3,216 research outputs found
Aqueous Alteration on Mars
Aqueous alteration is the change in composition of a rock, produced in response to interactions with H2O-bearing ices, liquids, and vapors by chemical weathering. A variety of mineralogical and geochemical indicators for aqueous alteration on Mars have been identified by a combination of surface and orbital robotic missions, telescopic observations, characterization of Martian meteorites, and laboratory and terrestrial analog studies. Mineralogical indicators for aqueous alteration include goethite (lander), jarosite (lander), kieserite (orbiter), gypsum (orbiter) and other Fe-, Mg-, and Ca-sulfates (landers), halides (meteorites, lander), phyllosilicates (orbiter, meteorites), hematite and nanophase iron oxides (telescopic, orbiter, lander), and Fe-, Mg-, and Ca-carbonates (meteorites). Geochemical indicators (landers only) for aqueous alteration include Mg-, Ca-, and Fe-sulfates, halides, and secondary aluminosilicates such as smectite. Based upon these indicators, several styles of aqueous alteration have been suggested on Mars. Acid-sulfate weathering (e.g., formation of jarosite, gypsum, hematite, and goethite), may occur during (1) the oxidative weathering of ultramafic igneous rocks containing sulfides, (2) sulfuric acid weathering of basaltic materials, and (3) acid fog (i.e., vapors rich in H2SO4) weathering of basaltic or basaltic-derived materials. Near-neutral or alkaline alteration occurs when solutions with pH near or above 7 move through basaltic materials and form phases such as phyllosilicates and carbonates. Very low water:rock ratios appear to have been prominent at most of the sites visited by landed missions because there is very little alteration (leaching) of the original basaltic composition (i.e., the alteration is isochemical or in a closed hydrologic system). Most of the aqueous alteration appears to have occurred early in the history of the planet (3 to 4.5 billion years ago); however, minor aqueous alteration may be occurring at the surface even today (e.g., in thin films of water or by acid fog)
Cosmic ray LET spectra and doses on board Cosmos-2044 biosatellite
Results of the experiments on board Cosmos-2044 (Biosatellite 9) are presented. Various nuclear track detectors (NTD) (dielectric, AgCl-based, nuclear emulsions) were used to obtain the Linear Energy Transfer (LET) spectra inside and outside the satellite. The spectra from the different NTDs have proved to be in general agreement. The results of LET spectra calculations using two different models are also presented. The resultant LET distributions are used to calculate the absorbed and equivalent doses and the orbit-averaged quality factors (QF) of the cosmic rays (CR). Absorbed dose rates inside (approximately 20 g cm (exp -2) shielding) and outside (1 g cm(exp -2) the spacecraft, omitting electrons, were found to be 4.8 and 8.6 mrad d (exp -1), respectively, while the corresponding equivalent doses were 8.8 and 19.7 mrem d(exp -1). The effects of the flight parameters on the total fluence of, and on the dose from the CR particles are analyzed. Integral dose distributions of the detected particles are also determined. The LET values which separate absorbed and equivalent doses into 50% intervals are estimated. The CR-39 dielectric NTD is shown to detect 20-30% of the absorbed dose and 60-70% of the equivalent dose in the Cosmos-2044 orbit. The influence of solar activity phase on the magnitude of CR flux is discussed
Aqueous Alteration on Mars: Evidence from Landed Missions
Mineralogical and geochemical data returned by orbiters and landers over the past 15 years have substantially enhanced our understanding of the history of aqueous alteration on Mars. Here, we summarize aqueous processes that have been implied from data collected by landed missions. Mars is a basaltic planet. The geochemistry of most materials has not been extensively altered by open-system aqueous processes and have average Mars crustal compositions. There are few examples of open-system alteration, such as Gale craters Pahrump Hills mudstone. Types of aqueous alteration include (1) acid-sulfate and (2) hydrolytic (circum-neutral/alkaline pH) with varying water-to-rock ratios. Several hypotheses have been suggested for acid-sulfate alteration including (1) oxidative weathering of ultramafic igneous rocks containing sulfides; (2) sulfuric acid weathering of basaltic materials; (3) acid fog weathering of basaltic materials; and (4) near-neutral pH subsurface solutions rich in Fe (sup 2 plus) that rapidly oxidized to Fe (sup 3 plus) producing excess acidity. Meridiani Planums sulfate-rich sedimentary deposit containing jarosite is the most famous acid-sulfate environment visited on