scholarly journals Ground- and Space-Based Observation of Kordylewski Clouds

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Peng Wang ◽  
Xiao-Jun Jiang ◽  
Xi-Yun Hou ◽  
Li-Hua Zhang ◽  
Li-Xiang Jiang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Libration Points ◽  
Dust Clouds ◽  
Physical Chemical ◽  
Triangular Libration Points ◽  
History Of ◽  
Dynamical Properties

The ghost dust clouds in the vicinity of Earth-Moon triangular libration points are known as the “Kordylewski clouds” (KDCs). Objects in the KDCs may give hints to the physical, chemical, and dynamical properties of the solar system. As a result, in situ exploration of the KDCs can help us understand the evolution of our solar system. This paper first summarizes the observation history of the KDCs. Based on the properties of the KDCs, a ground- and space-based observation concept is proposed, using the CAST 100 platform developed by DFH and ground stations. Some details of the concept are exploited.

scholarly journals In Situ exploration of the giant planets

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Mousis ◽  
D. H. Atkinson ◽  
R. Ambrosi ◽  
S. Atreya ◽  
D. Banfield ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Giant Planets ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Formation History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Composition Structure ◽  
Galileo Probe ◽  
Probe Measurements

AbstractRemote sensing observations suffer significant limitations when used to study the bulk atmospheric composition of the giant planets of our Solar System. This impacts our knowledge of the formation of these planets and the physics of their atmospheres. A remarkable example of the superiority of in situ probe measurements was illustrated by the exploration of Jupiter, where key measurements such as the determination of the noble gases’ abundances and the precise measurement of the helium mixing ratio were only made available through in situ measurements by the Galileo probe. Here we describe the main scientific goals to be addressed by the future in situ exploration of Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, placing the Galileo probe exploration of Jupiter in a broader context. An atmospheric entry probe targeting the 10-bar level would yield insight into two broad themes: i) the formation history of the giant planets and that of the Solar System, and ii) the processes at play in planetary atmospheres. The probe would descend under parachute to measure composition, structure, and dynamics, with data returned to Earth using a Carrier Relay Spacecraft as a relay station. An atmospheric probe could represent a significant ESA contribution to a future NASA New Frontiers or flagship mission to be launched toward Saturn, Uranus, and/or Neptune.

scholarly journals Lunar exploration: opening a window into the history and evolution of the inner Solar System

2014 ◽  
Vol 372 (2024) ◽  
pp. 20130315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian A. Crawford ◽  
Katherine H. Joy
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Lunar Exploration ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Moon System ◽  
Origin And Evolution ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Geological Evolution ◽  
History Of ◽  
Rocky Planets

The lunar geological record contains a rich archive of the history of the inner Solar System, including information relevant to understanding the origin and evolution of the Earth–Moon system, the geological evolution of rocky planets, and our local cosmic environment. This paper provides a brief review of lunar exploration to-date and describes how future exploration initiatives will further advance our understanding of the origin and evolution of the Moon, the Earth–Moon system and of the Solar System more generally. It is concluded that further advances will require the placing of new scientific instruments on, and the return of additional samples from, the lunar surface. Some of these scientific objectives can be achieved robotically, for example by in situ geochemical and geophysical measurements and through carefully targeted sample return missions. However, in the longer term, we argue that lunar science would greatly benefit from renewed human operations on the surface of the Moon, such as would be facilitated by implementing the recently proposed Global Exploration Roadmap.

Questions about the evolution of ices, from diffuse molecular clouds to comets

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (S350) ◽  
pp. 15-20
Author(s):  
A. C. A. Boogert
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Absorption Bands ◽  
Complex Organic Molecule ◽  
Interstellar Ice ◽  
Rosetta Mission ◽  
History Of ◽  
Space Environments ◽  
Complex Organic

AbstractThe surfaces of interstellar and circumstellar dust grains are the sites of molecule formation, most of which, except H2, stick and form ice mantles. The study of ice evolution thus seems directly relevant for understanding our own origins, although the relation between interstellar and solar system ices remains a key question. The comparison of interstellar and solar system ices relies evidently on an accurate understanding of the composition and processes in both environments. With the accurate in situ measurements available for the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko with the Rosetta mission, improving our understanding of interstellar ices is the more important. Here, I will address three specific questions. First, while laboratory experiments have made much progress in understanding complex organic molecule (COM) formation in the ices, the question remains, how does COM formation depend on environment and time? Second, what is the carrier of sulfur in the ices? And third, can ice absorption bands trace the processing history of the ices? Laboratory experiments, ranging from infrared spectroscopy to identify interstellar ice species, to surface experiments to determine reaction parameters in ice formation scenarios, to heating and irradiation experiments to simulate space environments, are essential to address these questions and analyze the flood of new observational data that will become available with new facilities in the next 2-10 years.

