitations. In particular with this code we are limited to considering the region outside of 15RJ, with cell sizes of about 1.5R(sub J). The problem arises because of the presence of widely separated time scales throughout the magnetosphere. The numerical stability criterion for explicit MHD codes is the CFL limit and is given by C(sub max)(Delta)t/(Delta)x less than 1 where C(sub max) is the maximum group velocity in a given cell, (Delta)x is the grid spacing and (Delta)t is the time step. If the maximum wave velocity is C(sub w) and the flow speed is C(sub f), C(sub max) = C(sub w) + C(sub f). Near Jupiter the Alfven wave speed becomes very large (it approaches the speed of light at one Jovian radius). Operating with this time step makes the calculation essentially intractable. Therefore under this funding we have been designing a

Fluorescence detection of organic molecules in the Jovian atmosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Levine, J. S.; Rogowski, R. S.

1975-01-01

A search for fluorescent emission due to the presence of possible organic molecules in the Jovian atmosphere is described. We first consider natural Jovian fluorescent emission excited by precipitating auroral particles. Due to our lack of knowledge of the Jovian precipitating particle energies and fluxes we next consider fluorescent emission excited by a laser system aboard a Jupiter spacecraft. Laser-induced fluorescence is routinely used to monitor trace constituents and pollutants in the terrestrial atmosphere. Several spacecraft laser systems are currently under development. Our calculations indicate that laser-induced fluorescent detection is approximately two orders of magnitude more sensitive than rocket ultraviolet measurements of possible Jovian absorption features at 2600 A that have been attributed to the presence of adenine or benzene.

A Power Conversion Concept for the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mason, Lee S.

2003-01-01

The Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) mission is currently under study by the Office of Space Science under the Project Prometheus Program. JIMO is examining the use of Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP) to carry scientific payloads to three Jovian moons. A potential power system concept includes dual 100 kWe Brayton converters, a deployable pumped loop heat rejection subsystem, and a 400 Vac Power Management and Distribution (PMAD) bus. Many trades were performed in aniving at this candidate power system concept. System-level studies examined design and off-design operating modes, determined startup requirements, evaluated subsystem redundancy options, and quantified the mass and radiator area of reactor power systems from 20 to 200 kWe. In the Brayton converter subsystem, studies were performed to investigate converter packaging options, and assess the induced torque effects on spacecraft dynamics due to rotating machinery. In the heat rejection subsystem, design trades were conducted on heat transport approaches, material and fluid options, and deployed radiator geometries. In the PMAD subsystem, the overall electrical architecture was defined and trade studies examined distribution approaches, voltage levels, and cabling options.

On the modulation of the Jovian decametric radiation by Io. I - Acceleration of charged particles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, R. A.; Goertz, C. K.

1978-01-01

A steady-state analysis of the current circuit between Io and the Jovian ionosphere is performed, assuming that the current is carried by electrons accelerated through potential double layers in the Io flux tube. The circuit analysis indicates that electrons may be accelerated up to energies of several hundred keV. Several problems associated with the formation of double layers are also discussed. The parallel potential drops decouple the flux tube from the satellite's orbital motion.

Identifying new surface constituents of icy moons using mid-infrared spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, Cindy L.; Wray, James J.; Hand, Kevin P.; Poston, Michael J.; Carlson, Robert W.; Clark, Roger N.; Spencer, John R.; Jennings, Donald E.

2015-11-01

Spectroscopic compositional studies of the icy satellites can help us to better understand the formation and evolution of material in the outer solar system. The spectral complexity of the Saturnian satellite system as seen in reflected visible light suggests additional complexity may be present at mid-infrared wavelengths from which unique compositional information can be gleaned [1]. In addition, the mid-infrared is the region of the stronger fundamental diagnostic vibrational modes of many compounds. However, Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) surface compositional studies have received little attention to date.We are exploring the suitability of mid-infrared spectroscopy for discovering non-H2O compounds on icy moon surfaces. On the dark terrain of Iapetus, we find an emissivity feature at ~855 cm-1 and a potential doublet at 660 and 690 cm-1 that do not correspond to any known instrument artifacts [2]. We attribute the 855 cm-1 feature to fine-grained silicates, similar to those found in dust on Mars and in meteorites, which are nearly featureless at shorter wavelengths [3]. Although silicates on the dark terrains of Saturn’s icy moons have been suspected for decades, there have been no definitive prior detections. Serpentines measured at ambient conditions have features near 855 cm-1 and 660 cm-1 [4]. However, peaks can shift depending on temperature, pressure, and grain size, so measurements at Iapetus-like conditions are necessary for more positive identifications [e.g., 5].We measured the vacuum, low temperature (125 K) spectra of various fine-grained powdered silicates. We find that some of these materials do have emissivity features near 855 cm-1 and match the doublet. Identifying a specific silicate would provide clues into the sources and sinks of the dark material in the Saturnian system. We report on our ongoing exploration of the CIRS icy moon dataset and plans for future measurements in JPL’s Icy Worlds Simulation Lab.[1] Flasar, F

Astronomical studies of the major planets, natural satellites and asteroids using the 2.24 m telescope

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jefferies, J. T.

1982-01-01

Ground based detection of east-west asymmetries in the Jovian torus, three dimensional models of the plasma conditions in the Jovian torus, rotational variations in methane band images of Neptune, Io's rapid flickering, thermophysical models, the diameters and albedos of the satellites of Uranus from radiometric observations, the diameters of Pluto and Triton, standard stars are discussed.

Jovian Temperatures--Highest Resolution

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-09-24

This image, bottom panel, from NASA Galileo orbiter indicates the forces powering Jovian winds, and differentiates between areas of strongest upwelling and downwelling winds in the upper part of the atmosphere where winds are strong.

Laboratory studies on low-energy electron penetration depths into amorphous ice - consequence to astrobiology on icy surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gudipati, M. S.; Li, I.; Lignell, A. A.

2009-12-01

Penetration of electrons through icy surfaces plays an important role in radiation processing of solar system icy bodies. However, to date, there is no quantitative data available on the penetration depths of electrons through cryogenic water-ices. Penetration of high-energy incident electrons also results in the in-situ formation of secondary low-energy electrons, such as on the surface of Europa (Herring-Captain et al., 2005; Johnson et al., 2004). Low-energy electrons can also be produced through photoionization process such as on comet surfaces, or through bombardment by solar wind on icy surfaces (Bodewits et al., 2004). Present models use the laboratory penetration data of high-energy (>10 keV) electrons through silicon as a proxy for the ice (Cooper et al., 2001), normalized by the density of the medium. So far no laboratory studies have been conducted that deal with the penetration of electrons through amorphous or crystalline ices. In order to address this issue, we adopted a new experimental strategy by using aromatic molecules as probes. To begin with, we carried out systematic studies on the penetration depths of low-energy electrons (5 eV - 2 keV) through amorphous ice films of defined thickness at cryogenic temperatures (5 - 30 K). The results of these experiments will be analyzed and their relevance to survival of organic material on solar system icy surfaces will be presented. References: Bodewits, D., et al., 2004. X-ray and Far-Ultraviolet emission from comets: Relevant charge exchange processes. Physica Scripta. 70, C17-C20. Cooper, J. F., et al., 2001. Energetic ion and electron irradiation of the icy Galilean satellites. Icarus. 149, 133-159. Herring-Captain, J., et al., 2005. Low-energy (5-250 eV) electron-stimulated desorption of H+, H2+, and H+(H2O)nfrom low-temperature water ice surfaces. Physical Review B. 72, 035431-10. Johnson, R. E., et al., Radiation Effects on the Surfaces of the Galilean Satellites. In: F. Bagenal, et al., Eds

One-Dimensional Convective Thermal Evolution Calculation Using a Modified Mixing Length Theory: Application to Saturnian Icy Satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamata, Shunichi

2018-01-01

Solid-state thermal convection plays a major role in the thermal evolution of solid planetary bodies. Solving the equation system for thermal evolution considering convection requires 2-D or 3-D modeling, resulting in large calculation costs. A 1-D calculation scheme based on mixing length theory (MLT) requires a much lower calculation cost and is suitable for parameter studies. A major concern for the MLT scheme is its accuracy due to a lack of detailed comparisons with higher dimensional schemes. In this study, I quantify its accuracy via comparisons of thermal profiles obtained by 1-D MLT and 3-D numerical schemes. To improve the accuracy, I propose a new definition of the mixing length (l), which is a parameter controlling the efficiency of heat transportation due to convection, for a bottom-heated convective layer. Adopting this new definition of l, I investigate the thermal evolution of Saturnian icy satellites, Dione and Enceladus, under a wide variety of parameter conditions. Calculation results indicate that each satellite requires several tens of GW of heat to possess a thick global subsurface ocean suggested from geophysical analyses. Dynamical tides may be able to account for such an amount of heat, though the reference viscosity of Dione's ice and the ammonia content of Dione's ocean need to be very high. Otherwise, a thick global ocean in Dione cannot be maintained, implying that its shell is not in a minimum stress state.

Jovian Small Orbiter for Magnetospheric and Auroral Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takashima, T.; Kasaba, Y.; Misawa, H.; Kawaguchi, J.

2005-12-01

Solar-Sail Project to have been examined by ISAS/JAXA as an engineering mission has a possibility of a small probe into the Jovian orbit. This paper summarizes the basic design of Jovian magnetospheric and auroral studies by this small chance. The large-scale Jovian mission has been a hope since the 1970s when the examinations of planetary exploration were started in Japan. In the one of plans, the largest planet in the solar system would be solved by two main objectives: (1) Structure of a gas planet: the internal & atmospheric structures of a gas planet which could not become a star (following the objectives of Planet-C and BepiColombo). (2) Jovian-type magnetosphere: the process of a pulsar-like magnetosphere with the strongest magnetospheric activities in the solar system (following the objectives of BepiColombo and SCOPE). The small polar-orbit orbiter in Solar-Sail Project aims to establish the feasibility of such future outer planet missions by ISAS/JAXA. It aims the former target in its limited resources.

J6 Himalia: New Compositional Evidence and Interpretations for the Origin of Jupiter's Small Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vilas, Faith; Jarvis, K.; Larson, S.; Gaffey, M.

1999-01-01

New narrowband spectrophotometric data of J6 Himalia, some of which are spatially resolved, support its C-type classification. The new spectra confirm the presence of a weak absorption feature centered near 0.7 micron attributed to oxidized iron in phyllosilicates, products of aqueous alteration, which varies in depth on opposite sides of the satellite. Evaluation of older UBV photometry of J6 and J7 Elara compared to UBV photometry of C-class (and subclass) asteroids showing spectral evidence of the 0.7-microns absorption feature suggests that J6 Himalia is an F-class asteroid. We propose that the parent body of the prograde Jovian satellites originated as part of the Nysa asteroid family. Evolutionary models of the Jovian system are used to address the capture and dispersal of the irregular satellites.

ICI Showcase House Prototype

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

2009-02-16

Building Science Corporation collaborated with ICI Homes in Daytona Beach, FL on a 2008 prototype Showcase House that demonstrates the energy efficiency and durability upgrades that ICI currently promotes through its in-house efficiency program called EFactor.

Icy Satellites of Saturn: Impact Cratering and Age Determination

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dones, L.; Chapman, C. R.; McKinnon, William B.; Melosh, H. J.; Kirchoff, M. R.; Neukum, G.; Zahnle, K. J.

2009-01-01

Saturn is the first giant planet to be visited by an orbiting spacecraft that can transmit large amounts of data to Earth. Crater counts on satellites from Phoebe inward to the regular satellites and ring moons are providing unprecedented insights into the origin and time histories of the impacting populations. Many Voyager-era scientists concluded that the satellites had been struck by at least two populations of impactors. In this view, the Population I impactors, which were generally judged to be comets orbiting the Sun, formed most of the larger and older craters, while Population II impactors, interpreted as Saturn-orbiting ejecta from impacts on satellites, produced most of the smaller and younger craters. Voyager data also implied that all of the ring moons, and probably some of the midsized classical moons, had been catastrophically disrupted and reaccreted since they formed. We examine models of the primary impactor populations in the Saturn system. At the present time, ecliptic comets, which likely originate in the Kuiper belt/scattered disk, are predicted to dominate impacts on the regular satellites and ring moons, but the models require extrapolations in size (from the observed Kuiper belt objects to the much smaller bodies that produce the craters) or in distance (from the known active Jupiter family comets to 9.5 AU). Phoebe, Iapetus, and perhaps even moons closer to Saturn have been struck by irregular satellites as well. We describe the Nice model, which provides a plausible mechanism by which the entire Solar System might have experienced an era of heavy bombardment long after the planets formed. We then discuss the three cratering chronologies, including one based upon the Nice model, that have been used to infer surface ages from crater densities on the saturnian satellites. After reviewing scaling relations between the properties of impactors and the craters they produce, we provide model estimates of the present-day rate at which comets impact

Jovian Art

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-02-24

NASA Juno spacecraft skimmed the upper wisps of Jupiter atmosphere when JunoCam snapped this image on Feb. 2, 2017. from an altitude of about 9,000 miles 14,500 kilometers above the giant planet swirling cloudtops. Streams of clouds spin off a rotating oval-shaped cloud system in the Jovian southern hemisphere. Citizen scientist Roman Tkachenko reconstructed the color and cropped the image to draw viewers' eyes to the storm and the turbulence around it. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21383

Hydrocarbons on the Icy Satellites of Saturn

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cruikshank, Dale P.

2010-01-01

The Visible-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer on the Cassini Spacecraft has obtained spectral reflectance maps of the satellites of Saturn in the wavelength region 0.4-5.1 micrometers since its insertion into Saturn orbit in late 2004. We have detected the spectral signature of the C-H stretching molecular mode of aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons in the low albedo material covering parts of several of Saturn's satellites, notably Iapetus and Phoebe (Cruikshank et al. 2008). The distribution of this material is complex, and in the case of Iapetus we are seeking to determine if it is related to the native grey-colored materials left as lag deposits upon evaporation of the ices, or represents in-fall from an external source, notably the newly discovered large dust ring originating at Phoebe. This report covers our latest exploration of the nature and source of this organic material.

Galileo dust data from the jovian system: 2000 to 2003

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krüger, H.; Bindschadler, D.; Dermott, S. F.; Graps, A. L.; Grün, E.; Gustafson, B. A.; Hamilton, D. P.; Hanner, M. S.; Horányi, M.; Kissel, J.; Linkert, D.; Linkert, G.; Mann, I.; McDonnell, J. A. M.; Moissl, R.; Morfill, G. E.; Polanskey, C.; Roy, M.; Schwehm, G.; Srama, R.

2010-06-01

The Galileo spacecraft was the first man-made satellite of Jupiter, orbiting the planet between December 1995 and September 2003. The spacecraft was equipped with a highly sensitive dust detector that monitored the jovian dust environment between approximately 2 and 370 RJ (jovian radius RJ=71 492 km). The Galileo dust detector was a twin of the one flying on board the Ulysses spacecraft. This is the tenth in a series of papers dedicated to presenting Galileo and Ulysses dust data. Here we present data from the Galileo dust instrument for the period January 2000 to September 2003 until Galileo was destroyed in a planned impact with Jupiter. The previous Galileo dust data set contains data of 2883 particles detected during Galileo's interplanetary cruise and 12 978 particles detected in the jovian system between 1996 and 1999. In this paper we report on the data of additional 5389 particles measured between 2000 and the end of the mission in 2003. The majority of the 21 250 particles for which the full set of measured impact parameters (impact time, impact direction, charge rise times, charge amplitudes, etc.) was transmitted to Earth were tiny grains (about 10 nm in radius), most of them originating from Jupiter's innermost Galilean moon Io. They were detected throughout the jovian system and the impact rates frequently exceeded 10 min -1. Surprisingly large impact rates up to 100 min -1 occurred in August/September 2000 when Galileo was far away (≈280RJ) from Jupiter, implying dust ejection rates in excess of 100 kg s -1. This peak in dust emission appears to coincide with strong changes in the release of neutral gas from the Io torus. Strong variability in the Io dust flux was measured on timescales of days to weeks, indicating large variations in the dust release from Io or the Io torus or both on such short timescales. Galileo has detected a large number of bigger micron-sized particles mostly in the region between the Galilean moons. A surprisingly large

The motions of satellites and asteroids - Natural probes of Jovian gravity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Greenberg, R. J.

1976-01-01

Before the recent Pioneer probes, our knowledge of Jupiter's gravitational field was obtained from the motions of satellites and asteroids. The study of orbital perturbations of asteroids near the 2:1 commensurability yielded a value of the mass of the Jupiter system at least as precise as that obtained by the artificial probes. Precession of the inner satellites' orbits placed constraints on the harmonic coefficients J2 and J4. A correction to the satellite determination of J4 lowers its mean value closer to the Pioneer result. The orbital grouping among the outer satellites and the resonance among the Galilean satellites are described in detail, but the origins of these phenomena are not understood. However, recent research suggests that the explanation will be intimately associated with models of the origin and evolution of the planet itself.

Three dimensional ray tracing of the Jovian magnetosphere in the low frequency range

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Menietti, J. D.

1984-01-01

Ray tracing studies of Jovian low frequency emissions were studied. A comprehensive three-dimensional ray tracing computer code for examination of model Jovian decametric (DAM) emission was developed. The improvements to the computer code are outlined and described. The results of the ray tracings of Jovian emissions will be presented in summary form.

Simultaneous Analysis of Recurrent Jovian Electron Increases and Galactic Cosmic Ray Decreases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kühl, P.; Dresing, N.; Dunzlaff, P.; Fichtner, H.; Gieseler, J.; Gomez-Herrero, R.; Heber, B.; Klassen, A.; Kleimann, J.; Kopp, A.; Potgieter, M. S.; Scherer, K.; Strauss, D. R.

2012-12-01

Since the early 1970's the magnetosphere of Jupiter is known to be a strong source of relativistic electrons. These Jovian electrons are released quasi-continuously from the magnetosphere. Due to Jupiter's favorable orbit, they offer a unique opportunity for studies of the transport of energetic particles in the heliosphere, in which the Jovian magnetosphere acts as a source of "quit time" electron increase. Of central importance for the propagation of Jovian electrons is the solar wind flow and the structure of the embedded heliospheric magnetic field. The solar wind defines the transport environment for the particles as soon as they have left the Jovian magnetosphere. They enter the solar wind flow close to the ecliptic plane and are immediately subject to the processes of spatial diffusion, convection, and adiabatic deceleration in the expanding solar wind plasma. On the time-scale of a solar rotation, especially during the rising and declining phases of the solar cycle the variability is caused mainly by corotating interaction regions. Due to the changing propagation conditions in the intermediate heliosphere, corotating interaction regions, however, can cause recurrent galactic cosmic ray modulation. A detailed analysis of recurrent Jovian electron events and galactic cosmic ray decreases measured by SOHO EPHIN is presented here, clearly showing a change of phase between both phenomena during a year. This phase shift has been analyzed by calculating the correlation coefficient between the galactic component and the Jovian electrons. Furthermore, the data can be ordered such that the 27-day Jovian electron variation vanishes in the sector which does not connect the Earth with Jupiter using observed solar wind speeds.; Electron intensity dependent on the longitudinal angle between SOHO and Jupiter. Jovian electron increases can only be observed in regions, which are magnetically connected to Jupiter via observed solar wind speeds.

The formation of jupiter, the jovian early bombardment and the delivery of water to the asteroid belt: the case of (4) vesta.

PubMed

Turrini, Diego; Svetsov, Vladimir

2014-01-28

The asteroid (4) Vesta, parent body of the Howardite-Eucrite-Diogenite meteorites, is one of the first bodies that formed, mostly from volatile-depleted material, in the Solar System. The Dawn mission recently provided evidence that hydrated material was delivered to Vesta, possibly in a continuous way, over the last 4 Ga, while the study of the eucritic meteorites revealed a few samples that crystallized in presence of water and volatile elements. The formation of Jupiter and probably its migration occurred in the period when eucrites crystallized, and triggered a phase of bombardment that caused icy planetesimals to cross the asteroid belt. In this work, we study the flux of icy planetesimals on Vesta during the Jovian Early Bombardment and, using hydrodynamic simulations, the outcome of their collisions with the asteroid. We explore how the migration of the giant planet would affect the delivery of water and volatile materials to the asteroid and we discuss our results in the context of the geophysical and collisional evolution of Vesta. In particular, we argue that the observational data are best reproduced if the bulk of the impactors was represented by 1-2 km wide planetesimals and if Jupiter underwent a limited (a fraction of au) displacement.

The Formation of Jupiter, the Jovian Early Bombardment and the Delivery of Water to the Asteroid Belt: The Case of (4) Vesta

PubMed Central

Turrini, Diego; Svetsov, Vladimir

2014-01-01

The asteroid (4) Vesta, parent body of the Howardite-Eucrite-Diogenite meteorites, is one of the first bodies that formed, mostly from volatile-depleted material, in the Solar System. The Dawn mission recently provided evidence that hydrated material was delivered to Vesta, possibly in a continuous way, over the last 4 Ga, while the study of the eucritic meteorites revealed a few samples that crystallized in presence of water and volatile elements. The formation of Jupiter and probably its migration occurred in the period when eucrites crystallized, and triggered a phase of bombardment that caused icy planetesimals to cross the asteroid belt. In this work, we study the flux of icy planetesimals on Vesta during the Jovian Early Bombardment and, using hydrodynamic simulations, the outcome of their collisions with the asteroid. We explore how the migration of the giant planet would affect the delivery of water and volatile materials to the asteroid and we discuss our results in the context of the geophysical and collisional evolution of Vesta. In particular, we argue that the observational data are best reproduced if the bulk of the impactors was represented by 1–2 km wide planetesimals and if Jupiter underwent a limited (a fraction of au) displacement. PMID:25370027

Habitability potential of icy moons: a comparative study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Solomonidou, Anezina; Coustenis, Athena; Encrenaz, Thérèse; Sohl, Frank; Hussmann, Hauke; Bampasidis, Georgios; Wagner, Frank; Raulin, François; Schulze-Makuch, Dirk; Lopes, Rosaly

2014-05-01

Looking for habitable conditions in the outer solar system our research focuses on the natural satellites rather than the planets themselves. Indeed, the habitable zone as traditionally defined may be larger than originally con-ceived. The strong gravitational pull caused by the giant planets may produce enough energy to sufficiently heat the interiors of orbiting icy moons. The outer solar system satellites then provide a conceptual basis within which new theories for understanding habitability can be constructed. Measurements from the ground but also by the Voyager, Galileo and the Cassini spacecrafts revealed the potential of these satellites in this context, and our understanding of habitability in the solar system and beyond can be greatly enhanced by investigating several of these bodies together [1]. Their environments seem to satisfy many of the "classical" criteria for habitability (liquid water, energy sources to sustain metabolism and chemical compounds that can be used as nutrients over a period of time long enough to allow the development of life). Indeed, several of the moons show promising conditions for habitability and the de-velopment and/or maintenance of life. Europa, Callisto and Ganymede may be hiding, under their icy crust, putative undersurface liquid water oceans [3] which, in the case of Europa [2], may be in direct contact with a silicate mantle floor and kept warm by tidally generated heat [4]. Titan and Enceladus, Saturn's satellites, were found by the Cassini-Huygens mission to possess active organic chemistries with seasonal variations, unique geological features and possibly internal liquid water oceans. Titan's rigid crust and the probable existence of a subsurface ocean create an analogy with terrestrial-type plate tectonics, at least surficial [5], while Enceladus' plumes find an analogue in gey-sers. As revealed by Cassini the liquid hydrocarbon lakes [6] distributed mainly at polar latitudes on Titan are ideal isolated

Implications of using broadband photometry for compositional remote sensing of icy objects. [including natural satellites and asteroids

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clark, R. N.

1982-01-01

The validity and limitations of assuming bright surfaces are icy and dark surfaces are stony are investigated, and the limitations of JHK colorimetry for distinguishing icy versus stony objects are studied. The broadband JHK reflectances of a large range of minerals and mineral assemblages were computed, the visual albedo obtained, and the J-H and H-K colors computed. Visual reflectance was found to vary easily from 0.15 to 1.0 when the surface contains 99 percent or more water by weight. The effect of varying particulate weight fraction and grain size are described. Visual albedo is found to give no indication of the purity of an icy surface. The JHK colors of an ice and particulate mixture can fall anywhere in the classical J-H versus H-K diagram, and thus the diagram cannot be used to distinguish a predominantly rock surface from a predominantly ice one in a specific case, except where both J-H and H-K colors are less than about -0.2.

ICI/BASF PP for acrylics swap

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alperowicz, N.

ICI (London) and BASF (Ludwigshafen) have announced their long-awaited polypropylene (PP) for acrylics swap deal. ICI is buying BASF's European acrylic resin business, and the German firm will acquire ICI's European PP operations. The deal is due for completion by mid-1993, subject to regulatory approvals. BASF, hitherto a small-scale PP producer, doubles capacity to 600,000 m.t./year and moves up the European PP league to number three, behind Himont and Shell. BASF, whose process is used in the plants, secures a foothold in the UK PP market, where Shell - planning a merger with Himont - is the only other producer,more » with 170,000 m.t./year. ICI's purchase involves BASF's Resart GmbH and Critesa SA subsidiaries, located at Mainz, Germany and near Barcelona, Spain, respectively. The business - which will add about [Brit pounds]60 million ($93 million) to ICI Acrylics [Brit pounds]300-million revenues - employs 400 people, who will transfer to ICI.« less

Observations of whistler mode waves in the Jovian system and their consequences for the onboard processing within the RPWI instrument for JUICE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santolik, O.; Soucek, J.; Kolmasova, I.; Grison, B.; Wahlund, J.-E.; Bergmann, J.

2013-09-01

Evidence for a magnetosphere at Ganymede has been found in 1996 using measurements of plasma waves onboard the Galileo spacecraft (fig. 1). This discovery demonstrates the importance of measurements of waves in plasmas around Jovian moons [1]. Galileo also observed whistler-mode waves in the magnetosphere of Ganymede similar to important classes of waves in the Earth magnetosphere: chorus and hiss [2]. Data from the Galileo spacecraft have therefore shown the importance of measurements of waves in plasmas around Jovian moons, especially in the light of recent advances in analysis of whistler-mode waves in the Earth magnetosphere and their importance for acceleration of radiation belt electrons to relativistic energies. Multicomponent measurements of the fluctuating magnetic and electric fields are needed for localization and characterization of source regions of these waves. Radio & Plasma Waves Investigation (RPWI) experiment will be implemented on the JUICE (JUpiter ICy moon Explorer) spacecraft. RPWI is a highly integrated instrument package that provides a comprehensive set of plasma and fields measurements. Proposed measurement modes for the low frequency receiver subsystem of RPWI include onboard processing which will be suitable for analysis of whistler-mode waves: (1) Polarization and propagation analysis based on phase relations to identify wave modes and propagation directions (2) Poynting vector to determine source regions (3) Detailed frequency-time structure, polarization, wave vector directions to identify linear or nonlinear source mechanisms

Remote sensing of the Io torus plasma ribbon using natural radio occultation of the Jovian radio emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boudjada, M. Y.; Galopeau, P. H. M.; Sawas, S.; Lammer, H.

2014-09-01

We study the Jovian hectometric (HOM) emissions recorded by the RPWS (Radio and Plasma Wave Science) experiment onboard the Cassini spacecraft during its Jupiter flyby. We analyze the attenuation band associated with the intensity extinction of HOM radiation. This phenomenon is interpreted as a refraction effect of the Jovian hectometric emission inside the Io plasma torus. This attenuation band was regularly observed during periods of more than 5 months, from the beginning of October 2000 to the end of March 2001. We estimate for this period the variation of the electron density versus the central meridian longitude (CML). We find a clear local time dependence. Hence the electron density was not higher than 5.0 × 104 cm-3 during 2 months, when the spacecraft approached the planet on the dayside. In the late afternoon and evening sectors, the electron density increases to 1.5 × 105 cm-3 and reach a higher value at some specific occasions. Additionally, we show that ultraviolet and hectometric wavelength observations have common features related to the morphology of the Io plasma torus. The maxima of enhancements/attenuations of UV/HOM observations occur close to the longitudes of the tip of the magnetic dipole in the southern hemisphere (20° CML) and in the northern hemisphere (200° CML), respectively. This is a significant indication about the importance of the Jovian magnetic field as a physical parameter in the coupling process between Jupiter and the Io satellite.

Stable habitable zones of single Jovian planet systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agnew, Matthew T.; Maddison, Sarah T.; Thilliez, Elodie; Horner, Jonathan

2017-11-01

With continued improvement in telescope sensitivity and observational techniques, the search for rocky planets in stellar habitable zones is entering an exciting era. With so many exoplanetary systems available for follow-up observations to find potentially habitable planets, one needs to prioritize the ever-growing list of candidates. We aim to determine which of the known planetary systems are dynamically capable of hosting rocky planets in their habitable zones, with the goal of helping to focus future planet search programmes. We perform an extensive suite of numerical simulations to identify regions in the habitable zones of single Jovian planet systems where Earth-mass planets could maintain stable orbits, specifically focusing on the systems in the Catalog of Earth-like Exoplanet Survey Targets (CELESTA). We find that small, Earth-mass planets can maintain stable orbits in cases where the habitable zone is largely, or partially, unperturbed by a nearby Jovian, and that mutual gravitational interactions and resonant mechanisms are capable of producing stable orbits even in habitable zones that are significantly or completely disrupted by a Jovian. Our results yield a list of 13 single Jovian planet systems in CELESTA that are not only capable of supporting an Earth-mass planet on stable orbits in their habitable zone, but for which we are also able to constrain the orbits of the Earth-mass planet such that the induced radial velocity signals would be detectable with next generation instruments.

Glaciers and Ice Sheets As Analog Environments of Potentially Habitable Icy Worlds

PubMed Central

Garcia-Lopez, Eva; Cid, Cristina

2017-01-01

Icy worlds in the solar system and beyond have attracted a remarkable attention as possible habitats for life. The current consideration about whether life exists beyond Earth is based on our knowledge of life in terrestrial cold environments. On Earth, glaciers and ice sheets have been considered uninhabited for a long time as they seemed too hostile to harbor life. However, these environments are unique biomes dominated by microbial communities which maintain active biochemical routes. Thanks to techniques such as microscopy and more recently DNA sequencing methods, a great biodiversity of prokaryote and eukaryote microorganisms have been discovered. These microorganisms are adapted to a harsh environment, in which the most extreme features are the lack of liquid water, extremely cold temperatures, high solar radiation and nutrient shortage. Here we compare the environmental characteristics of icy worlds, and the environmental characteristics of terrestrial glaciers and ice sheets in order to address some interesting questions: (i) which are the characteristics of habitability known for the frozen worlds, and which could be compatible with life, (ii) what are the environmental characteristics of terrestrial glaciers and ice sheets that can be life-limiting, (iii) What are the microbial communities of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms that can live in them, and (iv) taking into account these observations, could any of these planets or satellites meet the conditions of habitability? In this review, the icy worlds are considered from the point of view of astrobiological exploration. With the aim of determining whether icy worlds could be potentially habitable, they have been compared with the environmental features of glaciers and ice sheets on Earth. We also reviewed some field and laboratory investigations about microorganisms that live in analog environments of icy worlds, where they are not only viable but also metabolically active. PMID:28804477

Glaciers and Ice Sheets As Analog Environments of Potentially Habitable Icy Worlds.

PubMed

Garcia-Lopez, Eva; Cid, Cristina

2017-01-01

Icy worlds in the solar system and beyond have attracted a remarkable attention as possible habitats for life. The current consideration about whether life exists beyond Earth is based on our knowledge of life in terrestrial cold environments. On Earth, glaciers and ice sheets have been considered uninhabited for a long time as they seemed too hostile to harbor life. However, these environments are unique biomes dominated by microbial communities which maintain active biochemical routes. Thanks to techniques such as microscopy and more recently DNA sequencing methods, a great biodiversity of prokaryote and eukaryote microorganisms have been discovered. These microorganisms are adapted to a harsh environment, in which the most extreme features are the lack of liquid water, extremely cold temperatures, high solar radiation and nutrient shortage. Here we compare the environmental characteristics of icy worlds, and the environmental characteristics of terrestrial glaciers and ice sheets in order to address some interesting questions: (i) which are the characteristics of habitability known for the frozen worlds, and which could be compatible with life, (ii) what are the environmental characteristics of terrestrial glaciers and ice sheets that can be life-limiting, (iii) What are the microbial communities of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms that can live in them, and (iv) taking into account these observations, could any of these planets or satellites meet the conditions of habitability? In this review, the icy worlds are considered from the point of view of astrobiological exploration. With the aim of determining whether icy worlds could be potentially habitable, they have been compared with the environmental features of glaciers and ice sheets on Earth. We also reviewed some field and laboratory investigations about microorganisms that live in analog environments of icy worlds, where they are not only viable but also metabolically active.

Dynamical analysis of Jovian polar observations by Juno

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tabataba-Vakili, Fachreddin; Orton, Glenn S.; Adriani, Alberto; Eichstaedt, Gerald; Grassi, Davide; Ingersoll, Andrew P.; Li, Cheng; Hansen, Candice; Momary, Thomas W.; Moriconi, Maria Luisa; Mura, Alessandro; Read, Peter L.; Rogers, John; Young, Roland M. B.

2017-10-01

The JunoCAM and JIRAM instruments onboard the Juno spacecraft have generated unparalleled observations of the Jovian polar regions. These observations reveal a turbulent environment with an unexpected structure of cyclonic polar vortices. We measure the wind velocity in the polar region using correlation image velocimetry of consecutive images. From this data, we calculate the kinetic energy fluxes between different length scales. An analysis of the kinetic energy spectra and eddy-zonal flow interactions may improve our understanding of the mechanisms maintaining the polar macroturbulence in the Jovian atmosphere.

Energetic particles in the jovian magnetotail.

PubMed

McNutt, R L; Haggerty, D K; Hill, M E; Krimigis, S M; Livi, S; Ho, G C; Gurnee, R S; Mauk, B H; Mitchell, D G; Roelof, E C; McComas, D J; Bagenal, F; Elliott, H A; Brown, L E; Kusterer, M; Vandegriff, J; Stern, S A; Weaver, H A; Spencer, J R; Moore, J M

2007-10-12

When the solar wind hits Jupiter's magnetic field, it creates a long magnetotail trailing behind the planet that channels material out of the Jupiter system. The New Horizons spacecraft traversed the length of the jovian magnetotail to >2500 jovian radii (RJ; 1 RJ identical with 71,400 kilometers), observing a high-temperature, multispecies population of energetic particles. Velocity dispersions, anisotropies, and compositional variation seen in the deep-tail (greater, similar 500 RJ) with a approximately 3-day periodicity are similar to variations seen closer to Jupiter in Galileo data. The signatures suggest plasma streaming away from the planet and injection sites in the near-tail region (approximately 200 to 400 RJ) that could be related to magnetic reconnection events. The tail structure remains coherent at least until it reaches the magnetosheath at 1655 RJ.

Satellite Rings Movie

NASA Image and Video Library

2000-12-30

This brief movie clip (of which the release image is a still frame), taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft as it approached Jupiter, shows the motions, over a 16 hour-period, of two satellites embedded in Jupiter's ring. The moon Adrastea is the fainter of the two, and Metis the brighter. Images such as these will be used to refine the orbits of the two bodies. The movie was made from images taken during a 40-hour sequence of the Jovian ring on December 11, 2000. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02872

Planetary Science Enabled by High Power Ion Propulsion Systems from NASA's Prometheus Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cooper, John

2004-11-01

NASA's Prometheus program seeks to develop new generations of spacecraft nuclear-power and ion propulsion systems for applications to future planetary missions. The Science Definition Team for the first mission in the Prometheus series, the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO), has defined science objectives for in-situ orbital exploration of the icy Galilean moons (Europa, Ganymede, Callisto) and the Jovian magnetosphere along with remote observations of Jupiter's atmosphere and aurorae, the volcanic moon Io, and other elements of the Jovian system. Important to this forum is that JIMO power and propulsion systems will need to be designed to minimize magnetic, radio, neutral gas, and plasma backgrounds that might otherwise interfere with achievement of mission science objectives. Another potential Prometheus mission of high science interest would be an extended tour of primitive bodies in the solar system, including asteroids, Jupiter family comets, Centaurs, and Kuiper Belt Objects (KBO). The final landed phase of this mission might include an active keplerian experiment for detectable (via downlink radio doppler shift) acceleration of a small kilometer-size Centaur or KBO object, likely the satellite of a larger object observable from Earth. This would have obvious application to testing of mitigation techniques for Earth impact hazards.

Backscattering from frost on icy satellites in the outer solar system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Verbiscer, Anne; Helfenstein, Paul; Veverka, Joseph

1990-01-01

Two extreme models are presented of how frost and ice might be intermixed on a typical satellite surface: areal and intimate mixing. Applying such models to selected representative satellite data, it is found that the frost component of the surfaces of these outer satellites must itself be backscattering, unlike its terrestrial counterpart. The difference may arise because frost particles can have much more complex internal textures under the low-temperature and low-gravity conditions of the outer satellites than is the case on earth.

Observers requested for Jovian Extinction Events (JEE2012)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waagen, Elizabeth O.

2012-07-01

Scotty Degenhardt (Santa Fe, NM), a pioneer in the use of video for timing eclipses of solar system and stellar objects and a research member of the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA), and colleagues are working on modeling the Jovian dust field, moon atmospheres, and Io's Torus through Jovian Extinction Events (JEE). He has invited AAVSO observers to participate by observing these events and reporting their observations. He writes: "The next Jovian Mutual Event season (JME) is still almost two years away. But the interaction of the Jovian moons is upon us. In July and August there are multiple opportunities to record dimmings of Jovian moons via extinction of their light by the atmospheres of other moons and/or by the dust and gas material in the Torus of Io...Europa's atmosphere is documented to extend out to about 25 Europa radii from its surface. There will be numerous conjunctions, or close misses of Europa with Io and Ganymede over the next several months. Our previous study of JMEs and JEEs have shown that the source of dimming in these events is the moon that is behind the moon possessing a known tenuous atmosphere. The upcoming conjunction JEEs provide the best opportunity to document this extinction phenomenon and give rise to the possibility of inverting the light curve to produce a 3D model of the dust and gasses in the Jovian system...JEE2012 is a great opportunity for amateur and professional astronomers to work together to accomplish something no one thought was possible. That is to actually detect and measure the tenuous atmospheres surrounding some of the moons of Jupiter as well as this same material that is captured in a torus ring around Jupiter, called the Torus of Io. A complete current prediction kit through Aug 2102 is available here: http://scottysmightymini.com./JEE/JEE2012_Jun_Aug.zip. A summary table of upcoming events is here: http://scottysmightymini.com/JEE/JEE2012_Jun_Aug_Table.htm. A FAQ ! file describing the JEE

Coherent Backscattering Effect in Saturnian vs. Uranian Satellites: Observations and Enhanced MSTM Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pitman, Karly M.; Kolokolova, Ludmilla; Verbiscer, Anne J.; Joseph, Emily C.; Mackowski, Daniel W.; Buratti, Bonnie J.; Momary, Thomas W.

2014-11-01

We continue our campaign to extract spectra and measure absorption band parameters from Cassini Visual & Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) and ground-based near-infrared observations of saturnian and uranian icy satellites. We compare these spectra to numerical models to study the coherent backscattering effect (CBE; constructive interference of radiation) that should significantly alter the interpretation of spacecraft spectra obtained at solar phase angles α < 2 degrees. To quantify CBE, we extract VIMS spectra for different α from the same location on the icy satellite surface, ideally within +/- 1-2 degrees in subspacecraft latitude and longitude. Using 2013-2014 calibration updates for VIMS, we present groups of VIMS spectra (pairs or trios) for 3 saturnian moons that most closely fit these ideal criteria. We also show models of the light-scattering characteristics of icy surfaces using a new version of the Multiple Sphere T-Matrix (MSTM) code (Mackowski, D., 2014, in Proceedings of the Workshop “Scattering by aggregates (on surfaces)”, Bremen, Germany, 24 - 25. March 2014, p. 6-9). This code, called MSTM4, allows users to build large, thick slabs of dozens of thousands of spheres to model planetary regolith more accurately. The results clearly indicate the influence of CBE on the spectra and show significant dependence on the size of particles and their packing. To extend the low phase angle coverage of Cassini VIMS data and examine CBE on darker surfaces, we also compare to spectra of several uranian satellites (Titania, Oberon Ariel) acquired using Triplespec ( 3500) at Apache Point Observatory, New Mexico. Synthesizing such results will ultimately place limits on the size and packing fraction of icy satellite regolith particles and aid in interpretations of the structure, composition, and evolution of icy satellites.This work is supported by NASA’s Outer Planets Research program (NNX12AM76G; PI Pitman), Planetary Astronomy program (NNX09AD06G

Detectability of Noble Gases in Jovian Atmospheres Utilizing Dimer Spectral Structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, S. J.; Min, Y.; Kim, Y.; Lee, Y.; Trafton, L.; Miller, S.; McKellar, A. R. W.

1997-07-01

The detection of jovian hydrogen-hydrogen dimers through the clear telluric 2-micron window (Kim et al. 1995; Trafton et al. 1997) suggests possibility to detect noble gases in the form of dimer with hydrogen in jovian atmospheres. Since noble gases do not have spectral structures in the infrared, it has been difficult to derive their abundances in the atmospheres of jovian planets. If there is a significant component of noble gases other than helium in the jovian atmospheres, it might be detected through its dimer spectrum with hydrogen molecule. The relatively sharp spectral structures of hydrogen-argon and hydrogen-neon dimers compared with those of hydrogen-hydrogen dimers are useful for the detection, if adequate S/N is obtained. However, these dimer structures should be much weaker than the nearby hydrogen-hydrogen features because noble gases are expected to be minor constituents of these atmospheres. We will discuss the detectability of these dimers based on laboratory measurements (McKellar, 1994; 1996), and current technology of infrared observations.

Particles, environments and possible ecologies in the Jovian atmosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sagan, C.; Salpeter, E. E.

1976-01-01

The eddy diffusion coefficient is estimated as a function of altitude, separately for the Jovian troposphere and mesosphere. Complex organic molecules produced by the Ly alpha photolysis of methane may possibly be the absorbers in the lower mesosphere which account for the low reflectivity of Jupiter in the near ultraviolet. The optical frequency chromophores are localized at or just below the Jovian tropopause. Candidate chromophore molecules must satisfy the condition that they are produced sufficiently rapidly that convective pyrolysis maintains the observed chromophore optical depth. The condition is satisfied if complex organic chromophores are produced with high quantum yield by NH3 photolysis at less than 2,300 A. Jovian photoautotrophs in the upper troposphere satisfy this condition well, even with fast circulation, assuming only biochemical properties of comparable terrestrial organisms. An organism in the form of a thin, gas filled balloon can grow fast enough to replicate if (1) it can survive at the low mesospheric temperatures, or if (2) photosynthesis occurs in the troposphere.

ICIS Model

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS) is a web-based system that provides information for the federal enforcement and compliance (FE&C) and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) programs.

Near Infrared Photometry of the Jovian Ring and Adrastea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meier, Roland; Smith, Bradford A.; Owen, Tobias C.; Becklin, E. E.; Terrile, Richard J.

1999-10-01

The near IR spectral reflectance of the Jupiter dust ring is poorly known because of problems with scattered light from the planet. Here we report colors for the jovian ring and one of the two ring satellites, Adrastea, using observations from the near-IR camera NICMOS on the Hubble Space Telescope. Near the time when the Earth crossed the jovian ring plane in the fall of 1997, we recorded broad-band images at ˜1.1 (F110W), ˜1.6 (F160W), and ˜2.05 μm (F205W) and derived a single-pass, in radial direction measured ring brightness of 19.19±0.07, 18.76±0.06, and 18.49±0.04 mag linear arcsec -1, respectively. These single-pass radial ring brightnesses were derived from the observable part of the ring at a projected distance of >1.2 RJ using a model to remove projection effects. The corresponding apparent magnitudes for Adrastea are 18.30±0.10 (F110W), 17.73±0.09 (F160W), and 17.57±0.07 mag (F205W), obtained at a phase angle of φ=11.3°. The relative spectral reflectance of the ring and that of Adrastea turn out to be nearly identical, slightly reddish with a slope of about 15-20% between 1 and 2 μm. No evidence for transient ice crystals to be present in the main ring is seen. Our data are also in reasonable agreement with earlier ground-based measurements by Neugebauer et al. (1981), if we take their relatively large errors into account. The similarities of the colors of all inner satellites, including Io, are striking. The measured ring color provides evidence that the backscattered light from the ring is due to grains with mean particle sizes in excess of several micrometers. We were also able to infer a spatial particle distribution for the main ring. Its radial surface-density profile peaks sharply near the outer edge of the ring at the orbit of Adrastea, suggesting a strong dynamical relationship between the satellite and the ring particles. Our radial profile of the main ring is in excellent agreement with the results from Voyager images in

System concepts and enabling technologies for an ESA low-cost mission to Jupiter / Europa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Renard, P.; Koeck, C.; Kemble, Steve; Atzei, Alessandro; Falkner, Peter

2004-11-01

The European Space Agency is currently studying the Jovian Minisat Explorer (JME), as part of its Technology Reference Studies (TRS), used for its development plan of technologies enabling future scientific missions. The JME focuses on the exploration of the Jovian system and particularly of Europa. The Jupiter Minisat Orbiter (JMO) study concerns the first mission phase of JME that counts up to three missions using pairs of minisats. The scientific objectives are the investigation of Europa's global topography, the composition of its (sub)surface and the demonstration of existence of a subsurface ocean below its icy crust. The present paper describes the candidate JMO system concept, based on a Europa Orbiter (JEO) supported by a communications relay satellite (JRS), and its associated technology development plan. It summarizes an analysis performed in 2004 jointly by ESA and the EADS-Astrium Company in the frame of an industrial technical assistance to ESA.

