Charge Separation and Isolation in Water and Ice Particles on Strong Impacts

Tarrasó, Olga;Fuente Fuente, Carlos;Reventós, Manue

Impact ionization mass spectra of anorthite cosmic dust analogue particles

Anorthite, the Ca-rich end-member of plagioclase feldspar, is a dominant mineral component of the Lunar highlands. Plagioclase feldspar is also found in comets, meteorites and stony asteroids. It is therefore expected to contribute to the population of interplanetary (and circumplanetary) dust grains within the solar system. After coating micron- and submicron-sized grains of Anorthite with a conductive layer of Platinum, the mineral was successfully accelerated to hypervelocity speeds in the Max Planck Institut für Kernphysik’s Van de Graaff accelerator. We present impact ionization mass spectra generated following the impacts of anorthite grains with a prototype mass spectrometer (the Large Area Mass Analyser, LAMA) designed for use in space, and discuss the behavior of the spectra with increasing impact energy. Correlation analysis is used to identify the compositions and sources of cations present in the spectra, enabling the identification of several molecular cations (e.g., CaAlO2, CaSiO2, Ca2AlO3/CaAlSi2O2) which identify anorthite as the progenitor bulk grain material

Probing IMF using nanodust measurements from inside Saturn's magnetosphere

We present a new concept of monitoring the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) by using in situ measurements of nanodust stream particles in Saturn's magnetosphere. We show that the nanodust detection pattern obtained inside the magnetosphere resembles those observed in interplanetary space and is associated with the solar wind compression regions. Our dust dynamics model reproduces the observed nanodust dynamical properties as well as the detection pattern, suggesting that the ejected stream particles can reenter Saturn's magnetosphere at certain occasions due to the dynamical influence from the time‐varying IMF. This method provides information on the IMF direction and a rough estimation on the solar wind compression arrival time at Saturn. Such information can be useful for studies related to the solar wind‐magnetosphere interactions, especially when the solar wind parameters are not directly available. Key Points A new method to probe IMF with nanodust measurements inside the magnetosphere Under changing IMF, ejected nanoparticles can re‐enter Saturn‐s magnetosphere IMF direction and solar wind compression arrival time can be derivedPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/99078/1/grl50604.pd

The production of platinum-coated silicate nanoparticle aggregates for use in hypervelocity impact experiments

We present a method for producing metal-coated low-density (?3) aggregate silicate dust particles for use in hypervelocity impact (HVI) experiments. Particles fabricated using the method are shown to have charged and electrostatically accelerated in the Max Planck Institut für Kernphysik (MPI-K) 2 MV Van de Graaff accelerator, allowing the production of impact ionization mass spectra of silicate particles (impacting at velocities ranging from ?1 to >30 km s?1, corresponding to sizes of >1 ?m to <0.1 ?m) using the Large Area Mass Analyser (LAMA) instrument, designed for cosmic dust detection in space. Potential uses for the coated grains, such as in the calibration of aerogel targets similar to those used on the Stardust spacecraft, are also discussed

A New View on Interstellar Dust - High Fidelity Studies of Interstellar Dust Analogue Tracks in Stardust Flight Spare Aerogel

In 2000 and 2002 the Stardust Mission exposed aerogel collector panels for a total of about 200 days to the stream of interstellar grains sweeping through the solar system. The material was brought back to Earth in 2006. The goal of this work is the laboratory calibration of the collection process by shooting high speed [5 - 30km/s] interstellar dust (ISD) analogues onto Stardust aerogel flight spares. This enables an investigation into both the morphology of impact tracks as well as any structural and chemical modification of projectile and collector material. First results indicate a different ISD flux than previously assumed for the Stardust collection period

Partitioning of crystalline and amorphous phases during freezing of simulated Enceladus ocean fluids

