The lunar dust environment

Each year the Moon is bombarded by about 10⁶ kg of interplanetary micrometeoroids of cometary and asteroidal origin. Most of these projectiles range from 10 nm to about 1 mm in size and impact the Moon at 10–72 km/s speed. They excavate lunar soil about 1000 times their own mass. These impacts leave a crater record on the surface from which the micrometeoroid size distribution has been deciphered. Much of the excavated mass returns to the lunar surface and blankets the lunar crust with a highly pulverized and “impact gardened” regolith of about 10 m thickness. Micron and sub-micron sized secondary particles that are ejected at speeds up to the escape speed of 2300 m/s form a perpetual dust cloud around the Moon and, upon re-impact, leave a record in the microcrater distribution. Such tenuous clouds have been observed by the Galileo spacecraft around all lunar-sized Galilean satellites at Jupiter. The highly sensitive Lunar Dust Experiment (LDEX) onboard the LADEE mission will shed new light on the lunar dust environment. LADEE is expected to be launched in early 2013.Another dust related phenomenon is the possible electrostatic mobilization of lunar dust. Images taken by the television cameras on Surveyors 5, 6, and 7 showed a distinct glow just above the lunar horizon referred to as horizon glow (HG). This light was interpreted to be forward-scattered sunlight from a cloud of dust particles above the surface near the terminator. A photometer onboard the Lunokhod-2 rover also reported excess brightness, most likely due to HG. From the lunar orbit during sunrise the Apollo astronauts reported bright streamers high above the lunar surface, which were interpreted as dust phenomena. The Lunar Ejecta and Meteorites (LEAM) Experiment was deployed on the lunar surface by the Apollo 17 astronauts in order to characterize the lunar dust environment. Instead of the expected low impact rate from interplanetary and interstellar dust, LEAM registered hundreds of signals associated with the passage of the terminator, which swamped any signature of primary impactors of interplanetary origin. It was suggested that the LEAM events are consistent with the sunrise/sunset-triggered levitation and transport of charged lunar dust particles. Currently no theoretical model explains the formation of a dust cloud above the lunar surface but recent laboratory experiments indicate that the interaction of dust on the lunar surface with solar UV and plasma is more complex than previously thought.     

Measurement of Extreme Ultraviolet Solar Radiation in Different Wavelength Intervals Onboard the <Emphasis Type="Italic">CORONAS</Emphasis> Satellites: Instruments and Main Results

The paper presents a brief review of the instruments developed for measurement of ionizing extreme UV solar radiation at wavelengths of less than 130 nm onboard the CORONAS-I and CORONAS-F satellites and summarizes the observation data. The main goal of the study was to obtain information concerning variations of fluxes of solar radiation and solar flares at various wavelengths in the extreme ultraviolet. SUFR radiometers based on the thermoluminescent method were mounted onboard both CORONAS satellites (CORONAS-I and CORONAS-F). They performed measurements at λ < 130 nm. Spectral measurements in the 30.4-nm line were made by the photoelectronic spectrometer VUSS tested on CORONAS-I. Spectral measurements in the waveband including the H L_α line (121.6 nm) were conducted by the VUSS-L instrument (a Lyman alpha spectrophotometer) onboard the CORONAS-F satellite. The basic characteristics of the instruments, which were supposed to be used in a system of space weather monitoring on patrol satellites of the hydrometeorological service of Russia, are presented. The main data on the solar radiation flux at λ < 130 nm for minimum and maximum solar activity are given for quiet conditions and during solar flares.     

The phase dependence of brightness and color of the lunar surface: a study based on integral photometric data

A procedure of an a posteriori correction of the available data on the integral photometry of the Moon is described. This procedure reduces the regular errors of the integral phase curves caused by variations of the libration parameters; the effect due to libration can reach 4%. A method allowing the integral measurements of the Moon to be compared correctly with the photometric measurements of the lunar areas or laboratory samples imitating the lunar soil has been developed. To approximate the phase curves of integral albedo in the phase-angle range from 6° to 120°, we proposed a simple empirical formula A _eq(α) = m _l e ^?ρα + m ₂ e ^?0.7α, where α is the phase angle, ρ is the factor of effective roughness, and m ₁ + m ₂ is the surface albedo at a zero phase angle. An empirical phase dependence of the slope of the lunar spectrum in the 360–1060 nm range has been obtained. The results may be used to test various theoretical models of the light scattering by the lunar surface and to calibrate the data of ground-based and space-borne spectrophotometric observations.     

