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NASA NTRS1979

Magnetic field studies at Jupiter by Voyager 1: Preliminary results

Results obtained by the Goddard Space Flight Center magnetometers on Voyager 1 concerning the large scale configuration of the Jovian bow shock and magnetopause, and the magnetic field in both the inner and outer magnetosphere are highlighted. There is evidence that a magnetic tail extending away from the planet on the nightside is formed by the solar wind-Jovian field interaction. This is much like Earth's magnetosphere but is a new configuration for Jupiter's magnetosphere not previously considered from earlier Pioneer data. Magnetic field perturbations associated with intense electrical currents (approximately 5 x 10 to the 6th power amps) flowing near or in the magnetic flux tube linking Jupiter with the satellite Io and induced by the relative motion between Io and the co-rotating Jovian magnetosphere are analyzed and interpreted. These currents may be an important source of heating the ionosphere and interior of Io through Joule dissipation.

Ness, N. F.↗

NASA NTRS2017

The Shadow Knows: Using Shadows to Investigate the Structure of the Pretransitional Disk of HD 100453

We present Gemini Planet Imager polarized intensity imagery of HD 100453 in Y, J, and K1 bands that reveals an inner gap (9-18 au), an outer disk (18-39 au) with two prominent spiral arms, and two azimuthally localized dark features that are also present in Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) total intensity images. Spectral energy distribution fitting further suggests that the radial gap extends to 1 au. The narrow, wedge-like shape of the dark features appears similar to predictions of shadows cast by an inner disk that is misaligned with respect to the outer disk. Using the Monte Carlo radiative transfer code HOCHUNCK3D, we construct a model of the disk that allows us to determine its physical properties in more detail. From the angular separation of the features, we measure the difference in inclination between the disks (45deg) and their major axes, PA = 140deg east of north for the outer disk, and 100deg for the inner disk. We find an outer-disk inclination of 25deg +/- 10deg from face-on, in broad agreement with the Wagner et al. measurement of 34deg. SPHERE data in J and H bands indicate a reddish disk, which indicates that HD 100453 is evolving into a young debris disk.

Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsea↗

NASA NTRS2012

Sampling South Pole-Aitken Basin: The Moonrise Approach

The South Pole-Aitken basin (SPA) is the largest of the giant impact basins in the inner Solar System, and its location on Earth s Moon makes it the most accessible. Exploration of SPA through direct collection and analysis of representative materials addresses issues as fundamental as the characteristics of the chemical reservoir from which the Moon originated, early differentiation and production of crust and development of global asymmetry, relationships between magmatic activity and internal thermal evolution, and effects of giant impact events on the terrestrial planets. Owing to its great size and superposition relationships with other lunar impact basins, SPA is the oldest and as such anchors the lunar chronology. Moreover, numerous large impact craters and basins are contained within it such that materials (rocks) of the SPA basin contain a record of the early impact chronology, one less likely to have been affected by the large, late nearside basins (e.g., Imbrium). Understanding the early basin chronology is key to deciphering the sequence and effects of early giant impact bombardment of the inner Solar System. That record exists on the Moon, and materials of the SPA basin will allow us to read that record. Knowledge of the early bombardment history will test - and may reshape - a key paradigm relating to early Solar System evolution. Did the planets form with the alignment of today, or was there a major reorientation of the giant planets that led to destabilization of asteroid orbits, and a cataclysmic bombardment of the inner Solar System hundreds of millions of years after accretion of the planets? Implications include understanding environments for early life-supporting habitats on Earth and Mars, and relationships to new observations of extra-solar planetary systems.

