Newly developed techniques for the analysis of micrometer-sized interplanetary dust particles and comet grains

Electron transparent thin sections (30–100 nm thick) of interplanetary dust particles and other fine-grained meteoritic materials are produced using an ultramicrotome equipped with a diamond knife. An analytical electron microscope (AEM) is imployed to examine indigenous physical properties (e.g. porosity), mineralogy, and petrography. Large data sets of quantitative point count analyses obtained from thin sections enable direct mineralogical comparison of IDPs and Halley.     

Magnetospheric and Plasma Science with Cassini-Huygens

Magnetospheric and plasma science studies at Saturn offer a unique opportunity to explore in-depth two types of magnetospheres. These are an ‘induced’ magnetosphere generated by the interaction of Titan with the surrounding plasma flow and Saturn's ‘intrinsic’ magnetosphere, the magnetic cavity Saturn's planetary magnetic field creates inside the solar wind flow. These two objects will be explored using the most advanced and diverse package of instruments for the analysis of plasmas, energetic particles and fields ever flown to a planet. These instruments will make it possible to address and solve a series of key scientific questions concerning the interaction of these two magnetospheres with their environment. The flow of magnetospheric plasma around the obstacle, caused by Titan's atmosphere/ionosphere, produces an elongated cavity and wake, which we call an ‘induced magnetosphere’. The Mach number characteristics of this interaction make it unique in the solar system. We first describe Titan's ionosphere, which is the obstacle to the external plasma flow. We then study Titan's induced magnetosphere, its structure, dynamics and variability, and discuss the possible existence of a small intrinsic magnetic field of Titan. Saturn's magnetosphere, which is dynamically and chemically coupled to all other components of Saturn's environment in addition to Titan, is then described. We start with a summary of the morphology of magnetospheric plasma and fields. Then we discuss what we know of the magnetospheric interactions in each region. Beginning with the innermost regions and moving outwards, we first describe the region of the main rings and their connection to the low-latitude ionosphere. Next the icy satellites, which develop specific magnetospheric interactions, are imbedded in a relatively dense neutral gas cloud which also overlaps the spatial extent of the diffuse E ring. This region constitutes a very interesting case of direct and mutual coupling between dust, neutral gas and plasma populations. Beyond about twelve Saturn radii is the outer magnetosphere, where the dynamics is dominated by its coupling with the solar wind and a large hydrogen torus. It is a region of intense coupling between the magnetosphere and Saturn's upper atmosphere, and the source of Saturn's auroral emissions, including the kilometric radiation. For each of these regions we identify the key scientific questions and propose an investigation strategy to address them. Finally, we show how the unique characteristics of the CASSINI spacecraft, instruments and mission profile make it possible to address, and hopefully solve, many of these questions. While the CASSINI orbital tour gives access to most, if not all, of the regions that need to be explored, the unique capabilities of the MAPS instrument suite make it possible to define an efficient strategy in which in situ measurements and remote sensing observations complement each other. Saturn's magnetosphere will be extensively studied from the microphysical to the global scale over the four years of the mission. All phases present in this unique environment — extended solid surfaces, dust and gas clouds, plasma and energetic particles — are coupled in an intricate way, very much as they are in planetary formation environments. This is one of the most interesting aspects of Magnetospheric and Plasma Science studies at Saturn. It provides us with a unique opportunity to conduct an in situ investigation of a dynamical system that is in some ways analogous to the dusty plasma environments in which planetary systems form. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Short-Lived Radioactivities and the Birth of the sun

Now extinct short-lived radioactive isotopes were apparently extant in the early solar system. Their abundances can be inferred from isotopic effects in their daughter nuclei in primitive meteorites, and the deviation of these abundances from expectations from continuous galactic nucleosynthesis yields important information on the last nucleosynthetic events that contributed new nuclei to the solar system and on the general circumstances of the Sun's birth. In this paper we present a rudimentary model that attempts to reconcile the abundances of ten short-lived radioactivities in the early solar system. In broad outlines, the picture requires 1) that Type Ia supernovae maintained a steady ISM supply of ⁵³Mn and ¹⁴⁶Sm, 2) that the r-process events that slowly admixed new ¹⁰⁷Pd, ¹²⁹I, ¹⁸²Hf, and ²⁴⁴Pu nuclei to the solar system occurred over an interval of several hundred million years prior to solar system formation, and 3) that a massive star, by injecting only material outside its helium-exhausted core into the proto-solar nebula, contributed ²⁶Al, ³⁶Cl, ⁴¹Ca, ⁶⁰Fe, and ¹⁸²Hf no more than one million years prior to the Sun's birth. In this picture, the live ¹⁸²Hf present in the early solar system was not due to r-process production but rather to a fast s-process in helium or carbon burning shell in the massive star. We conclude with a possible chemical-memory explanation for the putative ⁵³Cr/⁵²Cr gradient in the solar system. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science Investigation (PEPSSI) on the New Horizons Mission

The Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science Investigation (PEPSSI) comprises the hardware and accompanying science investigation on the New Horizons spacecraft to measure pick-up ions from Pluto’s outgassing atmosphere. To the extent that Pluto retains its characteristics similar to those of a “heavy comet” as detected in stellar occultations since the early 1980s, these measurements will characterize the neutral atmosphere of Pluto while providing a consistency check on the atmospheric escape rate at the encounter epoch with that deduced from the atmospheric structure at lower altitudes by the ALICE, REX, and SWAP experiments on New Horizons. In addition, PEPSSI will characterize any extended ionosphere and solar wind interaction while also characterizing the energetic particle environment of Pluto, Charon, and their associated system. First proposed for development for the Pluto Express mission in September 1993, what became the PEPSSI instrument went through a number of development stages to meet the requirements of such an instrument for a mission to Pluto while minimizing the required spacecraft resources. The PEPSSI instrument provides for measurements of ions (with compositional information) and electrons from 10 s of keV to ～1 MeV in a 160°×12° fan-shaped beam in six sectors for 1.5 kg and ～2.5 W.     