Outer planets satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morrison, D.

1983-01-01

The present investigation takes into account the published literature on outer planet satellites for 1979-1982. It is pointed out that all but three (the moon and the two Martian satellites) of the known planetary satellites are found in the outer solar system. Most of these are associated with the three regular satellite systems of Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. The largest satellites are Titan in the Saturn system and Ganymede and Callisto in the Jupiter system. Intermediate in size between Mercury and Mars, each has a diameter of about 5000 km. Presumably each has an internal composition about 60 percent rock and 40 ice, and each is differentiated with a dense core extending out about 75 percent of the distance to the surface, with a mantle of high-pressure ice and a crust of ordinary ice perhaps 100 km thick. Attention is also given to Io, Europa, the icy satellites of Saturn, the satellites of Uranus, the small satellites of Jupiter and Saturn, Triton and the Pluto system, and plans for future studies.

Temporal variation of the Jovian H I Lyman-alpha emission /1979-1982/

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Skinner, T. E.; Durrance, S. T.; Feldman, P. D.; Moos, H. W.

1983-01-01

Observations of the Jovian H I Lyman-alpha emission have been made with the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) observatory beginning in 1978 December, just before the time of the Voyager encounters, and extending through 1982 January. A nearly constant disk center brightness of about 8.5 kilorayleighs is observed for the central meridian longitude range lambda(III) = 200 to 360 deg and a variable brightness of between 9 and 15 kilorayleighs is found for the range lambda(III) = 50 to 150 deg. These brightness values have persisted throughout the three years of observation, and the hydrogen bulge near lambda(III) = 100 deg appears to be a fixed feature of the Jovian atmosphere. These results indicate that no substantial changes in the Jovian atomic hydrogen concentration or the average atmospheric conditions have taken place between the time immediately preceding the Voyager encounters and the present. The question of Jovian Lyman-alpha variability prior to 1978 is reexamined in the light of the IUE results.

Periodic Bursts of Jovian Non-Io Decametric Radio Emission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Panchenko, M.; Rucker, H O.; Farrell, W. M.

2013-01-01

During the years 2000-2011 the radio instruments onboard Cassini, Wind and STEREO spacecraft have Recorded a large amount of the Jovian decametric radio emission (DAM). In this paper we report on the analysis of the new type of Jovian periodic radio bursts recently revealed in the decametric frequency range. These bursts, which are non-Io component of DAM, are characterized by a strong periodic reoccurrence over several Jovian days with a period approx. = 1:5% longer than the rotation rate of the planet's magnetosphere (System III). The bursts are typically observed between 4 and 12 MHz and their occurrence probability has been found to be significantly higher in the sector of Jovian Central Meridian Longitude between 300 deg. and 60 deg. (via 360 deg.). The stereoscopic multispacecraft observations have shown that the radio sources of the periodic bursts radiate in a non-axisymmetric hollow cone-like pattern and sub-corotate with Jupiter remaining active during several planet's rotations. The occurrence of the periodic non-Io DAM bursts is strongly correlated with pulses of the solar wind ram pressure at Jupiter. Moreover the periodic bursts exhibit a tendency to occur in groups every approx. 25 days. The polarization measurements have shown that the periodic bursts are right hand polarized radio emission associated with the Northern magnetic hemisphere of Jupiter. We suggest that periodic non-Io DAM bursts may be connected with the interchange instability in Io plasma torus triggered by the solar wind.

Periodic bursts of Jovian non-Io decametric radio emission

PubMed Central

Panchenko, M.; Rucker, H.O.; Farrell, W.M.

2013-01-01

During the years 2000–2011 the radio instruments onboard Cassini, Wind and STEREO spacecraft have recorded a large amount of the Jovian decametric radio emission (DAM). In this paper we report on the analysis of the new type of Jovian periodic radio bursts recently revealed in the decametric frequency range. These bursts, which are non-Io component of DAM, are characterized by a strong periodic reoccurrence over several Jovian days with a period ≈1.5% longer than the rotation rate of the planet's magnetosphere (System III). The bursts are typically observed between 4 and 12 MHz and their occurrence probability has been found to be significantly higher in the sector of Jovian Central Meridian Longitude between 300° and 60° (via 360°). The stereoscopic multispacecraft observations have shown that the radio sources of the periodic bursts radiate in a non-axisymmetric hollow cone-like pattern and sub-corotate with Jupiter remaining active during several planet's rotations. The occurrence of the periodic non-Io DAM bursts is strongly correlated with pulses of the solar wind ram pressure at Jupiter. Moreover the periodic bursts exhibit a tendency to occur in groups every ∼25 days. The polarization measurements have shown that the periodic bursts are right hand polarized radio emission associated with the Northern magnetic hemisphere of Jupiter. We suggest that periodic non-Io DAM bursts may be connected with the interchange instability in Io plasma torus triggered by the solar wind. PMID:23585696

Properties of filamentary sublimation residues from dispersions of clay in ice. [on Martian poles, comet nuclei, and icy satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Saunders, R. S.; Parker, T. J.; Stephens, J. B.; Fanale, F. P.; Sutton, S.

1986-01-01

Results are reported from experimental studies of the formation of ice mixed with mineral particles in an effort to simulate similar processes on natural surfaces such as at the Martian poles, on comet nuclei and on icy satellites. The study consisted of low-pressure, low-temperature sublimations of water ice from dilutions of water-clay (montmorillonite and Cabosil) dispersions of various component ratios. Liquid dispersions were sprayed into liquid nitrogen to form droplets at about -50 C. Both clay-water dispersions left a filamentary residue on the bottom of the Dewar after the water ice had sublimated off. The residue was studied with optical and SEM microscopy, the latter method revealing a high electrical conductivity in the residue. The results suggest that the sublimation of the water ice can leave a surface crust, which may be analogous to processes at the Martian poles and on comet nuclei. The process could proceed by the attachment of water molecules to salt crystals during the hottest part of the Martian year. The residue remaining was found to remain stable up to 370 C, be porous, and remain resilient, which could allow it to insulate ice bodies such as comets in space.

Internal processes affecting surfaces of low-density satellites - Ganymede and Callisto

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parmentier, E. M.; Head, J. W.

1979-01-01

Possible significant physical processes on low-density (icy) satellites, particularly Ganymede and Callisto, are outlined, and the relations of these interior processes to the formation and evolution of satellite surfaces are discussed. A variety of mechanisms is shown to lead to interior melting in early satellite history and a configuration characterized by a predominantly water ice lithosphere overlying a mantle containing liquid water. Physical processes capable of affecting the lithosphere of an ice-silicate body and thus creating observable surface features are assessed, including tectonic stresses from tidal deformation and volume changes, gravitational effects on density differences and water volcanism. The residence time of surface features on icy bodies produced by the outlined processes and by impact cratering is considered, and a tentative outline of the geologic history of Ganymede and Callisto is presented. Observations from Voyager and Galileo are expected to provide evidence on the evolution and geologic history of low-density satellites.

Forward and inverse modeling for jovian seismology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jackiewicz, Jason; Nettelmann, Nadine; Marley, Mark; Fortney, Jonathan

2012-08-01

Jupiter is expected to pulsate in a spectrum of acoustic modes and recent re-analysis of a spectroscopic time series has identified a regular pattern in the spacing of the frequencies (Gaulme, P., Schmider, F.-X., Gay, J., Guillot, T., Jacob, C. [2011]. Astron. Astrophys. 531, A104). This exciting result can provide constraints on gross jovian properties and warrants a more in-depth theoretical study of the seismic structure of Jupiter. With current instrumentation, such as the SYMPA instrument (Schmider, F.X. [2007]. Astron. Astrophys. 474, 1073-1080) used for the Gaulme et al. (Gaulme, P., Schmider, F.-X., Gay, J., Guillot, T., Jacob, C. [2011]. Astron. Astrophys. 531, A104) analysis, we assume that, at minimum, a set of global frequencies extending up to angular degree ℓ=25 could be observed. In order to identify which modes would best constraining models of Jupiter's interior and thus help motivate the next generation of observations, we explore the sensitivity of derived parameters to this mode set. Three different models of the jovian interior are computed and the theoretical pulsation spectrum from these models for ℓ⩽25 is obtained. We compute sensitivity kernels and perform linear inversions to infer details of the expected discontinuities in the profiles in the jovian interior. We find that the amplitude of the sound-speed jump of a few percent in the inner/outer envelope boundary seen in two of the applied models should be reasonably inferred with these particular modes. Near the core boundary where models predict large density discontinuities, the location of such features can be accurately measured, while their amplitudes have more uncertainty. These results suggest that this mode set would be sufficient to infer the radial location and strength of expected discontinuities in Jupiter's interior, and place strong constraints on the core size and mass. We encourage new observations to detect these jovian oscillations.

An Overview of Electrodynamic Tether Performance in the Jovian System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gallagher, Dennis; Johnson, Les; Bagenal, Fran; Moore, James

1998-01-01

The Jovian magnetosphere with its strong magnetic field and rapid planetary rotation present new opportunities and challenges for the use of electrodynamic tethers. An overview of the basic plasma physics properties of an electrodynamic tether moving through the Jovian magnetosphere is examined. Tether use for both propulsion and power generation are considered. Close to the planet, tether propulsive forces are found to be as high as 50 Newtons and power levels as high as 1 million Watts.

Icy Profile

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-10-20

The Cassini spacecraft looks toward Rhea cratered, icy landscape with the dark line of Saturn ringplane and the planet murky atmosphere as a background. Rhea is Saturn second-largest moon, at 1,528 kilometers 949 miles across.

Chandra X-Ray Observatory Observations of the Jovian System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Elsner, R. F.; Bhardwaj, A.; Gladstone, R.; Waite, J. H.; Ford, P.; Branduari-Raymont, G.

2005-01-01

Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO) and XMM-Newton observations of x-rays from the Jovian system have answered questions that arose from early observations with the Einstein and Rosat X-ray Observatories, but in the process of vastly increasing our knowledge of x-ray emission from Jupiter and its environs they have also raised new questions and point to new opportunities for future studies. We will review recent x-ray results on the Jovian system, from the point of view of the CXO, and discuss various questions that have arisen in the course of our studies. We will discuss prospects for more observations in the immediate future, and how they might address open questions. Finally we will briefly describe ways in which an imaging x-ray spectrometer in the vicinity of the Jovian system could provide a wealth of data and results concerning Jupiter's x-ray auroral and disk emission, elemental abundance measurements for the Galilean moons, and detailed studies of x-ray emission from the Io Plasma Torus.

Temperature structure and emergent flux of the Jovian planets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Silvaggio, P.; Sagan, C.

1978-01-01

Long path, low temperature, moderate resolution spectra of methane and ammonia, broadened by hydrogen and helium, are used to calculate non-gray model atmospheres for the four Jovian planets. The fundamental and first overtone of hydrogen contributes enough absorption to create a thermal inversion for each of the planets. The suite of emergent spectral fluxes and representative limb darkenings and brightenings are calculated for comparison with the Voyager infrared spectra. The temperature differences between Jovian belts and zones corresponds to a difference in the ammonia cirrus particle radii (1 to 3 micron in zones; 10 micron in belts). The Jovian tropopause is approximately at the 0.1 bar level. A thin ammonia cirrus haze should be distributed throughout the Saturnian troposphere; and NH3 gas must be slightly supersaturated or ammonia ice particles are carried upwards convectively in the upper troposphere of Saturn. Substantial methane clouds exist on both Uranus and Neptune. There is some evidence for almost isothermal structures in the deep atmospheres of these two planets.

A theory of Jovian decameter radiation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goldstein, M. L.; Sharma, R. R.; Papadopoulos, K.; Ben-Ari, M.; Eviatar, A.

1983-01-01

A theory of the Jovian decameter radiation is presented based on the assumed existence of beams of energetic electrons in the inner Jovian magnetosphere. Beam-like electron distributions are shown to be unstable to the growth of both upper hybrid and lower hybrid electrostatic waves. The upconversion of these waves to fast extraordinary mode electromagnetic radiation is calculated by using a fluid model. Two possibilities are considered. First, a random phase approximation is made which leads to a very conservative estimate of intensity that can be expected in decameter radiation. The alternative possibility is also considered, viz, that the upconversion process is coherent. A comparison of both processes suggests that an incoherent interaction may be adequate to account for the observed intensity of decametric radiation, except perhaps near the peak of the spectrum (8 MHz). The coherent process is intrinsically more efficient and can easily produce the observed intensity near 8 MHz if only 0.01% of the energy in the beam is converted to electrostatic energy.

Night Side Jovian Aurora

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

Jovian aurora on the night side of the planet. The upper bright arc is auroral emission seen 'edge on' above the planetary limb with the darkness of space as a background. The lower bright arc is seen against the dark clouds of Jupiter. The aurora is easier to see on the night side of Jupiter because it is fainter than the clouds when they are illuminated by sunlight. Jupiter's north pole is out of view to the upper right. The images were taken in the clear filter (visible light) and are displayed in shades of blue.

As on Earth, the auroral emission is caused by electrically charged particles striking the upper atmosphere from above. The particles travel along the magnetic field lines of the planet, but their origin is not fully understood. The field lines where the aurora is most intense cross the Jovian equator at large distances (many Jovian radii) from the planet. The faint background throughout the image is scattered light in the camera. This stray light comes from the sunlit portion of Jupiter, which is out of the image to the right. In multispectral observations the aurora appears red, consistent with glow from atomic hydrogen in Jupiter's atmosphere. Galileo's unique perspective allows it to view the night side of the planet at short range, revealing details that cannot be seen from Earth. These detailed features are time dependent, and can be followed in sequences of Galileo images.

North is at the top of the picture. A grid of planetocentric latitude and west longitude is overlain on the images. The images were taken on November 5, 1997 at a range of 1.3 million kilometers by the Solid State Imaging (SSI) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the

The Energy Spectrum of Jovian Electrons in Interplanetary Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Christon, S. P.; Cummings, A. C.; Stone, E. C.; Webber, W. R.

1985-01-01

The energy spectrum of electrons with energies approx 10 to approx 180 MeV measured with the electron telescope on the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft in interplanetary space from 1978 to 1983 is studied. The kinetic energy of electrons is determined by double dE/dx measurements from the first two detectors (D sub 1, D sub 2) of a stack of eight solid state detectors and by the range of particle penetration into the remaining six detectors (D sub 3 to D sub 8) which are interleaved with tungsten absorbers. From 1978 to 1983 (radial range approximately 2 to a pproximately 12 AU) electrons of Jovian origin were clearly observable for electrons stopping in D(sub 3(E approximately greater than 4 MeV)) and in D(sub 4 (E approximately greater than 8 MeV)). For electrons stopping in D(sub 5(E approximately greather than 12 MeV)), the jovian flux dominated the galactic electron flux for a period of approximately one year near the encounter with Jupiter. Jovian electrons were also observed in D(sub 6(E approximately greater than 21 MeV)) but not in D(sub 7(E approximately greater than 28 MeV)). A detailed interpretation of the electron variations in all energy channels depends on an accurate subtraction of background induced by energetic protons of a few 100 MeV. This substraction is facilitated by laboratory calibration results at several energies. Further results on the differential energy spectrum of Jovian electrons and limits on the maximum detected energies will be reported.

Jovian Planetary Waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harrington, J.; Deming, D.

1997-07-01

We have found over two dozen discrete, linearly-propagating, periodic features in 5-{\\micron} images of Jovian cloud opacities (J. Harrington et al. 1996, Icarus 124, 32--44). Numerous spatially-sinusoidal temperature oscillations also appear in several passbands between 7 and 19 {\\microns} (D. Deming et al. 1997, Icarus 126, 301--312). Both types of Jovian planetary-scale features are zonally-oriented. They have always been detected when sought (1989, '91, '92, '93), and some individual features persist 100 Earth days or longer. These features are superficially consistent with Rossby waves, but they do not follow a simplistic dispersion relation based on cloud-top wind speeds. Planetary wavenumbers are never larger than 15, consistent with predictions based on the Rhines scale for Jupiter. There are many outstanding phenomenological questions: Where and how are the waves driven? How are waves at different atmospheric levels related? What are their true dispersion properties? How long do they last? We are continuing observations and will conduct a search of the Hubble Space Telescope archive for the \\sim 1{°ee} meridional cloud-belt deviations expected for Rossby waves. We are in the process of correlating wave detections of various types, times, and wavelengths with each other. Our goal is to constrain atmospheric stratification and vertical energy transport. Because Rossby waves propagate vertically, these features may probe conditions at the interface between the meteorological atmosphere and the planetary interior. Work supported by NASA Planetary Astronomy RTOP 196-41-54. Work performed while J. H. held a National Research Council - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Research Associateship.

Origin of Saturn's rings and inner moons by mass removal from a lost Titan-sized satellite.

PubMed

Canup, Robin M

2010-12-16

The origin of Saturn's rings has not been adequately explained. The current rings are more than 90 to 95 per cent water ice, which implies that initially they were almost pure ice because they are continually polluted by rocky meteoroids. In contrast, a half-rock, half-ice mixture (similar to the composition of many of the satellites in the outer Solar System) would generally be expected. Previous ring origin theories invoke the collisional disruption of a small moon, or the tidal disruption of a comet during a close passage by Saturn. These models are improbable and/or struggle to account for basic properties of the rings, including their icy composition. Saturn has only one large satellite, Titan, whereas Jupiter has four large satellites; additional large satellites probably existed originally but were lost as they spiralled into Saturn. Here I report numerical simulations of the tidal removal of mass from a differentiated, Titan-sized satellite as it migrates inward towards Saturn. Planetary tidal forces preferentially strip material from the satellite's outer icy layers, while its rocky core remains intact and is lost to collision with the planet. The result is a pure ice ring much more massive than Saturn's current rings. As the ring evolves, its mass decreases and icy moons are spawned from its outer edge with estimated masses consistent with Saturn's ice-rich moons interior to and including Tethys.

JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE): An ESA mission to orbit Ganymede and to characterise the Jupiter system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grasset, O.; Dougherty, M. K.; Coustenis, A.; Bunce, E. J.; Erd, C.; Titov, D.; Blanc, M.; Coates, A.; Drossart, P.; Fletcher, L. N.; Hussmann, H.; Jaumann, R.; Krupp, N.; Lebreton, J.-P.; Prieto-Ballesteros, O.; Tortora, P.; Tosi, F.; Van Hoolst, T.

2013-04-01

Past exploration of Jupiter's diverse satellite system has forever changed our understanding of the unique environments to be found around gas giants, both in our solar system and beyond. The detailed investigation of three of Jupiter's Galilean satellites (Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto), which are believed to harbour subsurface water oceans, is central to elucidating the conditions for habitability of icy worlds in planetary systems in general. The study of the Jupiter system and the possible existence of habitable environments offer the best opportunity for understanding the origins and formation of the gas giants and their satellite systems. The JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission, selected by ESA in May 2012 to be the first large mission within the Cosmic Vision Program 2015-2025, will perform detailed investigations of Jupiter and its system in all their inter-relations and complexity with particular emphasis on Ganymede as a planetary body and potential habitat. The investigations of the neighbouring moons, Europa and Callisto, will complete a comparative picture of the Galilean moons and their potential habitability. Here we describe the scientific motivation for this exciting new European-led exploration of the Jupiter system in the context of our current knowledge and future aspirations for exploration, and the paradigm it will bring in the study of giant (exo) planets in general.

Icy Satellites of the Planets, and the Work of V.I. Moroz

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cruikshank, Dale P.

2006-01-01

The satellites of the giant planets are highly varied in size and density, indicating a wide range of compositions. The principal components of these satellites are ices of many different compositions (with H2O the most abundant) and varying amounts of silicate rocky material. Many different ices have been found by spectroscopic techniques both from Earth-based observatories and from planetary spacecraft. Three of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter exhibit H2O ice on their surfaces, while small amounts of CO2 are present on Ganymede and Callisto. The volcanic satellite Io has abundant SO2 ice and frost deposits. Saturn s satellites have surfaces dominated by H2O ice, but CO2 is also present on most of them, and in the cases of the low-albedo satellites Iapetus and Phoebe, there is evidence of complex hydrocarbons mixed with the surface materials. The large Uranian satellites also have H2O-dominated surfaces, but CO2 has also been discovered on two of them. Neptune s largest satellite, Triton, show spectroscopic evidence for six different ices, including N2, CH4, CO, CO2, H2O, and C2H6. The latter ice is a photochemical product from the action of sunlight on Triton's atmosphere. Pluto is similar to Triton, although CO2 has not been found. Pluto s large satellite, Charon, shows evidence for an ammonia hydrate on part of its surface. V. I. Moroz was a pioneer in the application of near-infrared detectors to astronomical sources. Using a prism spectrometer he measured the spectra of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter, and in 1966 he published the first near-infrared spectra, noting the appearance of H2O ice as a major component of Europa and Ganymede. This discovery, and the techniques of Moroz measurements help set the stage for the broad extension of the study of planetary, satellite, and asteroid surfaces through reflectance spectroscopy in the near-infrared.

Astrobiology of Jupiter's icy moons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lipps, Jere H.; Delory, Gregory; Pitman, Joseph T.; Rieboldt, Sarah

2004-11-01

Jupiter's Icy Moons, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, may possess energy sources, biogenic molecules, and oceans below their icy crusts, thus indicating a strong possibility that they were abodes for present or past life. Life in Earth's icy areas lives in a wide variety of habitats associated with the ice, in the water column below the ice, and on the floor of the ocean below the ice. Similar habitats may exist on JIM, have been transported to the icy crust, and be exposed in tectonic or impact features. Europa has a young, dynamic surface with many outcrops exposing older ice, fresh ice, possible materials from the subsurface ocean, and a few impact craters. Ganymede has older, darker, tectonized terrains surrounded by light ice. Callisto has a much older, heavily impacted surface devoid of significant tectonic structures. Past and present life habitats may be exposed in these features, making Europa the most favorable target while Ganymede is of interest, and Callisto seems more unlikely to have detectable life. A proper search strategy requires detailed orbital imaging and spectrometry of the likely places, and surface data collection with microscopic, spectrometric, and biochemical instruments.

Multi Timescale Multispectral Observation of the Jovian Aurora CYCLE3 High

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gerard, Jean-Claude

1992-06-01

Previous HST observations made with the FOC have demonstrated the ability of the HST to provide high spatial resolution images of the ultraviolet jovian aurora. They and other IUE and Voyager UVS observations suggest that wavelength dependence and time variations occur with different characteristic times. We propose to image the ultraviolet jovian aurora in several passbands to investigate its temporal variation on timescales ranging from ~10 min to hours. Exposures will be made when the 180 deg (Lambda III) longitude sector, where the aurora is best visible from Earth orbit, faces the Earth. Due to the expected loss of sensitivity in the far UV, this program should be preformed before the COSTAR correction. Coordinated IR measurements of emission connected to the UV aurora but originating from different altitude regions will be obtained in parallel with HST observations. Simultaneous radio observations of decametric jovian emissions and IUE UV spectra will also provide complementary data on energetic particle precipitation. The observed morphology, color ratio and characteristic time of the temporal variations will provide key information to discriminate between the various origins , identity and acceleration mechanisms of the precipitating particles. Theoretical models of particle interaction with the jovian magnetic field and atmosphere available from the proposing team will be used to derive quantitative information on these processes.

The Orbits of Jupiter’s Irregular Satellites

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brozović, Marina; Jacobson, Robert A., E-mail: marina.brozovic@jpl.nasa.gov, E-mail: raj@jpl.nasa.gov

2017-04-01

We report on the improved ephemerides for the irregular Jovian satellites. We used a combination of numerically integrated equations of motion and a weighted least-squares algorithm to fit the astrometric measurements. The orbital fits for 59 satellites are summarized in terms of state vectors, post-fit residuals, and mean orbital elements. The current data set appears to be sensitive to the mass of Himalia, which is constrained to the range of GM  = 0.13–0.28 km{sup 3} s{sup −2}. Here, GM is the product of the Newtonian constant of gravitation, G and the body's mass, M . Our analysis of the orbital uncertaintiesmore » indicates that 11 out of 59 satellites are lost owing to short data arcs. The lost satellites hold provisional International Astronomical Union (IAU) designations and will likely need to be rediscovered.« less

EPA Facility Registry Service (FRS): ICIS

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This web feature service contains location and facility identification information from EPA's Facility Registry Service (FRS) for the subset of facilities that link to the Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS). When complete, ICIS will provide a database that will contain integrated enforcement and compliance information across most of EPA's programs. The vision for ICIS is to replace EPA's independent databases that contain enforcement data with a single repository for that information. Currently, ICIS contains all Federal Administrative and Judicial enforcement actions and a subset of the Permit Compliance System (PCS), which supports the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). ICIS exchanges non-sensitive enforcement/compliance activities, non-sensitive formal enforcement actions and NPDES information with FRS. This web feature service contains the enforcement/compliance activities and formal enforcement action related facilities; the NPDES facilities are contained in the PCS_NPDES web feature service. FRS identifies and geospatially locates facilities, sites or places subject to environmental regulations or of environmental interest. Using vigorous verification and data management procedures, FRS integrates facility data from EPA's national program systems, other federal agencies, and State and tribal master facility records and provides EPA with a centrally managed, single source of comprehensive and authoritative information on f

Europa Planetary Protection for Juno Jupiter Orbiter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bernard, Douglas E.; Abelson, Robert D.; Johannesen, Jennie R.; Lam, Try; McAlpine, William J.; Newlin, Laura E.

2010-01-01

NASA's Juno mission launched in 2011 and will explore the Jupiter system starting in 2016. Juno's suite of instruments is designed to investigate the atmosphere, gravitational fields, magnetic fields, and auroral regions. Its low perijove polar orbit will allow it to explore portions of the Jovian environment never before visited. While the Juno mission is not orbiting or flying close to Europa or the other Galilean satellites, planetary protection requirements for avoiding the contamination of Europa have been taken into account in the Juno mission design.The science mission is designed to conclude with a deorbit burn that disposes of the spacecraft in Jupiter's atmosphere. Compliance with planetary protection requirements is verified through a set of analyses including analysis of initial bioburden, analysis of the effect of bioburden reduction due to the space and Jovian radiation environments, probabilistic risk assessment of successful deorbit, Monte-Carlo orbit propagation, and bioburden reduction in the event of impact with an icy body.

A theory of the Io phase asymmetry of the Jovian decametric radiation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hashimoto, K.; Goldstein, M. L.

1982-01-01

An explanation of an asymmetry in the occurrence probability of the Io-dependent Jovian decametric radiation is proposed. Io generates stronger Alfven waves toward the south when it is in the northern part of the torus. This wave then generates decametric radiation in the northern ionosphere after it reflects in the southern ionosphere. The asymmetry then results from computing the propagation time of the alfven wave along this trajectory. The ray paths of the decameter radiation are calculated using a three dimensional ray tracing program in the Jovian ionosphere. Variations in the expected probability plots are computer for two models of the Jovian ionosphere and global magnetic field, as well as for several choices of the ratio of the radiated frequency to the X-mode cutoff frequency.

Objectives for Atmospheres and Ring Science for the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ingersoll, A.; Simon-Miller, A.

2003-12-01

offers continuous planet viewing during the 3 months between satellite encounters. The 10-30 kW of power offers advantages for radio occultations and other active sensors. In addition, JIMO can carry a probe, which can determine the water abundance, deep winds, and thermal structure to 100 bars. At the Forum on Concepts and Approaches for JIMO in Houston, Texas on June 14-15, 2003, the Atmospheres and Rings Subgroup came up with the following prioritized list of objectives: 1. Composition, structure, chemistry, and dynamics of Jupiter's atmosphere. 2. Composition, structure, and dynamics of icy moon atmospheres. 3. Composition, structure, dynamics, and time variability of the atmosphere of Io. 4. Nature of the interaction between magnetosphere, satellites, and Jupiter. 5. Structure, composition, energy budget, and variability of satellite tori. 6. Structure and particle properties of the Jovian ring system Each objective has several prioritized investigations, and each investigation has a prioritized list of measurements. These will be presented at the meeting. Some of the measurements require a probe; others can be done from the JIMO orbiter. With or without a probe, the JIMO mission can answer fundamental questions about atmospheres, rings, and satellite tori in the Jupiter system.

The ESA JUICE mission: the Science and the Science Operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lorente, Rosario; Altobelli, Nicolas; Vallat, Claire; Munoz, Claudio; Andres, Rafael; Cardesin, Alejandro; Witasse, Olivier; Erd, Christian

2017-04-01

JUICE - JUpiter ICy moons Explorer - is the first large mission in the ESA Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme [1]. The mission was selected in May 2012 and adopted in November 2014. The implementation phase started in July 2015, following the selection of the prime industrial contractor, Airbus Defense and Space (Toulouse, France). Due to launch in May 2022 and arrival at Jupiter in October 2029, it will spend almost three years making detailed observations of the Jovian system, with a special focus on the planet itself, its giant magnetosphere, and the three icy moons: Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. In August 2032, JUICE will then orbit Ganymede for at least ten months. The first goal of JUICE is to characterize the conditions that might have led to the emergence of habitable environments among the Jovian satellites, with special emphasis on the three giant icy worlds, likely hosting internal oceans [2]. The second goal is to explore the Jupiter system as an archetype of gas giants. Focused studies of Jupiter's atmosphere and magnetosphere, and their interaction with the Galilean satellites will further enhance our understanding of the evolution and dynamics of the Jovian system. The JUICE payload consists of 10 state-of-the-art instruments plus one experiment that uses the spacecraft telecommunication system with ground-based instruments. This payload is capable of addressing all of the mission's science goals [1,2]. A remote sensing package includes imaging (JANUS) and spectral-imaging capabilities from the ultraviolet to the sub-millimetre wavelengths (MAJIS, UVS, SWI). A geophysical package consists of a laser altimeter (GALA) and a radar sounder (RIME) for exploring the surface and subsurface of the moons, and a radio science experiment (3GM) to probe the atmospheres of Jupiter and its satellites and to perform measurements of the gravity fields. An in situ package comprises a powerful suite to study plasma and neutral gas environments (PEP) with remote

Using Jupiter's gravitational field to probe the Jovian convective dynamo.

PubMed

Kong, Dali; Zhang, Keke; Schubert, Gerald

2016-03-23

Convective motion in the deep metallic hydrogen region of Jupiter is believed to generate its magnetic field, the strongest in the solar system. The amplitude, structure and depth of the convective motion are unknown. A promising way of probing the Jovian convective dynamo is to measure its effect on the external gravitational field, a task to be soon undertaken by the Juno spacecraft. We calculate the gravitational signature of non-axisymmetric convective motion in the Jovian metallic hydrogen region and show that with sufficiently accurate measurements it can reveal the nature of the deep convection.

Saturn's icy satellites investigated by Cassini-VIMS. I. Full-disk properties: 350-5100 nm reflectance spectra and phase curves

USGS Publications Warehouse

Filacchione, G.; Capaccioni, F.; McCord, T.B.; Coradini, A.; Cerroni, P.; Bellucci, G.; Tosi, F.; D'Aversa, E.; Formisano, V.; Brown, R.H.; Baines, K.H.; Bibring, J.-P.; Buratti, B.J.; Clark, R.N.; Combes, M.; Cruikshank, D.P.; Drossart, P.; Jaumann, R.; Langevin, Y.; Matson, D.L.; Mennella, V.; Nelson, R.M.; Nicholson, P.D.; Sicardy, B.; Sotin, Christophe; Hansen, G.; Hibbitts, K.; Showalter, M.; Newman, S.

2007-01-01

Saturn's icy satellites are among the main scientific objectives of the Cassini-VIMS (Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer) experiment. This paper contains a first systematic and comparative analysis of the full-disk spectral properties of Dione, Enceladus, Epimetheus, Hyperion, Iapetus, Mimas, Phoebe, Rhea and Tethys as observed by VIMS from July 2004 to June 2005. The disk integrated properties (350-5100 nm reflectance spectra and phase curves at 550-2232 nm) and images of satellites are reported and discussed in detail together with the observed geometry. In general, the spectra in the visible spectral range are almost featureless and can be classified according to the spectral slopes: from the bluish Enceladus and Phoebe to the redder Iapetus, Hyperion and Epimetheus. In the 1000-1300 nm range the spectra of Enceladus, Tethys, Mimas and Rhea are characterized by a negative slope, consistent with a surface largely dominated by water ice, while the spectra of Iapetus, Hyperion and Phoebe show a considerable reddening pointing out the relevant role played by darkening materials present on the surface. In between these two classes are Dione and Epimetheus, which have a flat spectrum in this range. The main absorption bands identified in the infrared are the 1520, 2020, 3000 nm H2O/OH bands (for all satellites), although Iapetus dark terrains show mostly a deep 3000 nm band while the 1520 and 2020 nm bands are very faint. In this spectral range, the Iapetus spectrum is characterized by a strong reddening. The CO2 band at 4260 nm and the Fresnel ice peak around 3100 nm are evident only on Hyperion, Phoebe and Iapetus. The phase curves at 550 and at 2232 nm are reported for all the available observations in the 0??-144?? range; Rhea shows an opposition surge at visible wavelengths in the 0.5??-1.17?? interval. The improvement on the retrieval of the full-disk reflectance spectra can be appreciated by a direct comparison with ground-based telescopic data available

Raman Life Detection Instrument Development for Icy Worlds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomson, Seamus; Allen, A'Lester; Gutierrez, Daniel; Quinn, Richard C.; Chen, Bin; Koehne, Jessica E.

2017-01-01

The objective of this project is to develop a compact, high sensitivity Raman sensor for detection of life signatures in a flow cell configuration to enable bio-exploration and life detection during future mission to our Solar Systems Icy Worlds. The specific project objectives are the following: 1) Develop a Raman spectroscopy liquid analysis sensor for biosignatures; 2) Demonstrate applicability towards a future Enceladus or other Icy Worlds missions; 3) Establish key parameters for integration with the ARC Sample Processor for Life on Icy Worlds (SPLIce); 4) Position ARC for a successful response to upcoming Enceladus or other Icy World mission instrument opportunities.

Jovian H2 dayglow emission (1978-1989)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcgrath, M. A.; Ballester, G. E.; Moos, H. W.

1990-01-01

The IUE data set accumulated through 10 years of Jovian equatorial observations is used to measure the long-term temporal variation of the H2 dayglow emission. The model that best fits the data indicates a possible correlation between long-term solar activity and the Jovian H2 emission in the region 1500-1700 A between 1978 and 1989, which spans the decline in solar activity for solar cycle 21 and the rise in solar activity accompanying solar cycle 22. The magnitude of the observed variation is closer to that of the solar Ly-alpha flux than the 10.7 cm radio flux. Short-wavelength H2 band emission intensity is inconsistent with the amount of long-wavelength emission but may be reconciled if relatively low-energy excitation or fluorescence of solar radiation is invoked. No persistent longitudinal feature analogous to the H I Ly-alpha can be identified.

PCS-ICIS Model

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS) is a web-based system that provides information for the federal enforcement and compliance (FE&C) and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) programs.

Radio Sounding Science at High Powers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Green, J. L.; Reinisch, B. W.; Song, P.; Fung, S. F.; Benson, R. F.; Taylor, W. W. L.; Cooper, J. F.; Garcia, L.; Markus, T.; Gallagher, D. L.

2004-01-01

Future space missions like the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) planned to orbit Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa can fully utilize a variable power radio sounder instrument. Radio sounding at 1 kHz to 10 MHz at medium power levels (10 W to kW) will provide long-range magnetospheric sounding (several Jovian radii) like those first pioneered by the radio plasma imager instrument on IMAGE at low power (less than l0 W) and much shorter distances (less than 5 R(sub E)). A radio sounder orbiting a Jovian icy moon would be able to globally measure time-variable electron densities in the moon ionosphere and the local magnetospheric environment. Near-spacecraft resonance and guided echoes respectively allow measurements of local field magnitude and local field line geometry, perturbed both by direct magnetospheric interactions and by induced components from subsurface oceans. JIMO would allow radio sounding transmissions at much higher powers (approx. 10 kW) making subsurface sounding of the Jovian icy moons possible at frequencies above the ionosphere peak plasma frequency. Subsurface variations in dielectric properties, can be probed for detection of dense and solid-liquid phase boundaries associated with oceans and related structures in overlying ice crusts.

IR reflectance spectroscopy of carbon dioxide clathrate hydrates. Implications for Saturn's icy moons.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oancea, A.; Grasset, O.; Le Menn, E.; Bezacier, L.; Bollengier, O.; Le Mouélic, S.; Tobie, G.

2012-04-01

A CO2 spectral band was discovered by VIMS on the Saturn's satellites Dione, Hyperion, Iapetus and Phoebe [1]. The band position on the three first satellites corresponds to CO2 trapped in a complex material, but no indication exists whether this latter is water ice or some mineral or complex organic compound [1]. On Phoebe, the CO2 spectral band is consistent with solid CO2 or CO2 molecules trapped in the small cages of a clathrate hydrate structure [2]. It is thought that clathrate hydrates could play a significant role in the chemistry of the solar nebula [3] and in the physical evolution of astrophysical objects [4]. But so far, no clathrate hydrate structure has been observed in astrophysical environments. Moreover, identification of molecules trapped in a clathrate hydrate structure is extremely difficult because of the strong IR vibration modes of the water ice matrix. In this work, experimental IR reflectance spectra for CO2 clathrate hydrates are studied on grains and films. Clathrates are synthesized in a high pressure autoclave at low temperatures. IR spectral analysis is made with a low pressure and low temperature cryostat. These experimental conditions - 80 < T < 110 K, P~10-5 bar - are relevant to icy moons' surfaces. We have observed that the IR reflectance, in the spectral region (3 - 5 μm) characterized by H2O and CO2 high absorption coefficients, is strongly dependent on physical (size, surface) and optical (n and k) properties of the samples. The impact of these parameters on the CO2 clathrate IR reflectance spectrum will be presented. A comparison between the absorption bands of CO2 clathrate hydrates obtained in our lab and CO2 absorption bands as detected by VIMS on the icy satellites of Saturn will be shown. This experimental work confirms that VIMS data are not consistent with the presence of structure I CO2 clathrate hydrates on the surface of the icy moons. Possibility of having metastable structure II still remains unsolved and will be

Capture of irregular satellites at Jupiter

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nesvorný, David; Vokrouhlický, David; Deienno, Rogerio

The irregular satellites of outer planets are thought to have been captured from heliocentric orbits. The exact nature of the capture process, however, remains uncertain. We examine the possibility that irregular satellites were captured from the planetesimal disk during the early solar system instability when encounters between the outer planets occurred. Nesvorný et al. already showed that the irregular satellites of Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune were plausibly captured during planetary encounters. Here we find that the current instability models present favorable conditions for capture of irregular satellites at Jupiter as well, mainly because Jupiter undergoes a phase of close encountersmore » with an ice giant. We show that the orbital distribution of bodies captured during planetary encounters provides a good match to the observed distribution of irregular satellites at Jupiter. The capture efficiency for each particle in the original transplanetary disk is found to be (1.3-3.6) × 10{sup –8}. This is roughly enough to explain the observed population of jovian irregular moons. We also confirm Nesvorný et al.'s results for the irregular satellites of Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.« less

Structure of the Jovian Magnetodisk Current Sheet: Initial Galileo Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russell, C. T.; Huddleston, D. E.; Khurana, K. K.; Kivelson, M. G.

2001-01-01

The ten-degree tilt of the Jovian magnetic dipole causes the magnetic equator to move back and forth across Jupiter's rotational equator and tile Galileo orbit that lies therein. Beyond about 24 Jovian radii, the equatorial current sheet thins and tile magnetic structure changes from quasi-dipolar into magnetodisk-like with two regions of nearly radial but antiparallel magnetic field separated by a strong current layer. The magnetic field at the center of the current sheet is very weak in this region. Herein we examine tile current sheet at radial distances from 24 55 Jovian radii. We find that the magnetic structure very much resembles tile structure seen at planetary magnetopause and tail current sheet crossings. Tile magnetic field variation is mainly linear with little rotation of the field direction, At times there is almost no small-scale structure present and the normal component of the magnetic field is almost constant through the current sheet. At other times there are strong small-scale structures present in both the southward and northward directions. This small-scale structure appears to grow with radial distance and may provide the seeds for tile explosive reconnection observed at even greater radial distances oil tile nightside. Beyond about 40 Jovian radii, the thin current sheet also appears to be almost constantly in oscillatory motion with periods of about 10 min. The amplitude of these oscillations also appears to grow with radial distance. The source of these fluctuations may be dynamical events in tile more distant magnetodisk.

A Nuclear Ramjet Flyer for Exploration of Jovian Atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maise, G.; Powell, J.; Paniagua, J.; Lecat, R.

2001-01-01

We investigated the design, operation, and data gathering possibilities of a nuclear-powered ramjet flyer in the Jovian atmosphere. The MITEE nuclear rocket engine can be modified to operate as a ramjet in planetary atmospheres. (Note: MITEE is a compact, ultra-light-weight thermal nuclear rocket which uses hydrogen as the propellant.) To operate as a ramjet, MITEE requires a suitable inlet and diffuser to substitute for the propellant that is pumped from the supply tanks in a nuclear rocket engine. Such a ramjet would fly in the upper Jovian atmosphere, mapping in detail temperatures, pressures, compositions, lightning activity, and wind speeds in the highly turbulent equatorial zone and the Great Red Spot. The nuclear ramjet could operate for months because: (1) the Jovian atmosphere has unlimited propellant, (2) the MITEE nuclear reactor is a (nearly) unlimited power source, and (3) with few moving parts, mechanical wear should be minimal. This paper presents a conceptual design of a ramjet flyer and its nuclear engine. The flyer incorporates a swept-wing design with instruments located in the twin wing-tip pods (away from the radiation source and readily shielded, if necessary). The vehicle is 2 m long with a 2 m wingspan. Its mass is 220 kg, and its nominal flight Mach number is 1.5. Based on combined neutronic and thermal/hydraulic analyses, we calculated that the ambient pressure range over which the flyer can operate to be from about 0.04 to 4 (terrestrial) atmospheres. This altitude range encompasses the three uppermost cloud layers in the Jovian atmosphere: (1) the entire uppermost visible NH3 ice cloud layer (where lightning has been observed), (2) the entire NH4HS ice cloud layer, and (3) the upper portion of the H2O ice cloud layer.

Thermal evolution of a differentiated Ganymede and implications for surface features

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirk, R. L.; Stevenson, D. J.

1987-01-01

Thermodynamic models are developed for the processes which controlled the evolution of the surface Ganymede, an icy Jovian satellite assumed to have a rock-rich core surrounded by a water-ice mantle. Account is taken of a heat pulse which would have arisen from a Rayleigh-Taylor instability at a deep-seated liquid-solid water interface, rapid fracturing from global stresses imposed by warm ice diapiric upwelling, impacts by large meteorites, and resurfacing by ice flows (rather than core formation). Comparisons are made with existing models for the evolution of Callisto, and the difficulties in defining a mechanism which produced the groove terrain of Ganymede are discussed.

Laboratory study of hyper-elocity impact-driven chemical reactions and surface evolution in icy targets.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ulibarri, Z.; Munsat, T.; Dee, R.; Horanyi, M.; James, D.; Kempf, S.; Nagle, M.; Sternovsky, Z.

2017-12-01

Although ice is prevalent in the solar system and the long-term evolution of many airless icy bodies is affected by hypervelocity micrometeoroid bombardment, there has been little experimental investigation into these impact phenomena, especially at the impact speeds encountered in space. For example, there is little direct information about how dust impacts alter the local chemistry, and dust impacts may be an important mechanism for creating complex organic molecules necessary for life. Laser ablation and light-gas gun experiments simulating dust impacts have successfully created amino acid precursors from base components in ice surfaces. Additionally, the Cassini mission revealed CO2 deposits in icy satellites of Saturn, which may have been created by dust impacts. With the creation of a cryogenically cooled ice target for the dust accelerator facility at the NASA SSERVI-funded Institute for Modeling Plasma, Atmospheres, and Cosmic Dust (IMPACT), it is now possible to study the effects of micrometeoroid impacts in a controlled environment under conditions and at energies typically encountered in nature. Complex ice-target mixtures are created with a flash-freezing target which allows for homogeneous mixtures to be frozen in place even with salt mixtures that otherwise would form inhomogeneous ice surfaces. Coupled with the distinctive capabilities of the IMPACT dust facility, highly valuable data concerning the evolution of icy bodies under hypervelocity bombardment and the genesis of complex organic chemistry on these icy bodies can be gathered in unique and tightly controlled experiments. Results from recent and ongoing investigations will be presented.

The Advanced Jovian Asteroid Explorer (AJAX)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murchie, S. L.; Adams, E. Y.; Mustard, J. F.; Rivkin, A.; Peplowski, P. N.

2015-12-01

The Advanced Jovian Asteroid eXplorer (AJAX) is the first mission to characterize the geology, morphology, geophysical properties, and chemistry of a Trojan asteroid. The Decadal Survey outlined a notional New Frontiers class Trojan asteroid rendezvous mission to conduct geological, elemental composition, mineralogical, and geophysical investigations. AJAX, our Discovery mission proposal, addresses the Decadal Survey science goals by using a focused payload and an innovative mission design. By responding to the most important questions about the Trojan asteroids, AJAX advances our understanding of all of the Solar System. Are these objects a remnant population of the local primordial material from which the outer planets and their satellites formed, or did they originate in the Kuiper Belt? Landed measurements of major and minor elements test hypotheses for the Trojan asteroid origin, revealing the outer Solar System dynamical history. How and when were prebiotic materials delivered to the terrestrial planets? AJAX's landed measurements include C and H concentrations, necessary to determine their inventories of volatiles and organic compounds, material delivered to the inner Solar System during the Late Heavy Bombardment. What chemical and geological processes shaped the small bodies that merged to form the planets in our Solar System? AJAX investigates the asteroid internal structure, geology, and regolith by using global high-resolution stereo and multispectral imaging, determining density and estimating interior porosity by measuring gravity, and measuring regolith mechanical properties by landing. AJAX's science phase starts with search for natural satellites and dust lifted by possible cometary activity and shape and pole position determination. AJAX descends to lower altitudes for global mapping, and conducts a low flyover for high-resolution surface characterization and measurement of hydrogen abundance. Finally, it deploys a small landed package, which

Thermodynamic Equations of State for Aqueous Solutions Applied to Deep Icy Satellite and Exoplanet Oceans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vance, S.; Brown, J. M.; Bollengier, O.; Journaux, B.; Sotin, C.; Choukroun, M.; Barnes, R.