The negative polarization parameters of the light scattered by the lunar surface: Mapping

The images of the southwestern part of the lunar disk showing the distributions of the negative polarization parameters of the light scattered by the lunar surface are presented. The distributions of the negative polarization minimum P _min, the inversion angle α_inv, and the polarization slope at the inversion point h significantly differ from the albedo image. This testifies to the fact that polarimetry yields independent information on the structure and optical properties of the lunar regolith.     

Measurement of Solar Neutrons on 05 March 2012, Using a Fiber-Type Neutron Monitor Onboard the Attached Payload to the ISS

The solar neutron detector Space Environment Data Acquisition Equipment – Attached Payload (SEDA-FIB) onboard the International Space Station (ISS) detected several events from the solar direction associated with three large solar flares observed on 05 (X1.1), 07 (X5.4), and 09 (M6.3) March 2012. In this study, we focus on the interesting event of 05 March, present the temporal profiles of the neutrons, and discuss the physics that may be related to a possible acceleration scenario for ions above the solar surface. We compare our data with images of the flares obtained by the ultraviolet telescope Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO).     

Secular tidal changes in lunar orbit and Earth rotation

Small tidal forces in the Earth–Moon system cause detectable changes in the orbit. Tidal energy dissipation causes secular rates in the lunar mean motion n, semimajor axis a, and eccentricity e. Terrestrial dissipation causes most of the tidal change in n and a, but lunar dissipation decreases eccentricity rate. Terrestrial tidal dissipation also slows the rotation of the Earth and increases obliquity. A tidal acceleration model is used for integration of the lunar orbit. Analysis of lunar laser ranging (LLR) data provides two or three terrestrial and two lunar dissipation parameters. Additional parameters come from geophysical knowledge of terrestrial tides. When those parameters are converted to secular rates for orbit elements, one obtains dn/dt = \(-25.97\pm 0.05 ''/\)cent\(^{2}\), da/dt = 38.30 ± 0.08 mm/year, and di/dt = ?0.5 ± 0.1 \(\upmu \)as/year. Solving for two terrestrial time delays and an extra de/dt from unspecified causes gives \(\sim \) \(3\times 10^{-12}\)/year for the latter; solving for three LLR tidal time delays without the extra de/dt gives a larger phase lag of the N2 tide so that total de/dt = \((1.50 \pm 0.10)\times 10^{-11}\)/year. For total dn/dt, there is \(\le \)1 % difference between geophysical models of average tidal dissipation in oceans and solid Earth and LLR results, and most of that difference comes from diurnal tides. The geophysical model predicts that tidal deceleration of Earth rotation is \(-1316 ''\)/cent\(^{2}\) or 87.5 s/cent\(^{2}\) for UT1-AT, a 2.395 ms/cent increase in the length of day, and an obliquity rate of 9 \(\upmu \)as/year. For evolution during past times of slow recession, the eccentricity rate can be negative.     

Comparison of physical and chemical properties of the surface in the regions of operation of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lunokhod-1</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Yutu</Emphasis> rovers on the Moon

Through the example of comparison of the natural features of two regions in the northern part of Mare Imbrium, that were directly investigated in detail with remotely controlled rovers on the lunar surface, the capabilities of combining orbital remote measurements of the physical and mechanical properties and the chemical composition of the lunar soil with their direct measurements have been shown. From the remotely determined spectropolarimetric and gamma-spectrometric characteristics of the regolith surface layer, the exposure age (the maturity), the mean effective size of particles of the fine fraction, the absolute age of the formations, and the iron content in the soil were estimated. To compare the characteristics of the considered regions, the results of the investigations carried out directly on the lunar surface by the Lunokhod-1 rover and the analogous vehicle Yutu were used.     

Lunar surface agglutinates: Mapping composition anomalies

From the Clementine UVVIS imagery of the lunar surface, the abundance of agglutinates in the lunar regolith and their composition in terms of FeO and Al₂O₃ oxides have been predicted. Data on the spectral, chemical, and mineralogic measurements of about 30 lunar soil samples from the Lunar Samples Characterization Consortium (LSCC) collection were used. The fulfilled prognosis confirms that the mare agglutinates are enriched in Al₂O₃ and depleted of FeO, while the highland agglutinates are depleted of Al₂O₃ and enriched in FeO. This behavior can be caused by the global transport of the lunar surface material induced by cosmogenic factors.     