Jolliff, B. L.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Specification goals for a Mars seismic network

A seismic network on Mars should have enough stations (e.g., 24) to characterize the seismicity of the planet for comparison with a diversity of structural features; be comprised of low noise stations, preferably underground, 3 to 4 orders of magnitude more sensitive than those used on Viking; record over a sufficient band-width (DC-30 Hz) to detect micro-earthquakes to normal modes; and record for a sufficient duration (10 years) and data rate (10(exp 8) Mb/day/station) to obtain a data set comparable to that from the Apollo mission to the Moon so that locations of major internal boundaries can be inferred, such as those in the Earth, i.e., crust - lithosphere - asthenosphere - upper - lower phase transitions - outer - inner core. The proposed Mars Global Network Mission provides an opportunity to sense the dynamics and probe the interior of the planet. The seismic objectives, the availability of the instrumentation and trade-offs to meet them are discussed.

Davis, Paul M.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Did Jupiter's Core Form in the Innermost Parts of the Sun's Protoplanetary Disc?

Jupiter’s core is generally assumed to have formed beyond the snow line. Here we consider an alternative scenario, that Jupiter’s core may have accumulated in the innermost parts of the protoplanetary disk. A growing body of research suggests that small particles (“pebbles”) continually drift inward through the disk. If a fraction of drifting pebbles is trapped at the inner edge of the disk a several Earth-mass core can quickly grow. Subsequently, the core may migrate outward beyond the snow line via planet-disk interactions. Of course, to reach the outer Solar System Jupiter’s core must traverse the terrestrial planet-forming region. We use N-body simulations including synthetic forces from an underlying gaseous disk to study how the outward migration of Jupiter’s core sculpts the terrestrial zone. If the outward migration is fast (τ(sub mig) ∼ 10(exp 4) years), the core simply migrates past resident planetesimals and planetary embryos. However, if its migration is slower (τ(sub mig) ∼ 10(exp 5) years) the core removes solids from the inner disk by shepherding objects in mean motion resonances. In many cases the disk interior to 0.5-1 AU is cleared of embryos and most planetesimals. By generating a mass deficit close to the Sun, the outward migration of Jupiter’s core may thus explain the absence of terrestrial planets closer than Mercury. Jupiter’s migrating core often stimulates the growth of another large (∼ Earth-mass) core – that may provide a seed for Saturn’s core – trapped in exterior resonance. The migrating core also may transport a fraction of terrestrial planetesimals, such as the putative parent bodies of iron meteorites, to the asteroid belt.

Protoplanetary disks↗

NASA NTRS2018

Outer Solar System Material in Inner Solar System Regolith Breccias

There is excellent evidence that a dynamical instability in the early solar system led to gravitational interactions between the giant planets and trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). Giant planetary migration triggered by the instability dispersed a disk of primordial TNOs and created a number of small body reservoirs (e.g. the Kuiper Belt, scattered disk, irregular satellites, and the Jupiter/Neptune Trojan populations). It also injected numerous bodies into the main asteroid belt, where modeling shows they can successfully reproduce the observed P and D-type asteroid populations. During the injection era and after implantation, some of these “main belt TNOs” would have collided with S-class asteroids. Some of this material may have survived as a component of asteroid regolith breccias. Thus, we have been searching for evidence of these impact events in the form of carbonaceous xenoliths in brecciated ordinary chondrites. These xenoliths would have experienced a wide range of impact velocities, and therefore we should expect to see everything between relatively unaltered material to completely shock-melted lithologies. This material might also be different from the carbonaceous chondrites that represent standard C-complex asteroids. A goal of this research is to define useful criteria for distinguishing between these two classes of materials, including O, Cr, N and C isotopes, petrographic characteristics, and chronology.

Zolensky, M.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Ringed planets - Still mysterious. II

The morphology of the rings of Saturn and the mechanisms proposed to explain their fluctuations and origin are discussed and illustrated with photographs and diagrams in a general review. The kinks and braids of the F ring are attributed to the gravitational effects of the known shepherding satellites and/or a number of as yet unseen moonlets; the irregular gaps in the B and inner A rings, to particle interactions (diffusion-instability processes); and the flickering spokes of the central B ring, to the rotation of the Saturn magnetic field. It is pointed out that the composition of the single Jovian ring and of the Jovian satellites can be explained if both are remnants of the planet's primordial disk, but that the rock-ice compositions of the rings and inner satellites of Saturn require a more sophisticated model, perhaps involving meteoroid erosion. The rings of Uranus and Neptune are briefly considered.

