The apparent lack of lunar-like swirls on Mercury: Implications for the formation of lunar swirls and for the agent of space weathering

Images returned by the MESSENGER spacecraft from the Mercury flybys have been examined to search for anomalous high-albedo markings similar to lunar swirls. Several features suggested to be swirls on the basis of Mariner 10 imaging (in the craters Handel and Lermontov) are seen in higher-resolution MESSENGER images to lack the characteristic morphology of lunar swirls. Although antipodes of large impact basins on the Moon are correlated with swirls, the antipodes of the large impact basins on Mercury appear to lack unusual albedo markings. The antipodes of Mercury’s Rembrandt, Beethoven, and Tolstoj basins do not have surface textures similar to the “hilly and lineated” terrain found at the Caloris antipode, possibly because these three impacts were too small to produce obvious surface disturbances at their antipodes. Mercury does have a class of unusual high-reflectance features, the bright crater-floor deposits (BCFDs). However, the BCFDs are spectral outliers, not simply optically immature material, which implies the presence of material with an unusual composition or physical state. The BCFDs are thus not analogs to the lunar swirls. We suggest that the lack of lunar-type swirls on Mercury supports models for the formation of lunar swirls that invoke interaction between the solar wind and crustal magnetic anomalies (i.e., the solar-wind standoff model and the electrostatic dust-transport model) rather than those models of swirl formation that relate to cometary impact phenomena. If the solar-wind standoff hypothesis for lunar swirls is correct, it implies that the primary agent responsible for the optical effects of space weathering on the Moon is solar-wind ion bombardment rather than micrometeoroid impact.     

Solar wind contribution to surficial lunar water: Laboratory investigations

Remote infrared spectroscopic measurements have recently re-opened the possibility that water is present on the surface of the Moon. Analyses of infrared absorption spectra obtained by three independent space instruments have identified water and hydroxyl (-OH) absorption bands at ∼3 μm within the lunar surface. These reports are surprising since there are many mechanisms that can remove water but no clear mechanism for replenishment. One hypothesis, based on the spatial distribution of the -OH signal, is that water is formed by the interaction of the solar wind with silicates and other oxides in the lunar basalt. To test this hypothesis, we have performed a series of laboratory simulations that examine the effect of proton irradiation on two minerals: anorthite and ilmenite. Bi-directional infrared reflection absorption spectra do not show any discernable enhancement of infrared absorption in the 3 μm spectral region following 1 or 100 keV proton irradiation at fluences between 10¹⁶ and 10¹⁸ ions cm⁻². In fact, the post-irradiation spectra are characterized by a decrease in the residual O-H band within both minerals. Similarly, secondary ion mass spectrometry shows a decrease rather than an increase of the water group ions following proton bombardment of ilmenite. The absence of significant formation of either -OH or H₂O is ascribed to the preferential depletion of oxygen by sputtering during proton irradiation, which is confirmed by post-irradiation surface analysis using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. Our results provide no evidence to support the formation of H₂O in the lunar regolith via implantation of solar wind protons as a mechanism responsible for the significant O-H absorption in recent spacecraft data. We determine an upper limit for the production of surficial -OH on the lunar surface by solar wind irradiation to be 0.5% (absorption depth).     