Structure of solar-wind streams at the maximum of solar cycle 23

We study the formation of solar-wind streams in the years of maximum solar activity 2000–2002. We use observations of the scattering of radio emission by solar-wind streams at distances of ～4–60R_S from the Sun, data on the magnetic field structure and strength in the source region (R ～ 2.5R_S), and observations with the LASCO coronagraph onboard the SOHO spacecraft. Analysis of these data allowed us to investigate the changes in the structure of circumsolar plasma streams during the solar maximum. We constructed radio maps of the solar-wind transition, transonic region in which the heliolatitudinal stream structure is compared with the structure of the white-light corona. We show that the heliolatitudinal structure of the white-light corona largely determines the structure of the solar-wind transition region. We analyze the correlation between the location of the inner boundary of the transition region R_in and the magnetic field strength on the source surface |B_R|. We discuss the peculiarities of the R_in = F(|B_R|) correlation diagrams that distinguish them from similar diagrams at previous phases of the solar cycle.     

Modeling the linear polarization of optical emission from red giants

We present the results of solving the radiative transfer equation for the Stokes vector in the case of light scattering by spherical forsterite dust particles in an axisymmetric circumstellar envelope of a red giant. We have assumed that the surfaces of constant scattering-particle density are prolate or oblate spheroids, the particle density decreases with radius as N _d ∝ r ⁻², and the dust particles at the inner boundary of the envelope are in thermal equilibrium with the stellar emission at solid-phase evaporation temperature T _ev = 800 K. In the wavelength range 0.27 μm ≤ λ ≤ 1 μm, particles with radii 0.03 μm ≲ a ≲ 0.2 μm make a major contribution to the linear polarization of the stellar emission. The increase in scattering efficiency factor with decreasing wavelength λ is mainly responsible for the growth of polarization toward the short wavelengths known from observations. However, at a mean number of scatterings 1.2 ≤ N _sca ≤ 1.6, the polarization ceases to grow due to depolarization effects and decreases rapidly as the wavelength decreases further. The wavelength of the polarization maximum is determined mainly by two quantities: the particle radius and the mass loss rate. The upper limits for the degree of linear polarization in the case of light scattering in circumstellar dust envelopes with the geometries of prolate and oblate spheroids are p ≈ 3 and 5%, respectively. The polarization for light scattering by enstatite particles is higher than that for light scattering by forsterite particles approximately by 0.3%. Original Russian Text ? Yu.A. Fadeyev, 2007, published in Pis’ma v Astronomicheskiĭ Zhurnal, 2007, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 123–133.     

Slow solar wind: Sources and components of the stream structure at the solar maximum

We study the sources and components of the solar-wind spatial stream structure at the maximum of the solar cycle 23. In our analysis, we use several independent sets of experimental data: radio-astronomical observations of scattered radiation from compact sources with the determination of the distance from the Sun to the inner boundary of the transonic-flow transition region (R_in); calculated data on the magnetic-field intensity and structure in the solar corona, in the solar-wind source region, obtained from optical measurements of the photospheric magnetic-field intensity at the Stanford Solar Observatory (USA); and observations of the white-light corona with the LASCO coronograph onboard the SOHO spacecraft. We show that at the solar maximum, low-speed streams with a transition region located far from the Sun dominate in the solar-wind structure. A correlation analysis of the location of the inner boundary R_in and the source-surface magnetic-field intensity |B _R | on a sphere R=2.5R_S (R_S is the solar radius) has revealed the previously unknown lowest-speed streams, which do not fit into the regular relationship between the parameters R_in and |B _R |. In the white-light corona, the sources of these streams are located near the dark strip, a coronal region with a greatly reduced density; the nonstandard parameters of the streams probably result from the interaction of several discrete sources of different types.     

