Planetary science: Sodium at Io

Sodium Emission from Io: Implications

The surface of lo may be covered with a layer of ammonia ice containing trace amounts of sodium potassium, and calcium; and atmospheric nitrogen could be formed as a photochemical product of ammonia photolysis. Intense sporadic sodium emission from Io can be excited by collisions involving vib~ationally excited n.itrogen molecules. These metastable molecules may be formed by electron impact, wi...

Galactic planetary science

Planetary science beyond the boundaries of our Solar System is today in its infancy. Until a couple of decades ago, the detailed investigation of the planetary properties was restricted to objects orbiting inside the Kuiper Belt. Today, we cannot ignore that the number of known planets has increased by two orders of magnitude nor that these planets resemble anything but the objects present in o...

Lunar and Planetary Science

PLANETARY SCIENCE Dust observations at orbital altitudes surrounding Mars

Dust is common close to the martian surface, but no known process can lift appreciable concentrations of particles to altitudes above ~150 kilometers.We present observations of dust at altitudes ranging from 150 to above 1000 kilometers by the Langmuir Probe and Wave instrument on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft. Based on its distribution, we interpret this dust to be inte...

LAPLAS: Laboratory Planetary Science at Future FAIR Facility

Study of the structures of giant planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune is a very interesting subject as this knowledge could lead to clues about formation of the solar system and can also shed light on the early stages of evolution of life on earth. The first two planets are believed to be made mainly of hydrogen that exists under extreme conditions, while the latter two are expected to ...