The Opposition Effect and Negative Polarization of Structural Analogs for Planetary Regoliths

To better understand the negative polarization and brightness opposition effects observed on airless celestial bodies, we carried out simultaneous photometric and polarimetric measurements of laboratory samples that simulate the structure of planetary regoliths. Computer modeling of shadow-hiding and coherent backscatter in regolith-like media are also presented. The laboratory investigations were carried out with a photometer/polarimeter at phase angles covering 0.2°-4° and wavelengths of 0.63 and 0.45 μm. We studied samples that characterize a variety of microscopic structures and albedos. A particle-size dependence of the negative branch of polarization for powdered dielectric surfaces was found. Colored samples such as a powder Fe₂O₃ exhibit a very prominent wavelength dependence of the photometric and polarimetric opposition phenomena. Metallic powders usually exhibit a wide branch of the negative polarization independent of the size of particles. For fine dielectric powders, both opposition phenomena become more prominent when the samples were compressed. Our computer modeling based on ray tracing in particulate media shows that shadow-hiding affects the negative polarization only in combination with the coherent backscatter enhancement. Modeling reveals that scattering orders higher than second contribute to negative polarization even in dark particulate surfaces. Our model qualitatively reproduces the effects of varying sample-compression that we observed in the laboratory. Our experimental and computer modeling studies mutually confirm that the degree of polarization for highly reflective dielectric surfaces depends not only on phase angle but also on surface tilt. Even at exactly zero phase the degree of polarization for tilted surfaces can be nonzero. A tilt of the surface normal to the scattering plane gives a parallel shift of the negative polarization branch to large values of |P|. The tilt in the perpendicular plane gives the same shift in the direction of positive polarization. At exactly zero phase angle, a celestial body of irregular shape can exhibit nonzero polarization even in integral polarimetric observations.     

Studies of Planetary Atmospheres by Stellar Occultations: Application to Mars and Venus

We consider the application of the stellar occultation method to the studies of planetary atmospheres and its history and briefly describe the instruments designed for such measurements (SPICAM/Mars-96, GOMOS/ENVISAT). In comparison with solar occultations, this method allows the profiles to be measured almost at any time of the day and at any location of the planet, irrespective of the orbit of the spacecraft from which observations are carried out. Based on the measuring characteristics of the SPICAM-Light UV spectrometer for the spectral range 118–320 nm with a resolution of 0.9 nm (for the ESA Mars Express Mission; launched in June 2003), we simulate the capabilities of the method to study the Martian atmosphere. In stellar occultation measurements, the stellar spectrum changes because of the absorption by CO₂ and O₃, other gases, and aerosols. The profiles of the CO₂ and O₃ density (and, hence, the temperature) and the aerosol content can be restored by solving the inverse problem. Observations of bright stars (no fewer than 30) three to five times in a turn allow us to measure the atmospheric density at altitudes 10–150 km with an accuracy of about 2% and the temperature at altitudes 20–130 km with an accuracy of 3 K. Ozone is measured with an accuracy of several percent at altitudes 25–40 km or lower, depending on the conditions. Optically thin clouds and hazes, particularly on the nightside where no measurements are possible in reflected light, can be studied. The SPICAV experiment, which is similar to SPICAM-Light, is part of the Venus Express (to be launched in 2005) scientific payload. On Venus, stellar occultations can be used to measure the atmospheric temperature and density above clouds at altitudes up to 130–150 km and to study the SO₂ profile. The results of our simulations can be easily extended to instruments with different measuring characteristics.     

Rayleigh Scattering and Laser Spot Elongation Problems at ALFA

This article describes the qualitative effects of LGS spot elongation and Rayleigh scattering on ALFA wavefront sensor images.An analytical model of Rayleigh scattering and a numerical model of laser plume generation at the altitude of the Na-layer were developed. These models, integrated into ageneral AO simulation, provide the sensor sub-apertureimages. It is shown that the centroid measurement accuracyis affected by these phenomena. The simulation was made both for the ALFA system and for the VLT Nasmyth Adaptive Optics System (NAOS).     