Probable swirls detected as photometric anomalies in Oceanus Procellarum

Images of the lunar nearside obtained by telescopes of Maidanak Observatory (Uzbekistan) and Simeiz Observatory (Crimea, Ukraine) equipped with Canon CMOS cameras and Sony CCD LineScan camera were used to study photometric properties of the lunar nearside in several spectral bands. A wide range of lunar phase angles was covered, and the method of phase ratios to assess the steepness of the phase function at different phase angles is applied. We found several areas with photometric anomalies in the south-west portion of the lunar disk that we refer to as Oceanus Procellarum anomalies. The areas being unique on the lunar nearside do not obey the inverse correlation between albedo and phase-curve slope, demonstrating high phase-curve slopes at intermediate albedo. Low-Sun images acquired with Lunar Orbiter IV and Apollo-16 cameras do not reveal anomalous topography of the regions, at least for scales larger than several tens of meters. The areas also do not have any thermal inertia, radar (70 and 3.8 cm), magnetic, or chemical/mineral peculiarities. On the other hand they exhibit a polarimetric signature that we interpret to be due to the presence of a porous regolith upper layer consisting of dust particles. The anomalies may be interpreted as regions of very fresh shallow regolith disturbances caused by impacts of meteoroid swarms consisting of rather small impactors. This origin is similar to one of the hypotheses for the origin of lunar swirls like the Reiner-γ formation. The photometric difference between the shallow and pervasive (Reiner-γ class) swirls is that the latter appear to have a significant amount of immature soils in the upper surface layers.     

The SMART-1 lunar impact

The SMART-1 spacecraft impacted the Moon on 3rd September 2006 at a speed of 2 km s⁻¹ and at a very shallow angle of incidence (∼1°). The resulting impact crater is too small to be viewed from the Earth; accordingly, the general crater size and shape have been determined here by laboratory impact experiments at the same speed and angle of incidence combined with extrapolating to the correct size scale to match the SMART-1 impact. This predicts a highly asymmetric crater approximately 5.5-26 m long, 1.9-9 m wide, 0.23-1.5 m deep and 0.71-6.9 m³ volume. Some of the excavated mass will have gone into crater rim walls, but 0.64-6.3 m³ would have been ejecta on ballistic trajectories corresponding to a cloud of 2200-21,800 kg of lunar material moving away from the impact site. The shallow Messier crater on the Moon is similarly asymmetric and is usually taken as arising from a highly oblique impact. The light flash from the impact and the associated ejecta plume were observed from Earth, but the flash magnitude was not obtained, so it is not possible to obtain the luminous efficiency of the impact event.     

The origin of lunar crater rays

Lunar rays are filamentous, high-albedo deposits occurring radial or subradial to impact craters. The nature and origin of lunar rays have long been the subjects of major controversies. We have determined the origin of selected lunar ray segments utilizing Earth-based spectral and radar data as well as FeO, TiO₂, and optical maturity maps produced from Clementine UVVIS images. These include rays associated with Tycho, Olbers A, Lichtenberg, and the Messier crater complex. It was found that lunar rays are bright because of compositional contrast with the surrounding terrain, the presence of immature material, or some combination of the two. Mature “compositional” rays such as those exhibited by Lichtenberg crater, are due entirely to the contrast in albedo between ray material containing highlands-rich primary ejecta and the adjacent dark mare surfaces. “Immaturity” rays are bright due to the presence of fresh, high-albedo material. This fresh debris was produced by one or more of the following: (1) the emplacement of immature primary ejecta, (2) the deposition of immature local material from secondary craters, (3) the action of debris surges downrange of secondary clusters, and (4) the presence of immature interior walls of secondary impact craters. Both composition and state-of-maturity play a role in producing a third (“combination”) class of lunar rays. The working distinction between the Eratosthenian and Copernican Systems is that Copernican craters still have visible rays whereas Eratosthenian-aged craters do not. Compositional rays can persist far longer than 1.1 Ga, the currently accepted age of the Copernican-Eratosthenian boundary. Hence, the mere presence of rays is not a reliable indication of crater age. The optical maturity parameter should be used to define the Copernican-Eratosthenian boundary. The time required for an immature surface to reach the optical maturity index saturation point could be defined as the Copernican Period.     

