Resolved images of an unknown sector on the surface of Mercury

We took electronic photographs of Mercury on the side of the planet that was not photographed from the Mariner-10 spacecraft in 1973–1975 by the millisecond-exposure method in ground-based observations. Based on these photographs, we synthesized resolved images of the surface of unknown regions of the planet. The capabilities of the method are limited by the small angular size of the planetary disk (only 7.3 arcsec at average quadrature), specific difficulties of Mercury’s ground-based observations, their very limited duration, and the laboriousness of the subsequent computer-aided observational data processing. The millisecond-exposure method is complex, but a sufficient number of primary electronic photographs can be taken under good seeing conditions for the subsequent synthesis of Mercurian images with a resolution of no worse than the diffraction limit. A giant basin about 2000 km in diameter and other large structures are distinguished in the synthesized images of the planet. In the regions where radar data are available, these structures can be identified with previously found ones. In some measure, the synthesized images allow the relief of the longitude sector 210°–290° W to be reconstructed on Mercury. It can be asserted with caution that the large relief features are distributed asymmetrically over the surface of Mercury, much as observed on other terrestrial planets, the Moon, and many satellites of giant planets.     

Study of the unknown hemisphere of mercury by ground-based astronomical facilities

The short exposure method proved to be very productive in ground-based observations of Mercury. Telescopic observations with short exposures, together with computer codes for the processing of data arrays of many thousands of original electronic photos, make it possible to improve the resolution of images from ground-based instruments to almost the diffraction limit. The resulting composite images are comparable with images from spacecrafts approaching from a distance of about 1 million km. This paper presents images of the hemisphere of Mercury in longitude sectors 90°–180°W, 215°–350°W, and 50°–90°W, including, among others, areas not covered by spacecraft cameras. For the first time a giant S basin was discovered in the sector of longitudes 250°–290°W, which is the largest formation of this type on terrestrial planets. Mercury has a strong phase effects. As a result, the view of the surface changes completely with the change in the planetary phase. But the choice of the phase in the study using spacecrafts is limited by orbital characteristics of the mission. Thus, ground-based observations of the planet provide a valuable support.     

The surface of Mercury in the 210–350° W longitude range

New ground based observations of Mercury in the morning elongation were carried out under good meteorological conditions. During 20–24 November 2006, at the SAO observatory of the Russian Academy of Science (Lower Arkhiz, Karachaevo-Circassia, Russia, 41°^26′ E, 43°^39′ N), the sector of longitudes 265–350° W of Mercury was observed using the short exposures method. The sector was not covered by imaging from the spacecraft Mariner-10 in 1974–1975 or by MESSENGER at its first flyby of the planet (January 2008). One of the main tasks of new observations was acquiring a full image of the object Basin S, which was investigated earlier only in a fragmentary way due to the illumination conditions. During 20–24 November 2006 Basin S was partly or full on the lit side of the planet. By the processing of the large number of the initial electronic photos a full high resolution image of Basin S was obtained, together with other elements of the surface of Mercury in this longitude sector.     

Imaging of an unknown sector of Mercury (260–350°W) at the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences using the short-exposure method

A series of observations of Mercury were performed at the Special Astrophysical Observatory using the short-exposure method to image a hitherto unknown part of the Hermean surface. Several thousand electronic frames of the planet were taken during its morning elongation in the period from November 20–24, 2006. The phase angle of Mercury varied from 103° to 80°, and the interval of planetocentric longitudes observed spanned from 260 to 350°W. Observations were made with a CCD camera attached to the 1-m Zeiss-1000 Ritchey-Chretien telescope operating with a KS-19 filter (short-wavelength border at 700 nm). The Hermean surface is known to be almost impossible to resolve on ordinary images. A reduction of a large number of frames taken with millisecond-long exposures made it possible to obtain a rather sharp image of the observed part of the Hermean surface. One of the primary aims of new observations was to have a general outline of the basin earlier found by one of the authors (L. Ksanfomaliti). We are the first to image this giant feature. The size of its inner part exceeds that of the largest lunar Mare — Mare Imbrium, however, unlike the latter the studied basin is of impact origin. The synthesized images reveal a number of large impact craters of various ages, as well as smaller features. The highest resolution achieved corresponds to the diffraction limit for the instrument employed, or about 100 km on the Hermean surface.     