2014-12-01

Supporting life in icy world or exoplanet oceans may require global seafloor chemical reactions between water and rock. Such interactions have been regarded as limited in larger icy worlds such as Ganymede and Titan, where ocean depths approach 800 km and GPa pressures (>10katm). If the oceans are composed of pure water, such conditions are consistent with the presence of dense ice phases V and VI that cover the rocky seafloor. Exoplanets with oceans can obtain pressures sufficient to generate ices VII and VIII. We have previously demonstrated temperature gradients in such oceans on the order of 20 K or more, resulting from fluid compressibility in a deep adiabatic ocean based on our experimental work. Accounting for increases in density for highly saline oceans leads to the possibility of oceans perched under and between high pressure ices. Ammonia has the opposite effect, instead decreasing ocean density, as reported by others and confirmed by our laboratory measurements in the ammonia water system. Here we report on the completed equation of state for aqueous ammonia derived from our prior measurements and optimized global b-spline fitting methods We use recent diamond anvil cell measurements for water and ammonia to extend the equation of state to 400°C and beyond 2 GPa, temperatures and pressures applicable to icy worlds and exoplanets. Densities show much less temperature dependence but comparabe high-pressure derivatives to previously published ammonia-water properties derived for application to Titan (Croft et al. 1988). Thermal expansion is in better agreement with the more self-consistent equation of state of Tillner-Roth and Friend (1998). We also describe development of a planetary NaCl equation of state using recent measurements of phase boundaries and sound speeds. We examine implications of realistic ocean-ice thermodynamics for Titan and exoplanet interiors using the methodology recently applied to Ganymede for oceans dominated by MgSO4. High

Modeling and investigative studies of Jovian low frequency emissions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Menietti, J. D.; Green, James L.; Six, N. Frank; Gulkis, S.

1986-01-01

Jovian decametric (DAM) and hectometric (HOM) emissions were first observed over the entire spectrum by the Voyager 1 and 2 flybys of the planet. They display unusual arc-like structures on frequency-versus-time spectrograms. Software for the modeling of the Jovian plasma and magnetic field environment was performed. In addition, an extensive library of programs was developed for the retrieval of Voyager Planetary Radio Astronomy (PRA) data in both the high and low frequency bands from new noise-free, recalibrated data tapes. This software allows the option of retrieving data sorted with respect to particular sub-Io longitudes. This has proven to be invaluable in the analyses of the data. Graphics routines were also developed to display the data on color spectrograms.

Modeling and investigative studies of Jovian low frequency emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menietti, J. D.; Green, James L.; Six, N. Frank; Gulkis, S.

1986-08-01

Jovian decametric (DAM) and hectometric (HOM) emissions were first observed over the entire spectrum by the Voyager 1 and 2 flybys of the planet. They display unusual arc-like structures on frequency-versus-time spectrograms. Software for the modeling of the Jovian plasma and magnetic field environment was performed. In addition, an extensive library of programs was developed for the retrieval of Voyager Planetary Radio Astronomy (PRA) data in both the high and low frequency bands from new noise-free, recalibrated data tapes. This software allows the option of retrieving data sorted with respect to particular sub-Io longitudes. This has proven to be invaluable in the analyses of the data. Graphics routines were also developed to display the data on color spectrograms.

Icy Particle Spray

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-11-18

Images obtained by NASA EPOXI mission spacecraft show an active end of the nucleus of comet Hartley 2. Icy particles spew from the surface. Most of these particles are traveling with the nucleus; fluffy nowballs about 3 centimeters to 30 centimeters.

Copernicus Measurement of the Jovian Lyman-alpha emission and its aeronomical significance

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Atreya, S.K.; Festou, M.C.; Donahue, T.M.

1982-11-01

Observations of Jupiter made with the high-resolution ultraviolet spectrometer of the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory Copernicus in 1980 April and May yield the intensity of the Jovian Lyman-alpha emission to be 7 +- 2.5 kR. These measurements indicate that the Lyman-alpha intensity has decreased by about a factor of 2 from the time of the Voyager ultraviolet spectrometer measurements, nearly a year earlier. The Copernicus measurements, when combined with all other previous measurements of the Jovian Lyman-alpha emission, point to an unusually high column abundance of hydrogen atoms above the methane homopause at the Voyager epoch. Since the auroral charged particlemore » bombardment of moelcular hydrogen is expected to contribute significantly to the global population of the hydrogen atoms, it is suggested that at the time of the Voyager Jupiter encounter, unusually high auroral activity existed, and it was perhaps linked to the high concentration of the Io plasma torus. It should be pointed out that the temporal variation of the Saturn Lyman-alpha emission, when contrasted with the Jovian data, reveals that the auroral processes are not nearly as important in determining the Saturn Lyman-alpha intensity in the nonauroral region. The latest Copernicus observations also suggest an increase in the Jovian homopause value of the eddy mixing coefficient by about a factor of 5--10 since the Voyager epoch.« less

The display of sexual behaviors by female rats administered ICI 182,780.

PubMed

Clark, Ann S; Guarraci, Fay A; Megroz, Alison B; Porter, Donna M; Henderson, Leslie P

2003-04-01

ICI 182,780 (ICI) is a pure antiestrogen that when administered systemically does not cross the blood-brain barrier, thus its actions are limited to the periphery. Four experiments were conducted to test the effects of ICI on the display of sexual behaviors in ovariectomized rats. Experiment 1 examined the effects of three doses of ICI (250, 500, and 750 micro g/rat) on sexual receptivity and paced mating behavior in rats primed with estradiol benzoate (EB) in combination with progesterone (P). Experiments 2 and 3 compared the display of sexual behaviors in rats primed with EB+P or EB alone and administered either 250 micro g ICI (Experiment 2) or 500 micro g ICI (Experiment 3). Experiment 4 tested the effects of ICI (250 and 500 micro g) on the expression of estrogen-induced progestin receptors in the uterus. ICI did not affect the display of sexual receptivity in any experiment. In rats primed with EB+P, paced mating behavior was altered by the 500 and 750 micro g, but not the 250 micro g, doses of ICI. The lowest (250 micro g) dose of ICI did alter paced mating behavior in rats primed with EB alone. The effects of ICI on paced mating behavior were manifested by a substantial lengthening of contact-return latencies following intromissions and ejaculations. The percentage of exits were not affected by ICI. Estrogen stimulation of uterine weight and induction of uterine progestin receptors was suppressed by ICI (250 and 500 micro g). ICI effects on paced mating behavior in hormone-primed female rats are likely to reflect antiestrogenic actions in the periphery, including interference with the estrogen induction of progestin receptors.

The compression behavior of blödite at low and high temperature up to ~10GPa: Implications for the stability of hydrous sulfates on icy planetary bodies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Comodi, Paola; Stagno, Vincenzo; Zucchini, Azzurra

Recent satellite inferences of hydrous sulfates as recurrent minerals on the surface of icy planetary bodies link with the potential mineral composition of their interior. Blödite, a mixed Mg-Na sulfate, is here taken as representative mineral of icy satellites surface to investigate its crystal structure and stability at conditions of the interior of icy bodies. To this aim we performed in situ synchrotron angle-dispersive X-ray powder diffraction experiments on natural blödite at pressures up to ~10.4 GPa and temperatures from ~118.8 K to ~490.0 K using diamond anvil cell technique to investigate the compression behavior and establish a low-to-high temperaturemore » equation of state that can be used as reference when modeling the interior of sulfate-rich icy satellites such as Ganymede. The experimentally determined volume expansivity, α, varies from 7.6 (7) 10 -5 K -1 at 0.0001 GPa (from 118.8 to 413.15 K) to 2.6 (3) 10 -5 K -1 at 10 GPa (from 313.0 to 453.0 K) with a δα/δ P coefficient = -5.6(9)10 -6 GPa -1 K -1. The bulk modulus calculated from the least squares fitting of P-V data on the isotherm at 413 K using a second-order Birch - Murnaghan equation of state is 38(5) GPa, which gives the value of δK/δ T equal to 0.01(5) GPa K -1. The thermo-baric behavior of blödite appears strongly anisotropic with c lattice parameter being more deformed with respect to a and b. Thermogravimetric analyses performed at ambient pressure showed three endotherms at 413 K, 533 K and 973 K with weight losses of approximately 11%, 11% and 43% caused by partial dehydration, full dehydration and sulfate decomposition respectively. Interestingly, no clear evidence of dehydration was observed up to ~453 K and ~10.4 GPa, suggesting that pressure acts to stabilize the crystalline structure of blödite. The data collected allow to write the following equation of state, V(P, T) = V 0[1 + 7.6(7)10 - 5ΔT - 0.026(3)P - 5.6(9)10 - 6PΔT-6.6(9)10 - 6PΔT)] from which the density

Using Jupiter’s gravitational field to probe the Jovian convective dynamo

PubMed Central

Kong, Dali; Zhang, Keke; Schubert, Gerald

2016-01-01

Convective motion in the deep metallic hydrogen region of Jupiter is believed to generate its magnetic field, the strongest in the solar system. The amplitude, structure and depth of the convective motion are unknown. A promising way of probing the Jovian convective dynamo is to measure its effect on the external gravitational field, a task to be soon undertaken by the Juno spacecraft. We calculate the gravitational signature of non-axisymmetric convective motion in the Jovian metallic hydrogen region and show that with sufficiently accurate measurements it can reveal the nature of the deep convection. PMID:27005472

Forced-folding by laccolith and saucer-shaped sill intrusions on the Earth, planets and icy satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michaut, Chloé

2017-04-01

Horizontal intrusions probably initially start as cracks, with negligible surface deformation. Once their horizontal extents become large enough compared to their depths, they make room for themselves by lifting up their overlying roofs, creating characteristic surface deformations that can be observed at the surface of planets. We present a model where magma flows below a thin elastic overlying layer characterized by a flexural wavelength Λ and study the dynamics and morphology of such a magmatic intrusion. Our results show that, depending on its size, the intrusion present different shapes and thickness-to-radius relationships. During a first phase, elastic bending of the overlying layer is the main source of driving pressure in the flow; the pressure decreases as the flow radius increases, the intrusion is bell-shaped and its thickness is close to being proportional to its radius. When the intrusion radius becomes larger than 4 times Λ, the flow enters a gravity current regime and progressively develops a pancake shape with a flat top. We study the effect of topography on flow spreading in particular in the case where the flow is constrained by a lithostatic barrier within a depression, such as an impact crater on planets or a caldera on Earth. We show that the resulting shape for the flow depends on the ratio between the flexural wavelength of the layer overlying the intrusion and the depression radius. The model is tested against terrestrial data and is shown to well explain the size and morphology of laccoliths and saucer-shaped sills on Earth. We use our results to detect and characterize shallow solidified magma reservoirs in the crust of terrestrial planets and potential shallow water reservoirs in the ice shell of icy satellites.

RADIATION FROM ELECTRON PHASE SPACE HOLES AS A POSSIBLE SOURCE OF JOVIAN S-BURSTS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Goodrich, K. A.; Ergun, R. E., E-mail: katherine.goodrich@lasp.colorado.edu

2015-08-10

Radio-frequency short burst emissions (10–40 MHz), known as Jovian S-bursts, have been observed from the Jovian aurora for over fifty years. These emissions, associated with Io’s motion, have a rapidly declining frequency and an exceptionally narrow bandwidth. While it is widely believed that S-bursts are generated by the electron cyclotron maser instability, the mechanism responsible for the rapidly declining frequency and narrow bandwidth currently is not well established. We explore a hypothesis that electron phase space holes radiate or stimulate radiation in the Jovian aurora plasma environment as a possible source of S-burst emissions. Electron phase-space holes (EHs) are ubiquitousmore » in an auroral environment and travel at the implied speeds (∼20,000 km s{sup −1}) of the structures creating the Jovian S-bursts. Furthermore, EHs have the proper physical size to create the observed bandwidth, have sufficient energy content, and can create an environment whereby X mode emissions can be excited. If verified, these findings imply that EHs may be an important source of radiation from strongly magnetized or relativistic astrophysical plasmas.« less

The compression behavior of blödite at low and high temperature up to ∼10 GPa: Implications for the stability of hydrous sulfates on icy planetary bodies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Comodi, Paola; Stagno, Vincenzo; Zucchini, Azzurra; Fei, Yingwei; Prakapenka, Vitali

2017-03-01

Recent satellite inferences of hydrous sulfates as recurrent minerals on the surface of icy planetary bodies link with the potential mineral composition of their interior. Blödite, a mixed Mg-Na sulfate, is here taken as representative mineral of icy satellites surface to investigate its crystal structure and stability at conditions of the interior of icy bodies. To this aim we performed in situ synchrotron angle-dispersive X-ray powder diffraction experiments on natural blödite at pressures up to ∼10.4 GPa and temperatures from ∼118.8 K to ∼490.0 K using diamond anvil cell technique to investigate the compression behavior and establish a low-to-high temperature equation of state that can be used as reference when modeling the interior of sulfate-rich icy satellites such as Ganymede. The experimentally determined volume expansivity, α, varies from 7.6 (7) 10-5 K-1 at 0.0001 GPa (from 118.8 to 413.15 K) to 2.6 (3) 10-5 K-1 at 10 GPa (from 313.0 to 453.0 K) with a δα/δP coefficient = -5.6(9)10-6 GPa-1 K-1. The bulk modulus calculated from the least squares fitting of P-V data on the isotherm at 413 K using a second-order Birch - Murnaghan equation of state is 38(5) GPa, which gives the value of δK/δT equal to 0.01(5) GPa K-1. The thermo-baric behavior of blödite appears strongly anisotropic with c lattice parameter being more deformed with respect to a and b. Thermogravimetric analyses performed at ambient pressure showed three endotherms at 413 K, 533 K and 973 K with weight losses of approximately 11%, 11% and 43% caused by partial dehydration, full dehydration and sulfate decomposition respectively. Interestingly, no clear evidence of dehydration was observed up to ∼453 K and ∼10.4 GPa, suggesting that pressure acts to stabilize the crystalline structure of blödite. The data collected allow to write the following equation of state, V(P, T) = V0[1 + 7.6(7)10- 5ΔT - 0.026(3)P - 5.6(9)10- 6PΔT-6.6(9)10- 6PΔT)] from which the density of bl

Non-water-ice constituents in the surface material of the icy Galilean satellites from the Galileo near-infrared mapping spectrometer investigation

USGS Publications Warehouse

McCord, T.B.; Hansen, G.B.; Clark, R.N.; Martin, P.D.; Hibbitts, C.A.; Fanale, F.P.; Granahan, J.C.; Segura, M.; Matson, D.L.; Johnson, T.V.; Carlson, R.W.; Smythe, W.D.; Danielson, G.E.

1998-01-01

We present evidence for several non-ice constituents in the surface material of the icy Galilean satellites, using the reflectance spectra returned by the Galileo near infrared mapping spectrometer (NIMS) experiment. Five new absorption features are described at 3.4, 3.88, 4.05, 4.25, and 4.57 ??m for Callisto and Ganymede, and some seem to exist for Europa as well. The four absorption bands strong enough to be mapped on Callisto and Ganymede are each spatially distributed in different ways, indicating different materials are responsible for each absorption. The spatial distributions are correlated at the local level in complex ways with surface features and in some cases show global patterns. Suggested candidate spectrally active groups, perhaps within larger molecules, producing the five absorptions include C-H, S-H, SO2, CO2, and C???N. Organic material like tholins are candidates for the 4.57- and 3.4-??m features. We suggest, based on spectroscopic evidence, that CO2 is present as a form which does not allow rotational modes and that SO2 is present neither as a frost nor a free gas. The CO2, SO2, and perhaps cyanogen (4.57 ??m) may be present as very small collections of molecules within the crystal structure, perhaps following models for radiation damage and/or for comet and interstellar grain formation at low temperatures. Some of the dark material on these surfaces may be created by radiation damage of the CO2 and other carbon-bearing species and the formation of graphite. These spectra suggest a complex chemistry within the surface materials and an important role for non-ice materials in the evolution of the satellite surfaces. Copyright 1998 by the American Geophysical Union.

Decision-aided ICI mitigation with time-domain average approximation in CO-OFDM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Hongliang; Cai, Jiaxing; Ye, Xin; Lu, Jin; Cao, Quanjun; Guo, Shuqin; Xue, Lin-lin; Qin, Yali; Hu, Weisheng

2015-07-01

We introduce and investigate the feasibility of a novel iterative blind phase noise inter-carrier interference (ICI) mitigation scheme for coherent optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CO-OFDM) systems. The ICI mitigation scheme is performed through the combination of frequency-domain symbol decision-aided estimation and the ICI phase noise time-average approximation. An additional initial decision process with suitable threshold is introduced in order to suppress the decision error symbols. Our proposed ICI mitigation scheme is proved to be effective in removing the ICI for a simulated CO-OFDM with 16-QAM modulation format. With the slightly high computational complexity, it outperforms the time-domain average blind ICI (Avg-BL-ICI) algorithm at a relatively wide laser line-width and high OSNR.

Variability of Europa's Interaction with the Jovian Magnetosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hale, J. M.; Paty, C. S.; Crary, F. J.; Jones, A. J.

2017-12-01

In anticipation of the arrival of the Europa Clipper mission at its destination, this work characterizes the interaction of Europa with the Jovian magnetosphere using a multifluid MHD treatment. In order to accomplish this, the system is simulated in multiple relevant configurations, including cases in which Europa is without an exosphere and cases with an exosphere. While not a reflection of reality, simulations of the system without a Europan exosphere—and ionosphere—allow for quantification of the effects of the induced dipole separate from those of plasma sourced at Europa. In the cases in which an exosphere is simulated, asymmetries due to the sputtering derived nature of the exosphere are included. Ionization of exospheric material is calculated dynamically using electron impact ionization, photoionization, and ion charge exchange. Additionally, changes between when Europa is inside of or outside of the Jovian plasma sheet are investigated, as this may cause significant alteration to the Europan ionosphere between Europa Clipper's various flybys.

Jovian Lightning and Moonlit Clouds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

Jovian lightning and moonlit clouds. These two images, taken 75 minutes apart, show lightning storms on the night side of Jupiter along with clouds dimly lit by moonlight from Io, Jupiter's closest moon. The images were taken in visible light and are displayed in shades of red. The images used an exposure time of about one minute, and were taken when the spacecraft was on the opposite side of Jupiter from the Earth and Sun. Bright storms are present at two latitudes in the left image, and at three latitudes in the right image. Each storm was made visible by multiple lightning strikes during the exposure. Other Galileo images were deliberately scanned from east to west in order to separate individual flashes. The images show that Jovian and terrestrial lightning storms have similar flash rates, but that Jovian lightning strikes are a few orders of magnitude brighter in visible light.

The moonlight from Io allows the lightning storms to be correlated with visible cloud features. The latitude bands where the storms are seen seem to coincide with the 'disturbed regions' in daylight images, where short-lived chaotic motions push clouds to high altitudes, much like thunderstorms on Earth. The storms in these images are roughly one to two thousand kilometers across, while individual flashes appear hundreds of kilometer across. The lightning probably originates from the deep water cloud layer and illuminates a large region of the visible ammonia cloud layer from 100 kilometers below it.

There are several small light and dark patches that are artifacts of data compression. North is at the top of the picture. The images span approximately 50 degrees in latitude and longitude. The lower edges of the images are aligned with the equator. The images were taken on October 5th and 6th, 1997 at a range of 6.6 million kilometers by the Solid State Imaging (SSI) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for

Study of Geological Analogues for Understanding the Radar Sounder Response of the RIME Targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thakur, S.; Bruzzone, L.

2017-12-01

Radar for Icy Moon Exploration (RIME), the radar sounder onboard the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE), is aimed at characterizing the ice shells of the Jovian moons - Ganymede, Europa and Callisto. RIME is optimized to operate at 9 MHz central frequency with bandwidth of 1 MHz and 2.7 MHz to achieve a penetration depth up to 9 km through ice. We have developed an approach to the definition of a database of simulated RIME radargrams by leveraging the data available from airborne and orbital radar sounder acquisitions over geological analogues of the expected icy moon features. These simulated radargrams are obtained by merging real radar sounder data with models of the subsurface of the Jupiter icy moons. They will be useful for geological interpretation of the RIME radargrams and for better predicting the performance of RIME. The database will also be useful in developing pre-processing and automatic feature extraction algorithms to support data analysis during the mission phase of RIME. Prior to the JUICE mission exploring the Jovian satellites with RIME, there exist radar sounders such as SHARAD (onboard MRO) and MARSIS (onboard MEX) probing Mars, the LRS (onboard SELENE) probing the Moon, and many airborne sounders probing the polar regions of Earth. Analogues have been identified in these places based on similarity in geo-morphological expression. Moreover, other analogues have been identified on the Earth for possible dedicated acquisition campaigns before the RIME operations. By assuming that the subsurface structure of the RIME targets is approximately represented in the analogue radargrams, the difference in composition is accounted for by imposing different dielectric and subsurface attenuation models. The RIME radargrams are simulated from the analogue radargrams using the radar equation and the RIME processing chain and accounting for different possible scenarios in terms of subsurface structure, dielectric properties and instrument parameters. For

Radiation Induced Chemistry of Icy Surfaces: Laboratory Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gudipati, Murthy S.; Lignell, Antti; Li, Irene; Yang, Rui; Jacovi, Ronen

2011-01-01

We will discuss laboratory experiments designed to enhance our understanding the chemical processes on icy solar system bodies, enable interpretation of in-situ and remote-sensing data, and help future missions to icy solar system bodies, such as comets, Europa, Ganymede, Enceladus etc.

A Statistical Study of the Distribution and Dynamics of Icy Grains in the Enceladus Gas Plume by Cassini's Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

HSU, J.; Lai, I.; Ip, W.; Teolis, B. D.; Perryman, R.; Waite, J. H.

2013-12-01

A very interesting finding by the Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer on Cassini is about the detection of tiny icy grains embedded in the Enceladus gas plume during close encounters of the Cassini spacecraft with this active icy satellite of Saturn. Entering of an icy grain into the antechamber of INMS would lead to the generation of a sharp spike superimposed on the countrate profile of the gas molecules in the mass channel under measurement. Employing Monte Carlo simulations and data analysis of the INMS instrument performance, Teolis et al. (2010) investigated the time histories of the 'dust spikes' and the associated icy grain density distributions along the paths of the E3 and E5 encounters, respectively. Following similar method, we have studied the corresponding dust measurements from the E7, E14, E17 and E18 flybys. The different encounter geometries allow us to have a better understanding of the relation between the source regions of the 'dust spikes' from INMS and the jet locations and directions identified by Spitale and Porco (2007). In addition, fitting of the gas plume density profiles provide constraints on the initial conditions of the gas outflow from which the trajectories of dust particles of different sizes could be computed and compared with the INMS measurements.

Responses of the Jovian Atmosphere to Cometary Particles and Photon Impacts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dalgarno, A.

1998-01-01

Spectra of soft x-ray and EUV emissions of oxygen ions, precipitating into the Jovian atmosphere, are calculated, taking into account the dynamical character of the energy and charge distributions of the ions as they propagate. Monte-Carlo simulations are performed using experimental and theoretical cross sections of ion collisions with the atmospheric gases. The numbers of x-ray and EUV photons produced per precipitating oxygen ion are calculated as functions of the initial ion energy and charge. The energy and charge distribution functions are used to evaluate the intensities of characteristic x-ray and EUV spectral emission lines of oxygen ions in the Jovian aurora.

Models of Jovian decametric radiation. [astronomical models of decametric waves

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, R. A.

1975-01-01

A critical review is presented of theoretical models of Jovian decametric radiation, with particular emphasis on the Io-modulated emission. The problem is divided into three broad aspects: (1) the mechanism coupling Io's orbital motion to the inner exosphere, (2) the consequent instability mechanism by which electromagnetic waves are amplified, and (3) the subsequent propagation of the waves in the source region and the Jovian plasmasphere. At present there exists no comprehensive theory that treats all of these aspects quantitatively within a single framework. Acceleration of particles by plasma sheaths near Io is proposed as an explanation for the coupling mechanism, while most of the properties of the emission may be explained in the context of cyclotron instability of a highly anisotropic distribution of streaming particles.

Satellite Rings Movie

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

This brief movie clip (of which the release image is a still frame), taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft as it approached Jupiter, shows the motions, over a 16 hour-period, of two satellites embedded in Jupiter's ring. The moon Adrastea is the fainter of the two, and Metis the brighter. Images such as these will be used to refine the orbits of the two bodies.

The movie was made from images taken during a 40-hour sequence of the Jovian ring on December 11, 2000.

Cassini is a cooperative mission of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages Cassini for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.

IPPF Co-operative Information Service (ICIS). August 1977.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

International Planned Parenthood Federation, London (England).

The pooling of documentation service resources has resulted in the creation of an International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) integrated bibliographic information system. The former Library Bulletin has become IPPF Cooperative Information Service (ICIS). Entries in ICIS are classified according to the following nine categories: (0) General…

IPPF Co-operative Information Service (ICIS). May 1977.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

International Planned Parenthood Federation, London (England).

The pooling of documentation service resources has resulted in the creation of an International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) integrated bibliographic information system. Thus, the former Library Bulletin has become IPPF Cooperative Information Service (ICIS). This is the first such publication. Entries in ICIS are classified according to…

Electron capture decay in Jovian planets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zito, R.R.; Schiferl, D.

1987-12-01

Following the commonly acknowledged fact that the decay of K-40 substantially contributes to the heating of planetary interiors, an examination is made of the possibility that interior heat in the Jovian planets and stars, where interior pressures may exceed 45 Mbar, may be generated by the pressure-accelerated electron capture decay of a variety of isotopes. The isotopes considered encompass K-40, V-50, Te-123, La-138, Al-26, and Cl-36. 19 references.

IPPF Co-operative Information Service (ICIS). November 1977.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

International Planned Parenthood Federation, London (England).

This ICIS bulletin replaces the formal Library Bulletin of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). It represents the integration of a bibliographic information network. Entries in ICIS are classified according to the following nine categories: (0) General Reference; (1) IPPF; (2) Family Planning and Health Care; (3) Biomedical…

OASIS: Organics Analyzer for Sampling Icy Surfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Getty, S. A.; Dworkin, J. P.; Glavin, D. P.; Martin, M.; Zheng, Y.; Balvin, M.; Southard, A. E.; Ferrance, J.; Malespin, C.

2012-01-01

Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is a well established laboratory technique for detecting and analyzing organic molecules. This approach has been especially fruitful in the analysis of nucleobases, amino acids, and establishing chirol ratios [1 -3]. We are developing OASIS, Organics Analyzer for Sampling Icy Surfaces, for future in situ landed missions to astrochemically important icy bodies, such as asteroids, comets, and icy moons. The OASIS design employs a microfabricated, on-chip analytical column to chromatographically separate liquid ana1ytes using known LC stationary phase chemistries. The elution products are then interfaced through electrospray ionization (ESI) and analyzed by a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-MS). A particular advantage of this design is its suitability for microgravity environments, such as for a primitive small body.

Saturn and 4 Icy Moons in Natural Color

NASA Image and Video Library

1998-06-08

This approximate natural-color image shows Saturn, its rings, and four of its icy satellites. Three satellites (Tethys, Dione, and Rhea) are visible against the darkness of space, and another smaller satellite (Mimas) is visible against Saturn's cloud tops very near the left horizon and just below the rings. The dark shadows of Mimas and Tethys are also visible on Saturn's cloud tops, and the shadow of Saturn is seen across part of the rings. Saturn, second in size only to Jupiter in our Solar System, is 120,660 km (75,000 mi) in diameter at its equator (the ring plane) but, because of its rapid spin, Saturn is 10% smaller measured through its poles. Saturn's rings are composed mostly of ice particles ranging from microscopic dust to boulders in size. These particles orbit Saturn in a vast disk that is a mere 100 meters (330 feet) or so thick. The rings' thinness contrasts with their huge diameter--for instance 272,400 km (169,000 mi) for the outer part of the bright A ring, the outermost ring visible here. The pronounced concentric gap in the rings, the Cassini Division (named after its discoverer), is a 3500-km wide region (2200 mi, almost the width of the United States) that is much less populated with ring particles than the brighter B and A rings to either side of the gap. The rings also show some enigmatic radial structure ('spokes'), particularly at left. This image was synthesized from images taken in Voyager's blue and violet filters and was processed to recreate an approximately natural color and contrast. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00400

Consideration of probability of bacterial growth for Jovian planets and their satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Taylor, D. M.; Berkman, R. M.; Divine, N.

1974-01-01

Environmental parameters affecting growth of bacteria are compared with current atmospheric models for Jupiter and Saturn, and with the available physical data for their satellites. Different zones of relative probability of growth are identified for Jupiter and Saturn. Of the more than two dozen satellites, only the largest (Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, and Titan) are found to be interesting biologically. Titan's atmosphere may produce a substantial greenhouse effect providing increased surface temperatures. Models predicting a dense atmosphere are compatible with microbial growth for a range of pressures at Titan's surface. For Titan's surface the probability of growth would be enhanced if: (1) the surface is entirely or partially liquid; (2) volcanism is present; or (3) access to internal heat sources is significant.

Particles, environments, and possible ecologies in the Jovian atmosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sagan, C.; Salpeter, E. E.

1976-01-01

The possible existence of indigenous Jovian organisms is investigated by characterizing the relevant physical environment of Jupiter, discussing the chromophores responsible for the observed coloration of the planet, and analyzing some permissible ecological niches of hypothetical organisms. Values of the eddy diffusion coefficent are estimated separately for the convective troposphere and the more stable mesosphere, and equilibrium condensation is studied for compounds containing Na, Cl, or both. The photoproduction of chromophores and nonequilibrium organic molecules is analyzed, and the motion of hypothetical organisms is examined along with the diffusion of metabolites and the consequent growth of organisms. Four kinds of organisms are considered: primary photosynthetic autotrophs ('sinkers'), larger autotrophs or heterotrophs that actively maintain their pressure level ('floaters'), organisms that seek out others ('hunters'), and organisms that live at almost pyrolytic depths ('scavengers'). It is concluded that ecological niches for sinkers, floaters, and hunters appear to exist in the Jovian atmosphere.

Thermal shallow water models of geostrophic turbulence in Jovian atmospheres

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Warneford, Emma S., E-mail: emma.warneford@maths.ox.ac.uk; Dellar, Paul J., E-mail: dellar@maths.ox.ac.uk

2014-01-15

Conventional shallow water theory successfully reproduces many key features of the Jovian atmosphere: a mixture of coherent vortices and stable, large-scale, zonal jets whose amplitude decreases with distance from the equator. However, both freely decaying and forced-dissipative simulations of the shallow water equations in Jovian parameter regimes invariably yield retrograde equatorial jets, while Jupiter itself has a strong prograde equatorial jet. Simulations by Scott and Polvani [“Equatorial superrotation in shallow atmospheres,” Geophys. Res. Lett. 35, L24202 (2008)] have produced prograde equatorial jets through the addition of a model for radiative relaxation in the shallow water height equation. However, their modelmore » does not conserve mass or momentum in the active layer, and produces mid-latitude jets much weaker than the equatorial jet. We present the thermal shallow water equations as an alternative model for Jovian atmospheres. These equations permit horizontal variations in the thermodynamic properties of the fluid within the active layer. We incorporate a radiative relaxation term in the separate temperature equation, leaving the mass and momentum conservation equations untouched. Simulations of this model in the Jovian regime yield a strong prograde equatorial jet, and larger amplitude mid-latitude jets than the Scott and Polvani model. For both models, the slope of the non-zonal energy spectra is consistent with the classic Kolmogorov scaling, and the slope of the zonal energy spectra is consistent with the much steeper spectrum observed for Jupiter. We also perform simulations of the thermal shallow water equations for Neptunian parameter values, with a radiative relaxation time scale calculated for the same 25 mbar pressure level we used for Jupiter. These Neptunian simulations reproduce the broad, retrograde equatorial jet and prograde mid-latitude jets seen in observations. The much longer radiative time scale for the colder planet

Coupling of acoustic waves to clouds in the jovian troposphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaulme, Patrick; Mosser, Benoît

2005-11-01

Seismology is the best tool for investigating the interior structure of stars and giant planets. This paper deals with a photometric study of jovian global oscillations. The propagation of acoustic waves in the jovian troposphere is revisited in order to estimate their effects on the planetary albedo. According to the standard model of the jovian cloud structure there are three major ice cloud layers (e.g., [Atreya et al., 1999. A comparison of the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn: Deep atmospheric composition, cloud structure, vertical mixing, and origin. Planet Space Sci. 47, 1243-1262]). We consider only the highest layers, composed of ammonia ice, in the region where acoustic waves are trapped in Jupiter's atmosphere. For a vertical wave propagating in a plane parallel atmosphere with an ammonia ice cloud layer, we calculate first the relative variations of the reflected solar flux due to the smooth oscillations at about the ppm level. We then determine the phase transitions induced by the seismic waves in the clouds. These phase changes, linked to ice particle growth, are limited by kinetics. A Mie model [Mishchenko et al., 2002. Scattering, Absorption, and Emission of Light by Small Particles. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, pp. 158-190] coupled with a simple radiation transfer model allows us to estimate that the albedo fluctuations of the cloud perturbed by a seismic wave reach relative variations of 70 ppm for a 3-mHz wave. This albedo fluctuation is amplified by a factor of ˜70 relative to the previously published estimates that exclude the effect of the wave on cloud properties. Our computed amplifications imply that jovian oscillations can be detected with very precise photometry, as proposed by the microsatellite JOVIS project, which is dedicated to photometric seismology [Mosser et al., 2004. JOVIS: A microsatellite dedicated to the seismic analysis of Jupiter. In: Combes, F., Barret, D., Contini, T., Meynadier, F., Pagani, L. (Eds.), SF2A-2004

Erosion, Transportation, and Deposition on Outer Solar System Satellites: Landform Evolution Modeling Studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Jeffrey Morgan; Howard, Alan D.; Schenk, Paul M.

2013-01-01

Mass movement and landform degradation reduces topographic relief by moving surface materials to a lower gravitational potential. In addition to the obvious role of gravity, abrasive mechanical erosion plays a role, often in combination with the lowering of cohesion, which allows disaggregation of the relief-forming material. The identification of specific landform types associated with mass movement and landform degradation provides information about local sediment particle size and abundance and transportation processes. Generally, mass movements can be classified in terms of the particle sizes of the transported material and the speed the material moved during transport. Most degradation on outer planet satellites appears consistent with sliding or slumping, impact erosion, and regolith evolution. Some satellites, such as Callisto and perhaps Hyperion and Iapetus, have an appearance that implies that some additional process is at work, most likely sublimation-driven landform modification and mass wasting. A variant on this process is thermally driven frost segregation as seen on all three icy Galilean satellites and perhaps elsewhere. Titan is unique among outer planet satellites in that Aeolian and fluvial processes also operate to erode, transport, and deposit material. We will evaluate the sequence and extent of various landform-modifying erosional and volatile redistribution processes that have shaped these icy satellites using a 3-D model that simulates the following surface and subsurface processes: 1) sublimation and re-condensation of volatiles; 2) development of refractory lag deposits; 3) disaggregation and downward sloughing of surficial material; 4) radiative heating/cooling of the surface (including reflection, emission, and shadowing by other surface elements); 5) thermal diffusion; and 6) vapor diffusion. The model will provide explicit simulations of landform development and thusly predicts the topographic and volatile evolution of the surface

Excitation mechanisms for Jovian seismic modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Markham, Steve; Stevenson, Dave

2018-05-01

Recent (2011) results from the Nice Observatory indicate the existence of global seismic modes on Jupiter in the frequency range between 0.7 and 1.5 mHz with amplitudes of tens of cm/s. Currently, the driving force behind these modes is a mystery; the measured amplitudes are many orders of magnitude larger than anticipated based on theory analogous to helioseismology (that is, turbulent convection as a source of stochastic excitation). One of the most promising hypotheses is that these modes are driven by Jovian storms. This work constructs a framework to analytically model the expected equilibrium normal mode amplitudes arising from convective columns in storms. We also place rough constraints on Jupiter's seismic modal quality factor. Using this model, neither meteor strikes, turbulent convection, nor water storms can feasibly excite the order of magnitude of observed amplitudes. Next we speculate about the potential role of rock storms deeper in Jupiter's atmosphere, because the rock storms' expected energy scales make them promising candidates to be the chief source of excitation for Jovian seismic modes, based on simple scaling arguments. We also suggest some general trends in the expected partition of energy between different frequency modes. Finally we supply some commentary on potential applications to gravity, Juno, Cassini and Saturn, and future missions to Uranus and Neptune.

Cyclically modulated dissipation and friction in ice and ice mixtures: how tidal forcing influences the mechanical properties in an icy shell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCarthy, C.; Savage, H. M.; Cooper, R. F.; Kaczynski, T.; Nielson, M.; Domingos, A.

2017-12-01

Measuring the response of ice to dynamic, time-varying stress at appropriate planetary conditions is important to improving estimates of long-term heat flux and satellite evolution. The viscoelastic and frictional responses of ice may play important roles in tidal heating and convection, but at different time and lengthscales. We will share results from two different types of laboratory experiments on polycrystalline ice samples that reproduce tidally modulated behavior: (1) forced oscillation compression experiments that measure attenuation; and (2) periodic velocity biaxial experiments that measure friction. The former inform us about the influences of frequency, temperature, grain size, and strain history on mechanical dissipation of tidal energy in the deep interiors of icy crusts. In particular, we examine the combination of low amplitude tidal forcing with a relentless (steady-state) background stress, such as that from convection. The beauty of attenuation is that it can potentially be used as mechanical spectroscopy to identify structure and mechanisms that are otherwise shrouded by steady-state behavior. Friction experiments were conducted in a biaxial apparatus in which a central ice piece is forced between two stationary pieces at constant velocity with a sinusoidal oscillation super-imposed. The rig is fitted with a new, low-temperature cryostat ( 100 - 200 K) that also employs a vacuum. These experiments explore the dependence of frictional stability on the amplitude and frequency of the oscillating load. Additionally, small quantities of impurities that are thought to be important in icy satellites: sulfuric acid and ammonia (systems with deep eutectics with ice) are added to polycrystalline ice samples and tested at subsolidus conditions to discern when/if frictional heating can cause melting at icy satellite surface temperatures. The combination of the two types of experiments will provide valuable parameters for modeling of tidal response of

The long-period librations of large synchronous icy moons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yseboodt, Marie; Van Hoolst, Tim

2014-11-01

A moon in synchronous rotation has longitudinal librations because of its non-spherical mass distribution and its elliptical orbit around the planet. We study the long-period librations of the Galilean satellites and Titan and include deformation effects and the existence of a subsurface ocean. We take into account the fact that the orbit is not keplerian and has other periodicities than the main period of orbital motion around Jupiter or Saturn due to perturbations by the Sun, other planets and moons. An orbital theory is used to compute the orbital perturbations due to these other bodies. For Titan we also take into account the large atmospheric torque at the semi-annual period of Saturn around the Sun.We numerically evaluate the amplitude and phase of the long-period librations for many interior structure models of the icy moons constrained by the mass, radius and gravity field.

Cumulative Ocean Volume Estimates of the Solar System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frank, E. A.; Mojzsis, S. J.

2010-12-01

Although there has been much consideration for habitability in silicate planets and icy bodies, this information has never been quantitatively gathered into a single approximation encompassing our solar system from star to cometary halo. Here we present an estimate for the total habitable volume of the solar system by constraining our definition of habitable environments to those to which terrestrial microbial extremophiles could theoretically be transplanted and yet survive. The documented terrestrial extremophile inventory stretches environmental constraints for habitable temperature and pH space of T ~ -15oC to 121oC and pH ~ 0 to 13.5, salinities >35% NaCl, and gamma radiation doses of 10,000 to 11,000 grays [1]. Pressure is likely not a limiting factor to life [2]. We applied these criteria in our analysis of the geophysical habitable potential of the icy satellites and small icy bodies. Given the broad spectrum of environmental tolerance, we are optimistic that our pessimistic estimates are conservative. Beyond the reaches of our inner solar system's conventional habitable zone (Earth, Mars and perhaps Venus) is Ceres, a dwarf planet in the habitable zone that could possess a significant liquid water ocean if that water contains anti-freezing species [3]. Yet further out, Europa is a small icy satellite that has generated much excitement for astrobiological potential due to its putative subsurface liquid water ocean. It is widely promulgated that the icy moons Enceladus, Triton, Callisto, Ganymede, and Titan likewise have also sustained liquid water oceans. If oceans in Europa, Enceladus, and Triton have direct contact with a rocky mantle hot enough to melt, hydrothermal vents could provide an energy source for chemotrophic organisms. Although oceans in the remaining icy satellites may be wedged between two layers of ice, their potential for life cannot be precluded. Relative to the Jovian style of icy satellites, trans-neptunian objects (TNOs) - icy bodies

Peripheral kappa-opioid agonist, ICI 204448, evokes hypothermia in cold-exposed rats.

PubMed

Rawls, Scott M; Ding, Zhe; Gray, Alex M; Cowan, Alan

2005-05-01

ICI 204448, a selective kappa-opioid agonist with limited CNS access, can be used to discriminate central and peripheral opioid actions on physiological systems such as pain and thermoregulation. Therefore, we investigated the effect of ICI 204448 (2.5, 5, and 10 mg/kg, s.c.) on male Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to ambient temperatures of 5, 20, or 32 degrees C. ICI 204448 did not alter the body temperature of rats maintained at 20 or 32 degrees C. However, 5 and 10 mg/kg of ICI 204448 evoked significant hypothermia in rats exposed to 5 degrees C. The i.c.v. administration of nor-BNI, a kappa-opioid antagonist, did not affect the hypothermia produced by the systemic injection of ICI 204448. Thus, an involvement of brain kappa-opioid receptors in ICI 204448-evoked hypothermia is unlikely. The present data demonstrate for the first time that ICI 204448 produces hypothermia in cold-exposed rats and suggest that the role of peripheral kappa-opioid receptors in thermoregulation becomes more significant at cold ambient temperatures. Copyright (c) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel.

IcyTree: rapid browser-based visualization for phylogenetic trees and networks

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Abstract Summary: IcyTree is an easy-to-use application which can be used to visualize a wide variety of phylogenetic trees and networks. While numerous phylogenetic tree viewers exist already, IcyTree distinguishes itself by being a purely online tool, having a responsive user interface, supporting phylogenetic networks (ancestral recombination graphs in particular), and efficiently drawing trees that include information such as ancestral locations or trait values. IcyTree also provides intuitive panning and zooming utilities that make exploring large phylogenetic trees of many thousands of taxa feasible. Availability and Implementation: IcyTree is a web application and can be accessed directly at http://tgvaughan.github.com/icytree. Currently supported web browsers include Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. IcyTree is written entirely in client-side JavaScript (no plugin required) and, once loaded, does not require network access to run. IcyTree is free software, and the source code is made available at http://github.com/tgvaughan/icytree under version 3 of the GNU General Public License. Contact: tgvaughan@gmail.com PMID:28407035

IcyTree: rapid browser-based visualization for phylogenetic trees and networks.

PubMed

Vaughan, Timothy G

2017-08-01

IcyTree is an easy-to-use application which can be used to visualize a wide variety of phylogenetic trees and networks. While numerous phylogenetic tree viewers exist already, IcyTree distinguishes itself by being a purely online tool, having a responsive user interface, supporting phylogenetic networks (ancestral recombination graphs in particular), and efficiently drawing trees that include information such as ancestral locations or trait values. IcyTree also provides intuitive panning and zooming utilities that make exploring large phylogenetic trees of many thousands of taxa feasible. IcyTree is a web application and can be accessed directly at http://tgvaughan.github.com/icytree . Currently supported web browsers include Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. IcyTree is written entirely in client-side JavaScript (no plugin required) and, once loaded, does not require network access to run. IcyTree is free software, and the source code is made available at http://github.com/tgvaughan/icytree under version 3 of the GNU General Public License. tgvaughan@gmail.com. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

The role of proton precipitation in Jovian aurora: Theory and observation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Waite, J. H., Jr.; Curran, D. B.; Cravens, T. E.; Clarke, J. T.

1992-01-01

It was proposed that the Jovian auroral emissions observed by Voyager spacecraft could be explained by energetic protons precipitating into the upper atmosphere of Jupiter. Such precipitation of energetic protons results in Doppler-shifted Lyman alpha emission that can be quantitatively analyzed to determine the energy flux and energy distribution of the incoming particle beam. Modeling of the expected emission from a reasonably chosen Voyager energetic proton spectrum can be used in conjunction with International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) observations, which show a relative lack of red-shifted Lyman alpha emission, to set upper limits on the amount of proton precipitation taking place in the Jovian aurora. Such calculations indicate that less than 10 percent of the ultraviolet auroral emissions at Jupiter can be explained by proton precipitation.

Ices on the Satellites of Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cruikshank, Dale P.; Brown, Robert H.; Calvin, Wendy M.; Roush, Ted L.