Constraints on the source of lunar cataclysm impactors

Multiple impact basins formed on the Moon about 3.8 Gyr ago in what is known as the lunar cataclysm or Late Heavy Bombardment. Many workers currently interpret the lunar cataclysm as an impact spike primarily caused by main-belt asteroids destabilized by delayed planetary migration. We show that morphologically fresh (class 1) craters on the lunar highlands were mostly formed during the brief tail of the cataclysm, as they have absolute crater number density similar to that of the Orientale basin and ejecta blanket. The connection between class 1 craters and the cataclysm is supported by the similarity of their size-frequency distribution to that of stratigraphically-identified Imbrian craters. Majority of lunar craters younger than the Imbrium basin (including class 1 craters) thus record the size-frequency distribution of the lunar cataclysm impactors. This distribution is much steeper than that of main-belt asteroids. We argue that the projectiles bombarding the Moon at the time of the cataclysm could not have been main-belt asteroids ejected by purely gravitational means.     

Rebuttal to the comment by Malhotra and Strom on “Constraints on the source of lunar cataclysm impactors”

?uk et al. (?uk, M. Gladman, B.J., Stewart, S.T. [2010]. Icarus 207 590-594) concluded that the the lunar cataclysm (late heavy bombardment) was recorded in lunar Imbrian era craters, and that their size distribution is different from that of main belt asteroids (which may have been the dominant pre-Imbrian impactors). This result would likely preclude the asteroid belt as the direct source of lunar cataclysm impactors. Malhotra and Strom (Malhotra, R., Strom, R.G. [2011]. Icarus) maintain that the lunar impactor population in the Imbrian era was the same as in Nectarian and pre-Nectarian periods, and this population had a size distribution identical to that of main belt asteroids. In support of this claim, they present an Imbrian size distribution made from two data sets published by Wilhelms et al. (Wilhelms, D.E., Oberbeck, V.R., Aggarwal, H.R. [1978]. Proc. Lunar Sci. Conf. 9, 3735-3762). However, these two data sets cannot be simply combined as they represent areas of different ages and therefore crater densities. Malhotra and Strom (Malhotra, R., Strom, R.G. [2011]. Icarus) differ with the main conclusion of Wilhelms et al. (Wilhelms, D.E., Oberbeck, V.R., Aggarwal, H.R. [1978]. Proc. Lunar Sci. Conf. 9, 3735-3762) that the Nectarian and Imbrian crater size distributions were different. We conclude that the available data indicate that the lunar Imbrian-era impactors had a different size distribution from the older ones, with the Imbrian impactor distribution being significantly richer in small impactors than that of older lunar impactors or current main-belt asteroids.     

Distributions of boulders ejected from lunar craters

We investigate the spatial distributions of boulders ejected from 18 lunar impact craters that are hundreds of meters in diameter. To accomplish this goal, we measured the diameters of 13,955 ejected boulders and the distance of each boulder from the crater center. Using the boulder distances, we calculated ejection velocities for the boulders. We compare these data with previously published data on larger craters and use this information to determine how boulder ejection velocity scales with crater diameter. We also measured regolith depths in the areas surrounding many of the craters, for comparison with the boulder distributions. These results contribute to understanding boulder ejection velocities, to determining whether there is a relationship between the quantity of ejected boulders and lunar regolith depths, and to understanding the distributions of secondary craters in the Solar System. Understanding distributions of blocky ejecta is an important consideration for landing site selection on both the Moon and Mars.     

The lunar exosphere: The sputtering contribution

We have extended our Monte Carlo model of exospheres [Wurz, P., Lammer, H., 2003. Icarus 164 (1), 1-13] by treating the ion-induced sputtering process from a known surface in a self-consistent way. The comparison of the calculated exospheric densities with experimental data, which are mostly upper limits, shows that all of our calculated densities are within the measurement limits. The total calculated exospheric density at the lunar surface of about 1×¹⁰⁷ m⁻³ as result of solar wind sputtering we find is much less than the experimental total exospheric density of about ¹⁰¹² m⁻³. We conclude that sputtering contributes only a small fraction of the total exosphere, at least close to the surface. Because of the considerably larger scale height of atoms released via sputtering into the exosphere, sputtered atoms start to dominate the exosphere at altitudes exceeding a few 1000 km, with the exception of some light and abundant species released thermally, e.g. H₂, He, CH₄, and OH. Furthermore, for more refractory species such as calcium, our model indicates that sputtering may well be the dominant mechanism responsible for the lunar atmospheric inventory, but observational data does not yet allow firm conclusions to be drawn.     