Mars, although ferric sulfate-rich soils are common in Gusev craters Columbia Hills and jarosite was recently discovered in the Pahrump Hills. An example of aqueous alteration under circum-neutral pH conditions is the formation of Fe-saponite with magnetite in situ via aqueous alteration of olivine in Gale craters Sheepbed mudstone. Circum-neutral pH, hydrothermal conditions were likely required for the formation of Mg-Fe carbonate in the Columbia Hills. Diagenetic features (e.g., spherules, fracture filled veins) indicate multiple episodes of aqueous alteration/diagenesis in most sedimentary deposits. However, low water-to-rock ratios are prominent at most sites visited by landed missions (e.g., limited water for reaction to form crystalline phases possibly resulting in large amounts of short-range ordered materials and little physical separation of primary and secondary materials). Most of the aqueous alteration appears to have occurred early in the planets history; however, minor aqueous alteration may be occurring at the surface today (e.g., thin films of water forming carbonates akin to those discovered by Phoenix)
Design and construction of a carbon fiber gondola for the SPIDER balloon-borne telescope
We introduce the light-weight carbon fiber and aluminum gondola designed for
the SPIDER balloon-borne telescope. SPIDER is designed to measure the
polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation with unprecedented
sensitivity and control of systematics in search of the imprint of inflation: a
period of exponential expansion in the early Universe. The requirements of this
balloon-borne instrument put tight constrains on the mass budget of the
payload. The SPIDER gondola is designed to house the experiment and guarantee
its operational and structural integrity during its balloon-borne flight, while
using less than 10% of the total mass of the payload. We present a construction
method for the gondola based on carbon fiber reinforced polymer tubes with
aluminum inserts and aluminum multi-tube joints. We describe the validation of
the model through Finite Element Analysis and mechanical tests.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures. Presented at SPIE Ground-based and Airborne
Telescopes V, June 23, 2014. To be published in Proceedings of SPIE Volume
914
Spider Optimization: Probing the Systematics of a Large Scale B-Mode Experiment
Spider is a long-duration, balloon-borne polarimeter designed to measure
large scale Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarization with very high
sensitivity and control of systematics. The instrument will map over half the
sky with degree angular resolution in I, Q and U Stokes parameters, in four
frequency bands from 96 to 275 GHz. Spider's ultimate goal is to detect the
primordial gravity wave signal imprinted on the CMB B-mode polarization. One of
the challenges in achieving this goal is the minimization of the contamination
of B-modes by systematic effects. This paper explores a number of instrument
systematics and observing strategies in order to optimize B-mode sensitivity.
This is done by injecting realistic-amplitude, time-varying systematics in a
set of simulated time-streams. Tests of the impact of detector noise
characteristics, pointing jitter, payload pendulations, polarization angle
offsets, beam systematics and receiver gain drifts are shown. Spider's default
observing strategy is to spin continuously in azimuth, with polarization
modulation achieved by either a rapidly spinning half-wave plate or a rapidly
spinning gondola and a slowly stepped half-wave plate. Although the latter is
more susceptible to systematics, results shown here indicate that either mode
of operation can be used by Spider.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figs, version with full resolution figs available here
http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~lgg/spider_front.ht
BICEP3: a 95 GHz refracting telescope for degree-scale CMB polarization
BICEP3 is a 550 mm-aperture refracting telescope for polarimetry of radiation
in the cosmic microwave background at 95 GHz. It adopts the methodology of
BICEP1, BICEP2 and the Keck Array experiments - it possesses sufficient
resolution to search for signatures of the inflation-induced cosmic
gravitational-wave background while utilizing a compact design for ease of
construction and to facilitate the characterization and mitigation of
systematics. However, BICEP3 represents a significant breakthrough in
per-receiver sensitivity, with a focal plane area 5 larger than a
BICEP2/Keck Array receiver and faster optics ( vs. ).
Large-aperture infrared-reflective metal-mesh filters and infrared-absorptive
cold alumina filters and lenses were developed and implemented for its optics.
