TY - JOUR A1 - Rousseau, Batiste A1 - Erard, Stéphane A1 - Beck, P. A1 - Quirico, Eric A1 - Schmitt, B. A1 - Brissaud, O. A1 - Montes-Hernandez, G. A1 - Capaccioni, F. A1 - Filacchione, Gianrico A1 - Bockelee-Morvan, Dominique A1 - Leyrat, C. A1 - Ciarniello, M. A1 - Raponi, Andrea A1 - Kappel, David A1 - Arnold, G. A1 - Moroz, L. V. A1 - Palomba, Ernesto A1 - Tosi, Federico T1 - Laboratory simulations of the Vis-NIR spectra of comet 67P using sub-mu m sized cosmochemical analogues JF - Icarus : international journal of solar system studies N2 - Laboratory spectral measurements of relevant analogue materials were performed in the framework of the Rosetta mission in order to explain the surface spectral properties of comet 67P. Fine powders of coal, iron sulphides, silicates and their mixtures were prepared and their spectra measured in the Vis-IR range. These spectra are compared to a reference spectrum of 67P nucleus obtained with the VIRTIS/Rosetta instrument up to 2.7 mu m, excluding the organics band centred at 3.2 mu m. The species used are known to be chemical analogues for cometary materials which could be present at the surface of 67P. Grain sizes of the powders range from tens of nanometres to hundreds of micrometres. Some of the mixtures studied here actually reach the very low reflectance level observed by VIRTIS on 67P. The best match is provided by a mixture of sub-micron coal, pyrrhotite, and silicates. Grain sizes are in agreement with the sizes of the dust particles detected by the GIADA, MIDAS and COSIMA instruments on board Rosetta. The coal used in the experiment is responsible for the spectral slope in the visible and infrared ranges. Pyrrhotite, which is strongly absorbing, is responsible for the low albedo observed in the NIR. The darkest components dominate the spectra, especially within intimate mixtures. Depending on sample preparation, pyrrhotite can coat the coal and silicate aggregates. Such coating effects can affect the spectra as much as particle size. In contrast, silicates seem to play a minor role. (c) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. KW - Comets KW - Comets nucleus KW - Comets composition KW - Spectroscopy KW - Experimental techniques Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2017.10.015 SN - 0019-1035 SN - 1090-2643 VL - 306 SP - 306 EP - 318 PB - Elsevier CY - San Diego ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Filacchione, Gianrico A1 - Groussin, Olivier A1 - Herny, Clemence A1 - Kappel, David A1 - Mottola, Stefano A1 - Oklay, Nilda A1 - Pommerol, Antoine A1 - Wright, Ian A1 - Yoldi, Zurine A1 - Ciarniello, Mauro A1 - Moroz, Lyuba A1 - Raponi, Andrea T1 - Comet 67P/CG Nucleus Composition and Comparison to Other Comets JF - Space science reviews N2 - We review our current knowledge of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko nucleus composition as inferred from measurements made by remote sensing and in-situ instruments aboard Rosetta orbiter and Philae lander. Spectrophotometric properties (albedos, color indexes and Hapke parameters) of 67P/CG derived by Rosetta are discussed in the context of other comets previously explored by space missions. Composed of an assemblage made of ices, organic materials and minerals, cometary nuclei exhibit very dark and red surfaces which can be described by means of spectrophotometric quantities and reproduced with laboratory measurements. The presence of surface water and carbon dioxide ices was found by Rosetta to occur at localized sites where the activity driven by solar input, gaseous condensation or exposure of pristine inner layers can maintain these species on the surface. Apart from these specific areas, 67P/CG’s