太阳散射偏振研究进展

太阳磁场的诊断对研究太阳物理有着重要的意义。近几十年,许多科学家利用汉勒效应(Hanle effect)进行诊断弱磁场的研究。而利用汉勒效应诊断弱磁场,需要对偏振的产生机制有一个完整的理解。直到近年来,随着技术的发展,对偏振的测量精度达到10~(-5)的ZIMPOL(Zurich Imaging Polarimeter)获得以斯托克斯参量Q/I为表征的第二太阳光谱(second solar spectrum),展现丰富的散射偏振特征,促进了偏振研究的蓬勃发展。通过对第二太阳光谱的研究,使我们对偏振产生机制理解得更为透彻,从而使利用汉勒效应诊断弱磁场逐渐成为可能。主要介绍了用量子电动力学为基础的密度矩阵来研究偏振光谱产生的物理过程,并简要介绍了近年有关在第二太阳光谱和汉勒效应研究的一些进展。     

Escape Of Planetary Atmospheres Including The Effects Of Rotation And Orbital Motion Of The Planet

The problem of escape of planetary atmospheres is discussed taking into account the effects of planet's rotation and planet's orbital momentum. The expressions for the rates of loss of mass and angular momentum per unit area and the total rates of loss of mass and angular momentum for the whole planetary surface are obtained. These expressions are, then, applied to study the escape of the constituents of the atmospheres of Mars and Venus. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Scattering of Light by Composite Particles in a Planetary Surface

It has been proposed that composite particles containing internal scatterers may provide the explanation for the fact that most photometric studies of planetary surfaces based on Hapke's model of bidirectional reflectance have found the planetary particles to exhibit moderately backscattering phase functions. However, an implicit assumption made in this explanation is that the scattering by composite particles containing multiple internal inclusions in a planetary surface can still be adequately computed using standard radiative transfer theory assuming the composite particles to be the fundamental individual scatterers even though such particles are necessarily in close proximity to each other. In this paper, this assumption is explored by examining the effects of close packing on the light scattering by spherical particles containing isotropic internal scatterers using a Monte Carlo routine. As expected, classical radiative transfer (assuming a random distribution of scattering particles) coupled with the assumption that the composite particle is the fundamental scatterer provides a good approximation in the high porosity limit. However, even for porosities as high as 90% the effects of close packing are clearly seen with the radiative transfer calculation underestimating the scattering by ∼10% at high incidence, emission, and phase angles. As the porosity is lowered further, the discrepancy becomes more severe and can reach 50% or more. In contrast, assuming the individual scatterer properties in the radiative transfer calculation leads to a substantial overestimate of the scattering even for porosities as low as 27.5%. This suggests that parameters derived using the classical radiative transfer theory will yield results intermediate between those of the composite as a whole and those of the internal scatterers. Thus, one should exercise caution in interpreting the results of models based on classical radiative transfer theory in terms of the physical properties of the surface particles and, where possible, the bidirectional reflectance of densely packed composite particles should be computed using more accurate methods such as the stochastic radiative transfer theory.     

Stochastic Models of Hot Planetary and Satellite Coronas

The hot planetary and satellite coronas are populated by the suprathermal particles produced in the transition region between the collision-dominated and free-molecule atmospheric layers under the external effects of electromagnetic and corpuscular solar radiation and magnetospheric plasma. We construct a numerical stochastic model to investigate both the local formation and kinetics of suprathermal particles and their transport to exospheric heights from underlying atmospheric layers. In contrast to other commonly used approaches, the suggested numerical model is suitable for studying the flows of atmospheric gas weakly and strongly perturbed by suprathermal particles, i.e., for studying the formation of hot planetary and satellite coronas proper. Highly efficient Monte-Carlo algorithms with weighted particles underlie the numerical implementation of the model. This numerical model is used to investigate the following: (i) the hot oxygen corona of Europa, a Jovian satellite, which is an example of a highly nonequilibrium near-surface atmosphere; and (ii) the nonthermal losses of nitrogen from Titan, a Saturnian satellite, when suprathermal atoms and molecules of nitrogen are only a small admixture to the surrounding thermal molecular nitrogen—the main atmospheric component of Titan.     

