| 1. |
- Futaana, Yoshifumi, et al.
(författare)
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SELMA mission : How do airless bodies interact with space environment? The Moon as an accessible laboratory
- 2018
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Ingår i: Planetary and Space Science. - : PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD. - 0032-0633 .- 1873-5088. ; 156, s. 23-40
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Moon is an archetypal atmosphere-less celestial body in the Solar System. For such bodies, the environments are characterized by complex interaction among the space plasma, tenuous neutral gas, dust and the outermost layer of the surface. Here we propose the SELMA mission (Surface, Environment, and Lunar Magnetic Anomalies) to study how airless bodies interact with space environment. SELMA uses a unique combination of remote sensing via ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths, and energetic neutral atom imaging, as well as in situ measurements of exospheric gas, plasma, and dust at the Moon. After observations in a lunar orbit for one year, SELMA will conduct an impact experiment to investigate volatile content in the soil of the permanently shadowed area of the Shackleton crater. SELMA also carries an impact probe to sound the Reiner-Gamma mini-magnetosphere and its interaction with the lunar regolith from the SELMA orbit down to the surface. SELMA was proposed to the European Space Agency as a medium-class mission (M5) in October 2016. Research on the SELMA scientific themes is of importance for fundamental planetary sciences and for our general understanding of how the Solar System works. In addition, SELMA outcomes will contribute to future lunar explorations through qualitative characterization of the lunar environment and, in particular, investigation of the presence of water in the lunar soil, as a valuable resource to harvest from the lunar regolith.
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| 2. |
- Lue, Charles, 1986-
(författare)
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Solar Wind Proton Interactions with Lunar Magnetic Anomalies and Regolith
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The lunar space environment is shaped by the interaction between the Moon and the solar wind. In the present thesis, we investigate two aspects of this interaction, namely the interaction between solar wind protons and lunar crustal magnetic anomalies, and the interaction between solar wind protons and lunar regolith. We use particle sensors that were carried onboard the Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter to analyze solar wind protons that reflect from the Moon, including protons that capture an electron from the lunar regolith and reflect as energetic neutral atoms of hydrogen. We also employ computer simulations and use a hybrid plasma solver to expand on the results from the satellite measurements.The observations from Chandrayaan-1 reveal that the reflection of solar wind protons from magnetic anomalies is a common phenomenon on the Moon, occurring even at relatively small anomalies that have a lateral extent of less than 100 km. At the largest magnetic anomaly cluster (with a diameter of 1000 km), an average of ~10% of the incoming solar wind protons are reflected to space. Our computer simulations show that these reflected proton streams significantly modify the global lunar plasma environment. The reflected protons can enter the lunar wake and impact the lunar nightside surface. They can also reach far upstream of the Moon and disturb the solar wind flow. In the local environment at a 200 km-scale magnetic anomaly, our simulations show a heated and deflected plasma flow and the formation of regions with reduced or increased proton precipitation.We also observe solar wind protons reflected from the lunar regolith. These proton fluxes are generally lower than those from the magnetic anomalies. We find that the proton reflection efficiency from the regolith varies between ~0.01% and ~1%, in correlation with changes in the solar wind speed. We link this to a velocity dependent charge-exchange process occurring when the particles leave the lunar regolith. Further, we investigate how the properties of the reflected neutral hydrogen atoms depend on the solar wind temperature. We develop a model to describe this dependence, and use this model to study the plasma precipitation on the Moon when it is in the terrestrial magnetosheath. We then use the results from these and other studies, to model solar wind reflection from the surface of the planet Mercury.
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| 3. |
- Tinetti, G., et al.
(författare)
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A chemical survey of exoplanets with ARIEL
- 2018
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Ingår i: Experimental Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 46:1, s. 135-209
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Thousands of exoplanets have now been discovered with a huge range of masses, sizes and orbits: from rocky Earth-like planets to large gas giants grazing the surface of their host star. However, the essential nature of these exoplanets remains largely mysterious: there is no known, discernible pattern linking the presence, size, or orbital parameters of a planet to the nature of its parent star. We have little idea whether the chemistry of a planet is linked to its formation environment, or whether the type of host star drives the physics and chemistry of the planet’s birth, and evolution. ARIEL was conceived to observe a large number (~1000) of transiting planets for statistical understanding, including gas giants, Neptunes, super-Earths and Earth-size planets around a range of host star types using transit spectroscopy in the 1.25–7.8 μm spectral range and multiple narrow-band photometry in the optical. ARIEL will focus on warm and hot planets to take advantage of their well-mixed atmospheres which should show minimal condensation and sequestration of high-Z materials compared to their colder Solar System siblings. Said warm and hot atmospheres are expected to be more representative of the planetary bulk composition. Observations of these warm/hot exoplanets, and in particular of their elemental composition (especially C, O, N, S, Si), will allow the understanding of the early stages of planetary and atmospheric formation during the nebular phase and the following few million years. ARIEL will thus provide a representative picture of the chemical nature of the exoplanets and relate this directly to the type and chemical environment of the host star. ARIEL is designed as a dedicated survey mission for combined-light spectroscopy, capable of observing a large and well-defined planet sample within its 4-year mission lifetime. Transit, eclipse and phase-curve spectroscopy methods, whereby the signal from the star and planet are differentiated using knowledge of the planetary ephemerides, allow us to measure atmospheric signals from the planet at levels of 10–100 part per million (ppm) relative to the star and, given the bright nature of targets, also allows more sophisticated techniques, such as eclipse mapping, to give a deeper insight into the nature of the atmosphere. These types of observations require a stable payload and satellite platform with broad, instantaneous wavelength coverage to detect many molecular species, probe the thermal structure, identify clouds and monitor the stellar activity. The wavelength range proposed covers all the expected major atmospheric gases from e.g. H2O, CO2, CH4 NH3, HCN, H2S through to the more exotic metallic compounds, such as TiO, VO, and condensed species. Simulations of ARIEL performance in conducting exoplanet surveys have been performed – using conservative estimates of mission performance and a full model of all significant noise sources in the measurement – using a list of potential ARIEL targets that incorporates the latest available exoplanet statistics. The conclusion at the end of the Phase A study, is that ARIEL – in line with the stated mission objectives – will be able to observe about 1000 exoplanets depending on the details of the adopted survey strategy, thus confirming the feasibility of the main science objectives.
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