Vast dark regions in the northern hemisphere of Mercury

Images of the 280°–360°/0°–10° W longitude sector of Mercury’s surface produced from the results of recent ground-based astronomical observations are presented. This sector remained beyond the imaging from the Messenger spacecraft in 2008. Vast dark regions, up to 1000 km in diameter, are adjacent to the S Basin in the west. The dark objects, as well as the other large geomorphologic units found before in the 240°–360° W longitude sector from ground-based astronomical observations, are probably asymmetrically distributed on Mercury’s surface similar to those observed in the other terrestrial planets and the Moon.     

Correlation of ICME Magnetic Fields at Radially Aligned Spacecraft

The magnetic field structures of two interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs), each observed by a pair of spacecraft close to radial alignment, have been analysed. The ICMEs were observed in situ by MESSENGER and STEREO-B in November 2010 and November 2011, while the spacecraft were separated by more than 0.6 AU in heliocentric distance, less than 4° in heliographic longitude, and less than 7° in heliographic latitude. Both ICMEs took approximately two days to travel between the spacecraft. The ICME magnetic field profiles observed at MESSENGER have been mapped to the heliocentric distance of STEREO-B and compared directly to the profiles observed by STEREO-B. Figures that result from this mapping allow for easy qualitative assessment of similarity in the profiles. Macroscale features in the profiles that varied on timescales of one hour, and which corresponded to the underlying flux rope structure of the ICMEs, were well correlated in the solar east–west and north–south directed components, with Pearson’s correlation coefficients of approximately 0.85 and 0.95, respectively; microscale features with timescales of one minute were uncorrelated. Overall correlation values in the profiles of one ICME were increased when an apparent change in the flux rope axis direction between the observing spacecraft was taken into account. The high degree of similarity seen in the magnetic field profiles may be interpreted in two ways. If the spacecraft sampled the same region of each ICME (i.e. if the spacecraft angular separations are neglected), the similarity indicates that there was little evolution in the underlying structure of the sampled region during propagation. Alternatively, if the spacecraft observed different, nearby regions within the ICMEs, it indicates that there was spatial homogeneity across those different regions. The field structure similarity observed in these ICMEs points to the value of placing in situ space weather monitors well upstream of the Earth.     

Orbital dynamics of the planetary system HD 196885

The orbital dynamics of the single known planet in the binary star system HD 196885 has been considered. The Lyapunov characteristic exponents and Lyapunov time of the planetary system have been calculated for possible values of the planetary orbit parameters. It has been shown that the dynamics of the planetary system HD 196885 is regular with the Lyapunov time of more than 5 × 10⁴ years (the orbital period of the planet is approximately 3.7 years), if the motion occurs at a distance from the separatrix of the Lidov–Kozai resonance. The values of the planet’s orbital inclination to the plane of the sky and longitude of the ascending node lie either within ranges 30° < i _p < 90° and 30° < Ω_p < 90°, or 90° < i _p < 180° and 180° < Ω_p < 300°.     

The occultation of Mariner 10 by Mercury

An analysis of the Mariner 10 dual frequency radio occultation recordings has yielded new information on the radius and atmosphere of Mercury. The ingress measurements which were conducted near 1.1° North latitude and 67.4° East longitude on the night side of the planet, gave a value for the radius of 2439.5 ± 1 km. Egress near 67.6° North latitide and 258.4° East longitude in the sunlit side yielded a radius of 2439.0 ± 1 km. The atmospheric measurements showed the electron density to be less than 10³ cm^?3 on both sides of the planet. From the latter result one may infer an upper limit to the dayside surface gas density of 10⁶ molecules per cm³.     