1995-01-01

Three satellites of Jupiter, seven satellites of Saturn, and five satellites of Uranus show spectroscopic evidence of H2O ice on their surfaces, although other details of their surfaces are highly diverse. The icy surfaces contain contaminants of unknown composition in varying degrees of concentration, resulting in coloration and large differences in albedo. In addition to H2O, Europa has frozen SO2, and Ganymede has O2 in the surface; in both of these cases external causes are implicated in the deposition or formation of these trace components. Variations in ice exposure across the surfaces of the satellites are measured from the spectroscopic signatures. While H2O ice occurs on the surfaces of many satellites, the range of bulk densities of these bodies shows that its contribution to their overall compositions is highly variable from one object to another.

Satellites of giant planets — possible sites for origin and existence of biospheres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simakov, Michael B.

All giant planets of the Solar system have a big number of satellites (61 of Jupiter, 52 of Saturn, known in 2003). A small part of them consist very large bodies, quite comparable to planets of terrestrial type, but including very significant share of water ice. Some from them have an atmosphere. E.g., the mass of a column of the Titan’s atmosphere exceeds 15 times the mass of the Earth atmosphere column. Formation (or capture) of satellites is a natural phenomenon, and satellite systems definitely should exist at extrasolar planets. As an example, we can see on Titan, the largest satellite of Saturn, which has a dense nitrogen atmosphere and a large quantity of liquid water under ice cover and so has a great exobiological significance. The most recent models of the Titan’s interior lead to the conclusion that a substantial liquid layer exists today under relatively thin ice cover inside Titan. The putative internal water ocean along with complex atmospheric photochemistry provide some exobiological niches on this body: (1) an upper layer of the internal water ocean; (2) pores, veins, channels and pockets filled with brines inside of the lowest part of the icy layer; (3) the places of cryogenic volcanism; (4) set of caves in icy layer connecting with cryovolcanic processes; (5) the brine-filled cracks in icy crust caused by tidal forces; (6) liquid water pools on the surface originated from meteoritic strikes; (7) the sites of hydrothermal activity on the bottom of the ocean. We can see all conditions needed for origin and evolution of biosphere — liquid water, complex organic chemistry and energy sources for support of biological processes — are on the Saturnian moon. Galileo spacecraft has given indications, primarily from magnetometer and gravity data, of the possibility that three of Jupiter’s four large moons, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto have such oceans also. The existing of liquid water ocean within icy world can be consequences of the physical

ICIS Activity Subject Area Model

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS) is a web-based system that provides information for the federal enforcement and compliance (FE&C) and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) programs.

ICIS Contacts Subject Area Model

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS) is a web-based system that provides information for the federal enforcement and compliance (FE&C) and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) programs.

Solid-state greenhouses and their implications for icy satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Matson, Dennis L.; Brown, Robert H.

1989-01-01

The 'solid-state greenhouse effect' model constituted by the subsurface solar heating of translucent, high-albedo materials is presently applied to the study of planetary surfaces, with attention to frost and ice surfaces of the solar system's outer satellites. Temperature is computed as a function of depth for an illustrative range of thermal variables, and it is discovered that the surfaces and interiors of such bodies can be warmer than otherwise suspected. Mechanisms are identified through which the modest alteration of surface properties can substantially change the solid-state greenhouse and force an interior temperature adjustment.

Orbital and Collisional Evolution of the Irregular Satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nesvorný, David; Alvarellos, Jose L. A.; Dones, Luke; Levison, Harold F.

2003-07-01

The irregular moons of the Jovian planets are a puzzling part of the solar system inventory. Unlike regular satellites, the irregular moons revolve around planets at large distances in tilted and eccentric orbits. Their origin, which is intimately linked with the origin of the planets themselves, is yet to be explained. Here we report a study of the orbital and collisional evolution of the irregular satellites from times after their formation to the present epoch. The purpose of this study is to find out the features of the observed irregular moons that can be attributed to this evolution and separate them from signatures of the formation process. We numerically integrated ~60,000 test satellite orbits to map orbital locations that are stable on long time intervals. We found that the orbits highly inclined to the ecliptic are unstable due to the effect of the Kozai resonance, which radially stretches them so that satellites either escape from the Hill sphere, collide with massive inner moons, or impact the parent planet. We also found that prograde satellite orbits with large semimajor axes are unstable due to the effect of the evection resonance, which locks the orbit's apocenter to the apparent motion of the Sun around the parent planet. In such a resonance, the effect of solar tides on a resonant moon accumulates at each apocenter passage of the moon, which causes a radially outward drift of its orbital apocenter; once close to the Hill sphere, the moon escapes. By contrast, retrograde moons with large orbital semimajor axes are long-lived. We have developed an analytic model of the distant satellite orbits and used it to explain the results of our numerical experiments. In particular, we analytically studied the effect of the Kozai resonance. We numerically integrated the orbits of the 50 irregular moons (known by 2002 August 16) for 108 yr. All orbits were stable on this time interval and did not show any macroscopic variations that would indicate

The Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) on the Juno Mission to Jupiter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McComas, D. J.; Alexander, N.; Allegrini, F.; Bagenal, F.; Beebe, C.; Clark, G.; Crary, F.; Desai, M. I.; De Los Santos, A.; Demkee, D.; Dickinson, J.; Everett, D.; Finley, T.; Gribanova, A.; Hill, R.; Johnson, J.; Kofoed, C.; Loeffler, C.; Louarn, P.; Maple, M.; Mills, W.; Pollock, C.; Reno, M.; Rodriguez, B.; Rouzaud, J.; Santos-Costa, D.; Valek, P.; Weidner, S.; Wilson, P.; Wilson, R. J.; White, D.

2017-11-01

The Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) on Juno provides the critical in situ measurements of electrons and ions needed to understand the plasma energy particles and processes that fill the Jovian magnetosphere and ultimately produce its strong aurora. JADE is an instrument suite that includes three essentially identical electron sensors (JADE-Es), a single ion sensor (JADE-I), and a highly capable Electronics Box (EBox) that resides in the Juno Radiation Vault and provides all necessary control, low and high voltages, and computing support for the four sensors. The three JADE-Es are arrayed 120∘ apart around the Juno spacecraft to measure complete electron distributions from ˜0.1 to 100 keV and provide detailed electron pitch-angle distributions at a 1 s cadence, independent of spacecraft spin phase. JADE-I measures ions from ˜5 eV to ˜50 keV over an instantaneous field of view of 270∘×90∘ in 4 s and makes observations over all directions in space each 30 s rotation of the Juno spacecraft. JADE-I also provides ion composition measurements from 1 to 50 amu with m/Δ m˜2.5, which is sufficient to separate the heavy and light ions, as well as O+ vs S+, in the Jovian magnetosphere. All four sensors were extensively tested and calibrated in specialized facilities, ensuring excellent on-orbit observations at Jupiter. This paper documents the JADE design, construction, calibration, and planned science operations, data processing, and data products. Finally, the Appendix describes the Southwest Research Institute [SwRI] electron calibration facility, which was developed and used for all JADE-E calibrations. Collectively, JADE provides remarkably broad and detailed measurements of the Jovian auroral region and magnetospheric plasmas, which will surely revolutionize our understanding of these important and complex regions.

Properties of the single Jovian planet population and the pursuit of Solar system analogues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agnew, Matthew T.; Maddison, Sarah T.; Horner, Jonathan

2018-07-01

While the number of exoplanets discovered continues to increase at a rapid rate, we are still to discover any system that truly resembles the Solar system. Existing and near future surveys will likely continue this trend of rapid discovery. To see if these systems are Solar system analogues, we will need to efficiently allocate resources to carry out intensive follow-up observations. We seek to uncover the properties and trends across systems that indicate how much of the habitable zone is stable in each system to provide focus for planet hunters. We study the dynamics of all known single Jovian planetary systems to assess the dynamical stability of the habitable zone around their host stars. We perform a suite of simulations of all systems where the Jovian planet will interact gravitationally with the habitable zone, and broadly classify these systems. Besides the system's mass ratio (Mpl/Mstar), the Jovian planet's semimajor axis (apl), and eccentricity (epl), we find that there are no underlying system properties which are observable that indicate the potential for planets to survive within the system's habitable zone. We use Mpl/Mstar, apl, and epl to generate a parameter space over which the unstable systems cluster, thus allowing us to predict which systems to exclude from future observational or numerical searches for habitable exoplanets. We also provide a candidate list of 20 systems that have completely stable habitable zones and Jovian planets orbiting beyond the habitable zone as potential first-order Solar system analogues.

Consideration of probability of bacterial growth for Jovian planets and their satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Taylor, D. M.; Berkman, R. M.; Divine, N.

1975-01-01

Environmental parameters affecting growth of bacteria (e.g., moisture, temperature, pH, and chemical composition) were compared with current atmospheric models for Jupiter and Saturn, and with the available physical data for their satellites. Different zones of relative probability of growth were identified for Jupiter and Saturn, with the highest in pressure regions of 1-10 million N/sq m (10 to 100 atmospheres) and 3-30 million N/sq m (30 to 300 atmospheres), respectively. Of the more than two dozen satellites, only the largest (Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, and Titan) were found to be interesting biologically. Titan's atmosphere may produce a substantial greenhouse effect providing increased surface temperatures. Models predicting a dense atmosphere are compatible with microbial growth for a range of pressures at Titan's surface. For Titan's surface the probability of growth would be enhanced if (1) the surface is entirely or partially liquid (water), (2) volcanism (in an ice-water-steam system) is present, or (3) access to internal heat sources is significant.

Jovian Chromophore Characteristics from Multispectral HST Images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Strycker, Paul D.; Chanover, Nancy J.; Simon-Miller, Amy A.; Banfield, Don; Gierasch, Peter J.

2011-01-01

The chromophores responsible for coloring the jovian atmosphere are embedded within Jupiter's vertical aerosol structure. Sunlight propagates through this vertical distribution of aerosol particles, whose colors are defined by omega-bar (sub 0)(lambda), and we remotely observe the culmination of the radiative transfer as I/F(lambda). In this study, we employed a radiative transfer code to retrieve omega-bar (sub 0)(lambda) for particles in Jupiter's tropospheric haze at seven wavelengths in the near-UV and visible regimes. The data consisted of images of the 2008 passage of Oval BA to the south of the Great Red Spot obtained by the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on-board the Hubble Space Telescope. We present derived particle colors for locations that were selected from 14 weather regions, which spanned a large range of observed colors. All omega-bar (sub 0)(lambda) curves were absorbing in the blue, and omega-bar (sub 0)(lambda) increased monotonically to approximately unity as wavelength increased. We found accurate fits to all omega-bar (sub 0)(lambda) curves using an empirically derived functional form: omega-bar (sub 0)(lambda) = 1 A exp(-B lambda). The best-fit parameters for the mean omega-bar (sub 0)(lambda) curve were A = 25.4 and B = 0.0149 for lambda in units of nm. We performed a principal component analysis (PCA) on our omega-bar (sub 0)(lambda) results and found that one or two independent chromophores were sufficient to produce the variations in omega-bar (sub 0)(lambda). A PCA of I/F(lambda) for the same jovian locations resulted in principal components (PCs) with roughly the same variances as the omega-bar (sub 0)(lambda) PCA, but they did not result in a one-to-one mapping of PC amplitudes between the omega-bar (sub 0)(lambda) PCA and I/F(lambda) PCA. We suggest that statistical analyses performed on I/ F(lambda) image cubes have limited applicability to the characterization of chromophores in the jovian atmosphere due to the sensitivity of 1/ F

Jovian longitudinal asymmetry in Io-related and Europa-related auroral hot spots

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dessler, A.J.; Chamberlain, J.W.

1979-06-15

Jupiter's internal magnetic field is markedly non-dipolar. We propose that Io- or Europa-generated auroral emissions (originating at the foot of either Io's or Europa's magnetic flux tube) are largely restricted to longitudes where Jupiter's ionospheric conductivity is enhanced. Trapped, energetic electrons that drift into Jupiter's atmosphere, in regions where the Jovian magnetic field is anomalously weak, produce the increased conductivity. The longitude range of enchanced auroral hot-spot emissions is thus restricted to an active sector that is determined from dekametric radio emission to lie in the northern hemisphere in the Jovian System III (1965) longitude range of 205/sup 0/ +-more » 30/sup 0/. Relatively weaker auroral hot spots should occur in the southern hemisphere along the mgnetic conjugate trace covering the longitude range of 215/sup 0/ +- 55/sup 0/. At other longitudes, the brightness of the hot spot should decrease by at least one order of magnitude. These results, with respect to both brightness and longitude, are in accord with the observations of Jovian auroral hot spots reported by Atreya et al. We show that the northern hemisphere foot of either Io's or Europa's magnetic flux tube was in the preferred longitude range (the active sector) at the time of each observation.« less

Ground-based Spectroscopic Observation of Jovian Surface Structures by Using the Portable Spectrometer.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iwasaki, K.; Ito, H.; Tabe, I.; Hirota, S.; Suzuki, H.

2017-12-01

Stripe patterns called belts or zones with various colors persist on Jovian surface. Anticyclonic vortices called an oval with various scales and colors are maintained and drifted in the boundary between zones and belts. Some ovals have different colors despite they are formed simultaneously in the same latitude region. Color changes of ovals after an interaction with other ovals have been also reported [Sánchez-Lavega et al., JGR, 2013]. The great red spot (GRS) is one of the most remarkable structures in the Jupiter and recognized since 300 years ago by sketch and photographic observations. Recently, NASA spacecraft, JUNO has revealed more complex and fine features with various colors. A close relationship between dynamics of Jovian atmosphere and local colors is well known [Sánchez-Lavega et al., JGR, 2013] though detailed mechanisms connecting them are not fully understood. Thus, the color of the each structures is thought to be one of the keys to investigate dynamics of the Jovian atmosphere. In this study, ground-based spectroscopic observations focusing on Jovian surface structures have been conducted since December 2015. The observation is carried out by combining a telescope with a small unit for spectroscopy consists of a CCD camera and a spectrometer. The spectrometer can measure a spectrum of a selected area within an image data simultaneously obtained by the CCD camera. Dimensions and weight of the spectroscopy are only 18cm × 14cm × 4cm and 300 g, respectively. This high portability of the spectrometer enables flexible observations; we can bring the spectrometer to a public observatory which has a large telescope in a location with high clear skies rate in desired observation period. The spectra are converted and corrected to an absolute radiance at the top of atmosphere, by using a radiometric calibration data obtained with an integrating sphere and measured extinction coefficients of the local atmosphere. In this talk, temporal variations in the

Studies of thermal wave phenomena on the Jovian planets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deming, Drake

1991-01-01

Ground based and Voyager observations of Jupiter have provided evidence that the tropospheric temperature shows global scale longitudinal variations which are often wavelike in character. Voyager data are reported to exhibit the presence of slowly moving thermal features, wherein the jovian tropospheric temperature patterns are not advected by the equatorial zonal winds, but are not found to rotate at the System III (interior) rate. Ground based data in a broad infrared band (8 to 13 micron) show a wavelike structure whose amplitude and spatial scale are similar to the reported properties of the slowly moving thermal features. This study is directed toward obtaining additional ground based data in infrared spectral bands whose contribution functions are optimized for specific atmospheric regions (tropospheric at 20 micron, and stratospheric at 7.8 micron), in order to confirm the previous results, and to identify the nature and physical significance of wavelike longitudinal temperature fluctuations on the Jovian planets. A 2-D infrared array detector and low resolution cryogenic grating spectrometer is being adapted to obtain maps in approx. 2/cm bandpasses.

Observing outer planet satellites (except Titan) with JWST: Science justification and observational requirements

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kestay, Laszlo P.; Grundy, Will; Stansberry, John; Sivaramakrishnan, Anand; Thatte, Deepashri; Gudipati, Murthy; Tsang, Constantine; Greenbaum, Alexandra; McGruder, Chima

2016-01-01

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will allow observations with a unique combination of spectral, spatial, and temporal resolution for the study of outer planet satellites within our Solar System. We highlight the infrared spectroscopy of icy moons and temporal changes on geologically active satellites as two particularly valuable avenues of scientific inquiry. While some care must be taken to avoid saturation issues, JWST has observation modes that should provide excellent infrared data for such studies.

Systemic ICI 182,780 alters the display of sexual behaviors in the female rat.

PubMed

Gardener, H E; Clark, A S

2001-03-01

The present study investigates the effects of the antiestrogen ICI 182,780 (ICI) on the display of sexual behaviors in female rats. ICI 182,780 is a pure anti-estrogen and when given systemically, ICI is thought to act only in the periphery, and is not believed to cross the blood brain barrier. The present study examines the effects of ICI on sexual receptivity and on paced mating behavior following treatment with estradiol benzoate (EB) and progesterone (P) (Experiment 1) or with EB alone (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, ICI (250.0 microg) did not affect the display of receptivity or paced mating behavior induced by EB and P. In contrast, in Experiment 2 female rats receiving EB alone displayed a decrease in the level of sexual receptivity following treatment with 500.0 and 750.0 microg ICI (but not 250.0 microg ICI). In addition, in Experiment 2 EB-treated female rats receiving 250.0 microg ICI spent more time away from the male rat following an intromission and were more likely to exit from the male compartment following a mount. Last, ICI had potent antiestrogenic effects on vaginal cytology (Experiment 2) and on the uterus (Experiments 1 and 2). The present study supports a role for peripheral estrogen receptors in sexual receptivity and paced mating behavior and suggests that estrogen receptor activation may decrease the aversive sensation associated with sexual stimulation. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

The enigma of the Uranian satellites' orbital eccentricities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Squyres, S. W.; Reynolds, R. T.; Lissauer, J. J.

1985-01-01

The eccentricity decay times for the Uranian satellites are calculated using recent observations (Brown et al., 1982) of the diameters and orbital elements of the satellites and assuming reasonable dissipation functions and rigidities for icy satellites. For the outer two satellites, Titania and Oberon, the decay times are found to be very long, whereas the inner three satellites, Miranda, Ariel, and Umbriel, have decay times on the order of 10 to the 7th to 10 to the 8th years and have a near-commensurability in their mean motions that cannot force their eccentricities. There are several possible solutions for the lack of resonant forcing: (1) the reported eccentricities are incorrect, and are very nearly zero, (2) the reported mean motions are incorrect, and an exact commensurability exists, (3) the physical properties assumed for the satellites are grossly in error, and (4) the system is evolving rapidly, perhaps from a previous state of higher eccentricity. A new lower bound of about 17,000 on the dissipation function of Uranus is calculated from the mass of Ariel and its proximity to Uranus.

ICI optical data storage tape: An archival mass storage media

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ruddick, Andrew J.

1993-01-01

At the 1991 Conference on Mass Storage Systems and Technologies, ICI Imagedata presented a paper which introduced ICI Optical Data Storage Tape. This paper placed specific emphasis on the media characteristics and initial data was presented which illustrated the archival stability of the media. More exhaustive analysis that was carried out on the chemical stability of the media is covered. Equally important, it also addresses archive management issues associated with, for example, the benefits of reduced rewind requirements to accommodate tape relaxation effects that result from careful tribology control in ICI Optical Tape media. ICI Optical Tape media was designed to meet the most demanding requirements of archival mass storage. It is envisaged that the volumetric data capacity, long term stability and low maintenance characteristics demonstrated will have major benefits in increasing reliability and reducing the costs associated with archival storage of large data volumes.

Properties of the single Jovian planet population and the pursuit of Solar system analogues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agnew, Matthew T.; Maddison, Sarah T.; Horner, Jonathan

2018-04-01

While the number of exoplanets discovered continues to increase at a rapid rate, we are still to discover any system that truly resembles the Solar system. Existing and near future surveys will likely continue this trend of rapid discovery. To see if these systems are Solar system analogues, we will need to efficiently allocate resources to carry out intensive follow-up observations. We seek to uncover the properties and trends across systems that indicate how much of the habitable zone is stable in each system to provide focus for planet hunters. We study the dynamics of all known single Jovian planetary systems, to assess the dynamical stability of the habitable zone around their host stars. We perform a suite of simulations of all systems where the Jovian planet will interact gravitationally with the habitable zone, and broadly classify these systems. Besides the system's mass ratio (Mpl/Mstar), and the Jovian planet's semi-major axis (apl) and eccentricity (epl), we find that there are no underlying system properties which are observable that indicate the potential for planets to survive within the system's habitable zone. We use Mpl/Mstar, apl and epl to generate a parameter space over which the unstable systems cluster, thus allowing us to predict which systems to exclude from future observational or numerical searches for habitable exoplanets. We also provide a candidate list of 20 systems that have completely stable habitable zones and Jovian planets orbiting beyond the habitable zone as potential first order Solar system analogues.

The comparative effects of ICI 118551 and propranolol on essential tremor.

PubMed Central

Jefferson, D; Wharrad, H J; Birmingham, A T; Patrick, J M

1987-01-01

1. The effects of the selective beta 2-adrenoceptor antagonist ICI 118551 on essential tremor, heart rate and blood pressure were compared with those of propranolol. 2. ICI 118551 (150 mg daily for 7 days) and propranolol (120 mg daily for 7 days) were about equally effective in reducing essential tremor (by about 40%) and were more effective than placebo. 3. When compared with the effect of placebo, propranolol reduced blood pressure and exercise heart rate whereas ICI 118551 had no significant effect on blood pressure and produced a small but significant reduction in exercise-induced tachycardia. 4. ICI 118551 may be useful in the management of essential tremor while having fewer cardiovascular side-effects than non-selective beta-adrenoceptor antagonists. PMID:2894217

Some laboratory investigations on Bayer 73 and ICI 24223 as molluscicides*

PubMed Central

Meyling, A. H.; Schutte, C. H. J.; Pitchford, R. J.

1962-01-01

The authors report on laboratory tests of the chemical properties and molluscicidal activity of the compounds Bayer 73 (70% wettable powder) and ICI 24223 (acid salt and emulsion), and describe the method used for the determination of ICI 24223. It is suggested that field applications of the ICI 24223 acid salt and of Bayer 73 should produce similar results in running and stagnant soft water. Bayer 73 showed a diminution of molluscicidal activity in hard water. PMID:14473215

Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The purpose of ICIS is to meet evolving Enforcement and Compliance business needs for EPA and State users by integrating information into a single integrated data system that supports both management and programmatic requirements of the Enforcement and Compliance programs.

Magnetic Fluctuations in the Jovian Magnetosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russell, Christopher T.

2002-01-01

The engine that drives the jovian magnetosphere is the mass added to the Io ion torus, accelerated to corotational velocities by field-aligned currents that couple the Io torus to the jovian ionosphere. The mass of the torus builds up to an amount that the magnetic forces cannot contain and the plasma, first slowly and then more rapidly, drifts outward. Numerous authors have treated this problem based first on the observations of the Pioneer 10 and 11 flybys; then on Voyager 1 and 2, and Ulysses; and finally most recently the Galileo orbiter. The initial observations revealed the now familiar magnetodisk, in which the field above and below the magnetic equator became quite radial in orientation and much less dipolar. The Galileo observations show this transformation to occur on average at 24 R(sub J) and to often be quite abrupt. These observations are consistent with outward transport of magnetized plasma that moves ever faster radially until about 50 R(sub J) on the nightside where the field lines stretch to the breaking point, reconnection occurs, and plasma and field islands are transported down the tail ultimately removing the mass from the magnetosphere that Io had deposited deep in the inner torus. The reconnection process creates empty flux tubes connected to Jupiter that are buoyant and thought to float inward and replace the flux carried out with the torus plasma. As described above, the jovian magnetosphere could very well be in a state of steady laminar circulation, but indeed it is not. The process is very unsteady and the wave levels can be very intense. The existence of these waves in turn can lead to processes that compete with the radial circulation pattern in removing plasma from the system. These waves can scatter particles so that they precipitate into the ionosphere. This process should be important in the Io torus where the atmospheric loss cone is relatively large and becomes less important as the loss cone decreases in size with radial

Occurrence statistics and ray tracing study of Jovian quasiperiodic radio bursts observed from low latitudes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kimura, Tomoki; Tsuchiya, Fuminori; Misawa, Hiroaki; Morioka, Akira; Nozawa, Hiromasa

2010-05-01

The occurrence characteristics of Jovian quasiperiodic (QP) bursts at a VLF range (<10 kHz) were statistically investigated using data from the Galileo spacecraft at low latitudes in the Jovian magnetosphere. The results confirmed that the occurrence of QP bursts is significantly dependent on the phase of planetary rotation rather than the central meridian longitude of the observer seen from Jupiter. It was revealed that the meridional distribution of QP bursts forms a shadow zone in the equatorial region of <30 Jovian radii from Jupiter, similar to that of hectometric radio emissions, where QP bursts are quenched. Based on the ray tracing method, we surveyed the source parameters, which can reproduce the observed shadow zone. It was suggested that the wave mode, source location, and directivity of the radio emissions are as follows: the extraordinary mode is reasonable for QP bursts observed at low latitudes, the source is located around an altitude of ˜10-20 Jovian radii above the polar region, the L value of the source field line is in a range of L > ˜20, and QP bursts could have beaming angles like “filled cone” in a restricted L value range or have a large source L value range with beaming angles like “hollow cones.” These results imply that QP bursts observed at low latitudes are generated at fRX surfaces in the polar region and propagate to the equatorial region.

76 FR 28950 - Lynn Canal/Icy Straits Resource Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-19

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Lynn Canal/Icy Straits Resource Advisory Committee AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: The Lynn Canal/Icy Straits Resource Advisory Committee will hold a teleconference, June 9, 2011. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss metrics and...

Latitudinal distribution of the Jovian plasma sheet ions observed by Juno JADE-I

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, T. K. H.; Valek, P. W.; McComas, D. J.; Allegrini, F.; Bagenal, F.; Bolton, S. J.; Connerney, J. E. P.; Ebert, R. W.; Levin, S.; Louarn, P.; Pollock, C. J.; Ranquist, D. A.; Szalay, J.; Thomsen, M. F.; Wilson, R. J.

2017-12-01

The Jovian plasma sheet is a region where the centrifugal force dominates the heavy ion plasma. Properties of the plasma sheet ions near the equatorial plane have been studied with in-situ measurements from the Pioneer, Voyager, and Galileo spacecraft. However, the ion properties for the off-equator regions are not well known due to the limited measurements. Juno is the first polar orbiting spacecraft that can investigate the high latitude region of the Jovian magnetosphere. With Juno's unique trajectory, we will investigate the latitudinal distribution of the Jovian plasma sheet ions using measurements from the Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment Ion sensor (JADE-I). JADE-I measures an ion's energy-per-charge (E/Q) from 0.01 keV/q to 46.2 keV/q with an electrostatic analyzer (ESA) and a mass-per-charge (M/Q) up to 64 amu/q with a carbon-foil-based time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer. We have shown that the ambiguity between and (both have M/Q of 16) can be resolved in JADE-I using a semi-empirical simulation tool based on carbon foil effects (i.e., charge state modification, angular scattering, and energy loss) from incident ions passing through the TOF mass spectrometer. Based on the simulation results, we have developed an Ion Composition Analysis Tool (ICAT) that determines ion composition at each energy step of JADE-I (total of 64 steps). The velocity distribution for each ion species can be obtained from the ion composition as a function of each energy step. Since there is an ambipolar electric field due to mobile electrons and equatorially confined heavy ions, we expect to see acceleration along the field line. This study will show the species separated velocity distribution at various latitudes to investigate how the plasma sheet ions evolve along the field line.

Proposal of ICI cancellation using opposite weightings on symmetric subcarrier pairs in CO-OFDM systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jing; Chen, Xuemei; Deng, Mingliang; Zeng, Dengke; Yang, Heming; Qiu, Kun

2015-08-01

We propose a novel ICI cancellation using opposite weighting on symmetric subcarrier pairs to combat the linear phase noise of laser source and the nonlinear phase noise resulted from the fiber nonlinearity. We compare the proposed ICI cancellation scheme with conventional OFDM and the ICI self-cancellation at the same raw bit rate of 35.6 Gb/s. In simulations, the proposed ICI cancellation scheme shows better phase noise tolerance compared with conventional OFDM and has similar phase noise tolerance with the ICI self-cancellation. The laser linewidth is about 13 MHz at BER of 2 × 10-3 with ICI cancellation scheme while it is 5 MHz in conventional OFDM. We also study the nonlinearity tolerance and find that the proposed ICI cancellation scheme is better compared with the other two schemes which due to the first order nonlinearity mitigation. The launch power is 7 dBm for the proposed ICI cancellation scheme and its SNR improves by 4 dB or 3 dB compared with the ICI self-cancellation or conventional OFDM at BER of 1.1 × 10-3, respectively.

Jovian decametric radiation seen from Juno, Cassini, STEREO A, WIND, and Earth-based radio observatories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Imai, M.; Kurth, W. S.; Hospodarsky, G. B.; Bolton, S. J.; Connerney, J. E. P.; Levin, S. M.; Lecacheux, A.; Lamy, L.; Zarka, P.; Clarke, T. E.; Higgins, C. A.

2017-09-01

Jupiter's decametric (DAM) radiation is generated very close to the local gyrofrequency by the electron cyclotron maser instability (CMI). The first two-point common detections of Jovian DAM radiation were made using the Voyager spacecraft and ground-based radio observatories in early 1979, but, due to geometrical constraints and limited flyby duration, a full understanding of the latitudinal beaming of Jovian DAM radiation remains elusive. The stereoscopic DAM radiation viewed from Juno, Cassini, STEREO A, WIND, and Earth-based radio observatories provides a unique opportunity to analyze the CMI emission mechanism and beaming properties.

The dynamics of a high-speed Jovian jet

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maxworthy, T.

1984-01-01

New measurements of the velocity field in the neighborhood of the high-speed jet located at approximately 24 deg N latitude in the Jovian atmosphere are presented. The maximum zonal velocity is found to be 182 + or - 10 m/s, located at 23.7 + or - 0.2 deg N and representing the largest velocity measured on the planet. The distinctive cloud markings found close to this latitude are discussed and possible dynamical consequences presented.

Hektor - an exceptional D-type family among Jovian Trojans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rozehnal, J.; Brož, M.; Nesvorný, D.; Durda, D. D.; Walsh, K.; Richardson, D. C.; Asphaug, E.

2016-11-01

In this work, we analyse Jovian Trojans in the space of suitable resonant elements and we identify clusters of possible collisional origin by two independent methods: the hierarchical clustering and a so-called randombox. Compared to our previous work, we study a twice larger sample. Apart from Eurybates, Ennomos and 1996 RJ families, we have found three more clusters - namely families around asteroids (20961) Arkesilaos, (624) Hektor in the L4 libration zone and (247341) 2001 UV209 in L5. The families fulfill our stringent criteria, I.e. a high statistical significance, an albedo homogeneity and a steeper size-frequency distribution than that of background. In order to understand their nature, we simulate their long term collisional evolution with the Boulder code and dynamical evolution using a modified SWIFT integrator. Within the framework of our evolutionary model, we were able to constrain the age of the Hektor family to be either 1-4 Gyr or, less likely, 0.1-2.5 Gyr, depending on initial impact geometry. Since (624) Hektor itself seems to be a bilobed-shape body with a satellite, I.e. an exceptional object, we address its association with the D-type family and we demonstrate that the moon and family could be created during a single impact event. We simulated the cratering event using a smoothed particle hydrodynamics. This is also the first case of a family associated with a D-type parent body.

Jovian Stormy Weather

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-02-17

NASA's Juno spacecraft soared directly over Jupiter's south pole when JunoCam acquired this image on February 2, 2017 at 6:06 a.m. PT (9:06 a.m. ET), from an altitude of about 62,800 miles (101,000 kilometers) above the cloud tops. From this unique vantage point we see the terminator (where day meets night) cutting across the Jovian south polar region's restless, marbled atmosphere with the south pole itself approximately in the center of that border. The terminator is offset a bit because it's summer in Jupiter's southern hemisphere. However, the tilt of Jupiter's spin axis is only 3 degrees, much less than Earth's 23.5-degree tilt. This image was processed by citizen scientist John Landino. This enhanced color version highlights the bright high clouds and numerous meandering oval storms. Away from the polar region, the seeming chaos of Jupiter's polar region gives way to the more familiar color banding that Jupiter is known for. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21382

The rheology and composition of cryovolcanic flows on icy satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kargel, Jeffrey S.

1993-01-01

The rheologic properties of terrestrial lavas have been related to morphologic features of their flows, such as levees, banked surfaces, multilobate structures, and compressible folds. These features also have been used to determine rheologies and constrain the compositions of extraterrestrial flows. However, with rare exceptions, such features are not resolvable in Voyager images of the satellites of outer planets. Often only flow length and edge thickness of cryovolcanic flows can be measured reasonably accurately from Voyager images. The semiempirical lava-flow model presented here is a renewed effort to extract useful information from such measurements.

ICIS Facility Interest Subject Area Model

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS) is a web-based system that provides information for the federal enforcement and compliance (FE&C) and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) programs.

ICIS FE&C Compliance Monitoring Screens

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Web Based Training for Integrated Compliance Information System Updated Compliance Monitoring Training for ICIS Federal Enforcement and Compliance User. This training goes through the changes in the screens for the application.

Wake flowfields for Jovian probe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Engel, C. D.; Hair, L. M.

1980-01-01

The wake flow field developed by the Galileo probe as it enters the Jovian atmosphere was modeled. The wake produced by the probe is highly energetic, yielding both convective and radiative heat inputs to the base of the probe. A component mathematical model for the inviscid near and far wake, the viscous near and far wake, and near wake recirculation zone was developed. Equilibrium thermodynamics were used for both the ablation and atmospheric species. Flow fields for three entry conditions were calculated. The near viscous wave was found to exhibit a variable axial pressure distribution with the neck pressure approximately three times the base pressure. Peak wake flow field temperatures were found to be in proportion to forebody post shock temperatures.

Water-Rock Differentiation of Icy Bodies by Darcy law, Stokes law, and Two-Phase Flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neumann, Wladimir; Breuer, Doris; Spohn, Tilman

2016-10-01

The early Solar system produced a variety of bodies with different properties. Among the small bodies, objects that contain notable amounts of water ice are of particular interest. Water-rock separation on such worlds is probable and has been confirmed in some cases. We couple accretion and water-rock separation in a numerical model. The model is applicable to Ceres, icy satellites, and Kuiper belt objects, and is suited to assess the thermal metamorphism of the interior and the present-day internal structures. The relative amount of ice determines the differentiation regime according to porous flow or Stokes flow. Porous flow considers differentiation in a rock matrix with a small degree of ice melting and is typically modelled either with the Darcy law or two-phase flow. We find that for small icy bodies two-phase flow differs from the Darcy law. Velocities derived from two-phase flow are at least one order of magnitude smaller than Darcy velocities. The latter do not account for the matrix resistance against the deformation and overestimate the separation velocity. In the Stokes regime that should be used for large ice fractions, differentiation is at least four orders of magnitude faster than porous flow with the parameters used here.

Cratering time scales for the Galilean satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shoemaker, E. M.; Wolfe, R. F.

1982-01-01

An attempt is made to estimate the present cratering rate for each Galilean satellite within the correct order of magnitude and to extend the cratering rates back into the geologic past on the basis of evidence from the earth-moon system. For collisions with long and short period comets, the magnitudes and size distributions of the comet nuclei, the distribution of their perihelion distances, and the completeness of discovery are addressed. The diameters and masses of cometary nuclei are assessed, as are crater diameters and cratering rates. The dynamical relations between long period and short period comets are discussed, and the population of Jupiter-crossing asteroids is assessed. Estimated present cratering rates on the Galilean satellites are compared and variations of cratering rate with time are considered. Finally, the consistency of derived cratering time scales with the cratering record of the icy Galilean satellites is discussed.

Modeling the Jovian aurora

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Waite, J. Hunter, Jr.

1992-01-01

The Jovian aurora is the most powerful aurora in the solar system, over 100 times more powerful than the Earth's aurora. These magnificent visual displays can provide important information about the planetary magnetosphere which is responsible for the acceleration of energetic particles that produce aurora at any planet. Similarities and differences in planetary auroral emissions are thus a viable means of classifying and studying both comparative atmospheric and magnetospheric processes. For instance, at Earth the solar wind is the primary source of auroral power while at Jupiter it is conjectured that the rotation of the planet is the major source of magnetospheric and auroral power. The purpose of this IR project was to develop a model: (1) for use in interpreting the existing set of multispectral observations of Jupiter's aurora; and (2) to design new experiments based on the findings to improve understanding of the underlying auroral processes.

IUE observations of the Jovian dayglow emission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcgrath, M. A.; Feldman, P. D.; Ballester, G. E.; Moos, H. W.

1989-01-01

IUE spectra of Jupiter are examined in light of recent models put forward to explain the anomalously bright ultraviolet emissions seen from the upper atmospheres of the outer planets. Chi-squared fits of the IUE spectra with model spectra produced by two proposed excitation mechanisms, electron impact and fluorescence of solar radiation, result in consistently higher chi-squared values for the solar fluorescence model. No conclusive evidence is found in the IUE data for the dominance of solar fluorescence over electron excitation in producing the Jovian dayglow emission.

Asteroid Icy Regolith Excavation and Volatile Capture Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zeitlin, Nancy; Mantovani, James; Swanger, Adam; Townsend, Ivan

2015-01-01

Icy regolith simulants will be produced in a relevant vacuum environment using various minerals, including hydrated minerals, that are found in C-type meteorites and in other types of planetary regolith. This will allow us to characterize the mechanical strength of the icy regolith as a function of ice content using penetration, excavation, and sample capture devices. The results of this study will benefit engineers in designing efficient regolith excavators and ISRU processing systems for future exploration missions to asteroids and other planetary bodies.

Europa Science Platforms and Kinetic Energy Probes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hays, C. C.; Klein, G. A.

2003-01-01

This presentation will outline a proposed mission for the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO). The mission outlined will concentrate on an examination of Europa. Some of the primary science goals for the JIMO mission are: 1) to answer broad science questions, 2) improved knowledge of Jovian system; specifically, lunar geological and geophysical properties, 3) chemical composition of Jovian lunar surfaces and subterranean matter, and 4) the search for life. In order to address these issues, the experiment proposed here will deploy orbiting, surface, and subterranean science platforms.

An Overview of Energetic Particle Measurements in the Jovian Magnetosphere with the EPAC Sensor on Ulysses.

PubMed

Keppler, E; Blake, J B; Fränz, M; Korth, A; Krupp, N; Quenby, J J; Witte, M; Woch, J

1992-09-11

Observations of ions and electrons of probable Jovian origin upstream of Jupiter were observed after a corotating interplanetary particle event. During the passage of Ulysses through the Jovian bow shock, magnetopause, and outer magnetosphere, the fluxes of energetic particles were surprisingly low. During the passage through the "middle magnetosphere," corotating fluxes were observed within the current sheet near the jovimagnetic equato. During the outbound pass, fluxes were variably directed; in the later part of the flyby, they were probably related to high-latitude phenomena.

Extenstional terrain formation in icy satellites: Implications for ocean-surface interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Howell, Samuel M.; Pappalardo, Robert T.

2017-10-01

Europa and Ganymede, Galilean satellites of Jupiter, exhibit geologic activity in their outer H2O ice shells that might convey material from water oceans within the satellites to their surfaces. Imagery from the Voyager and Galileo spacecraft reveal surfaces rich with tectonic deformation, including dilational bands on Europa and groove lanes on Ganymede. These features are generally attributed to the extension of a brittle ice lithosphere overlaying a possibly convecting ice asthenosphere. To explore band formation and interaction with interior oceans, we employ fully visco-elasto-plastic 2-D models of faulting and convection with complex, realistic pure ice rheologies. In these models, material entering from below is tracked and considered to be “fossilized ocean,” ocean material that has frozen into the ice shell and evolves through geologic time. We track the volume fraction of fossil ocean material in the ice shell as a function of depth, and the exposure of both fresh ice and fossil ocean material at the ice shell surface. To explore the range in extensional terrains, we vary ice shell thickness, fault localization, melting-temperature ice viscosity, and the presence of pre-existing weaknesses. Mechanisms which act to weaken the ice shell and thin the lithosphere (e.g. vigorous convection, thinner shells, pre-existing weaknesses) tend to plastically yield to form smooth bands at high strains, and are more likely to incorporate fossil ocean material in the ice shell and expose it at the surface. In contrast, lithosphere strengthened by rapid fault annealing or increased viscosity, for example, exhibits large-scale tectonic rifting at low strains superimposed over pre-existing terrains, and inhibits the incorporation and delivery of fossil ocean material to the surface. Thus, our results identify a spectrum of extensional terrain formation mechanisms as linked to lithospheric strength, rather than specific mechanisms that are unique to each type of band

Heating of Porous Icy Dust Aggregates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sirono, Sin-iti

At the beginning of planetary formation, highly porous dust aggregates are formed through coagulation of dust grains. Outside the snowline, the main component of an aggregate is H{sub 2}O ice. Because H{sub 2}O ice is formed in amorphous form, its thermal conductivity is extremely small. Therefore, the thermal conductivity of an icy dust aggregate is low. There is a possibility of heating inside an aggregate owing to the decay of radionuclides. It is shown that the temperature increases substantially inside an aggregate, leading to crystallization of amorphous ice. During the crystallization, the temperature further increases sufficiently to continue sintering. Themore » mechanical properties of icy dust aggregates change, and the collisional evolution of dust aggregates is affected by the sintering.« less

Breaking Ice 2: A rift system on the Ross Ice Shelf as an analog for tidal tectonics on icy moons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brunt, K. M.; Hurford, T., Jr.; Schmerr, N. C.; Sauber, J. M.; MacAyeal, D. R.

2016-12-01

Ice shelves are the floating regions of the polar ice sheets. Outside of the influence of the narrow region of their grounding zone, they are fully hydrostatic and strongly influenced by the ocean tides. Recent observational and modeling studies have assessed the effect of tides on ice shelves, including: the tidal influence on the ice-shelf surface height, which changes by as much as 6 to 7 m on the southern extreme of the Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf; the tidal modulation of the ice-shelf horizontal flow velocities, which changes the mean ice-flow rate by as much as two fold on the Ross Ice Shelf; and the tidal contribution to fracture and rift propagation, which eventually leads to iceberg calving. Here, we present the analysis of 16 days of continuous GPS data from a rift system near the front of the Ross Ice Shelf. While the GPS sites were installed for a different scientific investigation, and not optimized to assess tidal rifting mechanics, they provide a first-order sense of the tidal evolution of the rift system. These analyses can be used as a terrestrial analog for tidal activity on icy satellites, such as Europa and Enceladus, moons of Jupiter and Saturn, respectively. Using remote sensing and modeling of the Ross Ice Shelf rift system, we can investigate the geological processes observed on icy satellites and advance modeling efforts of their tidal-tectonic evolution.

IUE observations of the Jovian HI Lyman alpha emission (1979 - 1982)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Skinner, T. E.; Durrance, S. T.; Feldman, P. D.; Moos, H. W.

1982-01-01

Observations of the Jovian H ion Lyman emission made with the IUE observatory beginning in December 1978 just before the time of the Voyager encounters and extending through January 1982 are presented. A constant disk center brightness of about 8 kR is observed for the central meridian longitude range wavelength III approximately equal 200 deg to 360 deg and a variable brightness 9-15 kR is found for the range lambda III approximately 50 deg to 150 deg. These brightness values persisted throughout the three years of observation. The hydrogen bulge near wavelength III approximately equal 100 deg appears to be a permanent feature of the Jovian atmosphere, and no long term change of the planetary Lyman emission is seen. Since the early IUE observations were made near the two Voyager encounters, this indicates that no substantial changes in the atomic hydrogen concentration or the average atmospheric conditions took place between then and now.

Three dimensional ray tracing Jovian magnetosphere in the low frequency range

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Menietti, J. D.

1982-01-01

Ray tracing of the Jovian magnetosphere in the low frequency range (1+40 MHz) has resulted in a new understanding of the source mechanism for Io dependent decametric radiation (DAM). Our three dimensional ray tracing computer code has provided model DAM arcs at 10 deg. intervals of Io longitude source positions for the full 360 deg of Jovian system III longitude. In addition, particularly interesting arcs were singled out for detailed study and modelling. Dependent decametric radiation arcs are categorized according to curvature--the higher curvature arcs are apparently due to wave stimulation at a nonconstant wave normal angle, psi. The psi(f) relationship has a signature that is common to most of the higher curvature arcs. The low curvature arcs, on the other hand, are adequately modelled with a constant wave normal angle of close to 90 deg. These results imply that for higher curvature arcs observed for from Jupiter (to diminish spacecraft motion effects) the electrons providing the gyroemission are relativistically beamed.

Observations and Numerical Modeling of the Jovian Ribbon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cosentino, R. G.; Simon, A.; Morales-Juberias, R.; Sayanagi, K. M.

2015-01-01

Multiple wavelength observations made by the Hubble Space Telescope in early 2007 show the presence of a wavy, high-contrast feature in Jupiter's atmosphere near 30 degrees North. The "Jovian Ribbon," best seen at 410 nanometers, irregularly undulates in latitude and is time-variable in appearance. A meridional intensity gradient algorithm was applied to the observations to track the Ribbon's contour. Spectral analysis of the contour revealed that the Ribbon's structure is a combination of several wavenumbers ranging from k equals 8-40. The Ribbon is a dynamic structure that has been observed to have spectral power for dominant wavenumbers which vary over a time period of one month. The presence of the Ribbon correlates with periods when the velocity of the westward jet at the same location is highest. We conducted numerical simulations to investigate the stability of westward jets of varying speed, vertical shear, and background static stability to different perturbations. A Ribbon-like morphology was best reproduced with a 35 per millisecond westward jet that decreases in amplitude for pressures greater than 700 hectopascals and a background static stability of N equals 0.005 per second perturbed by heat pulses constrained to latitudes south of 30 degrees North. Additionally, the simulated feature had wavenumbers that qualitatively matched observations and evolved throughout the simulation reproducing the Jovian Ribbon's dynamic structure.