surface appears remarkably uniform in composition with a predominance of organic materials and minerals. The organic compounds contain abundant hydroxyl group and a refractory macromolecular material bearing aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. The mineral components are compatible with a mixture of silicates and fine-grained opaques, including Fe-sulfides, like troilite and pyrrhotite, and ammoniated salts. In the vicinity of the perihelion several active phenomena, including the erosion of surface layers, the localized activity in cliffs, fractures and pits, the collapse of overhangs and walls, the transfer and redeposition of dust, cause the evolution of the different regions of the nucleus by inducing color, composition and texture changes. KW - Comets KW - Composition KW - Ices KW - Organic matter KW - Minerals Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-019-0580-3 SN - 0038-6308 SN - 1572-9672 VL - 215 IS - 19 PB - Springer CY - Dordrecht ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cuzzi, Jeff N. A1 - Burns, Joseph A. A1 - Charnoz, Sébastien A1 - Clark, Roger N. A1 - Colwell, Josh E. A1 - Dones, Luke A1 - Esposito, Larry W. A1 - Filacchione, Gianrico A1 - French, Richard G. A1 - Hedman, Matthew M. A1 - Kempf, Sascha A1 - Marouf, Essam A. A1 - Murray, Carl D. A1 - Nicholson, Phillip D. A1 - Porco, Carolyn C. A1 - Schmidt, Jürgen A1 - Showalter, Mark R. A1 - Spilker, Linda J. A1 - Spitale, Joseph N. A1 - Srama, Ralf A1 - Sremcević, Miodrag A1 - Tiscareno, Matthew Steven A1 - Weiss, John T1 - An evolving view of Saturn's dynamic rings N2 - We review our understanding of Saturn's rings after nearly 6 years of observations by the Cassini spacecraft. Saturn's rings are composed mostly of water ice but also contain an undetermined reddish contaminant. The rings exhibit a range of structure across many spatial scales; some of this involves the interplay of the fluid nature and the self-gravity of innumerable orbiting centimeter- to meter-sized particles, and the effects of several peripheral and embedded moonlets, but much remains unexplained. A few aspects of ring structure change on time scales as short as days. It remains unclear whether the vigorous evolutionary processes to which the rings are subject imply a much younger age than that of the solar system. Processes on view at Saturn have parallels in circumstellar disks. Y1 - 2010 UR - http://www.sciencemag.org/ U6 - https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1179118 SN - 0036-8075 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ciarniello, Mauro A1 - Fulle, Marco A1 - Raponi, Andrea A1 - Filacchione, Gianrico A1 - Capaccioni, Fabrizio A1 - Rotundi, Alessandra A1 - Rinaldi, Giovanna A1 - Formisano, Michelangelo A1 - Magni, Gianfranco A1 - Tosi, Federico A1 - De Sanctis, Maria Cristina A1 - Capria, Maria Teresa A1 - Longobardo, Andrea A1 - Beck, Pierre A1 - Fornasier, Sonia A1 - Kappel, David A1 - Mennella, Vito A1 - Mottola, Stefano A1 - Rousseau, Batiste A1 - Arnold, Gabriele T1 - Macro and micro structures of pebble-made cometary nuclei reconciled by seasonal evolution JF - Nature astronomy N2 - Comets evolve due to sublimation of ices embedded inside porous dust, triggering dust emission (that is, erosion) followed by mass loss, mass redistribution and surface modifications. Surface changes were revealed by the Deep Impact and Stardust NExT missions for comet 9P/Tempel 1 (ref.