The dependence of reflectance spectra of Mercury on surface terrain

Reflectance spectra of Mercury, covering the spectral range of ～0.3–1.1 μm obtained during 1963–1976, were examined for any correlations with surface terrain. Mercury's 6.1385°/day rotational rate, the phases of the planet around maximum elongations, and bidirectional reflectance spectroscopy theory were used to identify the surface area associated with each spectrum. Data from 1974–1975, re-reduced with improved standard star flux ratios, show a weak absorption band in the near infrared not see in earlier analyses. Older spectra suggest that the western longitudes of the unimaged side of Mercury are similar to the rest of the planet. Spectra of the intercrater plains in the 0–90° quadrant suggest a possible absorption band. Spectra of areas dominated by Caloris Basin with the encompassing smooth plains may show Fe²⁺ abundances in the soil comparable to lunar highlands soil. No striking differences between spectra of intercrater plains and spectra of smooth plains are found. The absorption features seen in spectra of Mercury are generally weaker than features seen in lunar spectra.     

Rapid changes in the sodium exosphere of Mercury

We imaged Mercury in sodium D₁ and D₂ emission for 6 days during the period 13–20 November 1997 using a 10×10-arc s aperture image slicer coupled to a high-resolution spectrograph. We corrected the sodium images for smearing by the terrestrial atmosphere by computing the actual seeing function from surface reflection images, and used this function to correct the sodium images. During the period of observation, large daily changes took place in both the total amount of sodium and its distribution over the planet. Total sodium increased by a factor of about 3 during this period. The sodium emission was brightest at longitudes near the subsolar longitude in the range 130–150°, with excess sodium at northern latitudes on some days, and excess sodium at southern latitudes on other days. There are no obviously outstanding geologic features at this longitude. The rapid changes observed during this period suggest a connection with solar activity, since the planet itself is apparently geologically inactive. The F10.7 cm solar flux during this period varied only slightly, with an increase of about 15%, probably insufficient to account for the observed changes. However, there were a number of coronal mass ejection (CME) events, some of which were directed towards the general area of Mercury. We suggest that the changes in the visible neutral sodium atmosphere might be a result of the effect of CMEs on Mercury.     

The planet Mercury: Synthesis of resolved images of unknown part in the longitude range 250-290°W

Plans to send orbiter missions to Mercury (e.g., NASA's Messenger and ESA's BepiColombo) have prompted renewed efforts to investigate the surface of Mercury using ground-based remote sensing. While the highest resolution instrumentation optical telescopes (e.g. HST) cannot be used at small angular distances (<45°) from the Sun (Mercury's elongation never exceeds 28° seen from Earth), advanced ground-based astronomical techniques and modern processing software can be used to construct resolved images of the poorly known part of Mercury. Our observations of the planet presented here were carried out mainly in April and May, 2002, at evening elongation of the planet, at the Skinakas astrophysical observatory of Heraklion University (Crete, Greece). A synthesis of the acquired images of the hemisphere of Mercury, which was not observed by the Mariner 10 mission (1974-1975), is presented. A double rim basin with an internal diameter of about 1000 km and an external rim about 2000 km is suggested by the data. We present the observational method, the data analysis approach, and the resulting images.     

Steepness of Slopes at the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Luna-Glob</Emphasis> Landing Sites: Estimating by the Shaded Area Percentage in the LROC NAC Images

The paper presents estimates of the occurrence probability of slopes, whose steep surfaces could be dangerous for the landing of the Luna-Glob descent probe (Luna-25) given the baseline of the span between the landing pads (~3.5 m), for five potential landing ellipses. As a rule, digital terrain models built from stereo pairs of high-resolution images (here, the images taken by the Narrow Angle Camera onboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LROC NAC)) are used in such cases. However, the planned landing sites are at high latitudes (67°–74° S), which makes it impossible to build digital terrain models, since the difference in the observation angle of the overlapping images is insufficient at these latitudes. Because of this, to estimate the steepness of slopes, we considered the interrelation between the shaded area percentage in the image and the Sun angle over horizon at the moment of imaging. For five proposed landing ellipses, the LROC NAC images (175 images in total) with a resolution from 0.4 to 1.2 m/pixel were analyzed. From the results of the measurements in each of the ellipses, the dependence of the shaded area percentage on the solar angle were built, which was converted to the occurrence probability of slopes. For this, the data on the Apollo 16 landing region ware used, which is covered by both the LROC NAC images and the digital terrain model with high resolution. As a result, the occurrence probability of slopes with different steepness has been estimated on the baseline of 3.5 m for five landing ellipses according to the steepness categories of <7°, 7°–10°, 10°–15°, 15°–20°, and >20°.     