Simulating OH/H2O formation by solar wind at the lunar surface

We simulate the OH/H₂O production from the action of keV protons on the lunar regolith using a vacuum chamber and a mass analyzer to examine the molecular products released from olivine and SiO₂ powders during their irradiation by deuterium ions. The measured mass spectra, showing the OD/D₂O signature, confirm the possibility of OH/H₂O formation on the lunar surface by solar-wind hydrogen.     

Broadband submillimeter measurements of the full Moon center brightness temperature and application to a lunar eclipse

We report on observations of the full Moon brightness temperature covering the frequency range of 300-950 GHz, and also on observations of the lunar eclipse of July 16, 2000, though only covering the frequency range of 165-365 GHz due to poor atmospheric transmission at higher frequencies. All observations were performed from the summit of Mauna Kea (HI) using a Fourier Transform Spectrometer mounted on the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory and supplemented by measurements of the atmospheric opacity using a 183 GHz Water Vapor Monitor. The telescope was pointed to the center of the lunar disk (with a footprint of ∼45-15 km on the Moon at 300 through 900 GHz). In order to obtain the correct values of the Moon brightness temperatures at all frequencies we carefully corrected for the atmospheric absorption, which varies across the submillimeter domain. This correction is fully described. The measured pre-eclipse brightness temperature is around 337 K in the 165-365 GHz range. This temperature slightly increases with frequency to reach ∼353 K at 950 GHz, according to previous broader band data. The magnitude of the temperature drop observed during the eclipse at 265 GHz (central frequency of the band covered) was about ∼70 K, in very good agreement with previous millimeter-wave measurements of other lunar eclipses. We detected, in addition, a clear frequency trend in the temperature drop that has been compared to a thermal and microwave emission model of the lunar regolith, with the result of a good match of the relative flux drop at different frequencies between model and measurements.     

The 3–5 MHz global reflectivity map of Mars by MARSIS/Mars Express: Implications for the current inventory of subsurface H2O

We extracted the surface echo power from 2 years of MARSIS measurements. The retrieved values are calibrated to compensate for changes in the distance of the spacecraft to the surface and for the attenuation of the signal by the ionosphere. The results are used to build the first global map of surface echo power at 3–5 MHz. The surface echo power variations are primarily caused by kilometer-scale surface roughness. Then, we derive the values of dielectric constant of the shallow subsurface materials by normalizing the surface echo power map using a simulation of MARSIS signal from the MOLA topography. As a result, we obtain a map that characterizes the dielectric properties of the materials down to a few decameters below the surface. Dielectric properties vary with latitude, with high values in mid-latitudes belts (20–40°) and lower values at both equatorial and high latitudes. From the comparison of MARSIS reflectivity map to GRS observations, we conclude that the reflectivity decrease observed poleward of 50–60° corresponds to the onset of water-ice occurrence within the regolith. Assuming homogenous ground composition and texture at the scale of the MARSIS resolution cell, our inferred volume of ground water ice is of 10⁶ km³, equivalent to a polar cap. Low reflectivity areas are also observed in equatorial regions. From radar studies alone, equatorial low dielectric constant values could have different interpretations but the correlation with GRS hydrogen distribution rather points toward a water-related explanation.     