Propagation velocity uncertainty on GPR SAR processing

To detect buried landmines, Planning Systems Incorporated (PSI) has developed a ground-penetrating synthetic aperture radar (GPSAR) system. Since the electromagnetic wave propagation velocity in the soil depends on many factors, velocity uncertainty is inevitable. However, we have observed that, unlike conventional airborne/spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems, the PSI GPSAR system is very robust against the velocity uncertainty under mild conditions. Theoretical analysis is provided to explain this observation. Although our discussion is based on the PSI GPSAR system, it applies to other GPR-based (ground-penetrating radar) landmine detection systems as well.     

Towards a new reference model of hmF2 for IRI

A numerical model of the peak height of the F2 layer, hmF2_top, is derived from the topside sounding database of 90,000 electron density profiles for a representative set of conditions provided by ISIS1, ISIS2, IK19 and Cosmos-1809 satellites for the period of 1969–1987. The model of regular hmF2 variations is produced in terms of local time, season, geomagnetic latitude, geodetic longitude and solar radio flux. No geomagnetic activity trends were discernible in the topside sounding data. The nighttime peak of hmF2_top evident for mid-latitudes disappears near the geomagnetic equator where a maximum of hmF2_top occurs at sunset hours when it can exceed 500 km at solar maximum. The hmF2 given by the IRI exceeds hmF2_top at the low solar activities. The hmF2_top, obtained by extrapolation of the first derivative of the topside profile to zero shows saturation similar to foF2 the greater the solar activity. The proposed model differs from hmF2 given by IRI based on M(3000)F2 to hmF2 conversion by empirical relationships in terms of foF2, foE and R12 with these quantities mapped globally by the ITU-R (former CCIR) from ground-based ionosonde data. The differences can be attributed to the different techniques of the peak height derivation, different epochs and different global distribution of the source data as well as the different mathematical functions involved in the maps and the model presentation.     

Total solar irradiance measurements by ERB/Nimbus-7. A review of nine years

The advent of reliable extraterrestrial solar irradiance measurements from satellites has supplied the impetus for new research in solar physics and solar-terrestrial relationships. The records for the principal experiments now extend beyond nine years. The Nimbus-7 measurements began in November 1978 and the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) results started in February 1980. Both the ERB experiment of Nimbus-7 and the ACRIM experiment of SMM are still operational as of this writing (June 1988). We describe the nine-year Nimbus-7 total solar irradiance data set and compare it with similar data sets from the SMM and other satellite solar monitoring programs. Long-term downward trends of less than 0.02 % per year had been noted during the decaying portion of solar cycle 21 with indications that a leveling off and possible reversal of the trend was being experienced as we enter the new cycle. It had been demonstrated that fluctuations in the data over shorter periods corresponded to solar activity, from a primary discovery of irradiance depletions in times of building large sunspot groups to more subtle effects on the scale of solar rotation. Studies of the frequency spectra of the measurements have advanced the interest in helioseismology or mode analysis. Studies of photospheric activity have advanced by modelling of the sunspot blocking and photospheric brightening versus the measured irradiance. The theories are being extended to longer time-scales which indicate that solar irradiance is higher near solar cycle maximum, as defined by activity, and somewhat lower during the period between cycles. While measurements of total solar irradiance, the solar constant, alone cannot be employed to answer all of the questions of solar physics or helioclimatology, these long-term, high-precision data sets are valuable to both disciplines. The continuation of such measurements to more meaningful, longer time-scales should have a high priority in the international space community.     

Space debris: Assessing risk and responsibility

We model the orbital debris environment by a set of differential equations with parameter values that capture many of the complexities of existing three-dimensional simulation models. We compute the probability that a spacecraft gets destroyed in a collision during its operational lifetime, and then define the sustainable risk level as the maximum of this probability over all future time. Focusing on the 900- to 1000-km altitude region, which is the most congested portion of low Earth orbit, we find that – despite the initial rise in the level of fragments – the sustainable risk remains below 10^-3${10}^{-3}$ if there is high (>98%) compliance to the existing 25-year postmission deorbiting guideline. We quantify the damage (via the number of future destroyed operational spacecraft) generated by past and future space activities. We estimate that the 2007 FengYun 1C antisatellite weapon test represents ≈1%$\approx 1\%$ of the legacy damage due to space objects having a characteristic size of ?10$?10$ cm, and causes the same damage as failing to deorbit 2.6 spacecraft after their operational life. Although the political and economic issues are daunting, these damage estimates can be used to help determine one-time legacy fees and fees on future activities (including deorbit noncompliance), which can deter future debris generation, compensate operational spacecraft that are destroyed in future collisions, and partially fund research and development into space debris mitigation technologies. Our results need to be confirmed with a high-fidelity three-dimensional model before they can provide the basis for any major decisions made by the space community.     

Measuring the Masses of Supermassive Black Holes

Supermassive black holes reside at the centers of most, if not all, massive galaxies: the difference between active and quiescent galaxies is due to differences in mass accretion rate and radiative efficiency rather than whether or not they have nuclear black holes. In this contribution, methods for measuring the masses of supermassive black holes are discussed, with emphasis on reverberation mapping which is most generally applicable to accreting supermassive black holes and, in particular, to distant quasars where time resolution can be used as a surrogate for angular resolution. Indirect methods based on scaling relationships from reverberation mapping studies are also discussed, along with their current limitations.