On Errors in Constructing the Polarization Phase Dependences for Solar System Bodies

In astrophysical studies of Solar System bodies, the measured values of the linear polarization degree P_obs and the position angle of the polarization plane θ are usually considered relative to the plane orthogonal to the scattering plane; and the resulting quantities are designated as P_r and θ_r, respectively. Parameters of the phase curve of polarization P_r = f(α) serve for determining the physical characteristics of grains composing the regolith surfaces of such bodies as, for example, the Moon, Mercury, asteroids, and planetary satellites, or the polydisperse media, such as cometary comae and tails. In this paper it has been shown that the error in the polarization degree grows \({\sigma _{{P_r}}}\) due to the error \({\sigma _{{\theta _{obs}}}}\) in determining the position angle. The interrelations between these errors were obtained, and the conditions, under which the values of the linear polarization degree P_r relative to the orthogonal system can be used to analyze the phase dependences of polarization, were formulated.     

Lunar Prospector measurements of secondary electron emission from lunar regolith

We present the first in situ measurements of the secondary electron emission efficiency of lunar regolith, utilizing Lunar Prospector measurements of secondary electrons emitted from the negatively charged night side and accelerated upward by surface electric fields. By comparing measurements of secondary currents emitted from the surface and incident primary electron currents, we find that the secondary yield of lunar regolith is a factor of ∼3 lower than that measured for samples in the laboratory. This lower yield significantly affects current balance at the lunar surface and the resulting equilibrium surface potentials. This information must be folded into models of the near-surface plasma sheath, in order to predict the effects on dust and other components of the lunar environment, and ultimately determine the importance for surface exploration and scientific investigations on the Moon.     

Decay of Activity Complexes,Formation of Unipolar Magnetic Regions,and Coronal Holes in Their Causal Relation

The peculiar development of solar activity in the current cycle resulted in an asynchronous reversal of the Sun’s polar fields. The asymmetry is also observed in the formation of polar coronal holes. A stable coronal hole was first formed at the South Pole, despite the later polar-field reversal there. The aim of this study is to understand the processes making this situation possible. Synoptic magnetic maps from the Global Oscillation Network Group and corresponding coronal-hole maps from the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory are analyzed here to study the causal relationship between the decay of activity complexes, evolution of large-scale magnetic fields, and formation of coronal holes. Ensembles of coronal holes associated with decaying active regions and activity complexes are presented. These ensembles take part in global rearrangements of the Sun’s open magnetic flux. In particular, the south polar coronal hole was formed from an ensemble of coronal holes that came into existence after the decay of multiple activity complexes observed during 2014.     

JPEG2000 Image Compression on Solar EUV Images

For future solar missions as well as ground-based telescopes, efficient ways to return and process data have become increasingly important. Solar Orbiter, which is the next ESA/NASA mission to explore the Sun and the heliosphere, is a deep-space mission, which implies a limited telemetry rate that makes efficient onboard data compression a necessity to achieve the mission science goals. Missions like the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and future ground-based telescopes such as the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, on the other hand, face the challenge of making petabyte-sized solar data archives accessible to the solar community. New image compression standards address these challenges by implementing efficient and flexible compression algorithms that can be tailored to user requirements. We analyse solar images from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument onboard SDO to study the effect of lossy JPEG2000 (from the Joint Photographic Experts Group 2000) image compression at different bitrates. To assess the quality of compressed images, we use the mean structural similarity (MSSIM) index as well as the widely used peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) as metrics and compare the two in the context of solar EUV images. In addition, we perform tests to validate the scientific use of the lossily compressed images by analysing examples of an on-disc and off-limb coronal-loop oscillation time-series observed by AIA/SDO.     

Forbidden Zones for Circular Regular Orbits of the Moons in Solar System,R3BP

Previously, we have considered the equations of motion of the three-body problem in a Lagrange form (which means a consideration of relative motions of 3-bodies in regard to each other). Analysing such a system of equations, we considered the case of small-body motion of negligible mass m ₃ around the second of two giant-bodies m ₁, m ₂ (which are rotating around their common centre of masses on Kepler’s trajectories), the mass of which is assumed to be less than the mass of central body. In the current development, we have derived a key parameter η that determines the character of quasi-circular motion of the small third body m ₃ relative to the second body m ₂ (planet). Namely, by making several approximations in the equations of motion of the three-body problem, such the system could be reduced to the key governing Riccati-type ordinary differential equations. Under assumptions of R3BP (restricted three-body problem), we additionally note that Riccati-type ODEs above should have the invariant form if the key governing (dimensionless) parameter η remains in the range 10^?2 Open image in new window 10^?3. Such an amazing fact let us evaluate the forbidden zones for Moon’s orbits in the inner solar system or the zones of distances (between Moon and Planet) for which the motion of small body could be predicted to be unstable according to basic features of the solutions of Riccati-type.     