This work was supported by The Leverhulme Trust (grant number RPG‐2016‐153).Saturn's ice‐covered moon Enceladus may contain the requisite conditions for life. Its potentially habitable subsurface ocean is vented into space as large cryovolcanic plumes that can be sampled by spacecraft, acting as a window to the ocean below. However, little is known about how Enceladus’ ocean fluids evolve as they freeze. Using cryo‐imaging techniques, we investigated solid phases produced by freezing simulated Enceladean ocean fluids at endmember cooling rates. Our results show that under flash‐freezing conditions (>10 K s−1), Enceladus‐relevant fluids undergo segregation, whereby the precipitation of ice templates the formation of brine vein networks. The high solute concentrations and confined nature of these brine veins means that salt crystallization is kinetically inhibited and glass formation (vitrification) can occur at lower cooling rates than typically required for vitrification of a bulk solution. Crystalline salts also form if flash‐frozen fluids are re‐warmed. The 10 µm‐scale distribution of salt phases produced by this mechanism differs markedly from that of gradually cooled (∼1 K min−1) fluids, showing that they inherit a textural signature of their formation conditions. The mineralogy of cryogenic carbonates can be used as a probe for cooling rate and parent fluid pH. Our findings reveal possible endmember routes for solid phase production from Enceladus’ ocean fluids and mechanisms for generating compositional heterogeneity within ice particles on a sub‐10 µm scale. This has implications for understanding how Enceladus' ocean constituents are incorporated into icy particles and delivered to space.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Origin and Evolution of Saturn's Ring System

The origin and long-term evolution of Saturn's rings is still an unsolved problem in modern planetary science. In this chapter we review the current state of our knowledge on this long-standing question for the main rings (A, Cassini Division, B, C), the F Ring, and the diffuse rings (E and G). During the Voyager era, models of evolutionary processes affecting the rings on long time scales (erosion, viscous spreading, accretion, ballistic transport, etc.) had suggested that Saturn's rings are not older than 100 My. In addition, Saturn's large system of diffuse rings has been thought to be the result of material loss from one or more of Saturn's satellites. In the Cassini era, high spatial and spectral resolution data have allowed progress to be made on some of these questions. Discoveries such as the ''propellers'' in the A ring, the shape of ring-embedded moonlets, the clumps in the F Ring, and Enceladus' plume provide new constraints on evolutionary processes in Saturn's rings. At the same time, advances in numerical simulations over the last 20 years have opened the way to realistic models of the rings's fine scale structure, and progress in our understanding of the formation of the Solar System provides a better-defined historical context in which to understand ring formation. All these elements have important implications for the origin and long-term evolution of Saturn's rings. They strengthen the idea that Saturn's rings are very dynamical and rapidly evolving, while new arguments suggest that the rings could be older than previously believed, provided that they are regularly renewed. Key evolutionary processes, timescales and possible scenarios for the rings's origin are reviewed in the light of tComment: Chapter 17 of the book ''Saturn After Cassini-Huygens'' Saturn from Cassini-Huygens, Dougherty, M.K.; Esposito, L.W.; Krimigis, S.M. (Ed.) (2009) 537-57

Charged nanograins in the Enceladus plume

There have been three Cassini encounters with the south-pole eruptive plume of Enceladus for which the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) had viewing in the spacecraft ram direction. In each case, CAPS detected a cold dense population of heavy charged particles having mass-to-charge (m/q) ratios up to the maximum detectable by CAPS ( 104 amu/e). These particles are interpreted as singly charged nanometer-sized water-ice grains. Although they are detected with both negative and positive net charges, the former greatly outnumber the latter, at least in the m/q range accessible to CAPS. On the most distant available encounter (E3, March 2008) we derive a net (negative) charge density of up to 2600 e/cm3 for nanograins, far exceeding the ambient plasma number density, but less than the net (positive) charge density inferred from the RPWS Langmuir probe data during the same plume encounter. Comparison of the CAPS data from the three available encounters is consistent with the idea that the nanograins leave the surface vents largely uncharged, but become increasingly negatively charged by plasma electron impact as they move farther from the satellite. These nanograin