Cuzzi, J. N.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Detection of singly ionized oxygen around Jupiter

Forbidden emission from singly ionized oxygen at wavelengths of 3726 and 3729 angstroms has been detected in the inner Jovian magnetosphere. The emission is present between approximately 4 and 7 to 8 Jovian radii from the planet and appears concentrated in the magnetic equator. The line intensity ratio indicates the same plasma characteristics as those derived from observations of forbidden sulfur emission.

Pilcher, C. B.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Magnetic field studies at Jupiter by Voyager 2 - Preliminary results

The Voyager 2 magnetic field experiment, for which the instrumentation is identical to that on Voyager 1, operated flawlessly throughout the second Jupiter encounter. The paper presents a brief overview of the results obtained to date on the Jovian magnetosphere, the bow shock, the magnetopause, and the extended magnetic tail. The results and the magnetic field geometry confirm the earlier conclusion from Voyager 1 that Jupiter has an enormous magnetic tail, approximately 300-400 Jupiter radii in diameter, trailing behind the planet with respect to the supersonic flow of the solar wind. Additional observations of the distortion of the inner magnetosphere by a concentrated plasma show a spatial merging of the equatorial magnetodisk current with the current sheet in the magnetic tail. Disturbances near Ganymede are discussed.

Ness, N. F.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Spatial distribution of craters on the Moon and Callisto

The spatial distribution of craters 8 km diameter on an area of Callisto are compared with that of a lunar highlands area from which craters are removed to produce the Callisto size/frequency distribution. Craters in the lunar area are mapped and classified according to degradational type using the five-fold LPL scheme where Class 1 is the freshest and Class 5 the most degraded. The size/frequency distribution are determined and compared with the Callisto area. Craters are removed according to the stage of degradation. Its crater population is basically a production population deficient in large craters relative to that of the terrestrial planets. This indicates that the population of impacting objects responsible for the period of heavy bombardment in the inner solar system was different from that at Jupiter, and probably had a different origin as well.

Ruzicka, A.↗

NASA NTRS1986

The planets of the Solar System

This book is intended both for the lay person and the would-be scientist. The planets are discussed with a comparision of their basic natural features: mechanical characteristics and parameters of movement, surfaces, inner structure, physical properties of the atmosphere and meteorology. Also general problems of planetary cosmogony, thermal history and climatic evolution are considered briefly. The book is based on Soviet and foreign material, data from spacecraft, Earth optical and radio astronomical measurements and also data obtained from theoretical models.

Marov, M. Y.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Eccentricity Evolution of Migrating Planets

We examine the eccentricity evolution of a system of two planets locked in a mean motion resonance, in which either the outer or both planets lose energy and angular momentum. The sink of energy and angular momentum could be a gas or planetesimal disk. We analytically calculate the eccentricity damping rate in the case of a single planet migrating through a planetesimal disk. When the planetesimal disk is cold (the average eccentricity is much less than 1), the circularization time is comparable to the inward migration time, as previous calculations have found for the case of a gas disk. If the planetesimal disk is hot, the migration time can be an order of magnitude shorter. We show that the eccentricity of both planetary bodies can grow to large values, particularly if the inner body does not directly exchange energy or angular momentum with the disk. We present the results of numerical integrations of two migrating resonant planets showing rapid growth of eccentricity. We also present integrations in which a Jupiter-mass planet is forced to migrate inward through a system of 5-10 roughly Earth-mass planets. The migrating planets can eject or accrete the smaller bodies; roughly 5% of the mass (averaged over all the integrations) accretes onto the central star. The results are discussed in the context of the currently known extrasolar planetary systems.