Stellar Evolution

1962 ◽  
Vol 11 (02) ◽  
pp. 137-143
Author(s):  
M. Schwarzschild
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Stellar Evolution ◽  
Space Craft ◽  
New Techniques ◽  
Substantial Body ◽  
Individual Stars ◽  
The Past ◽  
Evolution Of Galaxies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Fast Flow

It is perhaps one of the most important characteristics of the past decade in astronomy that the evolution of some major classes of astronomical objects has become accessible to detailed research. The theory of the evolution of individual stars has developed into a substantial body of quantitative investigations. The evolution of galaxies, particularly of our own, has clearly become a subject for serious research. Even the history of the solar system, this close-by intriguing puzzle, may soon make the transition from being a subject of speculation to being a subject of detailed study in view of the fast flow of new data obtained with new techniques, including space-craft.

Laboratory and in-situ analysis of comet dust

1988 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 8-9
Author(s):  
D.E. Brownlee ◽  
A.L. Albee
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Laboratory Study ◽  
Isotopic Analysis ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Sem Analysis ◽  
Early Solar System ◽  
Cometary Material ◽  
Comet Dust

Comets are primitive, kilometer-sized bodies that formed in the outer regions of the solar system. Composed of ice and dust, comets are generally believed to be relic building blocks of the outer solar system that have been preserved at cryogenic temperatures since the formation of the Sun and planets. The analysis of cometary material is particularly important because the properties of cometary material provide direct information on the processes and environments that formed and influenced solid matter both in the early solar system and in the interstellar environments that preceded it.The first direct analyses of proven comet dust were made during the Soviet and European spacecraft encounters with Comet Halley in 1986. These missions carried time-of-flight mass spectrometers that measured mass spectra of individual micron and smaller particles. The Halley measurements were semi-quantitative but they showed that comet dust is a complex fine-grained mixture of silicates and organic material. A full understanding of comet dust will require detailed morphological, mineralogical, elemental and isotopic analysis at the finest possible scale. Electron microscopy and related microbeam techniques will play key roles in the analysis. The present and future of electron microscopy of comet samples involves laboratory study of micrometeorites collected in the stratosphere, in-situ SEM analysis of particles collected at a comet and laboratory study of samples collected from a comet and returned to the Earth for detailed study.

Analytical Electron Microscopy of Extraterrestrial Ice Analogs

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 594-595
Author(s):  
D.F. Blake ◽  
LJ. Allamandola ◽  
G. Palmer ◽  
A. Pohorille
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Analytical Electron Microscopy ◽  
Biogenic Elements ◽  
Widespread Occurrence ◽  
Interstellar Ice ◽  
Analytical Electron ◽  
History Of ◽  
Interstellar Material ◽  
Astrophysical Ices ◽  
Interstellar Molecular Clouds

The natural history of the biogenic elements H, C, N, O, P and S in the cosmos is of great interest because it is these elements which comprise all life. Material ejected from stars (or pre-existing in the interstellar medium) is thought to condense into diffuse bodies of gravitationally bound gas and dust called cold interstellar molecular clouds. Current theories predict that within these clouds, at temperatures of 10-100° K, gases (primarily H2O, but including CO, CO2, CH3OH, NH3, and others) condense onto submicron silicate grains to form icy grain mantles. This interstellar ice represents the earliest and most primitive association of the biogenic elements. Within these multicomponent icy mantles, pre-biotic organic compounds are formed during exposure to UV radiation. It is thought that icy planetesimals (such as comets) within our solar system contain some pristine interstellar material, including ices, and may have (during the early bombardment of the solar system, ∼4 Ga) carried this material to Earth.Despite the widespread occurrence of astrophysical ices and their importance to pre-biotic organic evolution, few experimental data exist which address the relevant phase equilibria and possible structural states. A knowledge of the petrology of astrophysical ice analogs will allow scientists to more confidently interpret astronomical IR observations. Furthermore, the development and refinement of procedures for analyzing ices and other materials at cryogenic temperatures is critical to the study of materials returned from the proposed Rosetta comet nucleus and Mars sample return missions.

