Meteoroid bombardment as a source of the lunar exosphere

The column densities of impact-produced metal atoms in the exosphere during the peaks of activity of the main meteor showers – Geminids, Quadrantids and Perseids – and during quiet periods are estimated. The Na supply rate is estimated to be 2 × 10⁴, 3 × 10³, 10⁴, and 2 × 10⁴ atoms cm⁻² s⁻¹ for sporadic meteoroids, Perseid, Geminid, and Quadrantid meteor showers, respectively. A low upper limit on Ca in the lunar exosphere is explained by the condensation of Ca into dust grains during expansion of the cooling impact-produced vapor cloud. The chemical composition of gas-phase species released to the lunar exosphere during meteoroid impacts has been estimated. Most impact-produced molecules that contain metals are destroyed by solar photons while on ballistic trajectories. Energies of Na, K, Ca, and Mg atoms produced via photolysis of the respective monoxides are estimated to be 0.4, 0.35, 0.6, and 0.45 eV, respectively. The relative content of impact-produced Na and K atoms is maximal at altitudes of about 1000–2000 km and during the main meteor showers, lunar eclipses, and passages of the Moon through the Earth’s magnetosphere.     

Meteoroids as One of the Sources for Exosphere Formation on Airless Bodies in the Inner Solar System

Space Science Reviews -     

Comparative Na and K Mercury and Moon Exospheres

Space Science Reviews - As a hyperspectral imager aboard the orbiter “HX-1” of China’s first Mars mission, the Mars Mineralogical Spectrometer (MMS) is designed with hyperspectral...     

Origin and stability of lunar polar volatiles

Temperature regime at the LCROSS impact site is studied. All detected species in the Cabeus crater as well as CH₄ and CO clathrate hydrates except H₂, CO, and CH₄ are stable against evaporation at the LCROSS impact site. CO and CH₄ can be chemisorbed at the surface of the regolith particles and exist in the form of clathrate hydrates in the lunar cold traps. Flux rates of delivery of volatile species by asteroids, micrometeoroids, O-rich, C-rich, and low-speed comets into the permanently shadowed regions are estimated. Significant amounts of H₂O, CO, H₂, H₂S, SO₂, and CO₂ can be impact-produced during collisions between asteroids and O-rich comets with the Moon while CH₃OH, NH₃ and complex organic species survive during low-speed comet impacts as products of disequilibrium processes. C-rich comets are main sources of CH₄, and C₂H₄.