Bounce Rock—A shergottite‐like basalt encountered at Meridiani Planum,Mars

Abstract– The Opportunity rover of the Mars Exploration Rover mission encountered an isolated rock fragment with textural, mineralogical, and chemical properties similar to basaltic shergottites. This finding was confirmed by all rover instruments, and a comprehensive study of these results is reported here. Spectra from the miniature thermal emission spectrometer and the Panoramic Camera reveal a pyroxene‐rich mineralogy, which is also evident in Mössbauer spectra and in normative mineralogy derived from bulk chemistry measured by the alpha particle X‐ray spectrometer. The correspondence of Bounce Rock’s chemical composition with the composition of certain basaltic shergottites, especially Elephant Moraine (EET) 79001 lithology B and Queen Alexandra Range (QUE) 94201, is very close, with only Cl, Fe, and Ti exhibiting deviations. Chemical analyses further demonstrate characteristics typical of Mars such as the Fe/Mn ratio and P concentrations. Possible shock features support the idea that Bounce Rock was ejected from an impact crater, most likely in the Meridiani Planum region. Bopolu crater, 19.3 km in diameter, located 75 km to the southwest could be the source crater. To date, no other rocks of this composition have been encountered by any of the rovers on Mars. The finding of Bounce Rock by the Opportunity rover provides further direct evidence for an origin of basaltic shergottite meteorites from Mars.     

Hypervelocity capture of meteoritic particles in nonsilica aerogels

Abstract– The Stardust mission captured particles from the comet 81P/Wild 2 in gradient density silica aerogel and returned the collected samples to earth in 2006. The analyses of these particles have revealed several new insights into the formation of our solar system. However, since the aerogel used as the capture material was silica, the elemental analyses of the silica‐rich particles were made more complicated in certain ways due to the mixing of the silicon of the particles and that of the aerogel. By using a nonsilica aerogel, future elemental analyses of silica–rich particles captured in aerogel could be made more straightforward. Resorcinol/formaldehyde (RF), alumina, and zirconia aerogels were impact tested with meteoritic fragments and the captured fragments were mapped with synchrotron‐based X‐ray microprobe (XRM) and the particles were analyzed with X‐ray fluorescence (XRF). The resorcinol/formaldehyde aerogel proved to be the best capture material, in that it could be keystoned and XRF could be used to locate and analyze particles that were less than 10 μm.     

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.     

Development of an observational error model

In calculating the orbit of a minor planet with a least-squares algorithm, current practice is to assume that all observations of a given era have the same uncertainty, and that the errors in these observations are uncorrelated. These assumptions are unrealistic; and they lead to sub-optimal orbits.Our objective is to develop and validate an observational error model that provides realistic estimates of the uncertainties and correlations in asteroid observations. When used to populate the covariance matrix of the least-squares algorithm, the resulting orbits are shown to more accurately and precisely represent asteroid trajectories.     

Evidence for silicate dissolution on Mars from the Nakhla meteorite

Veins containing carbonates, hydrous silicates, and sulfates that occur within and between grains of augite and olivine in the Nakhla meteorite are good evidence for the former presence of liquid water in the Martian crust. Aqueous solutions gained access to grain interiors via narrow fractures, and those fractures within olivine whose walls were oriented close to (001) were preferentially widened by etching along [001]. This orientation selective dissolution may have been due to the presence within olivine of shock‐formed [001](100) and [001]{110} screw dislocations. The duration of etching is likely to have been brief, possibly less than a year, and the solutions responsible were sufficiently cool and reducing that laihunite did not form and Fe liberated from the olivine was not immediately oxidized. The pores within olivine were mineralized in sequence by siderite, nanocrystalline smectite, a Fe‐Mg phyllosilicate, and then gypsum, whereas only the smectite occurs within augite. The nanocrystalline smectite was deposited as submicrometer thick layers on etched vein walls, and solution compositions varied substantially between and sometimes during precipitation of each layer. Together with microcrystalline gypsum the Fe‐Mg phyllosilicate crystallized as water briefly returned to some of the veins following desiccation fracturing of the smectite. These results show that etching of olivine enhanced the porosity and permeability of the nakhlite parent rock and that dissolution and secondary mineralization took place within the same near‐static aqueous system.     

Galilean satellites: 1976 radar results

Radar observations of the Galilean satellites, made in late 1976 using the 12.6-cm radar system of the Arecibo Observatory, have yielded mean geometric albedos of 0.04 ± , 0.69 ± 0.17, 0.37 ± 0.09, and 0.15 ± 0.04, for Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, respectively. The albedo for Io is about 40% smaller than that obtained approximately a year earlier, while the albedos for the outer three satellites average about 70% larger than the values previously reported for late 1975, raising the possibility of temporal variation. Very little dependence on orbital phase is noted; however, some regional scattering inhomogeneities are seen on the outer three satellites. For Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, the ratios of the echo received in one mode of circular polarization to that received in the other were: 1.61 ± 0.20 1.48 ± 0.27, and 1.24 ± 0.19, respectively, with the dominant component having the same sence of circularity as that transmitted. This behavior has not previously been encountered in radar studies of solar system objects, whereas the corresponding observations with linear polarization are “normal.” Radii determined from the 1976 radar data for Europa and Ganymede are: 1530 ± 30 and 2670 ± 50 km, in fair agreement with the results from the 1975 radar observations and the best recent optical determinations. Doppler shifts of the radar echoes, useful for the improvement of the orbits of Jupiter and some of the Galilean satellites, are given for 12 nights in 1976 and 10 nights in 1975.     