The velocity dispersion in Saturn's rings

The surface of Mercury exhibits a global tectonic system consisting of an ancient set of NE and NW trending lineaments and a younger set of planimetrically arcuate escarpments interpreted as thrust or high-angle reverse faults. The trends, distribution, and age relations of these tectonic features can be explained by a combination of tidal despinning and global contraction of the planet. In our model, early tidal despinning resulted in conjugate shear fractures trending roughly N60°E and N60°W which were subsequently modified by a variety of surface processes to produce the presently visible set of lineaments. Continued despinning plus global contraction produced thrust faults with roughly north-south trends. Final contraction may have postdated despinning and produced randomly oriented thrust faults. All of these events predated the formation of Caloris basin, because basin-associated deposits blanket both lineaments and arcuate thrust faults.     

A Comparison of Values of the Imaginary Part of Aerosol Refractive Index in the Latitudinal Belts of Saturn’s Northern Hemisphere

Using the spectrophotometric measurements data of 2015, the relation of values of the imaginary part n _i of aerosol refractive index was determined for latitudinal belts 17° N, 33° N, 49° N, and 66° N of Saturn’s disc. A steadily decreasing tendency in the relative n _i values when moving northward from the equatorial region of the disk to the latitude 49° N, inclusive, was revealed. The n _i values in the 17° N and 49° N belts were found to differ significantly from other latitudinal regions of the giant planet’s disk.     

Pluto: Dwarf planet 134340

In recent decades, investigations of Pluto with up-to-date astronomical instruments yielded results that have been generally confirmed by the New Horizons mission. In 2006, in Prague, the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) reclassified Pluto as a member of the dwarf planet category according to the criteria defined by the IAU for the term “planet”. At the same time, interest in studies of Pluto was increasing, while the space investigations of Pluto were delayed. In 2006, the New Horizons Pluto spacecraft started its journey to Pluto. On July 14, 2015, the spacecraft, being in fly-by mode, made its closest approach to Pluto. The heterogeneities and properties of the surface and rarified atmosphere were investigated thoroughly. Due to the extreme remoteness of the spacecraft and the energy limitations, it will take 18 months to transmit the whole data volume. Along with the preliminary results of the New Horizons Pluto mission, this paper reviews the basics on Pluto and its moons acquired from the ground-based observations and with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). There are only a few meteorite craters on the surfaces of Pluto and Charon, which distinctly marks them apart from such satellites of the giant planets as Ganymede and Callisto. The explanation is that the surface of Pluto is young: its age is estimated at less than 100 Myr. Ice glaciers of apparently a nitrogen nature were found. Nitrogen is also the main component of the atmosphere of Pluto. The planet demonstrates the signs of strong geologic activity, though the energy sources of these processes are unknown.     

Measurement of the radius of Mercury by radio occultation during the MESSENGER flybys

The MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft completed three flybys of Mercury in 2008–2009. During the first and third of those flybys, MESSENGER passed behind the planet from the perspective of Earth, occulting the radio-frequency (RF) transmissions. The occultation start and end times, recovered with 0.1 s accuracy or better by fitting edge-diffraction patterns to the RF power history, are used to estimate Mercury's radius at the tangent point of the RF path. To relate the measured radius to the planet shape, we evaluate local topography using images to identify the high-elevation feature that defines the RF path or using altimeter data to quantify surface roughness. Radius measurements are accurate to 150 m, and uncertainty in the average radius of the surrounding terrain, after adjustments are made from the local high at the tangent point of the RF path, is 350 m. The results are consistent with Mercury's equatorial shape as inferred from observations by the Mercury Laser Altimeter and ground-based radar. The three independent estimates of radius from occultation events collectively yield a mean radius for Mercury of 2439.2±0.5 km.     

