Published in Icarus
We report observations of Io that were conducted on UT 12 November 2002 with the NIRSPEC spectrometer, coupled to the adaptive optics system, on the 10-m Keck II telescope. We detected a bright eruption in the Ra Patera area, with a color (H–K′ band) temperature of 1031±110 K over an effective area of 1.5±0.2 km2. The eruption was associated with a...
Published in ScienceOpen Astronomy & Astrophysics
Context. The study of the atmosphere of red supergiant stars in general and of Betelgeuse ($\ alpha $ Orionis) in particular is of prime importance to understand dust formation and how mass is lost to the interstellar medium in evolved massive stars. Aims. A molecular shell, the MOLsphere (Tsuji 2000a, ApJ, 538, 801), in the atmosphere of Betelgeus...
Published in 2007 GSA Denver Annual Meeting
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) is providing an unprecedented view of volcanic materials on Mars. In the well-exposed and well-preserved terrains, such as the young flood lavas in Elysium Planitia, the morphologic and topographic information provided at~ 30 cm/pixel in HiRISE stereo image pairs is yielding fundamentally new ...
Published in 2007 GSA Denver Annual Meeting
This project is analyzing spectroscopic remote sensing data of acidic dry lake environments as possible terrestrial analogs of acidic Martian brines and weathering processes. Lakes Chandler, Deborah, and Gilmore, located in Western Australia, are among the rare terrestrial examples of dry lakes hosting evaporite minerals, such as jarosite and aluni...
Published in Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
Several faint eccentric ringlets around Saturn share a very unusual dynamical property: they maintain a particular orientation relative to sun. This is remarkable because previously known eccentric features in the rings precess so the part of the ring closest to Saturn drifts around the planet over a period of months at a rate determined by Saturn'...
Published in Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
An exhibit of Cassini s images will open at NYC s American Museum of Natural History in March 2008 and then visit the Johnson Art Museum (Cornell) throughout fall 2008, including during next year s DPS. It is under consideration by several other venues in the States and overseas.
Published in Science
Jupiter s moon Io is known to host active volcanoes. In February and March 2007, the New Horizons spacecraft obtained a global snapshot of Io s volcanism. A 350-kilometer- high volcanic plume was seen to emanate from the Tvashtar volcano (62 N, 122 W), and its motion was observed. The plume s morphology and dynamics support nonballistic models of l...
Published in Journal of Field Robotics
The NASA Mars Astrobiology Research and Technology Experiment (MARTE) performed a field test simulating a robotic drilling mission on Mars in September 2005. The experiment took place in Minas de Riotinto in southwestern Spain, a highly relevant Mars analog site. The experiment utilized a 10 m class dry auger coring drill, a robotic core sample han...
Experimental results on the formation of molecular hydrogen on amorphous silicate surfaces are presented and analyzed using a rate equation model. The energy barriers for the relevant diffusion and desorption processes are obtained. They turn out to be significantly higher than those obtained for polycrystalline silicates, demonstrating the importa...