Multi-spacecraft testing of time-dependent interplanetary MHD models for operational forecasting of geomagnetic storms

An MHD 2-1/2D, time-dependent model is used, together with observations of six solar flares during 3–7 February 1986, to demonstrate global, large-scale, compound disturbances in the solar wind over a wide range of heliolongitudes. This scenario is one that is likely to occur many times during the cruise, possibly even encounter, phases of the Multi-Comet Mission. It is suggested that a model such as this one should be tested with multi-spacecraft data (such as the MCM and Earth-based probes) with several goals in view: (1) utility of the model for operational real-time forecasting of geomagnetic storms, and (2) scientific interpretation of certain forms of cometary activities and their possible association with solar-generated activity.Presented at the Workshop on the Multi-Comet Mission, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, September 17–18, 1986.     

Numerical simulations of high-speed solar wind streams within 1 AU and their signatures at 1 AU

A parametric study of the evolution within, and signatures at, 1 AU of high-speed streams is performed with the use of a MHD, 21/2-D, time-dependent model. This study is an extension of an earlier one by Smith and Dryer (1990) who examined the ecliptic plane consequences of relatively short-duration, energetic solar disturbances. The present study examines both the erupting and corotating parts of long-duration, high-speed streams characteristic of coronal hole flows. By examining the variation of the simulated plasma velocity, density, temperature, and magnetic field at 1 AU, as well as the location of the solar coronal hole sources relative to the observer at 1 AU, we are able to provide some insight into the identification of the solar sources of interplanetary disturbances. We present and discuss two definitions for angle locating the solar source of interplanetary disturbances at 1 AU.We apply our results to the suggestion by Hewish (1988) that low-latitude coronal holes are suitably positioned to be the sources of major geomagnetic storms when the holes are in the eastern half of the solar hemisphere at the time of the commencement of the storm. Our results indicate that, for these cases, the streams emanating from within the hole must be very fast, greater than 1000 km s^–1, or very wide, greater than 60°, at the inner boundary of 18 solar radii in our simulation.     

Ion and neutral sources and sinks within Saturn's inner magnetosphere: Cassini results

Using ion-electron fluid parameters derived from Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) observations within Saturn's inner magnetosphere as presented in Sittler et al. [2006a. Cassini observations of Saturn's inner plasmasphere: Saturn orbit insertion results. Planet. Space Sci., 54, 1197-1210], one can estimate the ion total flux tube content, N_IONL², for protons, H⁺, and water group ions, W⁺, as a function of radial distance or dipole L shell. In Sittler et al. [2005. Preliminary results on Saturn's inner plasmasphere as observed by Cassini: comparison with Voyager. Geophys. Res. Lett. 32(14), L14S04), it was shown that protons and water group ions dominated the plasmasphere composition. Using the ion-electron fluid parameters as boundary condition for each L shell traversed by the Cassini spacecraft, we self-consistently solve for the ambipolar electric field and the ion distribution along each of those field lines. Temperature anisotropies from Voyager plasma observations are used with (T_⊥/T_∥)_W⁺∼5 and (T_⊥/T_∥)_H⁺∼2. The radio and plasma wave science (RPWS) electron density observations from previous publications are used to indirectly confirm usage of the above temperature anisotropies for water group ions and protons. In the case of electrons we assume they are isotropic due to their short scattering time scales. When the above is done, our calculation show N_IONL² for H⁺ and W⁺ peaking near Dione's L shell with values similar to that found from Voyager plasma observations. We are able to show that water molecules are the dominant source of ions within Saturn's inner magnetosphere. We estimate the ion production rate S_ION∼10²⁷ ions/s as function of dipole L using N_H⁺, N_W⁺ and the time scale for ion loss due to radial transport τ_D and ion-electron recombination τ_REC. The ion production shows localized peaks near the L shells of Tethys, Dione and Rhea, but not Enceladus. We then estimate the neutral production rate, S_W, from our ion production rate, S_ION, and the time scale for loss of neutrals by ionization, τ_ION, and charge exchange, τ_CH. The estimated source rate for water molecules shows a pronounced peak near Enceladus’ L shell L∼4, with a value S_W∼2×10²⁸ mol/s.     

Properties of dusty tori in active galactic nuclei – I. The case of SWIRE/SDSS quasars

We derive the properties of dusty tori in active galactic nuclei from the comparison of observed spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of SDSS quasars and a precomputed grid of torus models. The observed SEDs comprise SDSS photometry, Two-Micron All-Sky Survey J , H and K data, whenever available, and mid-infrared (mid-IR) data from the Spitzer Wide-area InfraRed Extragalactic Survey. The adopted model is that of Fritz, Franceschini & Hatziminaoglou. The fit is performed by standard  χ²  -minimization; the model, however, can be a multicomponent comprising a stellar and a starburst component, whenever necessary. Models with low equatorial optical depth, τ_9.7, were allowed as well as 'traditional' models with  τ_9.7≥ 1.0  , corresponding to   A _V≥ 22  and the results were compared. Fits using high optical depth tori models only produced dust more compactly distributed than in the configuration where all τ_9.7 models were permitted. Tori with decreasing dust density with the distance from the centre were favoured while there was no clear preference for models with or without angular variation of the dust density. The computed outer radii of the tori are of some tens of parsecs large but can reach, in a few cases, a few hundreds of parsecs. The mass of dust, M _Dust, and IR luminosity, L _IR, integrated in the wavelength range between 1 and 1000 μm, do not show significant variations with redshift, once the observational biases are taken into account. Objects with 70-μm detections, representing 25 per cent of the sample, are studied separately and the starburst contribution (whenever present) to the IR luminosity can reach, in the most extreme but very few cases, 80 per cent.