The Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment on the InSight Mission to Mars

The Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment (RISE) on-board the InSight mission will use the lander’s X-band (8 GHz) radio system in combination with tracking stations of the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) to determine the rotation of Mars. RISE will measure the nutation of the Martian spin axis, detecting for the first time the effect of the liquid core of Mars and providing in turn new constraints on the core radius and density. RISE will also measure changes in the rotation rate of Mars on seasonal time-scales thereby constraining the atmospheric angular momentum budget. Finally, RISE will provide a superb tie between the cartographic and inertial reference frames. This paper describes the RISE scientific objectives and measurements, and provides the expected results of the experiment.     

Implications of Rotation, Orbital States, Energy Sources, and Heat Transport for Internal Processes in Icy Satellites

Internal processes in icy satellites, e.g. the exchange of material from the subsurface to the surface or processes leading to volcanism and resurfacing events, are a consequence of the amount of energy available in the satellites’ interiors. The latter is mainly determined shortly after accretion by the amount of radioactive isotopes incorporated in the silicates during the accretion process. However, for satellites—as opposed to single objects—important contributions to the energy budget on long time-scales can come from the interaction with other satellites (forcing of eccentricities of satellites in resonance) and consequently from the tidal interaction with the primary planet. Tidal evolution involves both changes of the rotation state—usually leading to the 1:1 spin orbit coupling—and long-term variations of the satellite orbits. Both processes are dissipative and thus connected with heat production in the interior. The way heat is transported from the interior to the surface (convection, conduction, (cryo-) volcanism) is a second main aspect that determines how internal processes in satellites work. In this chapter we will discuss the physics of heat production and heat transport as well as the rotational and orbital states of satellites. The relevance of the different heat sources for the moons in the outer solar system are compared and discussed.     

Magnetic energy release near accreting black holes

The observed non-thermal emission from accreting compact objects is often understood in terms of the expected magnetic activity of accretion disks. This review discusses the constraints on this view point that can be obtained from, principally, the X-ray spectra and the X-ray variability of black hole candidates.Furthermore, the traditional view of an accretion disk corona, put forward as the source of the non-thermal emission, analogous to the solar corona is shown to be wrong on a few important points. Firstly, the density in the equilibrium accretion disk corona is extremely low. A reasonable plasma density is retained by pair production processes similar to those existing in the pulsar magnetosphere. Secondly, the dominant resistivity in the accretion the disk on the current carrying electrons.     

The massive star distribution in the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds

The numbers and distribution of Population I O-type stars and Wolf-Rayet stars are reviewed. The numbers of known WR stars in the Galaxy, the LMC and the SMC are 185, 114, and 9, respectively. Distances and galactic distributions determined by various authors are compared. The single star and binary distributions are discussed in the light of evolutionary studies.     

Magnetic fine structures in coronal loops

The formation of magnetic fine structures and associated electric currents is considered in the context of the coronal heating problem. The penetration of field-aligned electric currents into the lower atmosphere is discussed. It is argued that currents strong enough to heat the corona can persist only for short periods of time. The formation of thin current sheets is discussed. It is argued that photospheric magnetic structures (flux tubes) play an important role in the generation of coronal currents.     

Detection of a Distributed Target

The influence of increasing range resolution on the detectability of targets with dimensions greater than the resolution cell is studied. An N-cell target model is assumed, which contains k reflecting cells, each reflecting independently according to the same Rayleigh amplitude distribution. It will be referred to as the (N,k) target. Detection based on one transmitted pulse is performed against a background of white normal noise. Detection in stationary clutter is also considered. The optimum detector is obtained but, in view of its complexity, the performance of a simpler detector, the square-law envelope detector with linear integrator (SLEDLI), is analyzed, and a formula for the probability of detection is obtained. Graphs are presented which show the probability of detection as a function of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for various values of N k, and false alarm probability. For N/k not too large it is shown that the SLEDLI is near optimum.     

The low-energy neutral atom imager for IMAGE

The `Imager for Magnetosphere-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) will be launched early in the year 2000. It will be the first mission dedicated to imaging, with the capability to determine how the magnetosphere changes globally in response to solar storm effects in the solar wind, on time scales as short as a few minutes. The low energy neutral atom (LENA) imager uses a new atom-to-negative ion surface conversion technology to image the neutral atom flux and measure its composition (H and O) and energy distribution (10 to 750 eV). LENA uses electrostatic optics techniques for energy (per charge) discrimination and carbon foil time-of-flight techniques for mass discrimination. It has a 90°×° field-of-view in 12 pixels, each nominally 8°×°. Spacecraft spin provides a total field-of-view of 90°×360°, comprised of 12×45 pixels. LENA is designed to image fast neutral atom fluxes in its energy range, emitted by auroral ionospheres or the sun, or penetrating from the interstellar medium. It will thereby determine how superthermal plasma heating is distributed in space, how and why it varies on short time scales, and how this heating is driven by solar activity as reflected in solar wind conditions.     

The COS-B X-ray observations of X-ray binaries

The observational information on X-ray binaries that was collected with the 80 cm² auxiliary X-ray detector onboard the COS-B gamma-ray satellite is reviewed. The results illustrate that in the study of X-ray binaries observations of long duration are extremely effective, even when using a small instrument.     

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