The camera consists of 1280 dual-polarization pixels; each is a pair of
orthogonal antenna arrays coupled to transition-edge sensor bolometers and read
out by multiplexed SQUIDs. Upon deployment at the South Pole during the 2014-15
season, BICEP3 will have survey speed comparable to Keck Array 150 GHz (2013),
and will significantly enhance spectral separation of primordial B-mode power
from that of possible galactic dust contamination in the BICEP2 observation
patch.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures. Presented at SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and
Instrumentation 2014: Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors
and Instrumentation for Astronomy VII. To be published in Proceedings of SPIE
Volume 915
SPIDER: a balloon-borne CMB polarimeter for large angular scales
We describe SPIDER, a balloon-borne instrument to map the polarization of the
millimeter-wave sky with degree angular resolution. Spider consists of six
monochromatic refracting telescopes, each illuminating a focal plane of
large-format antenna-coupled bolometer arrays. A total of 2,624 superconducting
transition-edge sensors are distributed among three observing bands centered at
90, 150, and 280 GHz. A cold half-wave plate at the aperture of each telescope
modulates the polarization of incoming light to control systematics. Spider's
first flight will be a 20-30-day Antarctic balloon campaign in December 2011.
This flight will map \sim8% of the sky to achieve unprecedented sensitivity to
the polarization signature of the gravitational wave background predicted by
inflationary cosmology. The Spider mission will also serve as a proving ground
for these detector technologies in preparation for a future satellite mission.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures; as published in the conference proceedings for
SPIE Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and
Instrumentation for Astronomy V (2010
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CR-39 polymer, a promising new solid state track recorder for high energy neutron applications
CR-39 Polymer, a new solid state track recorder with unprecedented sensitivity to lightly ionizing particles (such as protons) is being developed for eventual neutron dosimetry applications in the Fusion Materials Irradiation Test Facility and elsewhere. The diameters of proton tracks have been found to vary smoothly and reproducibly as a function of energy from 0.20 to 18.0 MeV. Preliminary results on the response of CR-39 polymer to proton tracks as a function of angle show a rapid decrease of the registration efficiency from 100% to 0 for angles of incidence less than 75/sup 0/. Proton recoil track size distributions in CR-39 polymer irradiated with monoenergetic neutrons of varying energy are presented. Some proposed high energy neutron dosimetry and radiography systems using CR-39 polymer are discussed
BICEP2 / Keck Array V: Measurements of B-mode Polarization at Degree Angular Scales and 150 GHz by the Keck Array
The Keck Array is a system of cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarimeters,
each similar to the BICEP2 experiment. In this paper we report results from the
2012 and 2013 observing seasons, during which the Keck Array consisted of five
receivers all operating in the same (150 GHz) frequency band and observing
field as BICEP2. We again find an excess of B-mode power over the
lensed-CDM expectation of in the range
and confirm that this is not due to systematics using jackknife tests and
simulations based on detailed calibration measurements. In map difference and
spectral difference tests these new data are shown to be consistent with
BICEP2. Finally, we combine the maps from the two experiments to produce final
Q and U maps which have a depth of 57 nK deg (3.4 K arcmin) over an
effective area of 400 deg for an equivalent survey weight of 250,000
K. The final BB band powers have noise uncertainty a factor of 2.3
times better than the previous results, and a significance of detection of
excess power of .Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure
BICEP2 II: Experiment and Three-Year Data Set
We report on the design and performance of the BICEP2 instrument and on its
three-year data set. BICEP2 was designed to measure the polarization of the
cosmic microwave background (CMB) on angular scales of 1 to 5 degrees
(=40-200), near the expected peak of the B-mode polarization signature of
primordial gravitational waves from cosmic inflation. Measuring B-modes
requires dramatic improvements in sensitivity combined with exquisite control
of systematics. The BICEP2 telescope observed from the South Pole with a 26~cm
aperture and cold, on-axis, refractive optics. BICEP2 also adopted a new
detector design in which beam-defining slot antenna arrays couple to
transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers, all fabricated on a common substrate.
The antenna-coupled TES detectors supported scalable fabrication and
multiplexed readout that allowed BICEP2 to achieve a high detector count of 500
bolometers at 150 GHz, giving unprecedented sensitivity to B-modes at degree
angular scales. After optimization of detector and readout parameters, BICEP2
achieved an instrument noise-equivalent temperature of 15.8 K sqrt(s). The
full data set reached Stokes Q and U map depths of 87.2 nK in square-degree
pixels (5.2 K arcmin) over an effective area of 384 square degrees within
a 1000 square degree field. These are the deepest CMB polarization maps at
degree angular scales to date. The power spectrum analysis presented in a
companion paper has resulted in a significant detection of B-mode polarization
at degree scales.Comment: 30 pages, 24 figure
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