Chandra X-ray Observations of Jovian Low-latitude Emissions: Morphological, Temporal, and Spectral Characteristics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bhardwaj, Anil; Elsner, Ronald F.; Gladstone, G. Randall; Cravens, Thomas E.; Waiate J. Hunter, Jr.; Branduardi-Raymont, Graziella; Ford, Peter

2004-01-01

Chandra observed X-rays from Jupiter during 24-26 February 2003 for about 40 hours with the ACIS-S and HRC-I instruments. The analysis of Jovian low-latitude "disk" Xray emissions are presented and compared with the high-latitude "auroral" emissions. We report the first Chandra ACIS-S measured X-ray spectrum (0.3-2 keV) of Jupiter's low-latitude disk The disk X-ray emission is harder and extends to higher energies than the auroral spectrum. The temporal variation in the Jovian disk X-rays is on an average consistent with those in the solar X-rays observed by GOES, and TIMED/SSE. Contrary to the auroral X-rays, the disk emissions are uniformly distributed over Jupiter; no indication of longitudinal dependence or correlation with surface magneh field strength is visible. Also, unlike the approx. 40 +/- 20 min periodic oscillations seen in the auroral X-ray emissions, the disk emissions do not show any periodic oscillations. The disk spectrum seems to be consistent with resonant and fluorescent scattering of solar X-rays by the Jovian upper atmosphere. Jupiter's disk is found to be about 50% dimmer in soft X-rays in February 2003 compared that in December 2000, which is consistent with the decrease in solar activity. No evidence of lightning-induced X-rays is seen in the Chandra X-ray data. The Jovian disk spectra observed with Chandra-ACIS is stronger than that observed with XMM-Newton two months later during April 28-29, 2003. The XMM-Newton Xray image of Jupiter shows evidence of limb darkening on the anti-sunward side as seen from Earth, as well as an asymmetry with respect to the subsolar point: suggesting a solar driven process.

Jovian Substorms: A Study of Processes Leading to Transient Behavior in the Jovian Magnetosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russell, C. T.

2000-01-01

Solar system magnetospheres can be divided into two groups: induced and intrinsic. The induced magnetospheres are produced in the solar wind interaction of the magnetized solar wind with planetary obstacles. Examples of these magnetospheres are those of comets, Venus and Mars. Intrinsic magnetospheres are the cavities formed in the solar wind by the magnetic fields produced by dynamo current systems inside the planets: Mercury, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are known to have intrinsic magnetospheres. Intrinsic magnetospheres can be further subdivided as to how the circulating plasma is driven by external or internal processes. The magnetospheres of Mercury and Earth are driven by the solar wind. The magnetospheres of Jupiter and possibly of Saturn are principally driven by internal processes. These processes provide the energy for the powerful jovian radio signals that can be detected easily on the surface of the Earth.

Impact strength of small icy bodies that experienced multiple collisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yasui, Minami; Hayama, Ryo; Arakawa, Masahiko

2014-05-01

Frequent collisions are common for small bodies in the Solar System, and the cumulative damage to these bodies is thought to significantly affect their evolution. It is important to study the effects of multiple impacts such as the number of impacts on the impact strength and the ejection velocity of impact fragments. Here we conducted multiple-impact experiments using a polycrystalline water ice target, varying the number of impacts from 1 to 10 times. An ice cylindrical projectile was impacted at 84-502 m s-1 by using a single-stage gas gun in a cold room between -10 and -15 °C. The impact strength of the ice target that experienced a single impact and multiple impacts is expressed by the total energy density applied to the same target, ΣQ, and this value was observed to be 77.6 J kg-1. The number of fine impact fragments at a fragment mass normalized by an initial target mass, m/Mt0 ∼ 10-6, nm, had a good correlation with the single energy density at each shot, Qj, and the relationship was shown to be nm=10·Qj1.31±0.12. We also estimated the cumulative damage of icy bodies as a total energy density accumulated by past impacts, according to the crater scaling laws proposed by Housen et al. (Housen, K.R., Schmidt, R.M., Holsapple, K.A. [1983]. J. Geophys. Res. 88, 2485-2499) of ice and the crater size distributions observed on Phoebe, a saturnian icy satellite. We found that the cumulative damage of Phoebe depended significantly on the impact speed of the impactor that formed the craters on Phoebe; and the cumulative damage was about one-third of the impact strength ΣQ* at 500 m s-1 whereas it was almost zero at 3.2 km s-1.

Preliminary Measurements on the Mechanical Properties of Clathrate Hydrates with Implications for the Internal Dynamics of Icy Satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choukroun, M.; Barmatz, M. B.; Castillo, J. C.; Sotin, C.

2008-12-01

viscoelastic response of clathrate hydrates as a function of frequency. These measurements will provide new information on the behavior of clathrate hydrates during dynamic motions within icy satellites.

Simulations of mechanical failure in ice: Implications of terrestrial fracture models as applied to they icy satellites of the outer solar system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walker, C. C.; Bassis, J. N.

2011-12-01

At the South Pole of Enceladus, a small icy moon orbiting Saturn, is a heavily fractured ice plain surrounded by a nearly-circular mountain range. Remarkably, the Cassini orbiter detected jets of water emanating from the icy shell and into space, originating from 4 parallel "tiger stripe" rifts within the center of the ice plain. The tiger stripes imaged on Enceladus are morphologically similar to rifts observed to form under extensional stress regimes in terrestrial ice shelves; the putative subsurface ocean hypothesized beneath the icy shell strengthens the analogy that their formation may have similar mechanical origins. Past studies have also suggested that the tiger stripes are the result of a process similar to that of mid-ocean ridge spreading on the Earth, but it remains to be seen whether or not such motion is consistent with the mountainous features seen at the circular cliff-like boundary of the region. In an attempt to understand the formation of these tiger stripes and their relationship to the observed mountain chains, we apply a conceptual model in which the ice is considered to be less like a continuous fluid body and, instead, behaves like a granular material made up of discrete blocks of ice. The tidal forces on the small moon tug on the shell enough that it has been cracked many times over, motivating the assumption that the ice exists in a continuum between wholly intact ice and highly pre-fractured ice. We employ several experimental setups with the intention of mapping the deformation of the south polar segment of the shell, to determine the processes that may contribute to its observed morphological state. These setups range from large scale topographical models, e.g., simulating the build up of mountains and processes that lead to overall elevation differences in the region, to small-scale, and focus on the more detailed level of fracturing. We explore our ice-shelf rifting analogy by modeling both icy moon fracturing and ice shelf rifting

A Submersible, Off-Axis Holographic Microscope for Detection of Microbial Motility and Morphology in Aqueous and Icy Environments

PubMed Central

Lindensmith, Christian A.; Rider, Stephanie; Bedrossian, Manuel; Wallace, J. Kent; Serabyn, Eugene; Showalter, G. Max; Deming, Jody W.; Nadeau, Jay L.

2016-01-01

Sea ice is an analog environment for several of astrobiology’s near-term targets: Mars, Europa, Enceladus, and perhaps other Jovian or Saturnian moons. Microorganisms, both eukaryotic and prokaryotic, remain active within brine channels inside the ice, making it unnecessary to penetrate through to liquid water below in order to detect life. We have developed a submersible digital holographic microscope (DHM) that is capable of resolving individual bacterial cells, and demonstrated its utility for immediately imaging samples taken directly from sea ice at several locations near Nuuk, Greenland. In all samples, the appearance and motility of eukaryotes were conclusive signs of life. The appearance of prokaryotic cells alone was not sufficient to confirm life, but when prokaryotic motility occurred, it was rapid and conclusive. Warming the samples to above-freezing temperatures or supplementing with serine increased the number of motile cells and the speed of motility; supplementing with serine also stimulated chemotaxis. These results show that DHM is a useful technique for detection of active organisms in extreme environments, and that motility may be used as a biosignature in the liquid brines that persist in ice. These findings have important implications for the design of missions to icy environments and suggest ways in which DHM imaging may be integrated with chemical life-detection suites in order to create more conclusive life detection packages. PMID:26812683

A Submersible, Off-Axis Holographic Microscope for Detection of Microbial Motility and Morphology in Aqueous and Icy Environments.

PubMed

Lindensmith, Christian A; Rider, Stephanie; Bedrossian, Manuel; Wallace, J Kent; Serabyn, Eugene; Showalter, G Max; Deming, Jody W; Nadeau, Jay L

2016-01-01

Sea ice is an analog environment for several of astrobiology's near-term targets: Mars, Europa, Enceladus, and perhaps other Jovian or Saturnian moons. Microorganisms, both eukaryotic and prokaryotic, remain active within brine channels inside the ice, making it unnecessary to penetrate through to liquid water below in order to detect life. We have developed a submersible digital holographic microscope (DHM) that is capable of resolving individual bacterial cells, and demonstrated its utility for immediately imaging samples taken directly from sea ice at several locations near Nuuk, Greenland. In all samples, the appearance and motility of eukaryotes were conclusive signs of life. The appearance of prokaryotic cells alone was not sufficient to confirm life, but when prokaryotic motility occurred, it was rapid and conclusive. Warming the samples to above-freezing temperatures or supplementing with serine increased the number of motile cells and the speed of motility; supplementing with serine also stimulated chemotaxis. These results show that DHM is a useful technique for detection of active organisms in extreme environments, and that motility may be used as a biosignature in the liquid brines that persist in ice. These findings have important implications for the design of missions to icy environments and suggest ways in which DHM imaging may be integrated with chemical life-detection suites in order to create more conclusive life detection packages.

Analogies between Jovian magnetodisk and heliospheric current sheet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kislov, Roman; Khabarova, Olga; Malova, Helmi

Recently due to the development of spatial missions the famous model by E. Parker [1] faced with some problems, such as the effect of magnetic flux excess and the existence of latitude component of magnetic field [2]. Thus the incomplete knowledge about large scale current system of heliospheric current sheet (HCS) motivated us to construct and investigate the self-consistent axisymmetric stationary MHD model of HCS and to compare it with earlier presented model of Jupiterian magnetodisk [3]. Both HCS and magnetodisk have inner plasma sources (i.e. the Sun in case of HCS and satellite Io in case of Jupiter); also they depend on the centrifugal force at small distances and on corotation processes. They both have strong radial component of current density, thin elongated structure etc. Thus in the frame of the MHD model we have calculated for HCS the parallel currents (analogous to Jovian Birkeland currents) and we obtained the latitude component of the magnetic field. The results of the model allowed us to explain the magnetic flux excess by the existence of the self-consistent HCS magnetic field. The decrease of radial magnetic field from the distance from the Sun as the power -5/3 obtained by numerical calculations is in good agreement with experimental data. Generally this model can be applied for the quiet period of the low solar activity when the perturbation of HCS structure named “ballerina skirt” does not play any role. References: 1. Parker E. N., Astrophys. J., V. 128, 664, pp. 664-676, 1958. 2. Khabarova O. V., V. 90, No.11, pp. 919-935, 2013. 3. Kislov R.A. et al., Bull. MSU, Physics and Astron., 2013

Magnetohydrodynamic Modeling of the Jovian Magnetosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walker, Raymond

2005-01-01

Under this grant we have undertaken a series of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation and data analysis studies to help better understand the configuration and dynamics of Jupiter's magnetosphere. We approached our studies of Jupiter's magnetosphere in two ways. First we carried out a number of studies using our existing MHD code. We carried out simulation studies of Jupiter s magnetospheric boundaries and their dependence on solar wind parameters, we studied the current systems which give the Jovian magnetosphere its unique configuration and we modeled the dynamics of Jupiter s magnetosphere following a northward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). Second we worked to develop a new simulation code for studies of outer planet magnetospheres.

New Predictions of the Jovian Aurora: Location, Latitudinal Width, and Intensity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tsurutani, B. T.; Arballo, J. K.; Ho, C. M.; Lin, N. G.; Kellogg, P. J.; Cornileau-Wehrlin, N.; Krupp, N.

1995-01-01

A model/theory for the Jovian aurora is formed based on a similar model for the dayside aurora at Earth and recent Ulysses field and particle measurements at Jupiter. Items discussed are plasma boundary layer, wave-particle resonant interactions, and the model's prediction of the aurora's location, latitudinal width, and intensity.

The Encounter of P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 with the Jovian Plasma and Extended Sodium Cloud

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Niciejewski, R. J.

1997-01-01

The encounter of comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter during July, 1994, provided an unprecedented opportunity to observe any potential perturbations in the Jovian plasma torus and extended sodium cloud as the comet entered the planet's atmosphere. Though the most obvious affect of the encounter was the distinctive response of the visible disk to the impact of the cometary fragments, the potential disruptions to the extended Jovian atmosphere and the restoration of the system to equilibrium also provided a test for the current interpretation of the Jovian plasma torus and sodium magneto-nebula. The observations that were performed for this grant were made by a complementary group of researchers and could not have been made if the individuals worked singly. In a sense, the exciting opportunity provided by this astronomical event also provided a mechanism to test the potential of pooling limited resources from several sources to construct a state-of-the-art spectrally resolving instrument, to acquire the necessary time and resources from institutions that maintain world-class optical telescopes, to perform the observations with the assistance of students, and to analyze the data sets.

The origin of chondrules at jovian resonances

PubMed

Weidenschilling; Marzari; Hood

1998-01-30

Isotopic dating indicates that chondrules were produced a few million years after the solar nebula formed. This timing is incompatible with dynamical lifetimes of small particles in the nebula and short time scales for the formation of planetesimals. Temporal and dynamical constraints can be reconciled if chondrules were produced by heating of debris from disrupted first-generation planetesimals. Jovian resonances can excite planetesimal eccentricities enough to cause collisional disruption and melting of dust by bow shocks in the nebular gas. The ages of chondrules may indicate the times of Jupiter's formation and dissipation of gas from the asteroidal region.

The ICI classification for calcaneal injuries: a validation study.

PubMed

Frima, Herman; Eshuis, Rienk; Mulder, Paul; Leenen, Luke

2012-06-01

The integral classification of injuries (ICI), by Zwipp et al. has been developed as a classification system for injuries of the bones, joints, cartilage and ligaments of the foot. It follows the principles of the comprehensive classification of fractures by Müller et al. The ICI was developed for 'everyday use' and scientific purposes. Our aim was to perform a validation study for this classification system applied to the calcaneal injuries. A panel of five experienced trauma and orthopaedic surgeons evaluated the ICI score in 20 calcaneal injuries. After 2 months, a second classification was performed in a different order. Inter- and intra-observer variability were evaluated by kappa statistics. Panel members were not able to evaluate capsule and ligamental injuries based on X-ray and computed tomography (CT) films. Two injuries were excluded for logistical reasons. The inter-observer agreement based on 18 injuries of bone and joints was slight; kappa 0.14 (90% confidence interval (CI): 0.05-0.22). The intra-observer agreement was fair; kappa 0.31 (90% CI: 0.22-0.41). Overall, the panel rated the system as very complicated and not practical. The ICI is a complicated classification system with slight to fair inter- and intra-observer variabilities. It might not be a practical classification system for calcaneal injuries in 'everyday use' or scientific purposes. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Detecting High Ice Water Content Cloud Regions Using Airborne and Satellite Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kheyrollah Pour, H.; Korolev, A.; Barker, H.; Wolde, M.; Heckman, I.; Duguay, C. R.

2016-12-01

Tropical mesoscale convective systems (MCS) have significant impacts on local and global hydrological cycles and radiation budgets. Moreover, high ice water content (HIWC) found inside MCS clouds at altitudes above 7 km have been identified as hazardous for aviation safety. The environment inside HIWC cloud regions may cause icing of aircraft engines resulting in uncontrolled engine power loss or damage. This phenomenon is known as ice crystal icing (ICI). International aviation regulatory agencies are now attempting to define techniques that enable prediction and detection of potential ICI environments. Such techniques range from on-board HIWC detection to nowcasting of ice crystal weather using satellite data and numerical weather prediction models. The most practical way to monitor continuously for areas of HIWC is by remote sensing with passive radiometers on geostationary satellites. Establishing correlations between HIWC cloud regions and radiances is, however, a challenging problem. This is because regions of HIWC can occur several kilometers below cloud top, while passive satellite radiometers response mainly to the upper kilometers of MCS clouds. The High Altitude Ice Crystals - High Ice Water Content (HAIC-HIWC) field campaigns in Cayenne, French Guiana collected a rich dataset from aboard the Canadian NRC Convair-580 that was equipped with a suite of in-situ microphysical instruments and Dopplerized W- and X-band radars with vertically- and horizontally-directed antenna. This paper aims to describe an algorithm that has been developed to establish relationships between satellite radiances and locations of HIWC regions identified from in-situ measurements of microphysical properties, Doppler velocities, and vertical and horizontal radar reflectivity.

Studies of thermal wave phenomena on the Jovian planets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deming, Drake

1991-01-01

Ground-based and Voyager observations of Jupiter provided evidence that the tropospheric temperature shows global-scale longitudinal variations which are often wavelike in character. The investigation is presented which is directed toward obtaining additional ground-based data in IR spectral bands whose contribution functions are optimized for specific atmospheric regions, in order to confirm the previous results, and to identify the nature and physical significance of wavelike longitudinal temperature fluctuations on the Jovian planets.

Optical design and stray light analysis for the JANUS camera of the JUICE space mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greggio, D.; Magrin, D.; Munari, M.; Zusi, M.; Ragazzoni, R.; Cremonese, G.; Debei, S.; Friso, E.; Della Corte, V.; Palumbo, P.; Hoffmann, H.; Jaumann, R.; Michaelis, H.; Schmitz, N.; Schipani, P.; Lara, L. M.

2015-09-01

The JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA) is dedicated to the detailed study of Jupiter and its moons. Among the whole instrument suite, JANUS (Jovis, Amorum ac Natorum Undique Scrutator) is the camera system of JUICE designed for imaging at visible wavelengths. It will conduct an in-depth study of Ganymede, Callisto and Europa, and explore most of the Jovian system and Jupiter itself, performing, in the case of Ganymede, a global mapping of the satellite with a resolution of 400 m/px. The optical design chosen to meet the scientific goals of JANUS is a three mirror anastigmatic system in an off-axis configuration. To ensure that the achieved contrast is high enough to observe the features on the surface of the satellites, we also performed a preliminary stray light analysis of the telescope. We provide here a short description of the optical design and we present the procedure adopted to evaluate the stray-light expected during the mapping phase of the surface of Ganymede. We also use the results obtained from the first run of simulations to optimize the baffle design.

The Europa Jupiter System Mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hendrix, A. R.; Clark, K.; Erd, C.; Pappalardo, R.; Greeley, R. R.; Blanc, M.; Lebreton, J.; van Houten, T.

2009-05-01

Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) will be an international mission that will achieve Decadal Survey and Cosmic Vision goals. NASA and ESA have concluded a joint study of a mission to Europa, Ganymede and the Jupiter system with orbiters developed by NASA and ESA; contributions by JAXA are also possible. The baseline EJSM architecture consists of two primary elements operating in the Jovian system: the NASA-led Jupiter Europa Orbiter (JEO), and the ESA-led Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter (JGO). The JEO mission has been selected by NASA as the next Flagship mission to the out solar system. JEO and JGO would execute an intricately choreographed exploration of the Jupiter System before settling into orbit around Europa and Ganymede, respectively. JEO and JGO would carry eleven and ten complementary instruments, respectively, to monitor dynamic phenomena (such as Io's volcanoes and Jupiter's atmosphere), map the Jovian magnetosphere and its interactions with the Galilean satellites, and characterize water oceans beneath the ice shells of Europa and Ganymede. EJSM will fully addresses high priority science objectives identified by the National Research Council's (NRC's) Decadal Survey and ESA's Cosmic Vision for exploration of the outer solar system. The Decadal Survey recommended a Europa Orbiter as the highest priority outer planet flagship mission and also identified Ganymede as a highly desirable mission target. EJSM would uniquely address several of the central themes of ESA's Cosmic Vision Programme, through its in-depth exploration of the Jupiter system and its evolution from origin to habitability. EJSM will investigate the potential habitability of the active ocean-bearing moons Europa and Ganymede, detailing the geophysical, compositional, geological and external processes that affect these icy worlds. EJSM would also explore Io and Callisto, Jupiter's atmosphere, and the Jovian magnetosphere. By understanding the Jupiter system and unraveling its history, the

Assessing the potential for passive radio sounding of Europa and Ganymede with RIME and REASON

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schroeder, Dustin M.; Romero-Wolf, Andrew; Carrer, Leonardo; Grima, Cyril; Campbell, Bruce A.; Kofman, Wlodek; Bruzzone, Lorenzo; Blankenship, Donald D.

2016-12-01

Recent work has raised the potential for Jupiter's decametric radiation to be used as a source for passive radio sounding of its icy moons. Two radar sounding instruments, the Radar for Icy Moon Exploration (RIME) and the Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON) have been selected for ESA and NASA missions to Ganymede and Europa. Here, we revisit the projected performance of the passive sounding concept and assess the potential for its implementation as an additional mode for RIME and REASON. We find that the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) of passive sounding can approach or exceed that of active sounding in a noisy sub-Jovian environment, but that active sounding achieves a greater SNR in the presence of quiescent noise and outperforms passive sounding in terms of clutter. We also compare the performance of passive sounding at the 9 MHz HF center frequency of RIME and REASON to other frequencies within the Jovian decametric band. We conclude that the addition of a passive sounding mode on RIME or REASON stands to enhance their science return by enabling sub-Jovian HF sounding in the presence of decametric noise, but that there is not a compelling case for implementation at a different frequency.

ICIS Perm Storm Water Subject Area Model

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS) is a web-based system that provides information for the federal enforcement and compliance (FE&C) and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) programs.

Iceless Icy Moons: Is the Nice Model In Trouble?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dones, Henry C. Luke; Levison, H. F.

2012-05-01

Nimmo and Korycansky (2012; henceforth NK12) stated that if the outer Solar System underwent a Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB) in the Nice model, the mass striking the icy satellites at speeds up to tens of km/s would have vaporized so much ice that moons such as Mimas, Enceladus, and Miranda would have been devolatilized. NK12's possible explanations of this apparent discrepancy with observations include (1) the mass influx was a factor of 10 less than that in the Nice model; (2) the mass distribution of the impactors was top-heavy, so that luck might have saved some of the moons from suffering large, vapor-removing impacts; or (3) the inner moons formed after the LHB. NK12 calculated the mass influx onto the satellites from the lunar impact rate estimated by Gomes et al. (2005) and scaling factors calculated by Zahnle et al. (1998, 2003; also see Barr and Canup 2010). Production of vapor in hypervelocity impacts is calculated from Kraus et al. (2011). Our preliminary results show that there is about an order-of-magnitude uncertainty in the mass striking the satellites during the LHB, with NK12's estimate at the upper end of the range. We will discuss how the mass influx depends on the velocity and mass distributions of the impactors. The Nice model lives. We thank the NASA Lunar Science Institute (http://lunarscience.nasa.gov/) for support. Barr, A.C., Canup, R.M., Nature Geoscience 3, 164-167 (2010). Gomes, R., Levison, H.F., Tsiganis, K., Morbidelli, A., Nature 435, 466-469 (2005). Kraus, R.G., Senft, L.E., Stewart, S.T., Icarus 214, 724-738 (2011). Nimmo, F., Korycansky, D.G., Icarus, in press, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019103512000310 (2012). Zahnle, K., Dones, L., Levison, H.F., Icarus 136, 202-222 (1998). Zahnle, K., Schenk, P., Levison, H.F., Dones, L., Icarus 163, 263-289 (2003).

Copernicus measurement of the Jovian Lyman-alpha emission and its aeronomical significance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Atreya, S. K.; Kerr, R. B.; Upson, W. L., II; Festou, M. C.; Donahue, T. M.; Barker, E. S.; Cochran, W. D.; Bertaux, J. L.

1982-01-01

It is pointed out that the intensity of the Lyman-alpha emission is a good indicator of the principal aeronomical processes on the major planets. The high-resolution ultraviolet spectrometer aboard the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory Copernicus was used in 1980 April and May to detect the Jovian Lyman-alpha emission by spectroscopically discriminating it from other Doppler shifted Lyman-alpha emissions such as those of the geocorona, and the interplanetary medium. Taking into consideration the reported emission data, it appears that an unusually large energy input due to the particle precipitation in the auroral region must have been responsible for the large observed Lyman-alpha intensity during the Voyager encounter. At most other times, the observed Jovian Lyman-alpha intensity can be explained, within the range of statistical uncertainty, by a model that takes into consideration the solar EUV flux, the solar Lyman-alpha flux, the high exospheric temperature, and the eddy diffusion coefficient without energy input from the auroral sources.

High pH ammonia toxicity, and the search for life on the Jovian planets.

PubMed

Deal, P H; Souza, K A; Mack, H M

1975-10-01

Jovian plants have enviroments apparently suitable for the evolution of life, but nevertheless, present severe challenges to organisms. One such challenge arises from the presence of ammonia. Ammonia is an efficient biocide, its effect being dependent on pH as well as on concentration. The effects of pH and ammonia concentration were studied separately, where possible, on a variety of organisms, including some isolated from natural enviornments of high pH and/or ammonia concentration. Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis are both extremely sensitive to ammonia. An aerobic organism (growth up to pH 11.4) from an alkaline spring is more resistant, but exhibits a toxic response to ammonia at a pH much lower than its maximum for growth. The greatest ammonia resistance has been found in an unidentified organism growing at near neutral pH. Even in this case, however, survival at ammonia concentrations reasonably expected on the Jovian planets is measured in hours. This is, nevertheless, two to three orders of magnitude longer than for E. coli. Our data support the tentative conclusion that contamination of the Jovian planets with terrestrial organisms that can grow is unlikely. However, the range of toxic response noted, coupled with the observation that terrestrial life has not been exposed to high ammonia concentrations for millions of years, suggests that adaptation to greater ammonia tolerance may be possible.

Thermo-chemical Ice Penetrator for Icy Moons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arenberg, J. W.; Lee, G.; Harpole, G.; Zamel, J.; Sen, B.; Ross, F.; Retherford, K. D.

2016-12-01

The ability to place sensors or to take samples below the ice surface enables a wide variety of potential scientific investigations. Penetrating an ice cap can be accomplished via a mechanical drill, laser drill, kinetic impactor, or heated penetrator. This poster reports on the development of technology for the latter most option, namely a self-heated probe driven by an exothermic chemical reaction: a Thermo-chemical ice penetrator (TChIP). Our penetrator design employs a eutectic mix of alkali metals that produce an exothermic reaction upon contact with an icy surface. This reaction increases once the ice starts melting, so no external power is required. This technology is inspired by a classified Cold-War era program developed at Northrop Grumman for the US Navy. Terrestrial demonstration of this technology took place in the Arctic; however, this device cannot be considered high TRL for application at the icy moons of the solar system due to the environmental differences between Earth's Arctic and the icy moons. These differences demand a TChIP design specific to these cold, low mass, airless worlds. It is expected that this model of TChIP performance will be complex, incorporating all of the forces on the penetrator, gravity, the thermo-chemistry at the interface between penetrator and ice, and multi-phase heat and mass transport, and hydrodynamics. Our initial efforts are aimed at the development of a validated set of tools and simulations to predict the performance of the penetrator for both the environment found on these icy moons and for a terrestrial environment. The purpose of the inclusion of the terrestrial environment is to aid in model validation. Once developed and validated, our models will allow us to design penetrators for a specific scientific application on a specific body. This poster discusses the range of scientific investigations that are enabled by TChIP. We also introduce the development plan to advance TChIP to the point where it can be

Subsurface Ocean Tides in Enceladus and Other Icy Moons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beuthe, M.

2016-12-01

Could tidal dissipation within Enceladus' subsurface ocean account for the observed heat flow? Earthlike models of dynamical tides give no definitive answer because they neglect the influence of the crust. I propose here the first model of dissipative tides in a subsurface ocean, by combining the Laplace Tidal Equations with the membrane approach. For the first time, it is possible to compute tidal dissipation rates within the crust, ocean, and mantle in one go. I show that oceanic dissipation is strongly reduced by the crustal constraint, and thus contributes little to Enceladus' present heat budget. Tidal resonances could have played a role in a forming or freezing ocean less than 100 meters deep. The model is general: it applies to all icy satellites with a thin crust and a shallow or stratified ocean. Scaling rules relate the resonances and dissipation rate of a subsurface ocean to the ones of a surface ocean. If the ocean has low viscosity, the westward obliquity tide does not move the crust. Therefore, crustal dissipation due to dynamical obliquity tides can differ from the static prediction by up to a factor of two.

Theoretical studies of the radar properties of the icy Galilean moons of Jupiter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eshleman, Von R.

1993-01-01

The icy Galilean satellites of Jupiter - Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto - have unusual radar scattering properties compared with those of the terrestrial planets or Earth's Moon. There are three main features of the data that distinguish these targets: (1) the radar cross-section normalized by the geometrical cross-section is an order of magnitude larger than that of any terrestrial planet; (2) the reflected power is almost evenly distributed between two orthogonal polarizations with more power being returned in the same circular polarization as was transmitted whereas virtually all of the power returned from the terrestrial planets is contained in the opposite circular polarization to the one that was transmitted; and (3) the echo power spectra have a broad shape indicating a nearly uniformly radar-bright surface in contrast to the spectra from the terrestrial planets that contain a strong quasi-specular component from the vicinity of the sub-radar point and very little reflected power from the rest of the surface. The normalized radar cross-sections decrease as the areal water ice coverage decreases from Europa to Ganymede to Callisto. Recently, radar echoes from the polar caps of Mars and Mercury, and from Saturn's satellite Titan imply similarly strong cross-sections and have classically unexpected polarization properties and it is also thought that this is due to the presence of ice on the surface. A model called the radar glory model is analyzed and it is shown that the main features of the radar echoes calculated from this model agree well with the observations from all three icy Galilean satellites. This model involves long radar paths in the ice below the surface and special structures in which the refractive index decreases abruptly at a hemispherical boundary. It is not known whether such structures exist or how they could be created, but possible scenarios can be imagined such as the formation of an impact crater followed by deposition of a frost layer

ICI 204448: a kappa-opioid agonist with limited access to the CNS.

PubMed Central

Shaw, J. S.; Carroll, J. A.; Alcock, P.; Main, B. G.

1989-01-01

1. A number of compounds were evaluated in an attempt to identify a kappa-opioid receptor agonist with limited access to the central nervous system. 2. Quaternary derivatives of the kappa-opioid agonists tifluadom, U-50488H and ethylketocyclazocine were essentially devoid of opioid activity in a range of isolated tissue preparations. 3. A novel compound - ICI 204448 - is described which produced a potent and naloxone-reversible inhibition of electrically-evoked contraction of the guinea-pig ileum, mouse vas deferens and rabbit vas deferens preparations. ICI 204448 was shown to displace the binding of the kappa-opioid ligand [3H]-bremazocine from guinea-pig cerebellum membranes. 4. Ex vivo binding studies in mice showed ICI 204448 to be well absorbed following subcutaneous administration. The brain levels achieved by ICI 20448 were substantially lower than those produced by kappa-agonists such as U-50488H and tifluadom. 5. A good correlation was found for a range of opioids between lipophilicity and degree of CNS penetration. PMID:2568146

Energetic Ion and Electron Irradiation of the Icy Galilean Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cooper, John F.; Johnson, Robert E.; Mauk, Barry H.; Garrett, Henry B.; Gehrels, Neil

2001-01-01

Galileo Orbiter measurements of energetic ions (20 keV to 100 MeV) and electrons (20-700 keV) in Jupiter's magnetosphere are used, in conjunction with the JPL electron model (less than 40 MeV), to compute irradiation effects in the surface layers of Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Significant elemental modifications are produced on unshielded surfaces to approximately centimeter depths in times of less than or equal to 10(exp 6) years, whereas micrometer depths on Europa are fully processed in approximately 10 years. Most observations of surface composition are limited to optical depths of approximately 1 mm, which are indirect contact with the space environment. Incident flux modeling includes Stormer deflection by the Ganymede dipole magnetic field, likely variable over that satellite's irradiation history. Delivered energy flux of approximately 8 x 10(exp 10) keV/square cm-s at Europa is comparable to total internal heat flux in the same units from tidal and radiogenic sources, while exceeding that for solar UV energies (greater than 6 eV) relevant to ice chemistry. Particle energy fluxes to Ganymede's equator and Callisto are similar at approximately 2-3 x 10(exp 8) keV/square cm-s with 5 x 10(exp 9) at Ganymede's polar cap, the latter being comparable to radiogenic energy input. Rates of change in optical reflectance and molecular composition on Europa, and on Ganymede's polar cap, are strongly driven by energy from irradiation, even in relatively young regions. Irradiation of nonice materials can produce SO2 and CO2, detected on Callisto and Europa, and simple to complex hydrocarbons. Iogenic neutral atoms and meteoroids deliver negligible energy approximately 10(exp 4-5) keV/square cm-s but impacts of the latter are important for burial or removal of irradiation products. Downward transport of radiation produced oxidants and hydrocarbons could deliver significant chemical energy into the satellite interiors for astrobiological evolution in putative sub

Detection of Deuterium in Icy Surfaces and the D/H Ratio of Icy Objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clark, Roger Nelson; Brown, Robert H.; Swayze, Gregg A.; Cruikshank, Dale P.

2017-10-01

Water ice in crystalline or amorphous form is orientationally disordered, which results in very broad absorptions. Deuterium in trace amounts goes into an ordered position, so is not broadened like H2O absorptions. The D-O stretch is located at 4.13 microns with a width of 0.027 micron. Laboratory spectral measurements on natural H2O and deuterium doped ice show the absorption is slightly asymmetric and in reflectance the band shifts from 4.132 to 4.137 microns as abundance decreases. We derive a preliminary absorption coefficient of ~ 80,000 cm^-1 for the D-O stretch compared to about 560 cm^-1 in H2O ice at 4.13 microns, enabling the detection of deuterium at levels less than Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water (VSMOW), depending on S/N. How accurate the D/H ratios can be derived will require additional lab work and radiative transfer modeling to simultaneously derive the grain size distribution, the abundance of any contaminants, and deuterium abundance. To first order, the grain size distribution can be compensated by computing the D-O stretch band depth to 2-micron H2O ice band depth ratio, which we call Dratio. Colorado fresh water (~80% of VSMOW) has a Dratio of 0.036, at a D/H = 0.0005, the Dratio = 0.15, and at a D/H = 0.0025, the Dratio = 0.42. The VSMOW Dratio is ~ 0.045.We have used VIMS data from the Cassini spacecraft to compute large spectral averages to detect the deuterium in the rings and on the icy satellite surfaces. A B-ring, 21,882 pixel average, at 640 ms/pixel, or 3.89 hours of integration time, shows a 3.5% O-D stretch band depth and a Dratio = 0.045, indicating deuterium abundance equal to VSMOW. Rhea, using 1.89 hours of integration time shows Dratio = 0.052, or slightly higher than VSMOW. Phoebe has an unusually deep O-D stretch band of 1.85% considering the high abundance of dark material suppressing the ice absorptions. We measure a Dratio = 0.11, an enhancement of ~2.4 over VSMOW, but detailed radiative transfer modeling is needed to

Why Europa's icy shell may convect, but ice sheets do not: a glaciological perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bassis, J. N.

2016-12-01

Jupiter's moon Europa is covered in an icy shell that lies over a liquid ocean. Geological evidence and numerical models suggest that Europa's icy shell convects, providing the possibility that Europa may experience a form of plate tectonics and could even harbor life in its subsurface ocean. The hypothesis that Europa convects is supported by both models and geological evidence. Surprisingly, when we apply similar calculations and (assumptions) used by planetary scientists to infer convection in icy moons like Europa we find that these models also predict that vigorous convection should also occur in portions of our own terrestrial ice sheets and ice shelves where we have firm evidence to the contrary. We can explain the lack of convection within our own ice sheets by recognizing that instead of the diffusion creep limited rheology frequently invoked by planetary scientists, terrestrial ice undergoes power-law creep down to very low strain rates. Glaciological studies find that power-law creep is required to explain the structure of vertical strain rate near ice sheet divides and shape of the ice sheets near an ice divide. However, when we now apply a rheology that is consistent with terrestrial ice sheet dynamics to icy moon conditions, we find conditions are far less favorable for convection in icy moons, with only a very limited parameter regime where convection can occur. Given the many unknowns (grain size, impurities etc.) it is challenging to draw strong conclusions about the behavior of icy moons . Nonetheless, the lack of convection in terrestrial ice sheets provides an important constraint on the dynamics of icy moons and models that explain convection of icy moons should also explain the lack of convection on terrestrial ice sheets.

Mission Design, Guidance, and Navigation of a Callisto-Io-Ganymede Triple Flyby Jovian Capture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Didion, Alan M.

Use of a triple-satellite-aided capture maneuver to enter Jovian orbit reduces insertion DeltaV and provides close flyby science opportunities at three of Jupiter's four large Galilean moons. This capture can be performed while maintaining appropriate Jupiter standoff distance and setting up a suitable apojove for plotting an extended tour. This paper has three main chapters, the first of which discusses the design and optimization of a triple-flyby capture trajectory. A novel triple-satellite-aided capture uses sequential flybys of Callisto, Io, and Ganymede to reduce the DeltaV required to capture into orbit about Jupiter. An optimal broken-plane maneuver is added between Earth and Jupiter to form a complete chemical/impulsive interplanetary trajectory from Earth to Jupiter. Such a trajectory can yield significant fuel savings over single and double-flyby capture schemes while maintaining a brief and simple interplanetary transfer phase. The second chapter focuses on the guidance and navigation of such trajectories in the presence of spacecraft navigation errors, ephemeris errors, and maneuver execution errors. A powered-flyby trajectory correction maneuver (TCM) is added to the nominal trajectory at Callisto and the nominal Jupiter orbit insertion (JOI) maneuver is modified to both complete the capture and target the Ganymede flyby. A third TCM is employed after all the flybys to act as a JOI cleanup maneuver. A Monte Carlo simulation shows that the statistical DeltaV required to correct the trajectory is quite manageable and the flyby characteristics are very consistent. The developed methods maintain flexibility for adaptation to similar launch, cruise, and capture conditions. The third chapter details the methodology and results behind a completely separate project to design and optimize an Earth-orbiting three satellite constellation to perform very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) as part of the 8th annual Global Trajectory Optimisation Competition (GTOC

Gravity Fields and Interiors of the Saturnian Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rappaport, N. J.; Armstrong, J. W.; Asmar, Sami W.; Iess, L.; Tortora, P.; Somenzi, L.; Zingoni, F.

2006-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews the Gravity Science Objectives and accomplishments of the Cassini Radio Science Team: (1) Mass and density of icy satellites (2) Quadrupole field of Titan and Rhea (3) Dynamic Love number of Titan (4) Moment of inertia of Titan (in collaboration with the Radar Team) (5) Gravity field of Saturn. The proposed measurements for the extended tour are: (1) Quadrupole field of Enceladus (2) More accurate measurement of Titan k2 (3) Local gravity/topography correlations for Iapetus (4) Verification/disproof of "Pioneer anomaly".

Photometry and Astrometry of the Jovian satellites Amalthea and Thebe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saquet, Eléonore; Emelyanov, Nicolai; Colas, François; Robert, Vincent; Arlot, Jean-Eudes

2016-10-01

During the 2014-2015 campaign of mutual events, we realized ground-based observations of Amalthea (JV) and Thebe (JXIV). We recorded two eclipses of Amalthea and, for the first time, one of Thebe by the Galilean moons. We used the 1-m telescope at Pic du Midi Observatory with an IR filter and a mask placed over the planetary image to reduce the light intensity of Jupiter. A third observation of Amalthea was taken at Saint-Sulpice Observatory with a 60-cm telescope using a methane filter (890 nm) and a deep absorption band to decrease the contrast between the planet and the satellites. We provide astrometric results derived from the photometry with an overall accuracy of 34 mas, or 100 km at Jupiter.In the same time, we realized 45 astrometric observations of Amalthea and 41 of Thebe to compare the photometric technique with direct astrometry, using the UCAC4 reference star catalog. We provide astrometric results with an overall accuracy of 100 mas for Amalthea, or 300 km at Jupiter, and 90 mas for Thebe, or 270 km at Jupiter. These results are better than those from previous ground-based and old reduced space measurements.

Dark Spot and Jovian Galaxy

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-03-24

This enhanced-color image of a mysterious dark spot on Jupiter seems to reveal a Jovian "galaxy" of swirling storms. Juno acquired this JunoCam image on Feb. 2, 2017, at 5:13 a.m. PDT (8:13 a.m. EDT), at an altitude of 9,000 miles (14,500 kilometers) above the giant planet's cloud tops. This publicly selected target was simply titled "Dark Spot." In ground-based images it was difficult to tell that it is a dark storm. Citizen scientist Roman Tkachenko enhanced the color to bring out the rich detail in the storm and surrounding clouds. Just south of the dark storm is a bright, oval-shaped storm with high, bright, white clouds, reminiscent of a swirling galaxy. As a final touch, he rotated the image 90 degrees, turning the picture into a work of art. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21386

Synthesis of novel ICIE16/BSG and ICIE16/BSG-NITRI bioglasses and description of ionic release kinetics upon immersion in SBF fluid: Effect of nitridation.

PubMed

Orgaz, Felipe; Amat, Daniel; Szycht, Olga; Dzika, Aleksandra; Barba, Flora; Becerra, José; Santos-Ruiz, Leonor

2016-03-01

A novel bioactive glass scaffold ICIE16/BSG has been prepared from a mixture of two different melt-derived glasses: a silicate bioglass (ICIE16) and a borosilicate bioglass (BSG). Combined processing techniques (gel casting and foam replication) were used to form three-dimensional, interconnected porous monolith scaffolds (Orgaz et al., 2016) [1]. They were then nitrided with a hot ammonia flow as described in (Aleixandre et al., 1973) [3] and (Nieto, 1984) [4] to synthesize the ICIE16/BSG-NITRI bioglass (Orgaz et al., 2016) [1]. Herein we present a flow chart summarizing the forming process, plus images of the resulting scaffold after sintering and drying. Bioactivity was characterized in vitro by immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF) for up to seven days. Data of ionic release kinetics upon SBF immersion are presented.

ICI optical data storage tape

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mclean, Robert A.; Duffy, Joseph F.

1991-01-01

Optical data storage tape is now a commercial reality. The world's first successful development of a digital optical tape system is complete. This is based on the Creo 1003 optical tape recorder with ICI 1012 write-once optical tape media. Several other optical tape drive development programs are underway, including one using the IBM 3480 style cartridge at LaserTape Systems. In order to understand the significance and potential of this step change in recording technology, it is useful to review the historical progress of optical storage. This has been slow to encroach on magnetic storage, and has not made any serious dent on the world's mountains of paper and microfilm. Some of the reasons for this are the long time needed for applications developers, systems integrators, and end users to take advantage of the potential storage capacity; access time and data transfer rate have traditionally been too slow for high-performance applications; and optical disk media has been expensive compared with magnetic tape. ICI's strategy in response to these concerns was to concentrate its efforts on flexible optical media; in particular optical tape. The manufacturing achievements, media characteristics, and media lifetime of optical media are discussed.

Retrievals of Jovian Tropospheric Phosphine from Cassini/CIRS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Irwin, P. G. J.; Parrish, P.; Fouchet, T.; Calcutt, S. B.; Taylor, F. W.; Simon-Miller, A. A.; Nixon, C. A.

2004-01-01

On December 30th 2000, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft reached the perijove milestone on its continuing journey to the Saturnian system. During an extended six-month encounter, the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) returned spectra of the Jovian atmosphere, rings and satellites from 10-1400 cm(exp -1) (1000-7 microns) at a programmable spectral resolution of 0.5 to 15 cm(exp -1). The improved spectral resolution of CIRS over previous IR instrument-missions to Jupiter, the extended spectral range, and higher signal-to-noise performance provide significant advantages over previous data sets. CIRS global observations of the mid-infrared spectrum of Jupiter at medium resolution (2.5 cm(exp -1)) have been analysed both with a radiance differencing scheme and an optimal estimation retrieval model to retrieve the spatial variation of phosphine and ammonia fractional scale height in the troposphere between 60 deg S and 60 deg N at a spatial resolution of 6 deg. The ammonia fractional scale height appears to be high over the Equatorial Zone (EZ) but low over the North Equatorial Belt (NEB) and South Equatorial Belt (SEB) indicating rapid uplift or strong vertical mixing in the EZ. The abundance of phosphine shows a similar strong latitudinal variation which generally matches that of the ammonia fractional scale height. However while the ammonia fractional scale height distribution is to a first order symmetric in latitude, the phosphine distribution shows a North/South asymmetry at mid latitudes with higher amounts detected at 40 deg N than 40 deg S. In addition the data show that while the ammonia fractional scale height at this spatial resolution appears to be low over the Great Red Spot (GRS), indicating reduced vertical mixing above the approx. 500 mb level, the abundance of phosphine at deeper levels may be enhanced at the northern edge of the GRS indicating upwelling.

[High non-specific binding of the beta(1) -selective radioligand 2-(125)I-ICI-H].