Radius and limb topography of Mercury obtained from images acquired during the MESSENGER flybys

Analysis of images obtained by the MESSENGER spacecraft during its three flybys of Mercury yields a new estimate for the planet's mean radius of 2439.25±0.69 km, in agreement with results from Mariner 10 and Earth-based observations, as well as with MESSENGER altimeter and occultation data. The mean equatorial radius and polar radius are identical to within error, suggesting that rotational oblateness is negligible when compared with other sources of topography. This result is consistent with the small gravitational oblateness of the planet. Minor differences in radius obtained at different locations reflect regional variations in topography. Residual topography along three limb profiles has a dynamic range of 7.4 km and a root-mean-square roughness of 0.8 km over hemispherical scales. Following MESSENGER's entry into orbit about Mercury in March 2011, we expect considerable additional improvements to our knowledge of Mercury's size and shape.     

Unusual infrared fading of CH Cygni in 2006

Infrared observations of the unique symbiotic system CH Cyg in 2003–2006 are presented. Analysis of the observations has shown that a fairly dense dust structure (a cloud or a shell) appeared on the line of sight in August–November 2006. The dust grains in the new shell are similar in optical properties to graphite ones and their sizes are mostly within the range 0.14–0.16 μm. The dust shell is optically thick and its optical depth at 2.2 μm is τ(2.2) ≈ 0.97. The dust shell mass is M _d(06) ≈ 8 × 10⁻⁶ M _⊙ and the rate of matter flow into the shell has reached ∼2 × 10⁻⁵ M _⊙ yr⁻¹. Original Russian Text ? O.G. Taranova, V.I. Shenavrin, 2007, published in Pis’ma v Astronomicheskiĭ Zhurnal, 2007, Vol. 33, No. 8, pp. 598–603.     

The equatorial shape and gravity field of Mercury from MESSENGER flybys 1 and 2

On 14 January and 6 October 2008 the MESSENGER spacecraft passed within 200 km of the surface of Mercury. These flybys by MESSENGER provided the first observations of Mercury from a spacecraft since the Mariner 10 flybys in 1974 and 1975. Data from the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) provided new information on the equatorial shape of Mercury, and Doppler tracking of the spacecraft through the flybys provided new data on the planet’s gravity field. The MLA passes were on opposite hemispheres of the planet and span collectively ∼40% of the equatorial circumference. The mean elevation of topography observed during flyby 1, in the longitude range 0-90°E, is greater than that seen during flyby 2 in the longitude range 180-270°E, indicating an offset between centers of mass and figure having a magnitude and phase in general agreement with topography determined by Earth-based radar. Both MLA profiles are characterized by slopes of ∼0.015° downward to the east, which is consistent with a long-wavelength equatorial shape defined by a best-fitting ellipse. The Doppler tracking data show sensitivity to the gravitational structure of Mercury. The equatorial ellipticity of the gravitational field, C_2,2, is well determined and correlates with the equatorial shape. The S_2,2 coefficient is ∼0, as would be expected if Mercury’s coordinate system, defined by its rotational state, is aligned along its principal axes of inertia. The recovered value of the polar flattening of the gravitational potential, J₂, is considerably lower in magnitude than the value obtained from Mariner 10 tracking, a result that is problematic for internal structure models. This parameter is not as well constrained as the equatorial ellipticity because the flyby trajectories were nearly in the planet’s equatorial plane. The residuals from the Doppler tracking data suggest the possibility of mascons on Mercury, but flyby observations are of insufficient resolution for confident recovery. For a range of assumptions on degree of compensation and crustal and mantle densities, the allowable crustal thickness is consistent with the upper limit of about 100 km estimated from the inferred depth of faulting beneath a prominent lobate scarp, an assumed ductile flow law for crustal material, and the condition that temperature at the base of the crust does not exceed the solidus temperature. The MESSENGER value of C_2,2 has allowed an improved estimate of the ratio of the polar moment of inertia of the mantle and crust to the full polar moment (C_m/C), a refinement that strengthens the conclusion that Mercury has at present a fluid outer core.