原子模型对散射偏振理论轮廓的影响

太阳磁场的诊断是太阳物理研究中非常重要的一部分.斯托克斯参量I、Q、U和V可以用来完整描述偏振光的信息,对观测得到的斯托克斯光谱进行反演可以诊断太阳磁场的信息.近几十年来,塞曼效应成为磁场诊断的主要手段,利用塞曼效应使谱线产生的分裂可以诊断强度达到几百高斯的强磁场,但是在太阳宁静区中存在大量强度小于100 Gs的弱磁场,对于弱磁场可以利用汉勒效应来诊断,应用汉勒效应诊断弱磁场一直是磁场诊断的主要内容之一,需要对偏振的产生机制有更完整的理解.文章的主要内容是研究在采用不同原子模型的假设下,由散射产生的谱线轮廓的区别,以及在存在磁场时,不同原子模型谱线的汉勒效应的区别.以中性镁为研究对象,选取了7能级、4能级和2能级原子模型,分别研究了这几个原子模型对散射偏振和汉勒效应的影响.发现2能级原子模型和多能级(7能级和4能级)原子模型产生的谱线的偏振度有很大的区别,并且在2能级原子模型假设下b_4线不存在下能级的汉勒效应,但是在多能级的原子模型下b_4线仍存在下能级的汉勒效应.对比7能级原子模型和4能级原子模型,谱线的偏振度只有很小的变化,汉勒效应的表现也基本相同.主要结论如下:在利用中性镁b 3线的线偏振轮廓Q/I反演磁场时,至少需要采用4个能级的原子模型.这主要依赖于谱线形成区域的原子的能级分布,原子能级占有数多的能级在研究中是必须考虑的.     

Investigation on Planetary Atmospheres Using Laboratory Simulation Experiments The Example of Saturn's Moon (Titan)

The main goals of experimental simulation in the laboratory of a planetary atmosphere are to feed the theoretical models, and to help the treatment of observations. This type of simulation permits the direct study of objects that space missions can't study or have not studied yet, through the production of laboratory analogues of gaseous or solid phases. But the representativity of these laboratory analogues is of crucial importance. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Seyfert 2 星系光谱偏振的汤姆逊散射机制

利用简单的ｔｏｒｎｓ束流模型定量计算Ｓｅｙｆｅｒｔ２型星系的偏振度和散射流量的角分布,在“一次电子散射”的假定下,得到偏振度约为１０％～８０％．而偏振流量的角分布与ｔｏｒｎｓ半张角θｃ和观测角φｏ都有关．特别是当φｏ　５５°时,观测方向的流量和总的散射流量的比值为一定值（０．１６）．用这种纯电子散射模型来解释ＮＧＣ１０６８的光谱偏振更为合适．对于其它一些具有低的偏振度的Ｓｅｙｆｅｒｔ２星系,尘埃的作用则不能忽略．     

On the Stability of the Terrestrial Planets as Models for Exosolar Planetary Systems

All results, achieved up to now, show the long term stability of our planetary system, although, especially the inner solar system is chaotic, due to some specific secular resonances. We study, by means of numerical integrations, the dynamical evolution of the planetary system where we concentrate on the stability of motion of the terrestrial planets Venus, Earth and Mars. Our model consists of a simplified planetary system with the inner planets Venus, Earth and Mars as well as Jupiter and Saturn. A mass factor was introduced to uniformly change the masses of the terrestrial planets; Jupiter and Saturn were involved in the system with their actual masses. We integrated the equations of motion with a Lie-integration method for a time interval of 10⁷ years. It turned out that when 220 < < 245 and > 250 the system became unstable due to the strong interactions between the planets. We discuss the model planetary systems for small mass-factors 0.5 10 and large ones 160 270 with the aid of several different numerical tools. These results can be applied to recently discovered exoplanetary systems, which configuration is comparable to our own.     

Circular Polarization and Magnetic Fields in Jet Models

The detection of circular polarization in compact synchrotron sources provides new insights into magnetic field configurations and the low-energy population of electrons in relativistic jets. Conversion of linear to circular polarization can be stimulated by Faraday rotation or turbulence in the source itself. A detailed model for the properties of the radio emission of Sgr A^* in the galactic center is presented.     