Diurnal Temperature Regime in the Regolith Surface Layer of the Lagado Planitia Region on Phobos: Model Predictions for Different Seasons

The paper contains the data on the thermal and physical characteristic of the surface regolith of the Martian satellite Phobos obtained from the spaceborne remote sensing (with the Mariner 9, Viking, and Mars Global Surveyor orbiters and the Phobos-2 spacecraft) and the results of the numerical modeling of the thermal regime in the surface regolith (on diurnal and seasonal scales) performed for the prospective landing site in the Lagado Planitia region located in the anti-Martian hemisphere of Phobos.     

On the Thermal Protection Systems of Landers for Venus Exploration

The landers of the Soviet Venera series—from Venera-9 to Venera-14—designed at the Lavochkin Association are a man-made monument to spectacular achievements of Soviet space research. For more than 40 years, they have remained the uneclipsed Soviet results in space studies of the Solar System. Within the last almost half a century, the experiments carried out by the Venera-9 to Venera-14 probes for studying the surface of the planet have not been repeated by any space agency in the world, mainly due to quite substantial technical problems. Since that time, no Russian missions with landers have been sent to Venus either. On Venus, there is an anoxic carbon dioxide atmosphere, where the pressure is 9.2 MPa and the temperature is 735 K near the surface. A long-lived lander should experience these conditions for an appreciable length of time. What technical solutions could provide a longer operation time for a new probe investigating the surface of Venus, if its thermal scheme is constructed similar to that of the Venera series? Onboard new landers, there should be a sealed module, where the physical conditions required for operating scientific instruments are maintained for a long period. At the same time, new high-temperature electronic equipment that remains functional under the above-mentioned conditions have appeared. In this paper, we consider and discuss different variants of the system for a long-lived sealed lander, in particular, the absorption of the penetrating heat due to water evaporation and the thermal protection construction for the instruments with intermediate characteristics.     

The Moon: From Research to Exploration (To the 50th anniversary of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Luna-9</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Luna-10</Emphasis> Spacecraft)

The paper describes unmanned spacecraft Luna-9, Luna-10, and similar ones designed by NPO Lavochkin. The history of their development is given, and their high importance in lunar studies is noted. Projects of Luna-Globe, Luna-Resurs, and Luna-Grunt that should be implemented in the near future are briefly described.     

An Early Diagnostics of the Geoeffectiveness of Solar Eruptions from Photospheric Magnetic Flux Observations: The Transition from SOHO to SDO

In our previous articles (Chertok et al. in Solar Phys. 282, 175, 2013; Chertok et al. in Solar Phys. 290, 627, 2015), we presented a preliminary tool for the early diagnostics of the geoeffectiveness of solar eruptions based on the estimate of the total unsigned line-of-sight photospheric magnetic flux in accompanying extreme ultraviolet (EUV) arcades and dimmings. This tool was based on the analysis of eruptions observed during 1996?–?2005 with the Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) and the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Empirical relationships were obtained to estimate the probable importance of upcoming space weather disturbances caused by an eruption, which just occurred, without data on the associated coronal mass ejections. In particular, it was possible to estimate the intensity of a non-recurrent geomagnetic storm (GMS) and Forbush decrease (FD), as well as their onset and peak times. After 2010?–?2011, data on solar eruptions are obtained with the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). We use relatively short intervals of overlapping EIT–AIA and MDI–HMI detailed observations, and additionally, a number of large eruptions over the next five years with the 12-hour cadence EIT images to adapt the SOHO diagnostic tool to SDO data. We show that the adopted brightness thresholds select practically the same areas of arcades and dimmings from the EIT 195 Å and AIA 193 Å image, with a cross-calibration factor of 3.6?–?5.8 (5.0?–?8.2) for the AIA exposure time of 2.0 s (2.9 s). We also find that for the same photospheric areas, the MDI line-of-sight magnetic flux systematically exceeds the HMI flux by a factor of 1.4. Based on these results, the empirical diagnostic relationships obtained from SOHO data are adjusted to SDO instruments. Examples of a post-diagnostics based on SDO data are presented. As before, the tool is applicable to non-recurrent GMSs and FDs caused by nearly central eruptions from active regions, provided that the southern component of the interplanetary magnetic field near the Earth is predominantly negative, which is not predicted by this tool.