PubMed

Riemann, B; Law, M P; Kopka, K; Wagner, St; Luthra, S; Pike, V W; Neumann, J; Kirchhefer, U; Schmitz, W; Schober, O; Schäfers, M

2003-08-01

As results of cardiac biopsies suggest, myocardial beta(1) -adrenoceptor density is reduced in patients with chronic heart failure. However, changes in cardiac beta(2)-adrenoceptors vary. With suitable radiopharmaceuticals single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) offer the opportunity to assess beta-adrenoceptors non-invasively. Among the novel racemic analogues of the established beta(1)-selective adrenoceptor antagonist ICI 89.406 the iodinated 2-I-ICI-H showed high affinity and selectivity to beta(1)-adrenoceptors in murine ventricular membranes. The aim of this study was its evaluation as a putative sub-type selective beta(1)-adrenergic radioligand in cardiac imaging. Competition studies in vitro and in vivo were used to investigate the kinetics of 2-I-ICI-H binding to cardiac beta-adrenoceptors in mice and rats. In addition, the radiosynthesis of 2-(125)I-ICI-H from the silylated precursor 2-SiMe(3)-ICI-H was established. The specific activity was 80 GBq/ micro mol, the radiochemical yield ranged from 70 to 80%. The unlabelled compound 2-I-ICI-H showed high beta(1)-selectivity and -affinity in the in vitro competition studies. In vivo biodistribution studies apparently showed low affinity to cardiac beta-adrenoceptors. The radiolabelled counterpart 2-(125)I-ICI-H showed a high degree of non-specific binding in vitro and no specific binding to cardiac beta(1)-adrenoceptors in vivo. Because of its high non-specific binding 2-(125)I-ICI-H is no suitable radiotracer for imaging in vivo.

Peptide synthesis triggered by comet impacts: A possible method for peptide delivery to the early Earth and icy satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sugahara, Haruna; Mimura, Koichi

2015-09-01

We performed shock experiments simulating natural comet impacts in an attempt to examine the role that comet impacts play in peptide synthesis. In the present study, we selected a mixture of alanine (DL-alanine), water ice, and silicate (forsterite) to make a starting material for the experiments. The shock experiments were conducted under cryogenic conditions (77 K), and the shock pressure range achieved in the experiments was 4.8-25.8 GPa. The results show that alanine is oligomerized into peptides up to tripeptides due to the impact shock. The synthesized peptides were racemic, indicating that there was no enantioselective synthesis of peptides from racemic amino acids due to the impact shock. We also found that the yield of linear peptides was a magnitude higher than those of cyclic diketopiperazine. Furthermore, we estimated the amount of cometary-derived peptides to the early Earth based on two models (the Lunar Crating model and the Nice model) during the Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB) using our experimental data. The estimation based on the Lunar Crating model gave 3 × 109 mol of dialanine, 4 × 107 mol of trialanine, and 3 × 108 mol of alanine-diketopiperazine. Those based on the Nice model, in which the main impactor of LHB is comets, gave 6 × 1010 mol of dialanine, 1 × 109 mol of trialanine, and 8 × 109 mol of alanine-diketopiperazine. The estimated amounts were comparable to those originating from terrestrial sources (Cleaves, H.J., Aubrey, A.D., Bada, J.L. [2009]. Orig. Life Evol. Biosph. 39, 109-126). Our results indicate that comet impacts played an important role in chemical evolution as a supplier of linear peptides, which are important for further chemical evolution on the early Earth. Our study also highlights the importance of icy satellites, which were formed by comet accumulation, as prime targets for missions searching for extraterrestrial life.

Thermal And Dynamical Histories Of Saturn's Satellites: Evidence For The Presence Of Short Lived Radioactive Isotopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Torrence V.; Castillo-Rogez, Julie C.; Matson, Dennis L.

2008-04-01

Recent observations of Saturn's satellite system from the Cassini/Huygens mission present serious challenges to understanding the current dynamical states and thermal histories of these icy bodies using conventional thermal models that use long lived radioactive isotopes (LLRI) as the primary heat sources. In particular, the most distant of the regular satellites, Iapetus, is in synchronous rotation about Saturn, implying relatively high levels of dissipation of tidal energy. However, it retains a highly non-equilibrium, oblate spheroid, shape, implying a thick, cold, mechanically rigid outer layer or lithosphere. Thermal history models of Iapetus that successfully explain these apparently contradictory characteristics require significant heating early in the satellite's history from short lived radioactive isotopes (SRLI), particularly Al, implying a formation time for Iapetus of between 2.5 and 5 Myr after the formation of Calcium26 Aluminum Inclusions (CAIs) [l]. The characteristics of the other icy satellites in the system are consistent with this formation time, and the current thermal geyser activity on the more silicate-rich satellite Enceladus may be related to such an early heating event. A consequence of these early formation time models is that the early crust of Iapetus is too thin and weak to retain large impact basin topography until about 100 Myr after formation, and despinning to synchronous rotation might have occurred from 200-900 Myr after formation. This chronology is consistent with the formation of the large impact basins observed on Iapetus' surface by the `late heavy bombardment' or `lunar cataclysm' event recorded in the dating of samples from the Moon at 3900 Ma.

Preclinical evaluation of an 18F-labelled beta1-adrenoceptor selective radioligand based on ICI 89,406.

PubMed

Law, Marilyn P; Wagner, Stefan; Kopka, Klaus; Renner, Christiane; Pike, Victor W; Schober, Otmar; Schäfers, Michael

2010-05-01

Radioligand binding studies indicate a down-regulation of myocardial beta(1)-adrenoceptors (beta(1)-AR) in cardiac disease which may or may not be associated with a decrease in beta(2)-ARs. We have chosen ICI 89,406, a beta(1)-selective AR antagonist, as the lead structure to develop new beta(1)-AR radioligands for PET and have synthesised a fluoro-ethoxy derivative (F-ICI). (S)-N-[2-[3-(2-Cyano-phenoxy)-2-hydroxy-propylamino]-ethyl]-N'-[4-(2-[(18)F]fluoro-ethoxy)-phenyl]-urea ((S)-[(18)F]F-ICI) was synthesised. Myocardial uptake of radioactivity after intravenous injection of (S)-[(18)F]F-ICI into adult CD(1) mice or Wistar rats was assessed with positron emission tomography (PET) and postmortem dissection. Metabolism was assessed by high-performance liquid chromatography analysis of plasma and urine. The heart was visualised with PET after injection of (S)-[(18)F]F-ICI but neither unlabelled F-ICI nor propranolol (non-selective beta-AR antagonist) injected 15 min after (S)-[(18)F]F-ICI affected myocardial radioactivity. Ex vivo dissection demonstrated that predosing with propranolol or CGP 20712 (beta(1)-selective AR-antagonist) did not affect myocardial radioactivity. Radiometabolites rapidly appeared in plasma and both (S)-[(18)F]F-ICI and radiometabolites accumulated in urine. Myocardial uptake of (S)-[(18)F]F-ICI after intravenous injection was mainly at sites unrelated to beta(1)-ARs. (S)-[(18)F]F-ICI is not a suitable beta(1)-selective-AR radioligand for PET. (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Preclinical evaluation of an 18F-labelled β1-adrenoceptor selective radioligand based on ICI 89,406

PubMed Central

Law, Marilyn P.; Wagner, Stefan; Kopka, Klaus; Renner, Christiane; Pike, Victor W.; Schober, Otmar; Schäfers, Michael

2010-01-01

Purpose Radioligand binding studies indicate a down-regulation of myocardial β1-adrenoceptors (β1-AR) in cardiac disease which may or may not be associated with a decrease in β2-ARs. We have chosen ICI 89,406, a β1-selective AR antagonist, as the lead structure to develop new β1-AR radioligands for PET and have synthesised a fluoro-ethoxy derivative (F-ICI). Methods (S)-N-[2-[3-(2-Cyano-phenoxy)-2-hydroxy-propylamino]-ethyl]-N′-[4-(2-[18F]fluoro-ethoxy)-phenyl]-urea ((S)-[18F]F-ICI) was synthesised. Myocardial uptake of radioactivity after intravenous injection of (S)-[18F]F-ICI into adult CD1 mice or Wistar rats was assessed with positron emission tomography (PET) and postmortem dissection. Metabolism was assessed by high-performance liquid chromatography analysis of plasma and urine. Results The heart was visualised with PET after injection of (S)-[18F]F-ICI but neither unlabelled F-ICI nor propranolol (non-selective β-AR antagonist) injected 15 min after (S)-[18F]F-ICI affected myocardial radioactivity. Ex vivo dissection demonstrated that predosing with propranolol or CGP 20712 (β1-selective AR-antagonist) did not affect myocardial radioactivity. Radiometabolites rapidly appeared in plasma and both (S)-[18F]F-ICI and radiometabolites accumulated in urine. Conclusions Myocardial uptake of (S)-[18F]F-ICI after intravenous injection was mainly at sites unrelated to β1-ARs. (S)-[18F]F-ICI is not a suitable β1-selective-AR radioligand for PET. PMID:20447564

ICI bites demerger bullet, Zeneca guns for [Brit pounds]1. 3-billion rights issue

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jackson, D.; Alperowicz, N.

1993-03-03

Any lingering doubts as to ICI's (London) intentions to follow through its demerger proposals were dispelled last week. The company will hive off its bioscience business into Zeneca Group plc, which will make a [Brit pounds]1.3-billion ($1.9 billion) rights issue in June 1993. Shareholders, whose approval for the historic move will be sought in late May, will receive one fully paid Zeneca share for each ICI share. Proceeds from the rights issue will be used to reduce Zeneca's indebtedness to ICI by about 70%. Acknowledging that ICI had spread the jam too thinly' during its expansion in the 1980s, chiefmore » executive Ronnie Hampel says the new ICI will be a cost-conscious, no-frills' organization and that businesses that failed to perform would be restructured or closed. He is not expecting any help from the economy' in 1993. Of ICI's remaining petrochemicals and plastics businesses, Hampel says that despite stringent measures to reduce the cost base[hor ellipsis]it is clear they will not reach a return on capital that will justify reinvestment by ICI.' He does not see them as closure candidates but as 'businesses that will require further restructuring.' Hampel notes a dozen clearly identified areas for expansion,' including paints, catalysts, titanium dioxide, and chlorofluorocarbon replacements. Losses in materials, where substantial rationalization has failed to halt the slide, will be reduced on completion of the DuPont deal - expected by midyear. Further measures' would be necessary for the residual bit of advanced materials in the US,' he says.« less

Saturn's Icy satellites: The Role of Sub-Micron Ice Particles and Nano-sized Contaminants (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clark, R. N.; Cruikshank, D. P.; Dalle Ore, C. M.; Jaumann, R.; Brown, R. H.; Stephan, K.; Buratti, B. J.; Filacchione, G.; Baines, K. H.; Nicholson, P.

2010-12-01

The Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) has obtained spatially resolved imaging spectroscopy data on numerous satellites of Saturn. The spectral trends on individual satellites and as compositional gradients within the Saturn system show systematic trends that indicate variable ice grain sizes and contaminants. Compositional mapping shows that the satellite surfaces are composed largely of H2O ice, with small amounts of CO2, trace organics, bound water or OH-bearing minerals, and possible signatures of ammonia, H2O or OH-bearing minerals, and dark, fine-grained materials. The E-ring coats the inner satellites with sub-micron ice particles. The Cassini Rev 49 Iapetus fly-by on September 10, 2007, provided imaging spectroscopy data on both the dark material and the transition zone between the dark material and the visually bright ice on the trailing side. The dark material has very low albedo with a linear increase in reflectance with wavelength, a 3-micron water absorption, and a CO2 absorption. The only reflectance models that can explain the trends include highly absorbing sub-micron materials that create Rayleigh absorption. Radiative transfer models that include diffraction from Rayleigh scattering and Rayleigh absorption are necessary to match observed data. The dark material is well matched by a high component of fine-grained metallic iron plus a small component of nano-phase hematite. Spatially resolved Iapetus data show mixing of dark material with ice and the mixtures display a blue scattering peak and a UV absorption. The blue scattering peak and UV-Visible absorption is observed in spectra of all satellites at some locations where dark material is mixed with the ice. Rayleigh scattering and Rayleigh absorption have also been observed in spectral properties of the Earth's moon. Rayleigh absorption requires high absorption coefficient nano-sized particles, which is also consistent with metallic iron. The UV absorber appears to have increased

Space Environmental Erosion of Polar Icy Regolith

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Farrell, William M.; Killen, R. M.; Vondrak, R. R.; Hurley, D. M.; Stubbs, T. J.; Delory, G. T.; Halekas, J. S.; Zimmerman, M. I.

2011-01-01

While regions at the floors of permanently shadowed polar craters are isolated from direct sunlight, these regions are still exposed to the harsh space environment, including the interplanetary Lyman-a background, meteoric impacts, and obstacle-affected solar wind. We demonstrate that each of these processes can act to erode the polar icy regolith located at or near the surface along the crater floor. The Lyman-a background can remove/erode the icy-regolith via photon stimulated desorption [1], meteoric impacts can vaporize the regolith [2], and redirected solar wind ions can sputter the ice-regolith mix [3]. As an example we shall examine in detail the inflow of solar wind ions and electrons into polar craters, One might expect such ions to flow horizontally over the crater top (see Figure). However, we find that plasma ambipolar processes act to deflect passing ions into the craters [3]. We examine this plasma process and determine the ion flux as a function of position across a notional crater floor. We demonstrate that inflowing solar wind ions can indeed create sputtering along the crater floor, effectively eroding the surface. Erosion time scales rrom sputtering will be presented. We shall also consider the effect of impact vaporization on buried icy-regolith regions. There will also be a discussion of solar wind electrons that enter into the PSR, demonstrating that these also have the ability rree surface-bound atoms via electron stimulated desorption processes [l].

Long-term satisfaction and predictors of use in patients using intracorporeal injections (ICI) for post-prostatectomy erectile dysfunction (PPED)

PubMed Central

Prabhu, Vinay; Alukal, Joseph; Laze, Juliana; Makarov, Danil V.; Lepor, Herbert

2013-01-01

Purpose ICI has low utilization and high discontinuation rates. We examined factors associated with ICI use, long-term satisfaction with ICI, and reasons for discontinuation in men having undergone radical prostatectomy. Materials and Methods Between October 2000 and September 2003, 731 men undergoing open radical retropubic prostatectomy were enrolled in a prospective outcomes study. The eight-year follow-up evaluation included the UCLA-PCI and a survey capturing ICI use, satisfaction, and reasons for discontinuation. Logistic regression was utilized to determine associations between ICI use and pre-operative variables. Results Eight-year self-assessment was completed by 368 (50.4%) men; 140 (38%) of these indicated prior or current ICI use, with only 34 using ICI at eight years. Forty four percent of men were satisfied with ICI. Discontinuation reasons included: dislike (47%), pain (33%), return of erection (19%), inefficacy (14%), and no partner (6%). Men trying ICI had greater pre-operative UCLA-PCI sexual function scores (75.2 vs. 65.62, p = 0.00005) and greater declines in this score at three months (p = 0.0002) and two years (p = 0.003). Higher pre-operative sexual function scores were independently associated with utilization of ICI in a model adjusted for age, marital status, nerve sparing status, and BMI (OR =1.021, 95% CI 1.008–1.035). Conclusions Men pursuing ICI have better baseline erectile function and experience greater deterioration in erectile function during the early post-operative period. Despite high efficacy, many discontinue ICI due to dislike or discomfort. Satisfaction rates with ICI indicate its long-term role in restoring sexual function in men with PPED. PMID:23174252

ICI and Penspen in Nigerian and Qatari methanol deals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alperowicz, N.

The U.K. consulting and engineering company Penspen Ltd. (London) has signed a second joint venture agreement in Qatar and has selected the ICI (London) methanol process. The technology will also be used in a world-scale methanol plant in Nigeria that Penspen is helping to set up. Under the first agreement, signed on January 1 with Qatar General Petroleum Corp. (QGPC), a 50/50 venture is being formed to build a $370-million, 2,000-m.t./day methanol plant at Umm Said. ICI will provide its low-pressure technology and help market 75% of the output. Completion is due late 1994.

Sulfur- and Oyxgen(?)-Rich Cores of Large Icy Satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKinnon, W. B.

2008-12-01

S alone available to form a core may have been considerable, and a picture emerges of large, relatively low-density cores (a far greater proportion of "light alloying elements" than in the Earth's core), and relatively iron-rich rock mantles. Ganymede, and possibly Europa, may even retain residual solid FeS in their rock mantles, depending on the tidal heating history of each. Large, dominantly fluid cores imply enhanced mantle tidal deformation and heating. Published models have claimed that the Galilean satellites are depleted in Fe compared to rock, and in the case of Ganymede, that it is either depleted or enhanced in Fe. Obviously Ganymede cannot be both, and detailed structural models show that the Galilean satellites can be explained in terms of solar composition, once one allows for abundant sulfur and hot (liquid) cores.

Synthesis of novel ICIE16/BSG and ICIE16/BSG-NITRI bioglasses and description of ionic release kinetics upon immersion in SBF fluid: Effect of nitridation

PubMed Central

Orgaz, Felipe; Amat, Daniel; Szycht, Olga; Dzika, Aleksandra; Barba, Flora; Becerra, José; Santos-Ruiz, Leonor

2015-01-01

A novel bioactive glass scaffold ICIE16/BSG has been prepared from a mixture of two different melt-derived glasses: a silicate bioglass (ICIE16) and a borosilicate bioglass (BSG). Combined processing techniques (gel casting and foam replication) were used to form three-dimensional, interconnected porous monolith scaffolds (Orgaz et al., 2016) [1]. They were then nitrided with a hot ammonia flow as described in (Aleixandre et al., 1973) [3] and (Nieto, 1984) [4] to synthesize the ICIE16/BSG-NITRI bioglass (Orgaz et al., 2016) [1]. Herein we present a flow chart summarizing the forming process, plus images of the resulting scaffold after sintering and drying. Bioactivity was characterized in vitro by immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF) for up to seven days. Data of ionic release kinetics upon SBF immersion are presented. PMID:26858981

Thermal Conductive Heat Transfer and Partial Melting of Volatiles in Icy Moons, Asteroids, and Kuiper Belt Objects (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kargel, J. S.; Furfaro, R.

2013-12-01

Thermal gradients within conductive layers of icy satellite and asteroids depend partly on heat flow, which is related to the secular decay of radioactive isotopes, to heat released by chemical phase changes, by conversion of gravitational potential energy to heat during differentiation, tidal energy dissipation, and to release of heat stored from prior periods. Thermal gradients are also dependent on the thermal conductivity of materials, which in turn depends on their composition, crystallinity, porosity, crystal fabric anisotropy, and details of their mixture with other materials. Small impurities can produce lattice defects and changes in polymerization, and thereby have a huge influence on thermal conductivity, as can cage-inclusion (clathrate) compounds. Heat flow and thermal gradients can be affected by fluid phase advection of mass and heat (in oceans or sublimating upper crusts), by refraction related to heterogeneities of thermal conductivity due to lateral variations and composition or porosity. Thermal profiles depend also on the surface temperature controlled by albedo and climate, surface relief, and latitude, orbital obliquity and surface insolation, solid state greenhouses, and endogenic heating of the surface. The thermal state of icy moon interiors and thermal gradients can be limited at depth by fluid phase advection of heat (e.g., percolating meteoric methane or gas emission), by the latent heat of phase transitions (melting, solid-state transitions, and sublimation), by solid-state convective or diapiric heat transfer, and by foundering. Rapid burial of thick volatile deposits can also affect thermal gradients. For geologically inactive or simple icy objects, most of these controls on heat flow and thermal gradients are irrelevant, but for many other icy objects they can be important, in some cases causing large lateral and depth variations in thermal gradients, large variations in heat flow, and dynamically evolving thermal states. Many of

Radiation chemistry in the Jovian stratosphere - Laboratory simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcdonald, Gene D.; Thompson, W. R.; Sagan, Carl

1992-01-01

The results of the present low-pressure/continuous-flow laboratory simulations of H2/He/CH4/NH3 atmospheres' plasma-induced chemistry indicate radiation yields of both hydrocarbon and N2-containing organic compounds which increase with decreasing pressure. On the basis of these findings, upper limits of 1 million-1 billion molecules/sq cm/sec are established for production rates of major auroral-chemistry species in the Jovian stratosphere. It is noted that auroral processes may account for 10-100 percent of the total abundances of most of the observed polar-region organic species.

Synergistic effects of ICI 182,780 on the cytotoxicity of cisplatin in cervical carcinoma cell lines.

PubMed

García-López, Patricia; Rodríguez-Dorantes, Mauricio; Pérez-Cárdenas, Enrique; Cerbón, Marco; Mohar-Betancourt, Alejandro

2004-06-01

We investigated the ability of the novel pure antiestrogen ICI 182,780 to modulate the cytotoxic effects of cisplatin in several cervical cancer cell lines. The effect of cisplatin alone and cisplatin combined with ICI 182,780 on cellular death was studied using an assay based on a tetrazolium dye (sodium 3'-[1-(phenylamino-carbonyl)-3,4-tetrazolium], XTT). Before and after treatment with ICI 182,780, expression of the estrogen and progesterone receptor genes were assessed by a reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Cell-cycle modifications after combined treatment with cisplatin and ICI 182,780 were studied by flow cytometry. Analysis of the data by the isobologram method showed that the combination of ICI 182,780 and cisplatin produced a synergistic antiproliferative effect in cervical cancer cells. The effect of ICI 182,780 on the cytotoxicity of cisplatin could be mediated, at least partially, by inhibition of estrogen and progesterone gene expression and by arresting the cell cycle at the G(2)/M phase. Our results suggest that ICI 182,780 can improve the efficacy of cisplatin in cancer cells and that this antihormonal drug therapy may be a useful candidate for further evaluation in combination with antineoplastic drugs, particularly cisplatin, in the treatment of cancer.

Io's Interaction with the Jovian Magnetosphere: Models of Particle Acceleration and Scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crary, Frank Judson

1998-09-01

I develop models of electron acceleration and ion scattering which result from Io's interaction with the jovian magnetosphere. According to my models, Io initially generates transient currents and an Alfvenic disturbance when it first encounters a jovian magnetic field line, and the interaction would eventually settle into a system of steady Birkeland currents as the field line is advected downstream past Io and into Io's wake. I derive a model of wave propagation and electron acceleration by the Alfvenic transient, due to electron inertial effects. My numerical calculations show that the power and particle energy of the resulting electron beam are consistent with observations of the Io-related auroral spot and of Jupiter's S-burst decametric emissions. In the case of the steady currents and Io's wake. I show that these currents would drive instabilities and argue that electrostatic double layers would form in the high latitudes of the Io/Io wake flux tubes. I examine the role of these double layers in producing energetic electrons and estimate the likely electron energies and power. This model agrees with observations of a long arc in the jovian aurora, extending away from the Io-related spot, the L-burst decametric radio emissions and electron beams observed by the Galileo spacecraft in Io's wake. Finally, I consider the Galileo observations of ion cyclotron waves near Io. I use the absence of waves near the S and O gyrofrequencies to place limits on the source rate of heavy ions near Io. For a sufficiently low source rate, the thermal core population prevents ion cyclotron instabilities and wave growth. I use these limits to constrain the neutral column density of Io's exosphere and amount of plasma produced within 2 to 10 body radii of Io.

Abrupt Climate Transition of Icy Worlds from Snowball to Moist or Runaway Greenhouse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, J.; Ding, F.; Ramirez, R. M.; Peltier, W. R.; Hu, Y.; Liu, Y.

2017-12-01

Ongoing and future space missions aim to identify potentially habitable planets in our Solar System and beyond. Planetary habitability is determined not only by a planet's current stellar insolation and atmospheric properties, but also by the evolutionary history of its climate. It has been suggested that icy planets and moons become habitable after their initial ice shield melts as their host stars brighten. Here we show from global climate model simulations that a habitable state is not achieved in the climatic evolution of those icy planets and moons that possess an inactive carbonate-silicate cycle and low concentrations of greenhouse gases. Examples for such planetary bodies are the icy moons Europa and Enceladus, and certain icy exoplanets orbiting G and F stars. We find that the stellar fluxes that are required to overcome a planet's initial snowball state are so large that they lead to significant water loss and preclude a habitable planet. Specifically, they exceed the moist greenhouse limit, at which water vapour accumulates at high altitudes where it can readily escape, or the runaway greenhouse limit, at which the strength of the greenhouse increases until the oceans boil away. We suggest that some icy planetary bodies may transition directly to a moist or runaway greenhouse without passing through a habitable Earth-like state.

Abrupt climate transition of icy worlds from snowball to moist or runaway greenhouse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Jun; Ding, Feng; Ramirez, Ramses M.; Peltier, W. R.; Hu, Yongyun; Liu, Yonggang

2017-08-01

Ongoing and future space missions aim to identify potentially habitable planets in our Solar System and beyond. Planetary habitability is determined not only by a planet's current stellar insolation and atmospheric properties, but also by the evolutionary history of its climate. It has been suggested that icy planets and moons become habitable after their initial ice shield melts as their host stars brighten. Here we show from global climate model simulations that a habitable state is not achieved in the climatic evolution of those icy planets and moons that possess an inactive carbonate-silicate cycle and low concentrations of greenhouse gases. Examples for such planetary bodies are the icy moons Europa and Enceladus, and certain icy exoplanets orbiting G and F stars. We find that the stellar fluxes that are required to overcome a planet's initial snowball state are so large that they lead to significant water loss and preclude a habitable planet. Specifically, they exceed the moist greenhouse limit, at which water vapour accumulates at high altitudes where it can readily escape, or the runaway greenhouse limit, at which the strength of the greenhouse increases until the oceans boil away. We suggest that some icy planetary bodies may transition directly to a moist or runaway greenhouse without passing through a habitable Earth-like state.

Prospects for Jovian seismological observations following the impact of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deming, Drake

1994-01-01

The impact of each fragment of comet SL-9 will produce a downward-propagating pressure wave which will travel at the sound speed through the jovian interior. Since the sound speed increases with depth, most of the energy in the pressure pulse will be strongly refracted and return to the surface, as recently computed by Marley (1994). This wave may in principle be observable as it propagates into the stratosphere, using sufficiently sensitive thermal infrared imaging. If so, it will provide a unique opportunity to constrain models of the jovian interior. This paper extends Marley's calculations to include the effect of the limited spatial resolution which will be characteristic of real observations. The wave pattern on the disk will consist of closely spaced regions of alternating temperature increases and decreases. Spatial averaging will significantly reduce the observed amplitude for resolutions attainable using earth-based telescopes, but the waves should remain above the detection limit.

Doppler line profiles measurement of the Jovian Lyman Alpha emission with OAO-C

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barker, E. S.; Cochran, W. D.; Smith, H. J.

1982-01-01

Observation of Jupiter made with the high resolution ultraviolet spectrometer of the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory copernicus in April and May, 1980, yield a Jovian Lyman alpha emission intensity of 7 + or 2.5 RR. This indicates a decrease by about a factor of two since the Voyager ultraviolet spectrometer measurements, nearly a year earlier. An unusually high column abundance of hydrogen atoms above the methane homopause at the Voyager epoch is indicated. Since the auroral charged particle bombardment of molecular hydrogen is expected to contribute significantly to the global population of the hydrogen atoms, it is suggested that at the time of the Voyager Jupiter encounter unusually high auroral activity existed, perhaps d to the high concentration of the Io plasma torus. The temporal variation of the Saturn lyman alpha emission, when contrasted with the Jovian data, reveals that the auroral processes are not nearly as important in determining the Saturn Lyman alpha intensity in the nonauroral region.

ICI 182,780 has agonistic effects and synergizes with estradiol-17 beta in fish liver, but not in testis.

PubMed

Pinto, Patrícia I S; Singh, Pratap B; Condeça, João B; Teodósio, Helena R; Power, Deborah M; Canário, Adelino V M

2006-12-27

ICI 182,780 (ICI) belongs to a new class of antiestrogens developed to be pure estrogen antagonists and, in addition to its therapeutic use, it has been used to knock-out estrogen and estrogen receptor (ER) actions in several mammalian species. In the present study, the effects and mechanism of action of ICI were investigated in the teleost fish, sea bream (Sparus auratus). Three independent in vivo experiments were performed in which mature male tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) or sea bream received intra-peritoneal implants containing estradiol-17 beta (E2), ICI or a combination of both compounds. The effects of E2 and ICI on plasma calcium levels were measured and hepatic and testicular gene expression of the three ER subtypes, ER alpha, ER beta a and ER beta b, and the estrogen-responsive genes, vitellogenin II and choriogenin L, were analyzed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR in sea bream. E2 treatment caused an increase in calcium levels in tilapia, while ICI alone had no noticeable effect, as expected. However, pretreatment with ICI synergistically potentiated the effect of E2 on plasma calcium in both species. ICI mimicked some E2 actions in gene expression in sea bream liver upregulating ER alpha, vitellogenin II and choriogenin L, although, unlike E2, it did not downregulate ER beta a and ER beta b. In contrast, no effects of E2 or ICI alone were detected in the expression of ERs in testis, while vitellogenin II and choriogenin L were upregulated by E2 but not ICI. Finally, pretreatment with ICI had a synergistic effect on the hepatic E2 down-regulation of ER beta b, but apparently blocked the ER alpha up-regulation by E2. These results demonstrate that ICI has agonistic effects on several typical estrogenic responses in fish, but its actions are tissue-specific. The mechanisms for the ICI agonistic activity are still unknown; although the ICI induced up-regulation of ER alpha mRNA could be one of the factors contributing to the cellular response.

Jovian aurora from Juno perijove passes: comparison of ultraviolet and infrared images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gérard, J.-C.; Bonfond, B.; Adriani, A.; Gladstone, G. R.; Mura, A.; Grodent, D.; Versteeg, M. H.; Greathouse, T. K.; Hue, V.; Altieri, F.; Dinelli, B. M.; Moriconi, M. L.; Migliorini, A.; Radioti, A.; Bolton, S. J.; Connerney, J. E. P.; Levin, S. M.; Fabiano, F.

2017-09-01

The electromagnetic radiation emitted by the Jovian aurora extends from the X-Rays presumably caused by heavy ion precipitation and electron bremsstrahlung to thermal infrared radiation resulting from enhanced heating by high-energy charged particles. Many observations have been made since the 1990s with the Hubble Space Telescope, which was able to image the H2 Lyman and Werner bands that are directly excited by collisions of auroral electrons with H2. Ground-based telescopes obtained spectra and images of the thermal H3+ emission produced by charge transfer between H2+ and H+ ions and neutral H2 molecules in the lower thermosphere. However, so far the geometry of the observations limited the coverage from Earth orbit and only one case of simultaneous UV and infrared emissions has been described in the literature. The Juno mission provides the unique advantage to observe both Jovian hemispheres simultaneously in the two wavelength regions simultaneously and offers a more global coverage with unprecedented spatial resolution. This was the case.

Grid2: A Program for Rapid Estimation of the Jovian Radiation Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Evans, R. W.; Brinza, D. E.

2014-01-01

Grid2 is a program that utilizes the Galileo Interim Radiation Electron model 2 (GIRE2) Jovian radiation model to compute fluences and doses for Jupiter missions. (Note: The iterations of these two softwares have been GIRE and GIRE2; likewise Grid and Grid2.) While GIRE2 is an important improvement over the original GIRE radiation model, the GIRE2 model can take as long as a day or more to compute these quantities for a complete mission. Grid2 fits the results of the detailed GIRE2 code with a set of grids in local time and position thereby greatly speeding up the execution of the model-minutes as opposed to days. The Grid2 model covers the time period from 1971 to 2050 and distances of 1.03 to 30 Jovian diameters (Rj). It is available as a direct-access database through a FORTRAN interface program. The new database is only slightly larger than the original grid version: 1.5 gigabytes (GB) versus 1.2 GB.

EVAPORATION OF ICY PLANETESIMALS DUE TO BOW SHOCKS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tanaka, Kyoko K.; Yamamoto, Tetsuo; Tanaka, Hidekazu

2013-02-20

We present the novel concept of evaporation of planetesimals as a result of bow shocks associated with planetesimals orbiting with supersonic velocities relative to the gas in a protoplanetary disk. We evaluate the evaporation rates of the planetesimals based on a simple model describing planetesimal heating and evaporation by the bow shock. We find that icy planetesimals with radius {approx}>100 km evaporate efficiently even outside the snow line in the stage of planetary oligarchic growth, where strong bow shocks are produced by gravitational perturbations from protoplanets. The obtained results suggest that the formation of gas giant planets is suppressed owingmore » to insufficient accretion of icy planetesimals onto the protoplanet within the {approx}<5 AU disk region.« less

Comets: Dirty snowballs or icy dirtballs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keller, H. U.

1989-12-01

The observations of comet Halley show that the non-volatile (dust) component of the cometary nucleus has become more dominant if compared to the perception based on the icy conglomerate nucleus. The in-situ observations on the Giotto spacecraft revealed an excess of large dust particles that dominate the mass distribution. Even larger particles were derived from the attitude changes of the spacecraft bridging the gap to the cloud of particles observed by radar techniques. A dust to gas ratio larger than one was derived for comet Halley. The importance of dust for the structure of the nucleus is corroborated by the amount of particles and their lifetime in meteor streams. Fireballs show that large (meter size) objects separate from the nucleus and are stable enough to survive hundreds of orbital periods. From the various lines of evidence it is concluded that the structure of cometary nuclei is determined by the non-volatile component rather than by ice or snow. Laboratory models based on icy agglomerations do not seem realistic as nucleus analogs.

ICI to float tioxide in portfolio shift

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alperowicz, N.

1997-02-12

This article discusses the economic plans for ICI, the second largest producer of titanium dioxide, TiO{sub 2}. The reallocation of funds by separating paint and TiO{sub 2} production should help to transform the company in the next century.

Small Jovian Trojan Asteroids: An Excess of Slow Rotators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

French, Linda M.

2016-01-01

Several lines of evidence support a common origin for, and possible hereditary link between, cometary nuclei and jovian Trojan asteroids. Due to their distance and low albedos, few comet-sized Trojans have been studied. We discuss the rotation properties of Jovian Trojan asteroids less than 30 km in diameter. Approximately half of the objects discussed here were studied using densely sampled lightcurves (French et al. 2015a, b); Stephens et al. 2015), and the other half were sparse lightcurves obtained by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF; Waszcazk et al. 2015). A significant fraction (~40%) of the objects in the ground-based sample rotate slowly (P > 24h), with measured periods as long as 375 h (Warner and Stephens 2011). The PTF data show a similar excess of slow rotators. Only 5 objects in the combined data set have rotation periods of less than six hours. Three of these fast rotators were contained in the data set of French et al. these three had a geometric mean rotation period of 5.29 hours. A prolate spheroid held together by gravity rotating with this period would have a critical density of 0.43 gm/cm3, a density similar to that of comets (Lamy et al. 2004). Harris et al. (2012) and Warner et al. (2011) have explored the possible effects on asteroid rotational statistics with the results from wide-field surveys. We will examine Trojan rotation statistics with and without the results from the PTF.

Are [O-methyl-11C]derivatives of ICI 89,406 beta1-adrenoceptor selective radioligands suitable for PET?

PubMed

Law, Marilyn P; Wagner, Stefan; Kopka, Klaus; Pike, Victor W; Schober, Otmar; Schäfers, Michael

2008-01-01

Radioligand binding studies show that beta(1)-adrenoceptor (beta(1)-AR) density may be reduced in heart disease without down regulation of beta(2)-ARs. Radioligands are available for measuring total beta-AR density non-invasively with clinical positron emission tomography (PET) but none are selective for beta(1)- or beta(2)-ARs. The aim was to evaluate ICI 89,406, a beta(1)-AR-selective antagonist amenable to labelling with positron emitters, for PET. The S-enantiomer of an [O-methyl-(11)C] derivative of ICI 89,406 ((S)-[(11)C]ICI-OMe) was synthesised. Tissue radioactivity after i.v. injection of (S)-[(11)C]ICI-OMe (< 2 nmol x kg(-1)) into adult Wistar rats was assessed by small animal PET and post mortem dissection. Metabolism was assessed by HPLC of extracts prepared from plasma and tissues and by measuring [(11)C]CO(2) in exhaled air. The heart was visualised by PET after injection of (S)-[(11)C]ICI-OMe but neither unlabelled (S)-ICI-OMe nor propranolol (non-selective beta-AR antagonist) injected 15 min after (S)-[(11)C]ICI-OMe affected myocardial radioactivity. Ex vivo dissection showed that injecting unlabelled (S)-ICI-OMe, propranolol or CGP 20712A (beta(1)-selective AR antagonist) at high dose (> 2 mumol x kg(-1)) before (S)-[(11)C]ICI-OMe had a small effect on myocardial radioactivity. HPLC demonstrated that radioactivity in myocardium was due to unmetabolised (S)-[(11)C]ICI-OMe although (11)C-labelled metabolites rapidly appeared in plasma and liver and [(11)C]CO(2) was detected in exhaled air. Myocardial uptake of (S)-[(11)C]ICI-OMe after i.v. injection was low, possibly due to rapid metabolism in other tissues. Injection of unlabelled ligand or beta-AR antagonists had little effect indicating that binding was mainly to non-specific myocardial sites, thus precluding the use of (S)-[(11)C]ICI-OMe to assess beta(1)-ARs with PET.

Observation of auroral secondary electrons in the Jovian magnetosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcnutt, Ralph L., Jr.; Bagenal, Fran; Thorne, Richard M.

1990-01-01

Localized enhancements in the flux of suprathermal electrons were observed by the Voyager 1 Plasma Science instrument near the outer boundary of the Io plasma torus between L = 7.5 and l = 10. This localization, which occurs within the general region of hot electrons noted by Sittler and Strobel (1987), and the spectral characteristics of the observed electrons are consistent with secondary (backscattered) electron production by intense Jovian auroral energetic particle precipitation and support the hypothesis that such electrons may contribute to the processes that heat the plasma in this region of the magnetosphere.

The Magnetic Dichotomy of the Galilean Satellites Europa and Ganymede

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Breuer, D.; Hussmann, H.; Spohn, T.

2006-12-01

A major discovery of the Galileo mission was the detection of Ganymede's self-generated magnetic field. The magnetic field also proves beyond doubt that Ganymede is fully differentiated into an iron-rich core, a silicate mantle, and an outer ice shell that most likely also contains an ocean. It is widely believed that Europa has a similar structure although the absence of a self-sustained magnetic field makes the case for a core in Europa less compelling. Since Callisto's moment-of-inertia factor suggests an undifferentiated satellite and since the absence of a magnetic of Io is best explained by tidal heating in the mantle blocking the heat flow from the core (Wienbruch and Spohn, 1995), Europa and Ganymede form a magnetic dichotomy in the Jovian system. We have used stagnant lid models of convection in the two icy satellites to calculate thermal history models with core cooling and have allowed for inner core growth through freezing. The models have stagnant lid convection or conduction in the outer ice shells (depending on material parameters), isothermal oceans, and, in the case of Ganymede, stagnant-lid convection in the ice shell underneath the ocean and above the rock mantle. For Europa the ocean interfaces with the rock mantle. We assume iron cores that start fully molten for both satellites, the radii of which were taken from Sohl et al. (2002). These models suggest that Europa has a few 100 km smaller core and thinner mantle and a substantially thinner ice shell. All but interior structure parameters equal, we find that core convection and hence dynamo action is more likely for Europa than for Ganymede. The reason are mainly the larger core and the thicker mantle. Accepting core convection in Ganymede, the question than poses itself of how to explain the absence of core convection in Europa. We find and will discuss the following possibilities: 1) Europa has no iron core. This is consistent with the observation but leaves the question why Ganymede should

Surfing on the edge: chaos versus near-integrability in the system of Jovian planets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayes, Wayne B.

2008-05-01

We demonstrate that the system of Sun and Jovian planets, integrated for 200Myr as an isolated five-body system using many sets of initial conditions all within the uncertainty bounds of their currently known positions, can display both chaos and near-integrability. The conclusion is consistent across four different integrators, including several comparisons against integrations utilizing quadruple precision. We demonstrate that the Wisdom-Holman symplectic map using simple symplectic correctors as implemented in MERCURY 6.2 gives a reliable characterization of the existence of chaos for a particular initial condition only with time-steps less than about 10d, corresponding to about 400 steps per orbit. We also integrate the canonical DE405 initial condition out to 5Gyr, and show that it has a Lyapunov time of 200-400Myr, opening the remote possibility of accurate prediction of the Jovian planetary positions for 5Gyr.

ICI 182,780 has agonistic effects and synergizes with estradiol-17 beta in fish liver, but not in testis

PubMed Central

Pinto, Patrícia IS; Singh, Pratap B; Condeça, João B; Teodósio, Helena R; Power, Deborah M; Canário, Adelino VM

2006-01-01

Background ICI 182,780 (ICI) belongs to a new class of antiestrogens developed to be pure estrogen antagonists and, in addition to its therapeutic use, it has been used to knock-out estrogen and estrogen receptor (ER) actions in several mammalian species. In the present study, the effects and mechanism of action of ICI were investigated in the teleost fish, sea bream (Sparus auratus). Methods Three independent in vivo experiments were performed in which mature male tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) or sea bream received intra-peritoneal implants containing estradiol-17 beta (E2), ICI or a combination of both compounds. The effects of E2 and ICI on plasma calcium levels were measured and hepatic and testicular gene expression of the three ER subtypes, ER alpha, ER beta a and ER beta b, and the estrogen-responsive genes, vitellogenin II and choriogenin L, were analyzed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR in sea bream. Results E2 treatment caused an increase in calcium levels in tilapia, while ICI alone had no noticeable effect, as expected. However, pretreatment with ICI synergistically potentiated the effect of E2 on plasma calcium in both species. ICI mimicked some E2 actions in gene expression in sea bream liver upregulating ER alpha, vitellogenin II and choriogenin L, although, unlike E2, it did not downregulate ER beta a and ER beta b. In contrast, no effects of E2 or ICI alone were detected in the expression of ERs in testis, while vitellogenin II and choriogenin L were upregulated by E2 but not ICI. Finally, pretreatment with ICI had a synergistic effect on the hepatic E2 down-regulation of ER beta b, but apparently blocked the ER alpha up-regulation by E2. Conclusion These results demonstrate that ICI has agonistic effects on several typical estrogenic responses in fish, but its actions are tissue-specific. The mechanisms for the ICI agonistic activity are still unknown; although the ICI induced up-regulation of ER alpha mRNA could be one of the factors contributing

ICI 182,780 penetrates brain and hypothalamic tissue and has functional effects in the brain after systemic dosing.

PubMed

Alfinito, Peter D; Chen, Xiaohong; Atherton, James; Cosmi, Scott; Deecher, Darlene C

2008-10-01

Previous reports suggest the antiestrogen ICI 182,780 (ICI) does not cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). However, this hypothesis has never been directly tested. In the present study, we tested whether ICI crosses the BBB, penetrates into brain and hypothalamic tissues, and affects known neuroendocrine functions in ovariectomized rats. Using HPLC with mass spectrometry, ICI (1.0 mg/kg.d, 3 d) was detected in plasma and brain and hypothalamic tissues for up to 24 h with maximum concentrations of 43.1 ng/ml, and 31.6 and 38.8 ng/g, respectively. To evaluate antiestrogenic effects of ICI in the brain after systemic dosing, we tested its ability to block the effect of 17 alpha-ethinyl estradiol (EE) (0.3 mg/kg, 8 d) on tail-skin temperature abatement in the morphine-dependent model of hot flush and on body weight change. In the morphine-dependent model, EE abated 64% of the naloxone-induced tail-skin temperature increase. ICI pretreatment (1.0, 3.0 mg/kg.d) dose dependently inhibited this effect. ICI (3.0 mg/kg.d) alone showed estrogenic-like actions, abating 30% the naloxone-induced flush. In body weight studies, EE-treated rats weighed 58.5 g less than vehicle-treated rats after 8 d dosing. This effect was partially blocked by ICI (3.0 mg/kg.d) pretreatment. Similar to EE treatment, rats receiving 1.0 or 3.0 mg/kg.d ICI alone showed little weight gain compared with vehicle-treated controls. Thus, ICI crosses the BBB, penetrates into brain and hypothalamic tissues, and has both antiestrogenic and estrogenic-like actions on neuroendocrine-related functions.

Low Energy Particle Oscillations and Correlations with Hydromagnetic Waves in the Jovian Magnetosphere: Ulysses Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krupp, N.; Tsurutani, B. T.; Lanzerotti, L. J.; Maclennan, C. G.

1996-01-01

We report on measurements of energetic particle modulations observed by the HI-SCALE instrument aboard the Ulysses Spacecraft that were associated with the only hydromagnetic wave event measured inside the Jovian magnetosphere by the Ulysses magnetometer investigation.

Grid2: A Program for Rapid Estimation of the Jovian Radiation Environment: A Numeric Implementation of the GIRE2 Jovian Radiation Model for Estimating Trapped Radiation for Mission Concept Studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Evans, R. W.; Brinza, D. E.

2014-01-01

Grid2 is a program that utilizes the Galileo Interim Radiation Electron model 2 (GIRE2) Jovian radiation model to compute fluences and doses for Jupiter missions. (Note: The iterations of these two softwares have been GIRE and GIRE2; likewise Grid and Grid2.) While GIRE2 is an important improvement over the original GIRE radiation model, the GIRE2 model can take as long as a day or more to compute these quantities for a complete mission. Grid2 fits the results of the detailed GIRE2 code with a set of grids in local time and position thereby greatly speeding up the execution of the model--minutes as opposed to days. The Grid2 model covers the time period from 1971 to 2050and distances of 1.03 to 30 Jovian diameters (Rj). It is available as a direct-access database through a FORTRAN interface program. The new database is only slightly larger than the original grid version: 1.5 gigabytes (GB) versus 1.2 GB.

Fulvestrant (ICI 182,780) down-regulates androgen receptor expression and diminishes androgenic responses in LNCaP human prostate cancer cells.