Effects of Temperature Variations with Height on the Nonequilibrium Populations of Vibrational States of Molecules in Planetary Atmospheres

The model of the standard problem of radiative transfer in a vibrational–rotational band that we suggested previously (Shved and Semenov, 2001) for a nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) in vibrational molecular states is used to study the populations of these states in a nonisothermal planetary atmosphere. The temperature profile in the atmosphere is specified as a temperature perturbation in the form of a Gaussian function that is superimposed on an isothermal atmosphere. We show that the temperature profile has a complex effect on the state populations, which makes it difficult to analytically represent this effect. We investigate the influence of the peculiar features of the temperature profile in an LTE layer on the non-LTE height and suggest a criterion for determining those features that weakly affect this height. Using the populations of the CO₂ 01¹0 and 00⁰1 states in the atmospheres of the Earth and Mars as examples, we show that the formulas suggested for estimating the non-LTE height are efficient.     

Scattering Law Analysis Based on Hapke and Lommel-Seeliger Models for Asteroidal Taxonomy

In deriving the physical properties of asteroids from their photometric data, the scattering law plays an important role, although the shape variations of asteroids result in the main variations in lightcurves. By following the physical behaviors of light reflections, Hapke et al. deduced complex functions to represent the scattering process, however, it is very hard to accurately simulate the surface scattering law in reality. For simplicity, other numerical scattering models are presented for efficiently calculating the physical properties of asteroids, such as the Lommel-Seeliger(LS) model. In this article,these two models are compared numerically. It is found that in some numerical applications the LS model in simple form with four parameters can be exploited to replace the Hapke model in complex form with five parameters. Furthermore, the generated synthetic lightcurves by the Cellinoid shape model also show that the LS model can perform as well as the Hapke model in the inversion process. Finally, by applying the Principal Component Analysis(PCA) technique to the parameters of the LS model, we present an efficient method to classify C and S type asteroids, instead of the conventional method using the parameters of the Hapke model.     

Scattering in the atmosphere of Venus: III. Line profiles and phase curves for Rayleigh scattering

Spectral line profiles, curves of growth, and curves for the equivalent width of a line as a function of Venus phase angle have been computed for a Rayleigh scattering cloud and compared with those for a cloud of isotropic scatterers. The results are very similar for the two kinds of scattering, with the exception of the curves of equivalent width as a function of Venus phase angle. These latter curves exhibit the “inverse phase effect” and rule out the possibility that the scale height of the clouds can be much less than half the scale height of the gas. The optical depth of the clouds, τ_c, is approximately 100.     

A Negative Branch of Polarization for Comets and Atmosphereless Celestial Bodies and the Light Scattering by Aggregate Particles

Optical observations of comets and atmosphereless celestial bodies show that a change of sign of the linear polarization of scattered light from negative to positive at phase angles less than 20° is typical of the cometary coma, as well as of the regolith of Mercury, the Moon, planetary satellites, and asteroids. To explain a negative branch of polarization, this research suggests a unified approach to the treatment of cometary-dust particles and regolith grains as aggregate forms. A composite structure of aggregate particles resulting in the interaction of composing structural elements (monomers) in the light-scattering process is responsible for the negative polarization at small phase angles, if the monomer sizes are comparable to the wavelength. The characteristics of single scattering of light calculated for aggregates of this kind turned out to be close to the properties observed for cometary dust. Unlike the cometary coma, the regolith is an optically semi-infinite medium, where the interaction between particles is significant. To find the reflectance characteristics of regolith, the radiative-transfer equation should be solved for a regolith layer. In this case, the interaction between scatterers can be modeled to a certain extent by representing the regolith grains as aggregate structures consisting of several or many elements. Although real regolith grains are much larger than the particles considered here, laboratory measurements have shown that it is precisely the surface irregularities comparable to the wavelength that cause a negative branch of polarization. The main observed features of the phase and spectral dependence of the linear polarization of light scattered from comets and atmosphereless celestial bodies, which are due to the difference of the elementary scatterers in composition, size, and structure, can be successfully explained using the aggregate model of particles.     

射电脉冲星的偏振特性与逆康普顿散射（ICS）模型

大量射电脉冲星的偏振观测－包括红偏振和圆偏振，个别脉冲的生直偏振模式，累积脉冲的消偏振现象等－为辐射区的物理状态和辐射提供了非常确切的观测事实，但现有理论对大从观测事实尚无法给出完整的说明，综述了脉冲星的偏振观测特征，并利用逆康谱顿散射模型对这些特性进行了解释。