(1)), and a full inventory of the processes modifying cometary nuclei was provided by Rosetta while it escorted comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for approximately two years(2-4). Such observations also showed puzzling water-ice-rich spots that stood out as patches optically brighter and spectrally bluer than the average cometary surfaces(5-9). These are up to tens of metres large and indicate macroscopic compositional dishomogeneities apparently in contrast with the structural homogeneity above centimetre scales of pebble-made nuclei(10). Here we show that the occurrence of blue patches determines the seasonal variability of the nucleus colour(4,11,12) and gives insight into the internal structure of comets. We define a new model that links the centimetre-sized pebbles composing the nucleus(10) and driving cometary activity(13,14) to metre-sized water-ice-enriched blocks embedded in a drier matrix. The emergence of blue patches is due to the matrix erosion driven by CO2-ice sublimation that exposes the water-ice-enriched blocks, which in turn are eroded by water-ice sublimation when exposed to sunlight. Our model explains the observed seasonal evolution of the nucleus and reconciles the available data at micro (sub-centimetre) and macro (metre) scales. KW - Asteroids, comets and Kuiper belt KW - Planetary science Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-022-01625-y SN - 2397-3366 VL - 6 IS - 5 SP - 546 EP - 553 PB - Nature Research CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Arridge, Christopher S. A1 - Achilleos, N. A1 - Agarwal, Jessica A1 - Agnor, C. B. A1 - Ambrosi, R. A1 - Andre, N. A1 - Badman, S. V. A1 - Baines, K. A1 - Banfield, D. A1 - Barthelemy, M. A1 - Bisi, M. M. A1 - Blum, J. A1 - Bocanegra-Bahamon, T. A1 - Bonfond, B. A1 - Bracken, C. A1 - Brandt, P. A1 - Briand, C. A1 - Briois, C. A1 - Brooks, S. A1 - Castillo-Rogez, J. A1 - Cavalie, T. A1 - Christophe, B. A1 - Coates, Andrew J. A1 - Collinson, G. A1 - Cooper, John F. A1 - Costa-Sitja, M. A1 - Courtin, R. A1 - Daglis, I. A. A1 - De Pater, Imke A1 - Desai, M. A1 - Dirkx, D. A1 - Dougherty, M. K. A1 - Ebert, R. W. A1 - Filacchione, Gianrico A1 - Fletcher, Leigh N. A1 - Fortney, J. A1 - Gerth, I. A1 - Grassi, D. A1 - Grodent, D. A1 - Grün, Eberhard A1 - Gustin, J. A1 - Hedman, M. A1 - Helled, R. A1 - Henri, P. A1 - Hess, Sebastien A1 - Hillier, J. K. A1 - Hofstadter, M. H. A1 - Holme, R. A1 - Horanyi, M. A1 - Hospodarsky, George B. A1 - Hsu, S. A1 - Irwin, P. A1 - Jackman, C. M. A1 - Karatekin, O. A1 - Kempf, Sascha A1 - Khalisi, E. A1 - Konstantinidis, K. A1 - Kruger, H. A1 - Kurth, William S. A1 - Labrianidis, C. A1 - Lainey, V. A1 - Lamy, L. L. A1 - Laneuville, Matthieu A1 - Lucchesi, D. A1 - Luntzer, A. A1 - MacArthur, J. A1 - Maier, A. A1 - Masters, A. A1 - McKenna-Lawlor, S. A1 - Melin, H. A1 - Milillo, A. A1 - Moragas-Klostermeyer, Georg A1 - Morschhauser, Achim A1 - Moses, J. I. A1 - Mousis, O. A1 - Nettelmann, N. A1 - Neubauer, F. M. A1 - Nordheim, T. A1 - Noyelles, B. A1 - Orton, G. S. A1 - Owens, Mathew A1 - Peron, R. A1 - Plainaki, C. A1 - Postberg, F. A1 - Rambaux, N. A1 - Retherford, K. A1 - Reynaud, Serge A1 - Roussos, Elias A1 - Russell, C. T. A1 - Rymer, Am. A1 - Sallantin, R. A1 - Sanchez-Lavega, A. A1 - Santolik, O. A1 - Saur, J. A1 - Sayanagi, Km. A1 - Schenk, P. A1 - Schubert, J. A1 - Sergis, N. A1 - Sittler, E. C. A1 - Smith, A. A1 - Spahn, Frank A1 - Srama, Ralf A1 - Stallard, T. A1 - Sterken, V. A1 - Sternovsky, Zoltan A1 - Tiscareno, M. A1 - Tobie, G. A1 - Tosi, F. A1 - Trieloff, M. A1 - Turrini, D. A1 - Turtle, E. P. A1 - Vinatier, S. A1 - Wilson, R. A1 - Zarkat, P. T1 - The science case for an orbital mission to Uranus: Exploring the origins and evolution of ice giant planets JF - Planetary and space science N2 - Giant planets helped to shape the conditions we see in the Solar System today and they account for more than 99% of the mass of the Sun's planetary system. They can be subdivided