Mechanisms for incorporation of hydrogen in and on terrestrial planetary surfaces

Storage of hydrogen atoms in or on a planetary surface can take place via several different mechanisms. If the hydrogen atom reacts to form a hydroxyl (OH) group or water molecule, an absorption band near 3 μm will be present. Many possible mechanisms for sequestering atomic hydrogen are discussed: internal hydrogen in the form of non-structural OH and H₂O in nominally-anhydrous minerals, structural OH in minerals, structural H₂O in minerals, H₂O in fluid inclusions, and OH and H₂O in glasses; bulk H₂O as either liquid water or ice; and surficial hydrogen that is either physisorbed as H₂O, chemisorbed as an H₂O surface complex, or chemically-bound as an OH group on surface terminal sites and grain boundary regions. Understanding the spectroscopic distinctions among these various phenomena is of critical importance in constraining both the evolution of planetary interiors and the cycling of water on planetary surfaces. Proper interpretation of 3-μm bands in reflectance spectra is shown to depend upon the relative contributions from surficial vs. interior hydrogen, which vary with effective surface area (i.e., the grain size and surface roughness) and the volume sampled by the spectrometer.     

Calibration against the Moon I: A disk-resolved lunar model for absolute reflectance calibration

We present a model of the absolute radiance of the disk-resolved Moon at visible to near infrared wavelengths. It has been developed in order to use the Moon as a calibration reference, particularly by space-based sensors observing the Earth. We begin with the development of Hillier et al. (Hillier, J., Buratti, B., Hill, K. [1999]. Icarus 141, 205-225) for the reflectance as a function of phase angle and base the lunar reflectance on the Clementine 0.750 μm basemap. We adopt Hapke’s (Hapke, B. [2002]. Icarus 157, 523-534) expression for the multiple scattering term, including the more accurate approximation to the Chandrasekhar H function. The geometry is based on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Lunar Ephemeris DE 421, and the topographic slope is from the Kaguya-LALT laser altimetry (Araki, H., and 10 colleagues [2009]. Science 323, 897-900). We define three types of terrain by combining the reflectance from the Clementine basemap and the topographic model to specify maria, highlands, and crater regions, and allow mixed types between each class. Parameters of the model are solved for as a function of surface type and wavelength by comparison against data “chips” from the Robotic Lunar Observatory (ROLO; Kieffer, H.H., Stone, T.C. [2005]. Astron. J. 129, 2887-2901). The reflectance in any waveband may be computed by spectral interpolation of the model predictions relative to the scaled Apollo 16 soil spectrum. The accuracy of the model, evaluated against ROLO imagery, was found to be 2-4%.     

The 1999 Quadrantids and the lunar Na atmosphere

Enhancements of the Na emission and temperature from the lunar atmosphere were reported during the Leonid meteor showers of 1995, 1997 and 1998. Here we report a search for similar enhancement during the 1999 Quadrantids, which have the highest mass flux of any of the major streams. No enhancements were detected. We suggest that different chemical–physical properties of the Leonid and Quadrantid streams may be responsible for the difference.     

Global survey of lunar regolith depths from LROC images

We performed the first global survey of lunar regolith depths using Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) data and the crater morphology method for determining regolith depth. We find that on both the lunar farside and in the nearside, non-mare regions, the regolith depth is twice as deep as it is within the lunar maria. Our data compare favorably with previous studies where such data exist. We also find that regolith depth correlates well with density of large craters (>20 km diameter). This result is consistent with the gradual formation of regolith by rock fracture during impact events.     

A comparison of the ultraviolet to near-infrared spectral properties of Mercury and the Moon as observed by MESSENGER

Measurements of the disk-integrated reflectance spectrum of Mercury and the Moon have been obtained by the MESSENGER spacecraft. A comparison of spectra from the two bodies, spanning the wavelength range 220-1450 nm, shows that the absolute reflectance of Mercury is lower than that of the nearside waxing Moon at the same phase angle with a spectral slope that is less steep at visible and near-infrared wavelengths. We interpret these results and the lack of an absorption feature at a wavelength near 1000 nm as evidence for a Mercury surface composition that is low in ferrous iron within silicates but is higher in the globally averaged abundance of spectrally neutral opaque minerals than the Moon. Similar conclusions have been reached by recent investigations based on observations from both MESSENGER and Mariner 10. There is weak evidence for a phase-reddening effect in Mercury that is slightly larger in magnitude than for the lunar nearside. An apparent absorption in the middle-ultraviolet wavelength range of the Mercury spectrum detected from the first MESSENGER flyby of Mercury is found to persist in subsequent observations from the second flyby. The current model of space weathering on the Moon, which also presumably applies to Mercury, does not provide an explanation for the presence of this ultraviolet absorption.     