PubMed

Bhattacharyya, Rumi S; Krishnan, Aruna V; Swami, Srilatha; Feldman, David

2006-06-01

The androgen receptor (AR) plays a key role in the development and progression of prostate cancer. Targeting the AR for down-regulation would be a useful strategy for treating prostate cancer, especially hormone-refractory or androgen-independent prostate cancer. In the present study, we showed that the antiestrogen fulvestrant [ICI 182,780 (ICI)] effectively suppressed AR expression in several human prostate cancer cells, including androgen-independent cells. In LNCaP cells, ICI (10 micromol/L) treatment decreased AR mRNA expression by 43% after 24 hours and AR protein expression by approximately 50% after 48 hours. We further examined the mechanism of AR down-regulation by ICI in LNCaP cells. ICI did not bind to the T877A-mutant AR present in the LNCaP cells nor did it promote proteasomal degradation of the AR. ICI did not affect AR mRNA or protein half-life. However, ICI decreased the activity of an AR promoter-luciferase reporter plasmid transfected into LNCaP cells, suggesting a direct repression of AR gene transcription. As a result of AR down-regulation by ICI, androgen induction of prostate-specific antigen mRNA and protein expression were substantially attenuated. Importantly, LNCaP cell proliferation was significantly inhibited by ICI treatment. Following 6 days of ICI treatment, a 70% growth inhibition was seen in androgen-stimulated LNCaP cells. These data show that the antiestrogen ICI is a potent AR down-regulator that causes significant inhibition of prostate cancer cell growth. Our study suggests that AR down-regulation by ICI would be an effective strategy for the treatment of all prostate cancer, especially AR-dependent androgen-independent prostate cancer.

Jupiter icy moons orbiteer mission design overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sims, Jon A.

2006-01-01

An overview of the design of a mission to three large moons of Jupiter is presented. the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) mission uses ion thrusters powered by a nuclear reactor to transfer from Earth to Jupiter and enter a low-altitude science orbit around each of the moons.

Jovian Plasma Modeling for Mission Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garrett, Henry B.; Kim, Wousik; Belland, Brent; Evans, Robin

2015-01-01

The purpose of this report is to address uncertainties in the plasma models at Jupiter responsible for surface charging and to update the jovian plasma models using the most recent data available. The updated plasma environment models were then used to evaluate two proposed Europa mission designs for spacecraft charging effects using the Nascap-2k code. The original Divine/Garrett jovian plasma model (or "DG1", T. N. Divine and H. B. Garrett, "Charged particle distributions in Jupiter's magnetosphere," J. Geophys. Res., vol. 88, pp. 6889-6903,1983) has not been updated in 30 years, and there are known errors in the model. As an example, the cold ion plasma temperatures between approx.5 and 10 Jupiter radii (Rj) were found by the experimenters who originally published the data to have been underestimated by approx.2 shortly after publication of the original DG1 model. As knowledge of the plasma environment is critical to any evaluation of the surface charging at Jupiter, the original DG1 model needed to be updated to correct for this and other changes in our interpretation of the data so that charging levels could beproperly estimated using the Nascap-2k charging code. As an additional task, the Nascap-2k spacecraft charging tool has been adapted to incorporate the so-called Kappa plasma distribution function--an important component of the plasma model necessary to compute the particle fluxes between approx.5 keV and 100 keV (at the outset of this study,Nascap-2k did not directly incorporate this common representation of the plasma thus limiting the accuracy of our charging estimates). The updating of the DG1 model and its integration into the Nascap-2k design tool means that charging concerns can now be more efficiently evaluated and mitigated. (We note that, given the subsequent decision by the Europa project to utilize solar arrays for its baseline design, surface charging effects have becomeeven more of an issue for its mission design). The modifications and

Jovian plasma modeling for mission design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garrett, Henry B.; Kim, Wousik; Belland, Brent; Evans, Robin

2015-01-01

The purpose of this report is to address uncertainties in the plasma models at Jupiter responsible for surface charging and to update the jovian plasma models using the most recent data available. The updated plasma environment models were then used to evaluate two proposed Europa mission designs for spacecraft charging effects using the Nascap-2k code. The original Divine/Garrett jovian plasma model (or "DG1", T. N. Divine and H. B. Garrett, "Charged particle distributions in Jupiter's magnetosphere," J. Geophys. Res., vol. 88, pp. 6889-6903,1983) has not been updated in 30 years, and there are known errors in the model. As an example, the cold ion plasma temperatures between approx.5 and 10 Jupiter radii (Rj) were found by the experimenters who originally published the data to have been underestimated by approx.2 shortly after publication of the original DG1 model. As knowledge of the plasma environment is critical to any evaluation of the surface charging at Jupiter, the original DG1 model needed to be updated to correct for this and other changes in our interpretation of the data so that charging levels could beproperly estimated using the Nascap-2k charging code. As an additional task, the Nascap-2k spacecraft charging tool has been adapted to incorporate the so-called Kappa plasma distribution function--an important component of the plasma model necessary to compute the particle fluxes between approx.5 keV and 100 keV (at the outset of this study,Nascap-2k did not directly incorporate this common representation of the plasma thus limiting the accuracy of our charging estimates). The updating of the DG1 model and its integration into the Nascap-2k design tool means that charging concerns can now be more efficiently evaluated and mitigated. (We note that, given the subsequent decision by the Europa project to utilize solar arrays for its baseline design, surface charging effects have becomeeven more of an issue for its mission design). The modifications and

Lunar and Planetary Science XXXV: Outer Solar System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

The session 'Outer Solar System" inlcuded:Monte Carlo Modeling of [O I] 630 nm Auroral Emission on Io; The Detection of Iron Sulfide on Io; Io and Loki in 2003 as Seen from the Infrared Telescope Facility Using Mutual Satellite and Jupiter Occultations; Mapping of the Zamama-Thor Region of Io; First Solar System Results of the Spitzer Space Telescope; Mapping the Surface of Pluto with the Hubble Space Telescope; Experimental Study on Fischer-Tropsch Catalysis in the Circum-Saturnian Subnebula; New High-Pressure Phases of Ammonia Dihydrate; Gas Hydrate Stability at Low Temperatures and High Pressures with Applications to Mars and Europa; Laboratory UV Photolysis of Planetary Ice Analogs Containing H2O + CO2 (1:1); The OH Stretch Infrared Band of Water Ice and Its Temperature and Radiation Dependence; Band Position Variations in Reflectance Spectra of the Jovian Satellite Ganymede; Comparison of Porosity and Radar Models for Europa s Near Surface; Combined Effects of Diurnal and Nonsynchronous Surface Stresses on Europa; Europa s Northern Trailing Hemisphere: Lineament Stratigraphic Framework; Europa at the Highest Resolution: Implications for Surface Processes and Landing Sites; Comparison of Methods to Determine Furrow System Centers on Ganymede and Callisto; Resurfacing of Ganymede by Liquid-Water Volcanism; Layered Ejecta Craters on Ganymede: Comparisons with Martian Analogs; Evaluation of the Possible Presence of CO2-Clathrates in Europa s Icy Shell or Seafloor; Geosciences at Jupiter s Icy Moons: The Midas Touch; Planetary Remote Sensing Science Enabled by MIDAS (Multiple Instrument Distributed Aperture Sensor); and In Situ Surveying of Saturn s Rings.

The Europa Jupiter system mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clark, K.; Stankov, A.; Pappalardo, R. T.; Greeley, R.; Blanc, M.; Lebreton, J.-P.; van Houten, T.

2009-04-01

Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM)— would be an international mission that would achieve Decadal Survey and Cosmic Vision goals. NASA and ESA have concluded a joint study of a mission to Europa, Ganymede and the Jupiter system with orbiters developed by NASA and ESA; contributions by JAXA are also possible. The baseline EJSM architecture consists of two primary elements operating in the Jovian system: the NASA-led Jupiter Europa Orbiter (JEO), and the ESA-led Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter (JGO). JEO and JGO would execute an intricately choreographed exploration of the Jupiter System be-fore settling into orbit around Europa and Ganymede, respectively. JEO and JGO would carry eleven and ten complementary instruments, respectively, to monitor dynamic phenomena (such as Io's volcanoes and Jupi-ter's atmosphere), map the Jovian magnetosphere and its interactions with the Galilean satellites, and charac-terize water oceans beneath the ice shells of Europa and Ganymede. EJSM would fully addresses high priority science objectives identified by the National Research Coun-cil's (NRC's) Decadal Survey and ESA's Cosmic Vi-sion for exploration of the outer solar system. The De-cadal Survey recommended a Europa Orbiter as the highest priority outer planet flagship mission and also identified Ganymede as a highly desirable mission tar-get. EJSM would uniquely addresse several of the cen-tral themes of ESA's Cosmic Vision Programme, through its in-depth exploration of the Jupiter system and its evolution from origin to habitability. EJSM would investigate the potential habitability of the active ocean-bearing moons Europa and Gany-mede, detailing the geophysical, compositional, geo-logical, and external processes that affect these icy worlds. EJSM would also explore Io and Callisto, Jupi-ter's atmosphere, and the Jovian magnetosphere. By understanding the Jupiter system and unraveling its history, the formation and evolution of gas giant plan-ets and their satellites would be

Icy Dwarf Planets: Colored popsicles in the Solar System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pinilla-Alonso, Noemi

2015-08-01

In 1992 the discovery of 1992 QB1 was the starting signal of a race to characterize the trans-Neptunian belt. The detection of icy “asteroids”, similar to Pluto, in the outer Solar System had been largely hypothesized but it had also being an elusive goal. This belt was considered by the planetary scientists as the icy promised land, the largest reservoir of primordial ices in the Solar System.From 1992 to 2005 about 1000 trans-Neptunian objects and Centaurs had been discovered and a lot of “first ever” science had been published: 1996 TO66, first ever detection of the water ice bands in a TNO's spectrum; 1998 WW31, first detection of a binary; first estimation of size and albedo from thermal and visible observations, Varuna; discovery of Sedna, at that moment “the coldest most distant place known in the Solar System”2005 was the year of the discovery of three large TNOs: (136108) Haumea, (136472) Makemake and (136199) Eris (a.k.a 2003 EL61, 2005 FY9 and 2003 UB313). These three big guys entered the schoolyard showing off as colored popsicles and making a clear statement: “We are special”, and sure they are!The discovery of these large TNOs resulted in 2006 in the adoption by the IAU of a new definition of planet and in the introduction of a new category of minor bodies: the “dwarf planets”. With only three members at this moment (although this can change anytime) the exclusive club of the icy dwarf planets is formed by the TNOs at the higher end of the size distribution. By virtue of their size and low surface temperatures, these bodies can retain most of their original inventory of ices. As a consequence, their visible and near-infrared spectra show evidences of water ice, nitrogen, methane and longer chains of hydrocarbons. Moreover, they have high geometric albedo in the visible. Also the accretional and radiogenic heating for these bodies was likely more than sufficient to have caused their internal differentiation.In this talk we will

The Jovian ionospheric E region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Y. H.; Fox, J. L.

1991-02-01

A model of the Jovian ionosphere was constructed, that includes direct photoionization of hydrocarbon molecules. A high-resolution solar spectrum was synthesized from Hinteregger's solar maximum spectrum (F79050N), and high-resolution cross sections for photoabsorption by H2 bands in the range 842 to 1116 A were constructed. Two strong solar lines and about 30 percent of the continuum flux between 912 and 1116 A penetrate below the methane homopause despite strong absorption by CH4 and H2. It is found that hydrocarbons (mainly C2H2 are ionized at a maximum rate of 55/cu cm per sec at 320 km above the ammonia cloud tops. The hydrocarbon ions produced are quickly converted to more complex hydrocarbon ions through reactions with CH4, C2H2, C2H6, and C2H4. It is found that a hydrocarbon ion layer is formed near 320 km that is about 50 km wide with a peak density in excess of 10,000/cu cm.

Energetic Particles Investigation (EPI). [during pre-entry of Galileo Probe in Jovian magnetosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fischer, H. M.; Mihalov, J. D.; Lanzerotti, L. J.; Wibberenz, G.; Rinnert, K.; Gliem, F. O.; Bach, J.

1992-01-01

The EPI instrument operates during the pre-entry phase of the Galileo Probe. The main objective is the study of the energetic particle population in the inner Jovian magnetosphere and in the upper atmosphere. This will be achieved through omnidirectional measurements of electrons, protons, alpha-particles and heavy ions (Z greater than 2) and recording intensity profiles with a spatial resolution of about 0.02 Jupiter radii. Sectored data will also be obtained for electrons, protons, and alpha-particles to determine directional anisotropies and particle pitch angle distributions. The detector assembly is a two-element telescope using totally depleted circular silicon surface-barrier detectors surrounded by cylindrical tungsten shielding. The lower energy threshold of the particle species investigated during the Probe's pre-entry phase is determined by the material thickness of the Probe's rear heat shield which is required for heat protection of the scientific payload during entry into the Jovian atmosphere. The EPI instrument is combined with the Lightning and Radio Emission Detector and both instruments share one interface of the Probe's power, command, and data unit.

High Ph, Ammonia Toxicity, and the Search for Life on the Jovian Planets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deal, P. H.; Souza, K. A.; Mack, H. M.

1975-01-01

The effects of pH and ammonia concentration were studied separately, where possible, on a variety of organisms, including some isolated from natural environments of high pH and/or ammonia concentration. Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis are both extremely sensitive to ammonia. An aerobic organism (growth up to pH 11.4) from an alkaline spring is more resistant, but exhibits a toxic response to ammonia at a pH much lower than its maximum for growth. The greatest ammonia resistance has been found in an unidentified organism growing at near neutral pH. Even in this case, however, urvival at ammonia concentrations reasonably expected on the Jovian planets is measured in hours. This is two to three orders of magnitude longer than for E. coli. Results support the tentative conclusion that contamination of the Jovian planets with terrestrial organisms that can grow is unlikely. However, the range of toxic response noted, coupled with the observation that terrestrial life has not been exposed to high ammonia concentrations for millions of years, suggests that adaptation to greater ammonia tolerance may be possible.

Jovian thundercloud observation with Jovian orbiter and ground-based telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takahashi, Yukihiro; Nakajima, Kensuke; Takeuchi, Satoru; Sato, Mitsuteru; Fukuhara, Tetsuya; Watanabe, Makoto; Yair, Yoav; Fischer, Georg; Aplin, Karen

The latest observational and theoretical studies suggest that thunderstorms in Jupiter's at-mosphere are very important subject not only for understanding of meteorology, which may determine the large scale structures such as belt/zone and big ovals, but also for probing the water abundance of the deep atmosphere, which is crucial to constrain the behavior of volatiles in early solar system. Here we suggest a very simple high-speed imager on board Jovian orbiter, Optical Lightning Detector, OLD, optimized for detecting optical emissions from lightning dis-charge in Jupiter. OLD consists of radiation-tolerant CMOS sensors and two H Balmer Alpha line (656.3nm) filters. In normal sampling mode the frame intervals is 29ms with a full frame format of 512x512 pixels and in high-speed sampling mode the interval could be reduced down to 0.1ms by concentrating a limited area of 30x30 pixels. Weight, size and power consump-tion are about 1kg, 16x7x5.5 cm (sensor) and 16x12x4 cm (circuit), and 4W, respectively, though they can be reduced according to the spacecraft resources and required environmental tolerance. Also we plan to investigate the optical flashes using a ground-based middle-sized telescope, which will be built by Hokkaido University, with narrow-band high speed imaging unit using an EM-CCD camera. Observational strategy with these optical lightning detectors and spectral imagers, which enables us to estimate the horizontal motion and altitude of clouds, will be introduced.

Limb-darkening and the structure of the Jovian atmosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Newman, W. I.; Sagan, C.

1978-01-01

By observing the transit of various cloud features across the Jovian disk, limb-darkening curves were constructed for three regions in the 4.6 to 5.1 mu cm band. Several models currently employed in describing the radiative or dynamical properties of planetary atmospheres are here examined to understand their implications for limb-darkening. The statistical problem of fitting these models to the observed data is reviewed and methods for applying multiple regression analysis are discussed. Analysis of variance techniques are introduced to test the viability of a given physical process as a cause of the observed limb-darkening.

Effect of Berry Extracts and Bioactive Compounds on Fulvestrant (ICI 182,780) Sensitive and Resistant Cell Lines.

PubMed

Woode, Denzel R; Aiyer, Harini S; Sie, Nicole; Zwart, Alan L; Li, Liya; Seeram, Navindra P; Clarke, Robert

2012-01-01

Fulvestrant (ICI 182,780; ICI) is approved for the treatment of advanced metastatic breast cancer that is unresponsive to other endocrine therapies. Berries are frequently consumed for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer potential. In this study, we tested the efficacy of two berry extracts (Jamun-EJAE and red raspberry-RRE) and their bioactive compounds (Delphinidin-Del and Ellagic acid-EA) to inhibit cell proliferation with or without a sublethal dose of ICI in various breast cancer cell lines. ICI-sensitive (LCC1, ZR75-1, and BT474) and -resistant (LCC9, ZR75-1R) cells were subjected to treatment with berry extracts alone (0.1-100 μg/mL) or with a sub-lethal dose of ICI (ICI in sensitive ZR75-1 and BT474 cells primarily in an additive fashion (measured by relative index (RI)~1). In ZR75-1R cells, both EJAE and RRE synergistically enhanced the effects of ICI (15-50%; P < 0.05; RI > 1). EA, in doses tested, did not have any significant effects on any of the cell lines. Finally, we found that the extracts were more effective at lower, physiologically relevant concentrations than at higher experimental doses.

Effect of Berry Extracts and Bioactive Compounds on Fulvestrant (ICI 182,780) Sensitive and Resistant Cell Lines

PubMed Central

Woode, Denzel R.; Aiyer, Harini S.; Sie, Nicole; Zwart, Alan L.; Li, Liya; Seeram, Navindra P.; Clarke, Robert

2012-01-01

Fulvestrant (ICI 182,780; ICI) is approved for the treatment of advanced metastatic breast cancer that is unresponsive to other endocrine therapies. Berries are frequently consumed for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer potential. In this study, we tested the efficacy of two berry extracts (Jamun-EJAE and red raspberry-RRE) and their bioactive compounds (Delphinidin-Del and Ellagic acid-EA) to inhibit cell proliferation with or without a sublethal dose of ICI in various breast cancer cell lines. ICI-sensitive (LCC1, ZR75-1, and BT474) and -resistant (LCC9, ZR75-1R) cells were subjected to treatment with berry extracts alone (0.1–100 μg/mL) or with a sub-lethal dose of ICI (ICI in sensitive ZR75-1 and BT474 cells primarily in an additive fashion (measured by relative index (RI)~1). In ZR75-1R cells, both EJAE and RRE synergistically enhanced the effects of ICI (15–50%; P < 0.05; RI > 1). EA, in doses tested, did not have any significant effects on any of the cell lines. Finally, we found that the extracts were more effective at lower, physiologically relevant concentrations than at higher experimental doses. PMID:23346406

Cassini VIMS observations of the Galilean satellites including the VIMS calibration procedure

USGS Publications Warehouse

McCord, T.B.; Coradini, A.; Hibbitts, C.A.; Capaccioni, F.; Hansen, G.B.; Filacchione, G.; Clark, R.N.; Cerroni, P.; Brown, R.H.; Baines, K.H.; Bellucci, G.; Bibring, J.-P.; Buratti, B.J.; Bussoletti, E.; Combes, M.; Cruikshank, D.P.; Drossart, P.; Formisano, V.; Jaumann, R.; Langevin, Y.; Matson, D.L.; Nelson, R.M.; Nicholson, P.D.; Sicardy, B.; Sotin, Christophe

2004-01-01

The Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) observed the Galilean satellites during the Cassini spacecraft's 2000/2001 flyby of Jupiter, providing compositional and thermal information about their surfaces. The Cassini spacecraft approached the jovian system no closer than about 126 Jupiter radii, about 9 million kilometers, at a phase angle of < 90 ??, resulting in only sub-pixel observations by VIMS of the Galilean satellites. Nevertheless, most of the spectral features discovered by the Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) aboard the Galileo spacecraft during more than four years of observations have been identified in the VIMS data analyzed so far, including a possible 13C absorption. In addition, VIMS made observations in the visible part of the spectrum and at several new phase angles for all the Galilean satellites and the calculated phase functions are presented. In the process of analyzing these data, the VIMS radiometric and spectral calibrations were better determined in preparation for entry into the Saturn system. Treatment of these data is presented as an example of the VIMS data reduction, calibration and analysis process and a detailed explanation is given of the calibration process applied to the Jupiter data. ?? 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Taylor instability in the shock layer on a Jovian atmosphere entry probe.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Compton, D. L.

1972-01-01

Investigation of the Taylor instability relative to the dynamical instability whose presence in the shock layer on a spacecraft entering the Jovian atmosphere is to be expected because of the difference in velocity across the shear layer. Presented calculations show that the Taylor instability at the interface between shock-heated freestream gas and ablation products is inconsequential in comparison to the shear layer instability.

X-MIME: An Imaging X-ray Spectrometer for Detailed Study of Jupiter's Icy Moons and the Planet's X-ray Aurora

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Elsner, R. F.; Ramsey, B. D.; Waite, J. H.; Rehak, P.; Johnson, R. E.; Cooper, J. F.; Swartz, D. A.

2004-01-01

Remote observations with the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the XMM-Newton Observatory have shown that the Jovian system is a source of x-rays with a rich and complicated structure. The planet's polar auroral zones and its disk are powerful sources of x-ray emission. Chandra observations revealed x-ray emission from the Io Plasma Torus and from the Galilean moons Io, Europa, and possibly Ganymede. The emission from these moons is certainly due to bombardment of their surfaces of highly energetic protons, oxygen and sulfur ions from the region near the Torus exciting atoms in their surfaces and leading to fluorescent x-ray emission lines. Although the x-ray emission from the Galilean moons is faint when observed from Earth orbit, an imaging x-ray spectrometer in orbit around these moons, operating at 200 eV and above with 150 eV energy resolution, would provide a detailed mapping (down to 40 m spatial resolution) of the elemental composition in their surfaces. Such maps would provide important constraints on formation and evolution scenarios for the surfaces of these moons. Here we describe the characteristics of X-MIME, an imaging x-ray spectrometer under going a feasibility study for the JIMO mission, with the ultimate goal of providing unprecedented x-ray studies of the elemental composition of the surfaces of Jupiter's icy moons and Io, as well as of Jupiter's auroral x-ray emission.

Materials Degradation in the Jovian Radiation Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miloshevsky, Gennady; Caffrey, Jarvis A.; Jones, Jonathan E.; Zoladz, Thomas F.

2017-01-01

The radiation environment of Jupiter represents a significant hazard for Europa Lander deorbit stage components, and presents a significant potential mission risk. The radiolytic degradation of ammonium perchlorate (AP) oxidizer in solid propellants may affect its properties and performance. The Monte Carlo code MONSOL was used for modeling of laboratory experiments on the electron irradiation of propellant samples. An approach for flattening dose profiles along the depth of irradiated samples is proposed. Depth-dose distributions produced by Jovian electrons in multi-layer slabs of materials are calculated. It is found that the absorbed dose in a particular slab is significantly affected by backscattered electrons and photons from neighboring slabs. The dose and radiolytic decomposition of AP crystals are investigated and radiation-induced chemical yields and weight percent of radical products are reported.

Habitability potential of satellites around Jupiter and Saturn

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coustenis, Athena; Raulin, Francois; Encrenaz, Therese; Grasset, Olivier; Solomonidou, Anezina

2016-07-01

In looking for habitable conditions in the outer solar system recent research focuses on the natural satellites rather than the planets themselves. Indeed, the habitable zone as traditionally defined may be larger than originally conceived. The outer solar system satellites provide a conceptual basis within which new theories for understanding habitability can be constructed. Measurements from the ground but also by the Voyager, Galileo and the Cassini spacecrafts revealed the potential of these satellites in this context, and our understanding of habitability in the solar system and beyond can be greatly enhanced by investigating several of these bodies together [1]. Their environments seem to satisfy many of the "classical" criteria for habitability (liquid water, energy sources to sustain metabolism and chemical compounds that can be used as nutrients over a period of time long enough to allow the development of life). Indeed, several of the moons show promising conditions for habitability and the development and/or maintenance of life. The strong gravitational pull caused by the giant planets may produce enough energy to sufficiently heat the cores of orbiting icy moons. Europa and Ganymede may be hiding, under their icy crust, putative undersurface liquid water oceans [2] which, in the case of Europa [3], may be in direct contact with a silicate mantle floor and kept warm by tidally generated heat [4]. Titan and Enceladus, Saturn's satellites, were found by the Cassini-Huygens mission to possess active organic chemistries with seasonal variations, unique geological features and possibly internal liquid water oceans. Titan's rigid crust and the probable existence of a subsurface ocean create an analogy with terrestrial-type plate tectonics, at least surficial [5], while Enceladus' plumes find an analogue in geysers. As revealed by Cassini the liquid hydrocarbon lakes [6] distributed mainly at polar latitudes on Titan are ideal isolated environments to look for

Differential effects of centrally-administered oestrogen antagonist ICI-182,780 on oestrogen-sensitive functions in the hypothalamus.

PubMed

Steyn, F J; Anderson, G M; Grattan, D R

2007-01-01

Oestrogen actions within the hypothalamus are essential for a range of reproductive functions. In this study, we sought to develop a method for suppressing central oestrogen action without affecting peripheral oestrogenic effects. We administered the oestrogen receptor antagonist ICI-182,780 (ICI) via crystalline implants into the left lateral ventricle or the arcuate nucleus and measured the effectiveness of this drug on three endpoints known to be regulated by oestrogen: gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) pulse frequency, progesterone receptor expression and the generation of a sustained prolactin surge during late pregnancy. To confirm that central ICI administration had no effect on peripheral actions of oestrogen, we monitored changes in uterine weight. Intracerebroventricular ICI treatment reversed the inhibitory effects of oestrogen on GnRH pulse frequency, as measured by plasma luteinising hormone pulse frequency. No effect on the oestrogenic induction of progesterone receptors within the arcuate nucleus or ventromedial hypothalamus was observed; however, a small yet significant reduction in progesterone receptor expression within dopaminergic neurones in the arcuate nucleus was observed. Intracerebroventricular or direct crystalline ICI administration to the arcuate nucleus did not change the serum prolactin level during late pregnancy. Central administration of ICI did not affect uterine weight, and thus did not have a peripheral effect. These data suggest that central administration of ICI can overcome some actions of oestrogen in the brain, such as GnRH pulse frequency, but does not affect other oestrogen mediated actions, including the induction of progesterone receptors or the antepartum prolactin surge. Thus, it appears that there is a differential sensitivity to the inhibition of central oestrogen actions by ICI.

Long-term study of longitudinal dependence in primary particle precipitation in the north Jovian aurora

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Livengood, T. A.; Strobel, D. F.; Moos, H. W.

1990-01-01

The wavelength-dependent absorption apparent in IUE spectra of the north Jovian aurora is analyzed to determine the column density of hydrocarbons above the altitude of the FUV auroral emission. Both the magnetotail and torus auroral zone models are considered in estimating zenith angles, with very similar results obtained for both models. It is found that the hydrocarbon column density above the FUV emission displays a consistent dependence on magnetic longitude, with the peak density occurring approximately coincident with the peak in the observed auroral intensity. Two distinct scenarios for the longitude dependence of the column density are discussed. In one, the Jovian upper atmosphere is longitudinally homogeneous, and the variation in optical depth is due to a variation in penetration, and thus energy, of the primary particles. In the other, the energy of the primaries is longitudinally homogeneous, and it is aeronomic properties which change, probably due to auroral heating.

Temperature Dependence of Cryogenic Ammonia-Water Ice Mixtures and Implications for Icy Satellite Surfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dalton, J. B., III; Curchin, J. M.; Clark, R. N.

2001-01-01

Infrared spectra of ammonia-water ice mixtures reveal temperature-dependent absorption bands due to ammonia. These features, at 1.04, 2.0, and 2.25 microns, may shed light on the surface compositions of the Galilean and Saturnian satellites. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

How should bladder sensation be measured? ICI-RS 2011.

PubMed

De Wachter, S; Smith, Philip P; Smith, P; Tannenbaum, C; Van Koeveringe, G; Drake, M; Wyndaele, J J; Chapple, C

2012-03-01

Disturbed bladder sensations, or in broader terms, sensory dysfunctions are increasingly recognized as key elements in the origin and manifestation of symptom syndromes of urinary dysfunction. Adequate assessment of bladder sensation is crucial to improve our understanding of the pathophysiology and treatment of urinary dysfunction. This manuscript summarizes the discussions of a think tank on "How to measure bladder sensation" held at the ICI-RS meeting in 2011. Based upon literature reviews on bladder sensation presented at the think tank in the ICI-RS meeting, discussions evolved which were summarized in the ICI-RS report. Different physicians/researchers further elaborated on this report, which is presented in this manuscript. Bladder sensations are not merely the result of bladder distension. Other factors inside the bladder or bladder wall: central processing and/or cognitive manipulation may play an important role. Current methods to measure sensations such as urodynamics, voiding diaries, forced diuresis, electrical stimulation and brain imaging are likely sub-optimal as they only consider part of these factors in isolation. Different methods to measure bladder sensations have been described and are used in clinical practice. Current methods only address part of the parameters responsible for the generation and perception of urinary sensations. Further focused research is required, and several recommendations are provided. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Jovian meterology: Large-scale moist convection without a lower boundary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gierasch, P. J.

1975-01-01

It is proposed that Jupiter's cloud bands represent large scale convection whose character is determined by the phase change of water at a level where the temperature is about 275K. It is argued that there are three important layers in the atmosphere: a tropopause layer where emission to space occurs; an intermediate layer between the tropopause and the water cloud base; and the deep layer below the water cloud. All arguments are only semi-quantitative. It is pointed out that these ingredients are essential to Jovian meteorology.

Natural radio emission of Jupiter as interferences for radar investigations of the icy satellites of Jupiter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cecconi, B.; Hess, S.; Hérique, A.; Santovito, M. R.; Santos-Costa, D.; Zarka, P.; Alberti, G.; Blankenship, D.; Bougeret, J.-L.; Bruzzone, L.; Kofman, W.

2012-02-01

Radar instruments are part of the core payload of the two Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) spacecraft: NASA-led Jupiter Europa Orbiter (JEO) and ESA-led Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter (JGO). At this point of the project, several frequency bands are under study for radar, which ranges between 5 and 50 MHz. Part of this frequency range overlaps with that of the natural jovian radio emissions, which are very intense in the decametric range, below 40 MHz. Radio observations above 40 MHz are free of interferences, whereas below this threshold, careful observation strategies have to be investigated. We present a review of spectral intensity, variability and sources of these radio emissions. As the radio emissions are strongly beamed, it is possible to model the visibility of the radio emissions, as seen from the vicinity of Europa or Ganymede. We have investigated Io-related radio emissions as well as radio emissions related to the auroral oval. We also review the radiation belts synchrotron emission characteristics. We present radio sources visibility products (dynamic spectra and radio source location maps, on still frames or movies), which can be used for operation planning. This study clearly shows that a deep understanding of the natural radio emissions at Jupiter is necessary to prepare the future EJSM radar instrumentation. We show that this radio noise has to be taken into account very early in the observation planning and strategies for both JGO and JEO. We also point out possible synergies with RPW (Radio and Plasma Waves) instrumentations.

Natural radio emission of Jupiter as interferences for radar investigations of the icy satellites of Jupiter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cecconi, B.; Hess, S.; Hérique, A.; Santovito, M. R.; Santos-Costa, D.; Zarka, P.; Alberti, G.; Blankenship, D.; Bougeret, J. L.; Bruzzone, L.; Kofman, W.

2011-10-01

Radar instruments are part of the core payload of the two Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) spacecraft: NASA-led Jupiter Europa Orbiter (JEO) and ESA-led Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter (JGO). At this point of the project, several frequency bands are under study for radar, which ranges between 5MHz and 50MHz. Part of this frequency range overlaps with that of the natural Jovian radio emissions, which are very intense in the decametric range, below 40 MHz. Radio observations above 40 MHz are free of interferences, whereas below this threshold, careful observation strategies have to be investigated. We present a review of spectral intensity, variability and sources of these radio emissions. As the radio emission are strongly beamed, it is possible to model the visibility of the radio emissions, as seen from the vicinity of Europa or Ganymede. We have investigated Io-related radio emissions as well as radio emissions related to the auroral oval. We also review the radiation belts synchrotron emission characteristics. We present radio sources visibility products (dynamic spectra and radio source location maps, on still frames or movies), which can be used for operation planning. This study clearly shows that a deep understanding of the natural radio emissions at Jupiter is necessary to prepare the future EJSM radar instrumentation. We show that this radio noise has to be taken into account very early in the observation planning and strategies for both JGO and JEO. We also point out possible synergies with RPW (Radio and Plasma Waves) instrumentations.

Hybrid multi-grids simulations of Ganymede's magnetosphere : comparison with Galileo observations.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leclercq, L.; Modolo, R.; Leblanc, F.

2015-12-01

The Jovian satellite Ganymede is the biggest moon of our solar system. One of the main motivation of our interest for this moon is its own intrinsic magnetic field, which has been discovered during the Galileo mission (Kivelson et al. 1996). The magnetic field of Ganymede directly interacts with the corotating jovian plasma, leading to the formation of a mini-magnetosphere which is embedded in the giant magnetosphere of Jupiter. This is the only known case of interaction between two planetary magnetospheres.In the frame of the European space mission JUICE (Jupiter Icy moon Exploration), we investigate this unique interaction with a 3D parallel multi-species hybrid model. This model is based on the CAM-CL algorithm (Matthews 1994) and has been used to study the ionized environments of Titan, Mars and Mercury. In the hybrid formalism, ions are kinetically treated whereas electrons are considered as a zero-inertial fluid to ensure the quasi-neutrality of the plasma. The temporal evolution of the electromagnetic fields is calculated solving Maxwell's equations. The jovian magnetospheric plasma is described as being composed of oxygen and proton ions. The magnetic field of Ganymede, which includes dipolar and induced components (Kivelson et al, 2002), is distorted by its interaction with the Jovian plasma and formed the Alfvén wings. The planetary plasma is described as being composed of O+, with a scale height equal to 125 km. The description of the exosphere is provided by the 3D multi-species collisional exospheric/atmospheric model of Leblanc et al, (2015) and Turc et al. (2014). The ionization of this neutral exosphere by charge exchanges, by electronic impacts, and by reaction with solar photons contributes to the production of planetary plasma. In this model, calculations are performed on a cartesian simulation grid which is refined (down to ~120 km of spatial resolution) at Ganymede, using a multi-grids approach (Leclercq et al., submitted, 2015). Results are

Models of the Jovian Ring and Comparisions With Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Juhasz, A.; Horanyi, M.

2008-12-01

A number of in situ and remote sensing observations of the Jovian ring system exist so we can now combine observations from Voyager, Pioneer, Galileo and Cassini, as well as ground based and HST measurements. In this presentation we will compare this large body of observations to available theoretical models of the dust dynamics in the Jovian ring. Common to all models (Burns et al., 1985, 2001 ; Horanyi et al.,1996, 2004) is the basic idea that dust is being continuously produced due to micro-meteoroid bombardment of the moons in this region. Also, the spatial distribution of dust in the halo region inward of the main ring is generally accepted to be a consequence of electrodynamic perturbations acting on small charged dust particles. However, in the suggested theoretical models the time scale for orbital evolution is drastically differ. Burns et al. argues, that in the main ring, dust particles evolve inward very slowly due to Poynting-Robertson drag. A typical micron sized grain is predicted to orbit Jupiter for 104 years before crashing into the atmosphere of Jupiter. Horanyi et al. argues that the radial transport is due to resonant charge variations, dictated by the plasma density distribution. In this model grains are transported on a time scale that is orders of magnitude shorter than predicted by PR drag. Here we use both of these models to generate brightness distributions and predict optical depth distributions for same geometries and wavelengths as that of the observations. Quantitative comparisons of the modeled and the real observations lead us to the conclusion that the dust transport in ring/halo region at Jupiter is mainly due to resonant charge variation.

Genome Sequence of Enterococcus faecium Strain ICIS 96 Demonstrating Intermicrobial Antagonism Associated with Bacteriocin Production.

PubMed

Pashkova, Tatiana M; Vasilchenko, Alexey S; Khlopko, Yuriy A; Kochkina, Elena E; Kartashova, Olga L; Sycheva, Maria V

2018-03-08

We report here the complete genome sequence of Enterococcus faecium strain ICIS 96, which was isolated from the feces of a horse. Bacteriological characterization of strain ICIS 96 revealed the absence of pathogenicity factors, while its spectrum of antagonistic activity was found to be broad, having activities associated with both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Analysis of the E. faecium ICIS 96 genome revealed five genes associated with antimicrobial activity (enterocin [ent] A, ent B, lactobin A/cerein 7b, and ent L50 A/B). No genes that correlate with human pathogenicity were identified. Copyright © 2018 Pashkova et al.

Genome Sequence of Enterococcus faecium Strain ICIS 96 Demonstrating Intermicrobial Antagonism Associated with Bacteriocin Production

PubMed Central

Pashkova, Tatiana M.; Vasilchenko, Alexey S.; Khlopko, Yuriy A.; Kochkina, Elena E.; Kartashova, Olga L.

2018-01-01

ABSTRACT We report here the complete genome sequence of Enterococcus faecium strain ICIS 96, which was isolated from the feces of a horse. Bacteriological characterization of strain ICIS 96 revealed the absence of pathogenicity factors, while its spectrum of antagonistic activity was found to be broad, having activities associated with both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Analysis of the E. faecium ICIS 96 genome revealed five genes associated with antimicrobial activity (enterocin [ent] A, ent B, lactobin A/cerein 7b, and ent L50 A/B). No genes that correlate with human pathogenicity were identified. PMID:29519833

High Latitude Scintillations during the ICI-4 Rocket Campaign.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patra, S.; Moen, J.

2015-12-01

We present the first results from the Norwegian ICI-4 sounding rocket campaign in February 2015. The ICI-4 was launched into F-region auroral blobs from the Andøya Space Center. The multi needle langmuir probe (m-NLP) on board the rocket sampled the ionospheric density structures at a sub-meter spatial resolution. A multi-phase screen model has been developed to estimate the scintillations from the density measurements acquired on-board spacecrafts. The phase screen model is validated and the comparison of the estimated values with scintillations measured by ground receivers during the campaign will be presented. A combination of scintillation receivers in Svalbard and surrounding areas as well as all sky imagers at Ny Ålesund, Longyerbyen, and Skibotn are used to improve the performance of the model.

Mineralogy of Sediments on a Cold and Icy Early Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rampe, E. B.; Horgan, B. H. N.; Smith, R.; Scudder, N.; Rutledge, A. M.; Bamber, E.; Morris, R. V.

2017-12-01

The water-related minerals discovered in ancient martian terrains suggest liquid water was abundant on the surface and/or near subsurface during Mars' early history. The debate remains, however, whether these minerals are indicative of a warm and wet or cold and icy climate. To characterize mineral assemblages of cold and icy mafic terrains, we analyzed pro- and supraglacial rocks and sediments from the Collier and Diller glacial valleys in Three Sisters, Oregon. We identified primary and secondary phases using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning and transmission electron microscopies with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM, TEM, EDS), and visible/short-wave-infrared (VSWIR) and thermal-infrared (TIR) spectroscopies. Samples from both glacial valleys are dominated by primary igneous minerals (i.e., plagioclase and pyroxene). Sediments in the Collier glacial valley contain minor to trace amounts of phyllosilicates and zeolites, but these phases are likely detrital and sourced from hydrothermally altered units on North Sister. We find that the authigenic phases in cold and icy mafic terrains are poorly crystalline and/or amorphous. TEM-EDS analyses of the <2 um size fraction of glacial flour shows the presence of many different nanophase materials, including iron oxides, devitrified volcanic glass, and Fe-Si-Al (e.g., proto-clay) phases. A variety of primary and secondary amorphous materials (e.g., volcanic glass, leached glass, allophane) have been suggested from orbital IR data from Mars, and the CheMin XRD on the Curiosity rover has identified X-ray amorphous materials in all rocks and soils measured to date. The compositions of the Gale Crater amorphous components cannot be explained by primary volcanic glass alone and likely include secondary silicates, iron oxides, and sulfates. We suggest that the prevalence of amorphous materials on the martian surface and the variety of amorphous components may be a signature of a cold and icy climate on Early Mars.

Electric discharge synthesis of HCN in simulated Jovian atmospheres

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stribling, Roscoe; Miller, Stanley L.

1987-01-01

Corona discharge is presently considered as a possible source of the HCN detected in the Jovian atmosphere at 2.2 x 10 to the -7th moles/sq cm column density, for the cases of gas mixtures containing H2, CH4, and NH3, with H2/CH4 ratios from 4.4 to 1585. A 3:1 ratio of corona discharge to lightning energy similar to that of the earth is applied to Jupiter. Depending on the lightning energy available on Jupiter and the eddy diffusion coefficients in the synthesis region, HCN column densities generated by corona discharge could account for about 10 percent of the HCN observed.

Alternative control techniques document: NOx emissions from industrial/commercial/institutional (ICI) boilers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1994-03-01

Industrial, commercial, and institutional (ICI) boilers have been identified as a category that emits more than 25 tons of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) per year. This alternative control techniques (ACT) document provides technical information for use by State and local agencies to develop and implement regulatory programs to control NOx emissions from ICI boilers. Additional ACT documents are being developed for other stationary source categories. Chapter 2 summarizes the findings of this study. Chapter 3 presents information on the ICI boiler types, fuels, operation, and industry applications. Chapter 4 discusses NOx formation and uncontrolled NOx emission factors. Chapter 5 coversmore » alternative control techniques and achievable controlled emission levels. Chapter 6 presents the cost and cost effectiveness of each control technique. Chapter 7 describes environmental and energy impacts associated with implementing the NOx control techniques. Finally, Appendices A through G provide the detailed data used in this study to evaluate uncontrolled and controlled emissions and the costs of controls for several retrofit scenarios.« less

Certification of ICI 1012 optical data storage tape

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howell, J. M.

1993-01-01

ICI has developed a unique and novel method of certifying a Terabyte optical tape. The tape quality is guaranteed as a statistical upper limit on the probability of uncorrectable errors. This is called the Corrected Byte Error Rate or CBER. We developed this probabilistic method because of two reasons why error rate cannot be measured directly. Firstly, written data is indelible, so one cannot employ write/read tests such as used for magnetic tape. Secondly, the anticipated error rates need impractically large samples to measure accurately. For example, a rate of 1E-12 implies only one byte in error per tape. The archivability of ICI 1012 Data Storage Tape in general is well characterized and understood. Nevertheless, customers expect performance guarantees to be supported by test results on individual tapes. In particular, they need assurance that data is retrievable after decades in archive. This paper describes the mathematical basis, measurement apparatus and applicability of the certification method.

Satellite tori at Saturn

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Richardson, J. D.; Eviatar, A.; Siscoe, G. L.

1986-01-01

The inner satellites of Saturn are icy bodies imbedded in a plasma environment in which they are continuously bombarded by energetic ions, corotating plasma, and solar radiation. Laboratory sputtering experiments indicate that this should result in the injection of substantial amounts of neutral H, H2, OH, H2O, and O2 into the magnetosphere. The atomic processes affecting these neutrals and the neutrals and ions formed from them are modeled, and the steady state neutral and ion densities expected in the plasma tori of Enceladus, Dione-Tethys, and Rhea are calculated. Comparison with observations shows that recombination can limit the Enceladus and Dione-Tethys tori to the observed densities, but that transport rates of at least 4 x 10 to the -8th Saturn radii squared/s are required to limit torus densities at Rhea to the observed values.

Photometric and Spectral Study of the Saturnian Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Newman, Sarah F.

2005-01-01

Photometric and spectra analysis of data from the Cassini Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) has yielded intriguing findings regarding the surface properties of several of the icy Saturnian satellites. Spectral cubes were obtained of these satellites with a wavelength distribution in the IR far more extensive than from any previous observations. Disk-integrated solar phase curves were constructed in several key IR wavelengths that are indicative of key properties of the surface of the body, such as macroscopic roughness, fluffiness (or the porosity of the surface), global albedo and scattering properties of surface particles. Polynomial fits to these phase curves indicate a linear albedo trend of the curvature of the phase functions. Rotational phase functions from Enceladus were found to exhibit a double-peaked sinusoidal curve, which shows larger amplitudes for bands corresponding to water ice and a linear amplitude-albedo trend. These functions indicate regions on the surface of the satellite of more recent geologic activity. In addition, recent images of Enceladus show tectonic features and an absence of impact craters on Southern latitudes which could be indicative of a younger surface. Investigations into the properties of these features using VIMS are underway.

Sublimation of Ices Containing Organics and/or Minerals and Implications for Icy Bodies Surface Structure and Spectral Properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poch, O.; Pommerol, A.; Jost, B.; Yoldi, Z.; Carrasco, N.; Szopa, C.; Thomas, N.

2015-12-01

The surfaces of many objects in the Solar System comprise substantial quantities of water ice either in pure form or mixed with minerals and/or organic molecules. Sublimation is a process responsible for shaping and changing the reflectance properties of these objects. We present laboratory data on the evolution of the structure and the visible and near-infrared spectral reflectance of icy surfaces made of mixtures of water ice and non-volatile components (complex organic matter and silicates), as they undergo sublimation of the water ice under low temperature and pressure conditions (Poch et al., under review). We prepared icy surfaces which are potential analogues of ices found on comets, icy satellites or trans-neptunian objects (TNOs). The experiments were carried out in the SCITEAS simulation setup recently built as part of the Laboratory for Outflow Studies of Sublimating Materials (LOSSy) at the University of Bern (Pommerol et al., 2015a). As the water ice sublimated, we observed in situ the formation of a sublimation lag deposit, or sublimation mantle, made of the non-volatiles at the top of the samples. The texture (porosity, internal cohesiveness etc.), the activity (outbursts and ejection of mantle fragments) and the spectro-photometric properties of this mantle are found to differ strongly depending on the chemical nature of the non-volatiles, the size of their particles, the way they are mixed with the volatile component and the dust/ice mass ratio. The results also indicate how the band depths of the sub-surface water ice evolve during the build-up of the sublimation mantle. These data provide useful references for interpreting remote-sensing observations of Rosetta (see Pommerol et al., 2015b), and also New Horizons. Poch, O., et al., under review in IcarusPommerol, A., et al., 2015a, Planet. Space Sci. 109-110, 106-122. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2015.02.004Pommerol, A., et al., 2015b, Astronomy and Astrophysics, in press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201525977

Bis(ethyl)norspermine potentiates the apoptotic activity of the pure antiestrogen ICI 182780 in breast cancer cells.