into the Ice Giants (Uranus and Neptune) and the Gas Giants (Jupiter and Saturn), which differ from each other in a number of fundamental ways. Uranus, in particular is the most challenging to our understanding of planetary formation and evolution, with its large obliquity, low self-luminosity, highly asymmetrical internal field, and puzzling internal structure. Uranus also has a rich planetary system consisting of a system of inner natural satellites and complex ring system, five major natural icy satellites, a system of irregular moons with varied dynamical histories, and a highly asymmetrical magnetosphere. Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have explored Uranus, with a flyby in 1986, and no mission is currently planned to this enigmatic system. However, a mission to the uranian system would open a new window on the origin and evolution of the Solar System and would provide crucial information on a wide variety of physicochemical processes in our Solar System. These have clear implications for understanding exoplanetary systems. In this paper we describe the science case for an orbital mission to Uranus with an atmospheric entry probe to sample the composition and atmospheric physics in Uranus' atmosphere. The characteristics of such an orbiter and a strawman scientific payload are described and we discuss the technical challenges for such a mission. This paper is based on a white paper submitted to the European Space Agency's call for science themes for its large-class mission programme in 2013. KW - Uranus KW - Magnetosphere KW - Atmosphere KW - Natural satellites KW - Rings KW - Planetary interior Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2014.08.009 SN - 0032-0633 VL - 104 SP - 122 EP - 140 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Buratti, Bonnie J. A1 - Thomas, P. C. A1 - Roussos, Elias A1 - Howett, Carly A1 - Seiss, Martin A1 - Hendrix, A. R. A1 - Helfenstein, Paul A1 - Brown, R. H. A1 - Clark, R. N. A1 - Denk, Tilmann A1 - Filacchione, Gianrico A1 - Hoffmann, Holger A1 - Jones, Geraint H. A1 - Khawaja, N. A1 - Kollmann, Peter A1 - Krupp, Norbert A1 - Lunine, Jonathan A1 - Momary, T. W. A1 - Paranicas, Christopher A1 - Postberg, Frank A1 - Sachse, Manuel A1 - Spahn, Frank A1 - Spencer, John A1 - Srama, Ralf A1 - Albin, T. A1 - Baines, K. H. A1 - Ciarniello, Mauro A1 - Economou, Thanasis A1 - Hsu, Hsiang-Wen A1 - Kempf, Sascha A1 - Krimigis, Stamatios M. A1 - Mitchell, Donald A1 - Moragas-Klostermeyer, Georg A1 - Nicholson, Philip D. A1 - Porco, C. C. A1 - Rosenberg, Heike A1 - Simolka, Jonas A1 - Soderblom, Laurence A. T1 - Close Cassini flybys of Saturn’s ring moons Pan, Daphnis, Atlas, Pandora, and Epimetheus JF - Science N2 - Saturn’s main ring system is associated with a set of small moons that either are embedded within it or interact with the rings to alter their shape and composition. Five close flybys of the moons Pan, Daphnis, Atlas, Pandora, and Epimetheus were performed between December 2016 and April 2017 during the ring-grazing orbits of the Cassini mission. Data on the moons’ morphology, structure, particle environment, and composition were returned, along with images in the ultraviolet and thermal infrared. We find that the optical properties of the moons’ surfaces are determined by two competing processes: contamination by a red material formed in Saturn’s main ring system and accretion of bright icy particles or water vapor from volcanic plumes originating on the moon Enceladus. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat2349 SN - 0036-8075 SN - 1095-9203 VL - 364 IS - 6445 SP - 1053 PB - American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science CY - Washington ER -