Murray, N.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Comet Dust: The Story of Planet Formation as Told by the Tiniest of Particles

Our planetary system formed out of a gas-rich disk-shaped nebula with the early Sun at its center. Many small icy bodies were consumed by the formation of the giant planets. However, many km-size icy bodies were tossed out of the giant-planet region to the cold, distant reaches of our solar system. Comets remained in their places of cold storage until perturbed into orbits that carry them into the inner solar system where they pass relatively close to the Sun. Comets are warmed by the Sun and shed material from their outer layers. The ices and gases shed by comets reveal simple and complex organic molecules were present at the time and in the region of the formation of the giant planets. Where the Earth was forming was too hot and had too intense sunlight for many of these ices and molecules to survive. The dust shed by comets tells us that some stardust survived unaltered but much of the dust was heated and crystallized before becoming part of the comet. Therefore, comet dust grains tell of large radial migrations from the cold outer reaches near Neptune into the hot regions near the forming Sun, and then back out to the cold regions where icy comets were accreting and forming. On 2005 July 4, the NASA Deep Impact Mission hit a comet and ejected primitive materials fiom its interior. These materials were not released into the comet s coma during normal activity. Despite the many passages of this comet close to the Sun, these primitive volatile gases and dust grains survived in its interior. Comet dust grains show that cold and hot materials were mixed into the same tiny particle very early in the formation of the solar system, and these aggregate dust grains never saw high temperatures again. The survival of primitive materials in comet nuclei suggests comets could have delivered organic molecules and primitive dust grains to early Earth.

Wooden, D. H.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Thermal plasma in outer planet magnetospheres

The plasma environments of the outer planets are a study in contrasts. The magnetosphere of Jupiter is dominated by the prodigious plasma output of Io, with losses due to diffusion driven by mass loading. At Saturn, the small icy satellites are the major sources of plasma for the inner magnetosphere. The low mass loading rates there imply that the densities of the plasma tori are limited by dissociative recombination, rather than diffusive transport. At Uranus, the icy satellites are negligible plasma sources compared to the input from the extended neutral hydrogen cloud and the ionosphere. Convection driven by the solar wind penetrates deep into the inner magnetosphere because of the unique orientation of the rotation axis of Uranus. The expected magnetosphere of Neptune is similar to that of Saturn and Jupiter, with Triton, the ring arcs, and the planet as possible plasma sources. The Voyager 2 encounter with Neptune holds out the hope of a passage through a nonterrestrial auroral region, a unique event in planetary exploration.

Belcher, J. W.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Basaltic volcanism in terrestrial planets

A prescription is presented of a 3-year experimental project designed to encourage a selected group of earth scientists to think on a Solar System scale rather than a terrestrial, lunar, or martian scale. Basaltic volcanism was the process selected because it manifests itself widely in the inner Solar System and because it seemed more cleanly separable from other geological problems than other processes considered. Studies in ten areas are to illuminate all aspects of the mechanics and chronology of the generation and eruption of basaltic lavas in the terrestrial planets. Attention is given to individual team reports related to the various areas.

Wood, J. A.↗

NASA NTRS1988

High temperatures in the early solar nebula

One fundamental controversy about terrestrial planet and asteroid formation is the discrepancy between meteoritical evidence for high temperatures (1500 to 2000 K) in the inner solar nebula, and much lower theoretical temperature predictions on the basis of models of viscous accretion disks that neglect compressional heating of infalling gas. It is shown here that rigorous numerical calculations of the collapse of a rotating, three-dimensional presolar nebula are capable of producing temperatures on the order of 1500 K in the asteroid region (2.5 astronomical units), in either nearly axisymmetric or strongly nonaxisymmetric nebula models. The latter models may permit significant thermal cycling of solid components in the early inner solar nebula.

Boss, Alan P.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Space Telescope Design to Directly Image the Habitable Zone of Alpha Centauri

The scientific interest in directly imaging and identifying Earth-like planets within the Habitable Zone (HZ) around nearby stars is driving the design of specialized direct imaging missions such as ACESAT, EXO-C, EXO-S and AFTA-C. The inner edge of Alpha Cen A&B Habitable Zone is found at exceptionally large angular separations of 0.7" and 0.4" respectively. This enables direct imaging of the system with a 0.3m class telescope. Contrast ratios on the order of 10(exp 10) are needed to image Earth-brightness planets. Low-resolution (5-band) spectra of all planets may allow establishing the presence and amount of an atmosphere. This star system configuration is optimal for a specialized small, and stable space telescope that can achieve high-contrast but has limited resolution. This paper describes an innovative instrument design and a mission concept based on a full Silicon Carbide off-axis telescope, which has a Phase Induced Amplitude Apodization coronagraph embedded in the telescope. This architecture maximizes stability and throughput. A Multi-Star Wave Front algorithm is implemented to drive a deformable mirror controlling simultaneously diffracted light from the on-axis and binary companion star. The instrument has a Focal Plane Occulter to reject starlight into a high precision pointing control camera. Finally we utilize a Orbital Differential Imaging (ODI) post-processing method that takes advantage of a highly stable environment (Earth-trailing orbit) and a continuous sequence of images spanning 2 years, to reduce the final noise floor in post processing to approximately 2e-11 levels, enabling high confidence and at least 90% completeness detections of Earth-like planets.

Low-resolution (5-band) spectra↗

NASA NTRS2015

Re-Evaluation of HSE DATA in Light of High P-T Partitioning Data: Late Chondritic Addition to Inner Solar System Bodies Not Always Required for HSE

Studies of terrestrial peridotite and martian and achondritic meteorites have led to the conclusion that addition of chondritic material to growing planets or planetesimals, after core formation, occurred on Earth, Moon, Mars, asteroid 4 Vesta, and the parent body of the angritic meteorites. One study even proposed that this was a common process in the final stages of growth. These conclusions are based al-most entirely on the 8 highly siderophile elements (HSE; Re, Au, Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru, Ir, Os), which have been used to argue for late accretion of chondritic material to the Earth after core formation was complete. This idea was originally proposed because the D(metal/silicate) values for the HSE are very high (greater than 10,000), yet their concentration in the terrestrial mantle is too high to be consistent with such high Ds. The HSE in the terrestrial mantle also are present in chondritic relative abundances and hence require similar Ds if this was the result of core-mantle equilibration. The conclusion that late chondritic additions are required for all five of these bodies is based on the chondritic relative abundances of the HSE, as well as their elevated concentrations in the samples. An easy solution is to call upon addition of chondritic material to the mantle of each body, just after core formation; however, in practice this means similar additions of chondritic materials to each body just after core formation which ranges from approximately 4-5 Ma after T(sub 0) for 4 Vesta and the angrites, to 10-25 Ma for Mars, to 35 to 60 Ma for Moon and perhaps the Earth. Since the work of there has been a realization that high PT conditions can lower the partition coefficients of many siderophile elements, indicating that high PT conditions (magma ocean stage) can potentially explain elevated siderophile element abundances. However, detailed high PT partitioning data have been lacking for many of the HSE to evaluate whether such ideas are viable for all four bodies. Re-cent partitioning studies have covered P, T, fO2, and compositional ranges that allow values to be predicted at conditions relevant to these five inner solar system bodies. Because the D(HSE) metal/silicate are lowered substantially at higher PT conditions and natural com-positions (FeNi metallic liquids and peridotites) it is natural to re-examine the role of core formation on the HSE patterns in a variety of inner solar system bodies. Here I will discuss other processes (including high PT core formation for Mars, Moon and Earth) that can produce the observed HSE patterns, and demonstrate that there are viable hypotheses other than the "one size fits all" hypothesis of late chondritic additions.

Righter, K.↗