PubMed

Balabhadrapathruni, Srivani; Santhakumaran, Latha M; Thomas, T J; Shirahata, Akira; Gallo, Michael A; Thomas, Thresia

2005-01-01

We studied the effects of ICI 182780 and bis(ethyl)norspermine (BE-3-3-3) on cell growth and apoptosis of estrogen receptor-positive MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Combination treatment with 100 nM ICI 182780 and 5 microM BE-3-3-3 for 6 days inhibited cell growth by 74.3+/-8.4% in MCF-7 cells, compared to that of 25.4+/-5.8 and 45.8+/-12.2%, respectively, when ICI 182780 and BE-3-3-3 were used as single agents. Treatment with 100 nM ICI 182780 and 5 microM BE-3-3-3 as single agents resulted in 9.1+/-1.0% and 35.1+/-4.5% apoptosis, respectively, as measured by APO-BRDU assay. When ICI 182780 and BE-3-3-3 were used in combination, the percentage of apoptosis was 60.6+/-3.8%. Improved efficacy of ICI 182780 and BE-3-3-3 combination on growth inhibition was observed for T-47D cells also. Western blot analysis showed that combinations of ICI 182780 and BE-3-3-3 caused down-regulation of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL proteins and increased the level of the pro-apoptotic Bax protein. Combination treatment also increased caspase-8 activation. Analysis of polyamine levels 48 h after combination treatment showed that spermidine and spermine levels were down regulated significantly. These studies indicate a potentially effective combination strategy for breast cancer treatment. Our results also link the down-regulation of polyamine pathway to apoptotic cell death and regulation of mediators of cell death.

ICI-III sounding rocket investigation of a Reversed flow event seen by the EISCAT Svalbard Radar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dåbakk, Y.; Moen, J. I.; Carlson, H. C.; Saito, Y.; Abe, T.

2014-12-01

The Investigation of Cusp Irregularities (ICI)- III Sounding rocket was launched from Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard on December 3rd, 2011. The aim of the ICI-III mission was to investigate the physics of RFE class of cusp flow events. ICI-III intersected the first RFE (RFE1) in a sequence of in total 3 consecutive RFEs seen by the EISCAT Svalbard Radar (ESR). The ESR and ICI-III were geographically looking at the same region of the ionosphere both at the time ICI-III entered RFE1 on its poleward boundary and left it on its equatorward boundary, hence ESR tracked the rocket perfectly on entering and leaving RFE1. ICI-III measured hence for the first time detailed flows and precipitation within an RFE with a resolution down to tens of meters. The observations presented are used to test the various explanations that have been proposed as generation mechanisms for this phenomenon. The only consistent explanation that remains seems to be the theory suggested by Rinne et al. 2007, where an asymmetric version of the Southwood FTE twin cell model was proposed in which return flow develops predominantly on the poleward side of newly open flux since it is inhibited by the open-closed boundary (OCB) on the equatorward side to explain the RFE. By zooming into the RFE, detailed structure and dynamics within the RFE are revealed, previously unseen due to instrument resolution.

Emergence of Habitable Environments in Icy World Interiors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neveu, Marc

2016-07-01

Finding habitable worlds is a key driver of solar system exploration. Many solar system missions seek environments providing liquid water, energy, and nutrients, the three ingredients necessary to sustain life [1]. Such environments include hydrothermal systems, spatially confined systems where hot aqueous fluid circulates through rock by convection. Hydrothermal activity may be widespread in the solar system. Most solar system worlds larger than 200 km in radius are icy moons and dwarf planets, likely composed of an icy, cometary mantle surrounding a rocky, chondritic core [2]. By improving an icy world evolution code [3] to include the effects of core fracturing and hydrothermal circulation, I show that several icy moons and dwarf planets likely have undergone extensive water-rock interaction [4,5]. This supports observations of aqueous products on their surfaces [6,7]. I simulated the alteration of chondritic rock [8] by pure water or fluid of cometary composition [9] to show that aqueous alteration feeds back on geophysical evolution: it modifies the fluid antifreeze content, affecting its persistence over geological timescales; and the distribution of radionuclides, whose decay is a chief heat source on dwarf planets [10]. Hydrothermal circulation also efficiently transports heat from the core into the ocean, thereby increasing ocean persistence [4]. Thus, these coupled geophysical-geochemical models provide a comprehensive picture of icy world evolution and the emergence of liquid environments in chemical disequilibrium with underlying rock in their interiors. Habitable settings also require a suitable supply of bioessential elements; but what constitutes "suitable"? I sought to quantify the bulk elemental composition of hydrothermal microbial communities, collected in hot spring sediments and mats at Yellowstone National Park, USA. To do so, one must minimize the contribution of non-biological material to the samples analyzed. This was achieved using a

Performance Comparison between CDTD and STTD for DS-CDMA/MMSE-FDE with Frequency-Domain ICI Cancellation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takeda, Kazuaki; Kojima, Yohei; Adachi, Fumiyuki

Frequency-domain equalization (FDE) based on the minimum mean square error (MMSE) criterion can provide a better bit error rate (BER) performance than rake combining. However, the residual inter-chip interference (ICI) is produced after MMSE-FDE and this degrades the BER performance. Recently, we showed that frequency-domain ICI cancellation can bring the BER performance close to the theoretical lower bound. To further improve the BER performance, transmit antenna diversity technique is effective. Cyclic delay transmit diversity (CDTD) can increase the number of equivalent paths and hence achieve a large frequency diversity gain. Space-time transmit diversity (STTD) can obtain antenna diversity gain due to the space-time coding and achieve a better BER performance than CDTD. Objective of this paper is to show that the BER performance degradation of CDTD is mainly due to the residual ICI and that the introduction of ICI cancellation gives almost the same BER performance as STTD. This study provides a very important result that CDTD has a great advantage of providing a higher throughput than STTD. This is confirmed by computer simulation. The computer simulation results show that CDTD can achieve higher throughput than STTD when ICI cancellation is introduced.

Jovian Planet Finder optical system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krist, John E.; Clampin, Mark; Petro, Larry; Woodruff, Robert A.; Ford, Holland C.; Illingworth, Garth D.; Ftaclas, Christ

2003-02-01

The Jovian Planet Finder (JPF) is a proposed NASA MIDEX mission to place a highly optimized coronagraphic telescope on the International Space Station (ISS) to image Jupiter-like planets around nearby stars. The optical system is an off-axis, unobscured telescope with a 1.5 m primary mirror. A classical Lyot coronagraph with apodized occulting spots is used to reduce diffracted light from the central star. In order to provide the necessary contrast for detection of a planet, scattered light from mid-spatial-frequency errors is reduced by using super-smooth optics. Recent advances in polishing optics for extreme-ultraviolet lithography have shown that a factor of >30 reduction in midfrequency errors relative to those in the Hubble Space Telescope is possible (corresponding to a reduction in scattered light of nearly 1000x). The low level of scattered and diffracted light, together with a novel utilization of field rotation introduced by the alt-azimuth ISS telescope mounting, will provide a relatively low-cost facility for not only imaging extrasolar planets, but also circumstellar disks, host galaxies of quasars, and low-mass substellar companions such as brown dwarfs.

Interactions Between Ocean Circulation and Topography in Icy Worlds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goodman, J. C.

2018-05-01

To what extent does topography at the water-rock interface control the general circulation patterns of icy world oceans? And contrariwise, to what extent does liquid flow control the topography at the ice-water interface (or interfaces)?

ARC-1979-A79-7093

NASA Image and Video Library

1979-07-09

Range : 225,000 kilometers (140,625 miles) This image of the Jovian moon Europa was taken by Voyager 2 along the evening terminator, which best shows the surface topography of complex narrow ridges, seen as curved bright streaks, 5 to 10 kilometers wide, and typically 100 kilometers in length. The area shown is about 600 by 800 kilometers, and the smallest features visible are about 4 kilometers in size. Also visable are dark bands, more diffused in character, 20 to 40 kilometers wide and hundreds to thousands of kilometers in length. A few features are suggestive of impact craters but are rare, indication that the surface thought to be dominantly ice is still active, perhaps warmed by tidal heating like Io. The larger icy satellites, Callisto and Ganymede, are evidently colder with much more rigid crusts and ancient impact craters. The complex intersection of dark markings and bright ridges suggest that the surface has been fractured and material from beneath has welled up to fill the cracks.

IPPF Co-operative Information Service (ICIS). February 1978.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

International Planned Parenthood Federation, London (England).

This publication is a catalogue of document descriptions that may be of use to national family planning/population organizations. The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Cooperative Information Service (ICIS) has developed this quarterly series as a service to population documentation centers so that these centers can acquire the…

Field-of-View Guiding Camera on the HISAKI (SPRINT-A) Satellite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamazaki, A.; Tsuchiya, F.; Sakanoi, T.; Uemizu, K.; Yoshioka, K.; Murakami, G.; Kagitani, M.; Kasaba, Y.; Yoshikawa, I.; Terada, N.; Kimura, T.; Sakai, S.; Nakaya, K.; Fukuda, S.; Sawai, S.

2014-11-01

HISAKI (SPRINT-A) satellite is an earth-orbiting Extreme UltraViolet (EUV) spectroscopic mission and launched on 14 Sep. 2013 by the launch vehicle Epsilon-1. Extreme ultraviolet spectroscope (EXCEED) onboard the satellite will investigate plasma dynamics in Jupiter's inner magnetosphere and atmospheric escape from Venus and Mars. EUV spectroscopy is useful to measure electron density and temperature and ion composition in plasma environment. EXCEED also has an advantage to measure spatial distribution of plasmas around the planets. To measure radial plasma distribution in the Jovian inner magnetosphere and plasma emissions from ionosphere, exosphere and tail separately (for Venus and Mars), the pointing accuracy of the spectroscope should be smaller than spatial structures of interest (20 arc-seconds). For satellites in the low earth orbit (LEO), the pointing displacement is generally caused by change of alignment between the satellite bus module and the telescope due to the changing thermal inputs from the Sun and Earth. The HISAKI satellite is designed to compensate the displacement by tracking the target with using a Field-Of-View (FOV) guiding camera. Initial checkout of the attitude control for the EXCEED observation shows that pointing accuracy kept within 2 arc-seconds in a case of "track mode" which is used for Jupiter observation. For observations of Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Saturn, the entire disk will be guided inside slit to observe plasma around the planets. Since the FOV camera does not capture the disk in this case, the satellite uses a star tracker (STT) to hold the attitude ("hold mode"). Pointing accuracy during this mode has been 20-25 arc-seconds. It has been confirmed that the attitude control works well as designed.

Formation of Planetary Satellites and Prospects for Exomoons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barr, A.

2014-04-01

The formation of planetary satellites is thought to be a natural by-product of terrestrial and giant planet formation. I will discuss the proposed methods of satellite formation including fission, co-accretion, giant impact, and capture and where these modes of formation might operate in extrasolar planetary systems. Giant impacts like the event that formed Earth's Moon are thought to be common during the late stages of terrestrial planet formation; it is currently thought that Mercury, Mars, and the Earth were hit by objects of planetary size during their early history. I will discuss the effects that large impacts may have on rocky exoplanets, including moon formation and compositional changes, which can affect prospects for habitability on these worlds. The giant planets in our solar system harbor dozens of planet-size rocky and icy moons, some of which have habitats that may be dissimilar to Earth but could still be suitable for life. Because the accretion of regular satellites is thought to be a by-product of gas inflow to growing gas giants, it seems likely that many extrasolar planets may have created regular satellite systems as well. I will discuss the types of satellite systems we have in our solar system and whether those are likely to occur elsewhere. I will also discuss the conditions on the "front-runners" for habitable giant planet moons in our solar system including Europa, Enceladus, and Titan.

A study of the stability of Jovian winds from HST images: 1995 - 1998

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia-Melendo, E.; Sanchez-Lavega, A.

2000-10-01

The resolution of the best WFPC-2 HST Jupiter images was 200 kmpix-1, which is close to the maximum resolution obtained by the narrow angle cameras on board Voyager 1 and 2, 160 kmpix-1. This property of the best HST Jupiter imaging spanning a whole Jovian rotation, encouraged the use of correlation techniques to obtain a series of high resolution zonal wind profiles with a velocity data scatter similar to that obtained from Voyager images. This approach provided a unique opportunity to study the Jovian winds during a time span of 4 years, which is about 12 times longer than the 4 month lapse between the two Voyager flybys in 1979, 16 years later, and before the Cassini encounter at the end of 2000. A total of six series of wind profiles from October 5, 1995 to July 16, 1998, in the 410nm, 889nm, and 953nm bands were obtained with an average velocity scatter between 5 and 6 m/s. Jovian winds were also explored up to planetographic latitudes close to +80 degrees north and -70 degrees south. Results show the presence of two previously unknown jets over +60N and at least an additional one to the south of 60S degrees latitude. Wind profiles obtained at different wavelengths were also virtually indistinguishable, suggesting a negligible influence of a possible height effect. One of the most conspicuous results is the strong general stability displayed by the wind profile during the four year span, although the jet stream at 26S showed important alterations in shape. Comparing the HST wind profiles with the Voyager 2 wind profile obtained in violet light by S. Limaye (Icarus, Vol. 65, 335, 1986), slight latitude differences up to 1.5 degrees latitude are suggested for the location of some westerly and easterly jet streams, specially in the planet's northern hemisphere. Important changes also occurred in the eastward jets at 6S and 23N degrees of latitude. This work was supported by E. Duran Foundation and Gobierno Vasco PI 034/97.

Sex differences in the analgesic effects of ICI 182,780 and Flutamide on ureteral calculosis in rats.

PubMed

Affaitati, Giannapia; Ceccarelli, Ilaria; Fiorenzani, Paolo; Rossi, Cosmo; Pace, Maria Caterina; Passavanti, Maria Beatrice; Aurilio, Caterina; Sorda, Giuseppina; Danielli, Barbara; Giamberardino, Maria Adele; Aloisi, Anna Maria

2011-01-01

To better define the involvement of gonadal hormones in the sex differences observed in experimental visceral pain, we administered antagonists of estrogen receptors (ICI 182,780 [ICI]) or androgen receptors (Flutamide [FLU]) to adult male and female rats suffering from artificial ureteral calculosis. Subjects were divided into groups and treated with one of the substances (ICI, FLU) or sweet almond oil (OIL, vehicle) for 5 days, starting 2 days before surgery. On day 3, animals underwent surgery, with half receiving an artificial calculosis (Stone) and half only a sham procedure. The animals' behavior (number and duration of ureteral crises) and blood hormone levels (estradiol and testosterone) were determined in all groups. In OIL-treated rats the number and duration of crises were higher in females than in males. The administration of ICI or FLU resulted in hormonal effects in males and behavioral effects in females. In males ICI treatment increased estradiol plasma levels and FLU increased testosterone plasma levels; in females ICI and FLU treatments both decreased the number and duration of the ureteral crises. These results, confirming previous findings of higher sensitivity of females than males to urinary tract pain, showed the modulatory effects of estrogen and androgen antagonists on the behavioral responses induced by pain but only in females. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Seismic Wave Propagation in Icy Ocean Worlds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stähler, Simon C.; Panning, Mark P.; Vance, Steven D.; Lorenz, Ralph D.; van Driel, Martin; Nissen-Meyer, Tarje; Kedar, Sharon

2018-01-01

Seismology was developed on Earth and shaped our model of the Earth's interior over the twentieth century. With the exception of the Philae lander, all in situ extraterrestrial seismological effort to date was limited to other terrestrial planets. All have in common a rigid crust above a solid mantle. The coming years may see the installation of seismometers on Europa, Titan, and Enceladus, so it is necessary to adapt seismological concepts to the setting of worlds with global oceans covered in ice. Here we use waveform analyses to identify and classify wave types, developing a lexicon for icy ocean world seismology intended to be useful to both seismologists and planetary scientists. We use results from spectral-element simulations of broadband seismic wavefields to adapt seismological concepts to icy ocean worlds. We present a concise naming scheme for seismic waves and an overview of the features of the seismic wavefield on Europa, Titan, Ganymede, and Enceladus. In close connection with geophysical interior models, we analyze simulated seismic measurements of Europa and Titan that might be used to constrain geochemical parameters governing the habitability of a sub-ice ocean.

Crustal control of dissipative ocean tides in Enceladus and other icy moons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beuthe, Mikael

2016-12-01

Could tidal dissipation within Enceladus' subsurface ocean account for the observed heat flow? Earthlike models of dynamical tides give no definitive answer because they neglect the influence of the crust. I propose here the first model of dissipative tides in a subsurface ocean, by combining the Laplace Tidal Equations with the membrane approach. For the first time, it is possible to compute tidal dissipation rates within the crust, ocean, and mantle in one go. I show that oceanic dissipation is strongly reduced by the crustal constraint, and thus contributes little to Enceladus' present heat budget. Tidal resonances could have played a role in a forming or freezing ocean less than 100 m deep. The model is general: it applies to all icy satellites with a thin crust and a shallow ocean. Scaling rules relate the resonances and dissipation rate of a subsurface ocean to the ones of a surface ocean. If the ocean has low viscosity, the westward obliquity tide does not move the crust. Therefore, crustal dissipation due to dynamical obliquity tides can differ from the static prediction by up to a factor of two.

Inhibitory action of ICI-182,780, an estrogen receptor antagonist, on BK(Ca) channel activity in cultured endothelial cells of human coronary artery.

PubMed

Liu, Yen-Chin; Lo, Yi-Ching; Huang, Chin-Wei; Wu, Sheng-Nan

2003-11-15

ICI-182,780 is known to be a selective inhibitor of the intracellular estrogen receptors. The effect of ICI-182,780 on ion currents was studied in cultured endothelial cells of human coronary artery. In whole-cell current recordings, ICI-182,780 reversibly decreased the amplitude of K(+) outward currents. The decrease in outward current caused by ICI-182,780 could be counteracted by further application of magnolol or nordihydroguaiaretic acid, yet not by 17beta-estradiol. Under current-clamp condition, ICI-182,780 (3microM) depolarized the membrane potentials of the cells, and magnolol (10 microM) or nordihydroguaiaretic acid (10 microM) reversed ICI-182,780-induced depolarization. In inside-out patches, ICI-182,780 added to the bath did not alter single-channel conductance of large-conductance Ca(2+)-activated K(+) channels (BK(Ca) channels), but decreased their open probability. ICI-182,780 reduced channel activity in a concentration-dependent manner with an IC(50) value of 3 microM. After BK(Ca) channel activity was suppressed by 2-methoxyestradiol (3 microM), subsequent application of ICI-182,780 (3 microM) did not further reduce the channel activity. The application of ICI-182,780 shifted the activation curve of BK(Ca) channels to positive potentials. Its decrease in the open probability primarily involved a reduction in channel open duration. ICI-182,780 also suppressed the proliferation of these endothelial cells with an IC(50) value of 2 microM. However, in coronary smooth muscle cells, a bell-shaped concentration-response curve for the ICI-182,780 effect on BK(Ca) channel activity was observed. This study provides evidence that ICI-182,780 can inhibit BK(Ca) channels in vascular endothelial cells in a mechanism unlikely to be linked to its anti-estrogen activity. The inhibitory effects on these channels may partly contribute to the underlying mechanisms by which ICI-182,780 affects endothelial function.

Effects of the antiestrogen fulvestrant (ICI 182,780) on gene expression of the rat efferent ductules.

PubMed

Yasuhara, Fabiana; Gomes, Gisele Renata Oliveira; Siu, Erica Rosanna; Suenaga, Cláudia Igushi; Maróstica, Elisabeth; Porto, Catarina Segreti; Lazari, Maria Fatima Magalhaes

2008-09-01

The efferent ductules express the highest amount of estrogen receptors ESR1 (ERalpha) and ESR2 (ERbeta) within the male reproductive tract. Treatment of rats with the antiestrogen fulvestrant (ICI 182,780) causes inhibition of fluid reabsorption in the efferent ductules, leading to seminiferous tubule atrophy and infertility. To provide a more comprehensive knowledge about the molecular targets for estrogen in the rat efferent ductules, we investigated the effects of ICI 182,780 treatment on gene expression using a microarray approach. Treatment with ICI 182,780 increased or reduced at least 2-fold the expression of 263 and 98 genes, respectively. Not surprisingly, several genes that encode ion channels and macromolecule transporters were affected. Interestingly, treatment with ICI 182,780 markedly altered the expression of genes related to extracellular matrix organization. Matrix metalloproteinase 7 (Mmp7), osteopontin (Spp1), and neuronal pentraxin 1 (Nptx1) were among the most altered genes in this category. Upregulation of Mmp7 and Spp1 and downregulation of Nptx1 were validated by Northern blot. Increase in Mmp7 expression was further confirmed by immunohistochemistry and probably accounted for the decrease in collagen content observed in the efferent ductules of ICI 182,780-treated animals. Downregulation of Nptx1 probably contributed to the extracellular matrix changes and decreased amyloid deposition in the efferent ductules of ICI 182,780-treated animals. Identification of new molecular targets for estrogen action may help elucidate the regulatory role of this hormone in the male reproductive tract.

A Physical Model of the Proton Radiation Belts of Jupiter inside Europa's Orbit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nénon, Q.; Sicard, A.; Kollmann, P.; Garrett, H. B.; Sauer, S. P. A.; Paranicas, C.

2018-05-01

A physical model of the Jovian trapped protons with kinetic energies higher than 1 MeV inward of the orbit of the icy moon Europa is presented. The model, named Salammbô, takes into account the radial diffusion process, the absorption effect of the Jovian moons, and the Coulomb collisions and charge exchanges with the cold plasma and neutral populations of the inner Jovian magnetosphere. Preliminary modeling of the wave-particle interaction with electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves near the moon Io is also performed. Salammbô is validated against in situ proton measurements of Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, Galileo Probe, and Galileo Orbiter. A prominent feature of the MeV proton intensity distribution in the modeled area is the 2 orders of magnitude flux depletion observed in MeV measurements near the orbit of Io. Our simulations reveal that this is not due to direct interactions with the moon or its neutral environment but results from scattering of the protons by electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves.

The Saturnian satellite Rhea as seen by Cassini VIMS

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stephan, K.; Jaumann, R.; Wagner, R.; Clark, R.N.; Cruikshank, D.P.; Giese, B.; Hibbitts, C.A.; Roatsch, T.; Matz, K.-D.; Brown, R.H.; Filacchione, G.; Cappacioni, F.; Scholten, F.; Buratti, B.J.; Hansen, G.B.; Nicholson, P.D.; Baines, K.H.; Nelson, R.M.; Matson, D.L.

2012-01-01

Since the arrival of the Cassini spacecraft at Saturn in June 2004, the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer has obtained new spectral data of the icy satellites of Saturn in the spectral range from 0.35 to 5.2 ??m. Numerous flybys were performed at Saturn's second largest satellite Rhea, providing a nearly complete coverage with pixel-ground resolutions sufficient to analyze variations of spectral properties across Rhea's surface in detail. We present an overview of the VIMS observations obtained so far, as well as the analysis of the spectral properties identified in the VIMS spectra and their variations across its surface compared with spatially highly resolved Cassini ISS images and digital elevation models. Spectral variations measured across Rhea's surface are similar to the variations observed in the VIMS observations of its neighbor Dione, implying similar processes causing or at least inducing their occurrence. Thus, magnetospheric particles and dust impacting onto the trailing hemisphere appear to be responsible for the concentration of dark rocky/organic material and minor amounts of CO 2 in the cratered terrain on the trailing hemisphere. Despite the prominent spectral signatures of Rhea's fresh impact crater Inktomi, radiation effects were identified that also affect the H 2O ice-rich cratered terrain of the leading hemisphere. The concentration of H 2O ice in the vicinity of steep tectonic scarps near 270??W and geologically fresh impact craters implies that Rhea exhibits an icy crust at least in the upper few kilometers. Despite the evidence for past tectonic events, no indications of recent endogenically powered processes could be identified in the Cassini data. ?? 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Jovian equatorial H2 emission from 1979-1987

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcgrath, M. A.; Moos, H. W.; Ballester, G. E.; Coplin, K. A.

1988-01-01

Ninety two IUE observations of the Jovian equatorial region taken between 2 Dec. 1978 and 1 Feb. 1988 were averaged together by date of observation, resulting in 22 averaged spectra which were fit with a model to determine the amount of H2 Lyman band emission in the region 1552 to 1624A. The data suggest that the H2 emission may vary with time. Especially suggestive is the marked downward trend of the emission between 1983 and 1987, during which time the strength of the emission in the 1552 to 1624A region decreases by a factor of 10. Uncertainty in the existing data and a gap in the data in 1980 and 1981 preclude a positive identification of a correlation between the brightness of the H2 emission and the major solar cycle.

Rotation Studies of Jovian Trojan Asteroids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

French, Linda M.; Stephens, Robert D.; Wasserman, Lawrence H.; Lederer, Susan M.; Rohl, Derrick A.

2011-08-01

The Jovian Trojan asteroids appear to be fundamentally different from main belt asteroids. They formed further from the sun, they are of different composition, and their collisional history is different. Lightcurve studies provide information about the distribution of rotation frequencies of a group of asteroids. For main belt asteroids larger than about 40 km in diameter, the distribution of rotation frequencies is Maxwellian (Pravec et al. 2000). This suggests that collisions determine their rotation properties. Smaller main belt asteroids, however, show a predominance of both fast and slow rotators, with the observed spin distribution apparently controlled by the Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack (YORP) effect (Pravec et al. 2008). The Trojans larger than 100 km in diameter have been almost completely sampled, but lightcurves for smaller Trojans have been less well studied due to their low albedos and greater solar distances. We propose to investigate the rotation periods of 4-6 small (D < 50 km) Trojan asteroids and 6-9 Trojans in the 50-100 km size range.

δ opioid receptor antagonist, ICI 174,864, is suitable for the early treatment of uncontrolled hemorrhagic shock in rats.

PubMed

Liu, Liangming; Tian, Kunlun; Zhu, Yu; Ding, Xiaoli; Li, Tao

2013-08-01

Fluid resuscitation is the essential step for early treatment of traumatic hemorrhagic shock. However, its implementation is greatly limited before hospital or during evacuation. The authors investigated whether δ opioid receptor antagonist ICI 174,864 was suitable for the early treatment of traumatic hemorrhagic shock. With uncontrolled hemorrhagic-shock rats, the antishock effects of six dosages of ICI 174,864 (0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 1, 3, and 5 mg/kg) infused with or without a small volume of lactated Ringer's solution (LR) before bleeding controlled or bleeding cessation at different times were observed. ICI 174,864 (0.1-3 mg/kg) with or without 1/4 volume of LR infusion showed dose-dependent increase in the mean arterial blood pressure, and significantly prolonged the survival time and 8-h survival rate, as compared with ICI 174,864 plus 1/2 volume of LR infusion. The best effect was shown with 3 mg/kg of ICI 174,864. Bleeding cessation at 1, 2, or 3 h during infusion of ICI 174,864 (3 mg/kg) plus 1/4 volume of LR improved subsequent treatment (70% 24-h survival rate vs. 50 and 10% 24-h survival rate in hypotensive resuscitation and LR group, respectively). There was significant improvement in hemodynamic parameters, oxygen delivery, and tissue perfusion of hemorrhagic-shock rats with 3 mg/kg of ICI 174,864 plus 1/4 volume of LR infusion. δ Opioid receptor antagonist ICI 174,864 alone or with small volume of fluid infusion has good beneficial effect on uncontrolled hemorrhagic shock. Its early application can "buy" time for subsequent treatment of traumatic shock.

Low-Temperature Thermal Reactions Between SO2 and H2O2 and Their Relevance to the Jovian Icy Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Loeffler, Mark J.; Hudson, Reggie L.

2013-01-01

Here we present first results on a non-radiolytic, thermally-driven reaction sequence in solid H2O +SO2 + H2O2 mixtures at 50-130 K, which produces sulfate (SO(-2)/(4)), and has an activation energy of 53 kJ/mole. We suspect that these results may explain some of the observations related to the presence and distribution of H2O2 across Europa's surface as well as the lack of H2O2 on Ganymede and Callisto.

Pre-clinical pharmacology of ICI D2138, a potent orally-active non-redox inhibitor of 5-lipoxygenase.

PubMed Central

McMillan, R. M.; Spruce, K. E.; Crawley, G. C.; Walker, E. R.; Foster, S. J.

1992-01-01

1. This paper describes the pre-clinical pharmacology of ICI D2138, a potent orally-active non-redox inhibitor of 5-lipoxygenase which is undergoing clinical evaluation. 2. ICI D2138 potently inhibited leukotriene synthesis in murine peritoneal macrophages (IC50 = 3 nM) and human blood (IC50 = 20 nM). In human and dog blood, ICI D2138 did not inhibit thromboxane B2 synthesis at a concentration of 500 microM, thus the selectivity ratio (cyclo-oxygenase: 5-lipoxygenase) was greater than 20,000. In contrast, zileuton (a 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor also undergoing clinical evaluation) exhibited a selectivity ratio of 15-100. 3. ICI D2138 potently and dose-dependently inhibited ex vivo leukotriene B4 (LTB4) synthesis by rat blood with ED50 values of 0.9, 4.0 and 80.0 mg kg-1 p.o. at 3, 10 and 20 h respectively after dosing. Similar activity was observed for inhibition of LTB4 production in a zymosan-inflamed rat air pouch model. Zileuton produced ED50 values of 5 and 20 mg kg-1 at 3 and 10 h respectively. 4. Oral administration of 1, 3 or 10 mg kg-1 ICI D2138 to dogs produced maximal inhibition of ex vivo LTB4 synthesis by blood for 5, 9 and 31 h respectively. A dose of 5 mg kg-1 p.o. of zileuton caused maximal inhibition of LTB4 for 24 h. 5. Oral administration of 10 mg kg-1 ICI D2138 caused total inhibition of LTB4 production in zymosan-inflamed rabbit knee joint. 6. Topical administration of ICI D2138 to rabbit skin caused a dose-related inhibition of arachidonic acid-induced plasma extravasation with an ID30 of 1.08 nmol per site.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) PMID:1334748

Leptin interferes with the effects of the antiestrogen ICI 182,780 in MCF-7 breast cancer cells.

PubMed

Garofalo, Cecilia; Sisci, Diego; Surmacz, Eva

2004-10-01

Obesity is a risk factor for breast cancer development in postmenopausal women and correlates with shorter disease-free and overall survival in breast cancer patients, regardless of menopausal status. Adipose tissue is a major source of leptin, a cytokine regulating energy balance and controlling different processes in peripheral tissues, including breast cancer cell growth. Here, we investigated whether leptin can counteract antitumorigenic activities of the antiestrogen ICI 182,780 in breast cancer cells. Mitogenic response to leptin and the effects of leptin on ICI 182,780-dependent growth inhibition were studied in MCF-7 estrogen receptor alpha-positive breast cancer cells. The expression of leptin receptor and the activation of signaling pathways were studied by Western immunoblotting. The interference of leptin with ICI 182,780-induced estrogen receptor alpha degradation was probed by Western immunoblotting, fluorescence microscopy, and pulse-chase experiments. Leptin effects on estrogen receptor alpha-dependent transcription in the presence and absence of ICI 182,780 were studied by luciferase reporter assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation. MCF-7 cells were found to express the leptin receptor and respond to leptin with cell growth and activation the signal transducers and activators of transcription 3, extracellular signal-regulated kinase-1/2, and Akt/GSK3/pRb pathways. The exposure of cells to 10 nmol/L ICI 182,780 blocked cell proliferation, induced rapid estrogen receptor alpha degradation, inhibited nuclear estrogen receptor alpha expression, and reduced estrogen receptor alpha-dependent transcription from estrogen response element-containing promoters. All of these effects of ICI 182,780 were significantly attenuated by simultaneous treatment of cells with 100 ng/mL leptin. Leptin interferes with the effects of ICI 182,780 on estrogen receptor alpha in breast cancer cells. Thus, high leptin levels in obese breast cancer patients might contribute to

Family Portrait of Jupiter's Great Red Spot and the Galilean Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This 'family portrait,' a composite of the Jovian system, includes the edge of Jupiter with its Great Red Spot, and Jupiter's four largest moons, known as the Galilean satellites. From top to bottom, the moons shown are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

The Great Red Spot, a storm in Jupiter's atmosphere, is at least 300 years old. Winds blow counterclockwise around the Great Red Spot at about 400 kilometers per hour (250 miles per hour). The storm is larger than one Earth diameter from north to south, and more than two Earth diameters from east to west. In this oblique view, the Great Red Spot appears longer in the north-south direction.

Europa, the smallest of the four moons, is about the size of Earth's moon, while Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system. North is at the top of this composite picture in which the massive planet and its largest satellites have all been scaled to a common factor of 15 kilometers (9 miles) per picture element.

The Solid State Imaging (CCD) system aboard NASA's Galileo spacecraft obtained the Jupiter, Io and Ganymede images in June 1996, while the Europa images were obtained in September 1996. Because Galileo focuses on high resolution imaging of regional areas on Callisto rather than global coverage, the portrait of Callisto is from the 1979 flyby of NASA's Voyager spacecraft.

Launched in October 1989, the spacecraft's mission is to conduct detailed studies of the giant planet, its largest moons and the Jovian magnetic environment. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at: http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at: http:/ /www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo.

Poor response to alprostadil ICI test is associated with arteriogenic erectile dysfunction and higher risk of major adverse cardiovascular events.

PubMed

Rastrelli, Giulia; Corona, Giovanni; Monami, Matteo; Melani, Cecilia; Balzi, Daniela; Sforza, Alessandra; Forti, Gianni; Mannucci, Edoardo; Maggi, Mario

2011-12-01

Intracavernous alprostadil injection (ICI) test has been considered useless in assessing the vascular status of subjects with erectile dysfunction (ED). To analyze the clinical correlates of ICI test in patients with ED and to verify the value of this test in predicting major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). A consecutive series of 2,396 men (mean age 55.9 ± 11.9 years) attending our outpatient clinic for sexual dysfunction was retrospectively studied. A subset of this sample (N = 1,687) was enrolled in a longitudinal study. Several clinical, biochemical, and instrumental (penile color Doppler ultrasound; PCDU) factors were evaluated. All patients underwent an ICI test, and responses were recorded on a four-point scale ranging from 1 = no response to 4 = full erection. Among the patients studied, 16.4%, 41.2%, 40.2% and 2.2% showed grade 4, 3, 2, and 1 ICI test response, respectively. After adjusting for confounders, subjects with grade 1 ICI test response showed reduced perceived sleep-related, masturbation-related, and sexual-related erections when compared with the rest of the sample. In addition, a worse response to ICI test was associated with a higher prevalence of hypogonadism-related symptoms and signs along with lower testosterone levels. The prevalence of both diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome was inversely related to ICI test response. Accordingly, dynamic and basal peak systolic velocity (PSV), as well as acceleration at PCDU, decreased as a function of ICI test response. In the longitudinal study, after adjusting for confounders, grade 1 response was independently associated with a higher incidence of MACE (hazard ratio = 2.745 [1.200-6.277]; P < 0.05). These data were confirmed even when only subjects with normal PSV (>25 cm/s) were considered. Our results demonstrate that poor ICI test response is associated with several metabolic disturbances and higher incidence of MACE. We strongly recommend performing ICI test with alprostadil in all

Technology for a Thermo-chemical Ice Penetrator for Icy Moons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arenberg, Jonathan; Harpole, George; Zamel, James; Sen, Bashwar; Lee, Greg; Ross, Floyd; Retherford, Kurt D.

2016-10-01

The ability to place sensors or to take samples below the ice surface enables a wide variety of potential scientific investigations. Penetrating an ice cap can be accomplished via a mechanical drill, laser drill, kinetic impactor, or heated penetrator. This poster reports on the development of technology for the latter most option, namely a self-heated probe driven by an exothermic chemical reaction: a Thermo-chemical ice penetrator (TChIP). Our penetrator design employs a eutectic mix of alkali metals that produce an exothermic reaction upon contact with an icy surface. This reaction increases once the ice starts melting, so no external power is required. This technology is inspired by a classified Cold-War era program developed at Northrop Grumman for the US Navy. Terrestrial demonstration of this technology took place in the Arctic; however, this device cannot be considered high TRL for application at the icy moons of the solar system due to the environmental differences between Earth's Arctic and the icy moons. These differences demand a TChIP design specific to these cold, low mass, airless worlds. It is expected that this model of TChIP performance will be complex, incorporating all of the forces on the penetrator, gravity, the thermo-chemistry at the interface between penetrator and ice, and multi-phase heat and mass transport, and hydrodynamics. Our initial efforts are aimed at the development of a validated set of tools and simulations to predict the performance of the penetrator for both the environment found on these icy moons and for a terrestrial environment. The purpose of the inclusion of the terrestrial environment is to aid in model validation. Once developed and validated, our models will allow us to design penetrators for a specific scientific application on a specific body. This poster discusses the range of scientific investigations that are enabled by TChIP. We also introduce the development plan to advance TChIP to the point where it can be

Radiation Synthesis of Carbon Dioxide in Ice-coated Carbon: Implications for Interstellar Grains and Icy Moons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raut, U.; Fulvio, D.; Loeffler, M. J.; Baragiola, R. A.

2012-06-01

We report the synthesis of carbon dioxide on an amorphous carbon-13 substrate coated with amorphous water ice from irradiation with 100 keV protons at 20 K and 120 K. The quantitative studies show that the CO2 is dispersed in the ice; its column density increases with ion fluence to a maximum value (in 1015 molecules cm-2) of ~1 at 20 K and ~3 at 120 K. The initial yield is 0.05 (0.1) CO2 per incident H+ at 20 (120) K. The CO2 destruction process, which limits the maximum column density, occurs with an effective cross section of ~2.5 (4.1) × 10-17 cm2 at 20 (120) K. We discuss radiation-induced oxidation by reactions of radicals in water with the carbon surface and demonstrate that these reactions can be a significant source of condensed carbon dioxide in interstellar grains and in icy satellites in the outer solar system.

How to Do Science From an Engineering Organization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Suggs, Robert M.

2003-01-01

MSFC's Space Environments Team performs engineering support for a number of NASA spaceflight projects by defining the space environment, developing design requirements, supporting the design process, and supporting operations. Examples of this type of support are given including meteoroid environment work for the Jovian Icy Moon Orbiter mission, ionizing radiation support for the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, and astronomicaVgeophysica1 observation planning for International Space Station.

Evolution of Icy Dust Grains in the Vicinity of a Cometary Nucleus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hilchenbach, M.

2009-12-01

From late 2014 onwards, ESA's cornerstone mission ROSETTA will orbit the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. One instrument, COSIMA, will collect cometary dust grains and analyze the grains via secondary mass spectrometry. Models of the evolution of icy dust, accelerated by drag forces of subliming gas and exposed to solar radiation, should set constrains on the detection limits of the COSIMA instrument for volatile icy components. A straightforward modeling approach is applied as a baseline for the observational planing schedule of the instrument operations in the years 2014/2015 as ROSETTA escorts the comet nucleus up to perihelion and beyond.

The Icy Mountains of Pluto

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-15

New close-up images of a region near Pluto's equator reveal a giant surprise: a range of youthful mountains rising as high as 11,000 feet (3,500 meters) above the surface of the icy body. The mountains likely formed no more than 100 million years ago -- mere youngsters relative to the 4.56-billion-year age of the solar system -- and may still be in the process of building. That suggests the close-up region, which covers less than one percent of Pluto's surface, may still be geologically active today. The youthful age estimate is based on the lack of craters in this scene. Like the rest of Pluto, this region would presumably have been pummeled by space debris for billions of years and would have once been heavily cratered -- unless recent activity had given the region a facelift, erasing those pockmarks. Unlike the icy moons of giant planets, Pluto cannot be heated by gravitational interactions with a much larger planetary body. Some other process must be generating the mountainous landscape. The mountains are probably composed of Pluto's water-ice "bedrock." Although methane and nitrogen ice covers much of the surface of Pluto, these materials are not strong enough to build the mountains. Instead, a stiffer material, most likely water-ice, created the peaks. The close-up image was taken about 1.5 hours before New Horizons closest approach to Pluto, when the craft was 47,800 miles (770,000 kilometers) from the surface of the planet. The image easily resolves structures smaller than a mile across. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19710

Automated Design of the Europa Orbiter Tour

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heaton, Andrew F.; Strange, Nathan J.; Longusaki, James M.; Bonfiglio, Eugene P.

2000-01-01

In this paper we investigate tours of the Jovian satellites Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto for the Europa Orbiter Mission. The principal goal of the tour design is to lower arrival V(sub infinity) for the final Europa encounter while meeting all of the design constraints. Key constraints arise from considering the total time of the tour and the radiation dosage of a tour. These tours may employ 14 or more encounters with the Jovian satellites, hence there is an enormous number of possible sequences of these satellites to investigate. We develop a graphical method that greatly aids the design process.

Automated Design of the Europa Orbiter Tour

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heaton, Andrew F.; Strange, Nathan J.; Longuski, James M.; Bonfiglio, Eugene P.; Taylor, Irene (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

In this paper we investigate tours of the Jovian satellites Europa Ganymede, and Callisto for the Europa Orbiter Mission. The principal goal of the tour design is to lower arrival V_ for the final Europa encounter while meeting all of the design constraints. Key constraints arise from considering the total time of the tour and the radiation dosage of a tour. These tours may employ 14 or more encounters with the Jovian satellites. hence there is an enormous number of possible sequences of these satellites to investigate. We develop a graphical method that greatly aids the design process.

Tamoxifen and ICI 182, 780 activate hypothalamic G protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1 to rapidly facilitate lordosis in female rats

PubMed Central

Long, Nathan; Long, Bertha; Mana, Asma; Le, Dream; Nguyen, Lam; Chokr, Sima; Sinchak, Kevin

2017-01-01

In the female rat, sexual receptivity (lordosis) can be facilitated by sequential activation of estrogen receptor (ER) α and G protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1 (GPER) by estradiol. In the estradiol benzoate (EB) primed ovariectomized (OVX) rat, EB initially binds to ERα in the plasma membrane that complexes with and transactivates metabotropic glutamate receptor 1a to activate β-endorphin neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARH) that project to the medial preoptic nucleus (MPN). This activates MPN μ-opioid receptors (MOP), inhibiting lordosis. Infusion of non-esterified 17β-estradiol into the ARH rapidly reduces MPN MOP activation and facilitates lordosis via GPER. Tamoxifen (TAM) and ICI 182,780 (ICI) are selective estrogen receptor modulators that activate GPER. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that TAM and ICI rapidly facilitate lordosis via activation of GPER in the ARH. Our first experiment demonstrated that injection of TAM intraperitoneal, or ICI into the lateral ventricle, deactivated MPN MOP and facilitated lordosis in EB-primed rats. We then tested whether TAM and ICI were acting rapidly through a GPER dependent pathway in the ARH. In EB-primed rats, ARH infusion of either TAM or ICI facilitated lordosis and reduced MPN MOP activation within 30 minutes compared to controls. These effects were blocked by pretreatment with the GPER antagonist, G15. Our findings demonstrate that TAM and ICI deactivate MPN MOP and facilitate lordosis in a GPER dependent manner. Thus, TAM and ICI may activate GPER in the CNS to produce estrogenic actions in neural circuits that modulate physiology and behavior. PMID:28063803

Tamoxifen and ICI 182,780 activate hypothalamic G protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1 to rapidly facilitate lordosis in female rats.

PubMed

Long, Nathan; Long, Bertha; Mana, Asma; Le, Dream; Nguyen, Lam; Chokr, Sima; Sinchak, Kevin

2017-03-01

In the female rat, sexual receptivity (lordosis) can be facilitated by sequential activation of estrogen receptor (ER) α and G protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1 (GPER) by estradiol. In the estradiol benzoate (EB) primed ovariectomized (OVX) rat, EB initially binds to ERα in the plasma membrane that complexes with and transactivates metabotropic glutamate receptor 1a to activate β-endorphin neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARH) that project to the medial preoptic nucleus (MPN). This activates MPN μ-opioid receptors (MOP), inhibiting lordosis. Infusion of non-esterified 17β-estradiol into the ARH rapidly reduces MPN MOP activation and facilitates lordosis via GPER. Tamoxifen (TAM) and ICI 182,780 (ICI) are selective estrogen receptor modulators that activate GPER. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that TAM and ICI rapidly facilitate lordosis via activation of GPER in the ARH. Our first experiment demonstrated that injection of TAM intraperitoneal, or ICI into the lateral ventricle, deactivated MPN MOP and facilitated lordosis in EB-primed rats. We then tested whether TAM and ICI were acting rapidly through a GPER dependent pathway in the ARH. In EB-primed rats, ARH infusion of either TAM or ICI facilitated lordosis and reduced MPN MOP activation within 30min compared to controls. These effects were blocked by pretreatment with the GPER antagonist, G15. Our findings demonstrate that TAM and ICI deactivate MPN MOP and facilitate lordosis in a GPER dependent manner. Thus, TAM and ICI may activate GPER in the CNS to produce estrogenic actions in neural circuits that modulate physiology and behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc.