On the evolution of dust in the solar vicinity.

The analysis of interplanetary dust shows that the majority of particles in out-of-ecliptic regions comes from comets and also that near solar dust, in the ecliptic regions, results most probably largely from comets. The intense radiation flux in the solar vicinity is expected to cause strong modifications in the material composition and surface structure of interplanetary dust particles and hence the analysis of near solar dust provides interesting insights into the evolution of meteoritic, especially cometary materials. Because of the lack of in-situ measurements our present knowledge concerning these processes derives from remote sensing, i.e. observations of the solar F-corona. In particular these are observations of albedo, polarization and colour temperature given in terms of average particle properties. For example the analysis of near infra-red F-corona data points to the existence of a strong component of irregularly structured silicate particles, most probably of cometary origin. The data may indicate a subsequent sublimation of different particles or different constituents of the particles. Here we compare particle properties derived from F-corona observations with model calculations of single particle properties and discuss perspectives of future analysis of cometary dust in the interplanetary cloud.     

Life in the solar system.

Life, defined as a chemical system capable of transferring its molecular information via self-replication and also capable of evolving, must develop within a liquid to take advantage of the diffusion of complex molecules. On Earth, life probably originated from the evolution of reduced organic molecules in liquid water. Organic matter might have been formed in the primitive Earth's atmosphere or near hydrothermal vents. A large fraction of prebiotic organic molecules might have been brought by extraterrestrial-meteoritic and cometary dust grains decelerated by the atmosphere. Any celestial body harboring permanent liquid water may therefore accumulate the ingredients that generated life on the primitive Earth. The possibility that life might have evolved on early Mars when water existed on the surface marks it as a prime candidate in a search for bacterial life beyond the Earth. Europa has an icy carapace. However, cryovolcanic flows at the surface point to a possible water subsurface region which might harbor a basic life form. The atmosphere and surface components of Titan are also of interest to exobiology for insight into a hydrocarbon-rich chemically evolving world. One-handed complex molecules and preferential isotopic fractionation of carbon, common to all terrestrial life forms, can be used as basic indicators when searching for life beyond the Earth.     

Reconnection and fast particle production in tokamak and solar plasmas

Detailed in situ studies of magnetic reconnection and particle acceleration, which play a crucial role in the release and redistribution of energy in solar flares, can be performed in tokamak plasmas under conditions resembling those of the flaring solar corona. Recent measurements and modelling of fast particle production during reconnection events in the Mega-Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST) are described. Specifically, observations in this device of electron acceleration during edge localised modes, and of both ion and electron acceleration during merging-compression plasma start-up, are presented, and possible implications of these studies for particle acceleration in flares are discussed. The results from MAST lend weight to the conjecture that large numbers of ions are accelerated to sub-MeV energies in flares.     

Fe XVII X-ray lines in solar coronal plasmas

Calculated intensities of the Fe X-ray lines due to transitions 2p⁶ − 2p⁵3d lines (near 15 Å) and 2p⁶ − 2p⁵3s lines (near 17 Å) are compared with measured line intensities in solar and tokamak spectra. For the solar spectra, temperature T_e is obtained from the ratio of the Fe 16.776 Å line to a nearby Fe line. We find excellent agreement for all the major Fe line features in the 15–17 Å region except the Fe 15.015 Å line, the observed flux of which is less than the theoretical by a factor f. We find that f strongly depends on the heliocentric angle θ of the emitting region, being smallest (0.2) when the region is nearest Sun centre, but nearly 1 near the limb. Attributing this to resonance scattering, we are able to deduce the path length and electron density from the observations. Possible application to stellar active regions is given.     

Dark matter in the outer solar system.

There are now a large number of small bodies in the outer solar system that are known to be covered with dark material. Attempts to identify that material have been thwarted by the absence of discrete absorption features in the reflection spectra of these planetesimals. An absorption at 2.2 micrometers that appeared to be present in several objects has not been confirmed by new observations. Three absorptions in the spectrum of the unusually red planetesimal 5145 Pholus are well-established, but their identity remains a mystery.     

Origins of amino acids in the early solar system.

Synthesis of meteoritic amino acids probably took place in the aqueous sub-surface regions of one or more asteroid-sized parent bodies. Starting material for those reactions apparently consisted of a population of more simple compounds including a suite of aliphatic precursors characterised by (1) complete structural diversity, (2) prevalence of branched- over straight-chain species, (3) exponential decrease in abundance with increasing C number, (4) large enrichment in D, and, probably, (5) systematic decrease in 13C/12C with increasing C number. Those properties were apparently acquired during synthesis of the precursors by ion-molecule reactions in a presolar molecular cloud.     

Dark matter in the solar system

Many small bodies in the solar system, including planetary satellites, comets, and asteroids, have a surface component consisting at least in part of a very low albedo (0.06 or less) solid substance of neutral or red color in the wavelength region 0.3–2.5 μm. Laboratory spectra of organic residues from meteorites and mixtures with hydrous silicates suggest that complex mixtures of complex organic molecules (kerogens) together with aqueous alteration products of igneous minerals may be the source of the dark matter that is distributed so widely throughout the solor system.     

Cosmic ray hits in the central nervous system at solar maximum.

It has been suggested that a manned mission to Mars be launched at solar maximum rather than at solar minimum to minimize the radiation exposure to galactic cosmic rays. It is true that the number of hits from highly ionizing particles to critical regions in the brain will be less at solar maximum, and it is of interest to estimate how much less. We present here calculations for several sites within the brain from iron ions (z = 26) and from particles with charge, z, greater than or equal to 15. The same shielding configurations and sites in the brain used in an earlier paper for solar minimum are employed so that direct comparison of results between the two solar activity conditions can be made. A simple pressure-vessel wall and an equipment room onboard a spacecraft are chosen as shielding examples. In the equipment room, typical results for the thalamus are that the probability of any particles with 7 greater than or equal to 15 and from 2.3 percent to 1.3 percent for iron ions. The extra shielding provided in the equipment room makes little difference in these numbers. We conclude that this decrease in hit frequency (less than a factor of two) does not provide a compelling reason to avoid solar minimum for a manned mission to Mars. This conclusion could be revised, however, if a very small number of hits is found to cause critical malfunction within the brain.     

Chemical evolution of primitive solar system bodies.

In this paper we summarize some of the most salient observations made recently on the organic molecules and other compounds of the biogenic elements present in the interstellar medium and in the primitive bodies of the solar system. They include the discovery of the first phosphorus molecular species in dense interstellar clouds, the presence of complex organic ions in the dust and gas phase of Halley's coma, the finding of unusual, probably presolar, deuterium-hydrogen ratios in the amino acids of carbonaceous chondrites, and new developments on the chemical evolution of Titan, the primitive Earth, and early Mars. Some of the outstanding problems concerning the synthesis of organic molecules on different cosmic bodies are also discussed from an exobiological perspective.     

Some photometric techniques for atmosphereless solar system bodies.

We discuss various photometric techniques and their absolute scales in relation to the information that can be derived from the relevant data. We also outline a new scattering model for atmosphereless bodies in the solar system and show how it fits Mariner 10 surface photometry of the planet Mercury. It is shown how important the correct scattering law is while deriving the topography by photoclinometry.     

Chemical interactions of solar wind with cometary nuclei and comae

Solar wind particles, especially H, C, N, O, S, and P-ions, may undergo specific chemical reactions with gaseous or solid matter of comets when in the energy region of a few 10 to some eV. Each component of the solar wind, even if not chemically reactive itself, creates a multiplicity of energetic secondary particles by knock-on processes with the cometary matter. These are responsible for the majority of the so called “hot” chemical processes. Endothermic reactions with high activation energy and atom molecule interactions are possible and may add to the classical exothermic ion-molecule or radical reactions. Other sources of hot atoms or ions in comets are: cosmic rays, acceleration or pick-up processes and turbulences in comae and gas or dust tails, and photon absorption induced dissociation. The products of hot chemical reactions, short period comets experience on their orbits, add to those formed in the individual component ice or dust grains by strong fluxes of energetic particles in times prior to the accretion to a comet.     

On the time lag between solar wind dynamic parameters and solar activity UV proxies

The solar activity displays variability and periodic behaviours over a wide range of timescales, with the presence of a most prominent cycle with a mean length of 11 years. Such variability is transported within the heliosphere by solar wind, radiation and other processes, affecting the properties of the interplanetary medium. The presence of solar activity–related periodicities is well visible in different solar wind and geomagnetic indices, although their time lags with respect to the solar cycle lead to hysteresis cycles. Here, we investigate the time lag behaviour between a physical proxy of the solar activity, the Ca II K index, and two solar wind parameters (speed and dynamic pressure), studying how their pairwise relative lags vary over almost five solar cycles. We find that the lag between Ca II K index and solar wind speed is not constant over the whole time interval investigated, with values ranging from 6 years to $～$1 year (average 3.2 years). A similar behaviour is found also for the solar wind dynamic pressure. Then, by using a Lomb-Scargle periodogram analysis we obtain a 10.21-year mean periodicity for the speed and 10.30-year for the dynamic pressure. We speculate that the different periodicities of the solar wind parameters with respect to the solar 11-year cycle may be related to the overall observed temporal evolution of the time lags. Finally, by accounting for them, we obtain empirical relations that link the amplitude of the Ca II K index to the two solar wind parameters.     