A ground-based observation of the LCROSS impact events using the Subaru Telescope

The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission was an impact exploration searching for a volatile deposit in a permanently shadowed region (PSR) by excavating near-surface material. We conducted infrared spectral and imaging observations of the LCROSS impacts from 15 min before the first collision through 2 min after the second collision using the Subaru Telescope in order to measure ejecta dust and water. Such a ground-based observation is important because the viewing geometry and wavelength coverage are very different from the LCROSS spacecraft. We used the Echelle spectrograph with spectral resolution λ/Δλ ∼ 10,000 to observe the non-resonant H₂O rotational emission lines near 2.9 μm and the slit viewer with a K′ filter for imaging observation of ejecta plumes. Pre-impact calculations using a homogeneous projectile predicted that 2000 kg of ejecta and 10 kg of H₂O were excavated and thrown into the analyzed area immediately above the slit within the field of view (FOV) of the K′ imager and the FOV of spectrometer slit, respectively. However, no unambiguous emission line of H₂O or dust was detected. The estimated upper limits of the amount of dust and H₂O from the main Centaur impact were 800 kg and 40 kg for the 3σ of noise in the analyzed area within the imager FOV and in the slit FOV, respectively. If we take 1σ as detection limit, the upper limits are 300 kg and 14 kg, respectively. Although the upper limit for water mass is comparable to a prediction by a standard theoretical prediction, that for dust mass is significantly smaller than that predicted by a standard impact theory. This discrepancy in ejecta dust mass between a theoretical prediction and our observation result suggests that the cratering process induced by the LCROSS impacts may have been substantially different from the standard cratering theory, possibly because of its hollow projectile structure.     

New analysis of Lunar Prospector radio tracking data brings the nearside gravity field of the Moon with an unprecedented resolution

A new analysis of the Doppler tracking data from the Lunar Prospector mission in 1999 revealed a number of previously-unseen gravity anomalies at spatial scales as small as 27 km over the nearside. The tracking data at low altitudes (50 km or below) were better analyzed to resolve the nearside features without dampening from a power law constraint, by partitioning the gravity parameters concentrated on either the nearside or farside. The resulting model presents gravity anomalies correlated with topography with a correlation coefficient of 0.7 or higher from degree 50 to 150, the widest bandwidth yet. The gravity-topography admittance of ∼70 mGal/km is found from numerous craters of which diameters are 60 km or less. In addition, the new model produces orbits that fit to independent radio tracking data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Kaguya (SELENE) better than previous gravity models. This high-resolution model can be of immediate use to geophysical analysis of small craters. Our technique could be applied to an upcoming mission, the Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory and useful to extract short wavelength signals from the MESSENGER Doppler data.     

Photometric anomalies in the Apollo landing sites as seen from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

Phase-ratio imagery is a new tool of qualitative photometric analyses of the upper layer of the lunar regolith, which allows the identification of natural surface structure anomalies and artificially altered regolith. We apply phase-ratio imagery to analyze the Apollo-14, -15, and -17 landing sites. This reveals photometric anomalies of ∼170 × 120 m size that are characterized by lower values of the phase-function steepness, indicating a smoothing of the surface microstructure caused by the engine jets of the landing modules. Other photometric anomalies characterized by higher phase-function slopes are the result of regolith loosening by astronaut boots and the wheels of the Modular Equipment Transporter and the Lunar Roving Vehicle. We also provide a possible explanation for the high brightness of the wheel tracks seen in on-surface images acquired at very large phase angles.