From Dust to Life

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Chambers ◽  
Jacqueline Mitton
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Extrasolar Planets ◽  
Planetary Systems ◽  
History Of Astronomy ◽  
Human Origins ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Emergence Of Life

The birth and evolution of our solar system is a tantalizing mystery that may one day provide answers to the question of human origins. This book tells the remarkable story of how the celestial objects that make up the solar system arose from common beginnings billions of years ago, and how scientists and philosophers have sought to unravel this mystery down through the centuries, piecing together the clues that enabled them to deduce the solar system's layout, its age, and the most likely way it formed. Drawing on the history of astronomy and the latest findings in astrophysics and the planetary sciences, the book offers the most up-to-date and authoritative treatment of the subject available. It examines how the evolving universe set the stage for the appearance of our Sun, and how the nebulous cloud of gas and dust that accompanied the young Sun eventually became the planets, comets, moons, and asteroids that exist today. It explores how each of the planets acquired its unique characteristics, why some are rocky and others gaseous, and why one planet in particular—our Earth—provided an almost perfect haven for the emergence of life. The book takes readers to the very frontiers of modern research, engaging with the latest controversies and debates. It reveals how ongoing discoveries of far-distant extrasolar planets and planetary systems are transforming our understanding of our own solar system's astonishing history and its possible fate.

Drifting Through a Planetary System

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karel Schrijver
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Planetary System ◽  
System P ◽  
History Of ◽  
Or Team ◽  
Water Contents

This chapter describes how the first found exoplanets presented puzzles: they orbited where they should not have formed or where they could not have survived the death of their stars. The Solar System had its own puzzles to add: Mars is smaller than expected, while Venus, Earth, and Mars had more water—at least at one time—than could be understood. This chapter shows how astronomers worked through the combination of these puzzles: now we appreciate that planets can change their orbits, scatter water-bearing asteroids about, steal material from growing planets, or team up with other planets to stabilize their future. The special history of Jupiter and Saturn as a pair bringing both destruction and water to Earth emerged from the study of seventeenth-century resonant clocks, from the water contents of asteroids, and from experiments with supercomputers imposing the laws of physics on virtual worlds.

scholarly journals North polar trough formation due to in-situ erosion as a source of young ice in mid-latitudinal mantles on Mars

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Alexis P. Rodriguez ◽  
Kenneth L. Tanaka ◽  
Ali M. Bramson ◽  
Gregory J. Leonard ◽  
Victor R. Baker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Katabatic Wind ◽  
Spiral Pattern ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Valuable Source ◽  
History Of ◽  
North Polar ◽  
Human Exploration ◽  
Erosional Event

AbstractThe clockwise spiral of troughs marking the Martian north polar plateau forms one of the planet’s youngest megastructures. One popular hypothesis posits that the spiral pattern resulted as troughs underwent poleward migration. Here, we show that the troughs are extensively segmented into enclosed depressions (or cells). Many cell interiors display concentric layers that connect pole- and equator-facing slopes, demonstrating in-situ trough erosion. The segmentation patterns indicate a history of gradual trough growth transversely to katabatic wind directions, whereby increases in trough intersections generated their spiral arrangement. The erosional event recorded in the truncated strata and trough segmentation may have supplied up to ~25% of the volume of the mid-latitude icy mantles. Topographically subtle undulations transition into troughs and have distributions that mimic and extend the troughs’ spiraling pattern, indicating that they probably represent buried trough sections. The retention of the spiral pattern in surface and subsurface troughs is consistent with the megastructure’s stabilization before its partial burial. A previously suggested warm paleoclimatic spike indicates that the erosion could have occurred as recently as ~50 Ka. Hence, if the removed ice was redeposited to form the mid-latitude mantles, they could provide a valuable source of near-surface, clean ice for future human exploration.

scholarly journals Industrial Dust Explosions. A Brief Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf K. Eckhoff ◽  
Gang Li
Keyword(s):  
Case History ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Dust Explosion ◽  
Research Issues ◽  
Industrial Dust ◽  
Dust Clouds ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
History Of ◽  
Dust Explosions ◽  
Hybrid Mixtures

This paper first addresses the question: what is a dust explosion? Afterwards, some specific issues are briefly reviewed: materials that can give dust explosions, factors influencing ignitability and explosibility of dust clouds, the combustion of dust clouds in air, ignition sources that can initiate dust explosions, primary and secondary dust explosions, dust flash fires, explosions of “hybrid mixtures”, and detonation of dust clouds. Subsequently, measures for dust explosion prevention and mitigation are reviewed. The next section presents the case history of an industrial dust explosion catastrophe in China in 2014. In the final section, a brief review is given of some current research issues that are related to the prevention and mitigation of dust explosions. There is a constant need for further research and development in all the areas elucidated in the paper.

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