Search for organic molecules in the outer solar system

Recent developments of millimeter astronomy have led to the discovery of more and more complex molecules in the interstellar medium. In a similar way, attempts have been made to detect complex molecules in the atmospheres of the most primitive bodies of the Solar System, i.e. outer planets and comets, as well as in Titan's atmosphere. An important progress has been achieved thanks to the continuous development of infrared astronomy, from the ground and from space vehicles. In particular, an important contribution has come from the IRIS-Voyager infrared spectrometer with the detection of prebiotic molecules on Titan, and some complex organic molecules on Jupiter and Saturn. Another important result has been the observation of carbonaceous material in the immediate surroundings of Comet Halley's nucleus. In the near future, the search for organic molecules in the outer Solar System should benefit from the developments of large millimeter antennae, and in the next decade, from the operation of infrared Earth-orbiting spacecrafts (ISO, SIRTF).     

The role of impact magnetization in the solar system

In order to assess the role of impact magnetization on extra-terrestrial materials, shock magnetization laboratory experiments, and paleomagnetic studies of terrestrial impact sites, are reviewed. Both impact generated and impact modified materials are found to faithfully record the direction of the ambient field at the time of the shock event. Shock demagnetization and the acquisition of thermal remanence by cooling ejecta appear to be the primary impact-related mechanisms affecting the magnetization of lunar samples. The varied magnetization levels of shock metamorphosed meteorites probably reflect the diverse magnetic environments in which they evolved.     

Radiation environment due to galactic and solar cosmic rays during manned mission to Mars in the periods between maximum and minimum solar activity cycles.

A possibility of a manned mission to Mars without exceeding the current radiation standards is very doubtful during the periods of minimum solar activity since the dose equivalent due to galactic cosmic rays exceeds currently recommended standards even inside a radiation shelter with an equivalent of 30 g cm-2 aluminum. The radiation situation at the time of maximum solar activity is determined by the occurrence of major solar proton events which are exceedingly difficult to forecast. This paper discusses the radiation environment during a manned mission to Mars in the years between minimum and maximum solar activity when the galactic cosmic ray intensity is considerably reduced, but the solar flare activity has not yet maximized.     

From organic chemistry in small bodies of the solar system to low temperature chemistry in the universe. Preface.

A COSPAR two days Symposium has been dedicated to "Prebiotic chemistry in Space" at the COSPAR Plenary Meeting, (Hamburg, Germany, July 1994). This Symposium was jointly organized by Commissions B (Space studies of the Earth-Moon system, planets and small bodies of the solar system) and F (Life sciences as related to space). Its goal was to review, from an interdisciplinary approach, our knowledge on organic and prebiotic chemistry in small bodies of the Solar System, and on low temperature chemistry and exobiology. The Symposium was sponsored by COSPAR and the IAU (session 1), ESA, NASA, and ISSOL (session 2).     

太阳活动与热层大气密度的相关性研究

为分析太阳活动对热层大气的影响,使用250km,400km,550km高度处热层大气密度与太阳F_10.7指数数据,研究了二者的周期变化及相关关系. 结果表明,热层大气密度的变化与太阳活动呈现相似的变化趋势;两者均具有显著的27天及11年周期变化特征,热层大气密度还存在7～11天及0.5年和1年的变化特征,且高度越高越明显;热层大气密度对太阳活动的最佳响应滞后为3天,无论何种地磁活动水平下,400km高度处相关性高于250km,550km处相关性最小,且太阳活动下降相期间高于上升相;250km,400km和550km高度处热层大气密度和太阳活动的统计结果分别为饱和、线性和放大关系;高度越高的热层大气密度对太阳活动响应越敏感.     

Carbonaceous matter in cometary dust and coma.

The analysis of carbonaceous matter in p/Halley's dust and coma via mass spectrometry of positive ions is reviewed. Dust impact generated ions were analyzed by the PUMA instrument aboard VEGA I, and coma plasma ions by the PICCA instrument aboard GIOTTO. For the organic molecules results an overall C:H:O:N ratio of 1.:1.4:0.6:0.1. Most of this polymer material can formally be understood as an aggregation of monomers C2H2, CH2O, and HCN. Special emphasis is given to possible aromatic, especially heterocyclic, and other unsaturated ions, and their importance for abiotic chemical and prebiotic evolution. Aspects of the potential heterogeneous catalysis in liquid water at the inorganic grain backbone structure found by this analysis, too, are also treated.