Press Release – Page 6 – Europlanet Society

Levitation key to long-debated mystery of how recent and present-day martian landscapes form

October 27, 2017

Europlanet 2020 RI / Open University Press Release
**EMBARGOED until Friday 27 October 2017, 10:00 BST (09:00 UTC) **
Levitation key to long-debated mystery of how recent and present-day martian landscapes form

Scientists from The Open University (OU) have discovered a process that could explain the long-debated mystery of how recent and present-day surface features on Mars are formed in the absence of significant amounts of water.

Experiments carried out in the OU Mars Simulation Chamber – specialised equipment that is able to simulate the atmospheric conditions on Mars – reveal that Mars’s thin atmosphere (about 7 mbar – compared to 1,000 mbar on Earth), combined with periods of relatively warm surface temperatures, causes water flowing on the surface to boil violently. This process can then move large amounts of sand and other sediment, which effectively ‘levitate’ on the boiling water. This means that relatively small amounts of liquid water moving across Mars’s surface could form the large dune flows, gullies and other features that characterise the Red Planet.

Jan Raack, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow at The Open University and lead author of the research, said: “Whilst planetary scientists already know that the surface of Mars has features such as dune flows, gullies and recurring slope lineae that occur as a result of sediment transportation down a slope, the debate continues about what is forming these recent and present-day active features. Our research has discovered that the levitation effect caused by boiling water under low pressure enables the rapid transport of sand and sediment across the surface. This is a new geological phenomenon that doesn’t happen on Earth, and could be vital to understanding similar processes on other planetary surfaces.”

Raack conducted these experiments in the Hypervelocity Impact (HVI) Laboratory based at the OU. He added: “The sources of this liquid water will require more observational studies; however, the research shows that the effects of relatively small amounts of water on Mars in forming features on the surface may have been widely underestimated. We need to carry out more research into how water levitates on Mars, and missions such as the ESA ExoMars 2020 Rover will provide vital insights to help us better understand these processes on our closest planetary neighbour.”

The research, which has been published on Friday 27 October 2017 in the academic journal Nature Communications, is funded by the Europlanet 2020 Research Infrastructure through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No 654208, and co-authored by academics* from the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Universität Bern, and Université de Nantes. The initial research concept was developed by Susan J. Conway of Université de Nantes.

Further information
*The research, ‘Water induced sediment levitation enhances downslope transport on Mars’, was developed in collaboration with the following academics:
Jan Raack (lead author), Manish R. Patel, Matthew R. Balme – School of Physical Sciences, Faculty of STEM, The Open University, Milton Keynes
Clémence Herny – Physikalisches Institut, Universität Bern, Switzerland
Sabrina Carpy, Susan J. Conway – Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique, Université de Nantes, France.

After the embargo expires, the paper will be available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01213-z

Abstract:
On Mars, locally warm surface temperatures (~293 K) occur, leading to the possibility of (transient) liquid water on the surface. However, water exposed to the martian atmosphere will boil, and the sediment transport capacity of such unstable water is not well understood. Here, we present laboratory studies of a newly recognized transport mechanism: “levitation” of saturated sediment bodies on a cushion of vapour released by boiling. Sediment transport where this mechanism is active is about nine times greater than without this effect, reducing the amount of water required to transport comparable sediment volumes by nearly an order of magnitude. Our calculations show that the effect of levitation could persist up to ~48 times longer under reduced martian gravity. Sediment levitation must therefore be considered when evaluating the formation of recent and present-day martian mass wasting features, as much less water may be required to form such features than previously thought.

Media contacts
Darry Khajehpour,
Media Relations Officer
Open University
+44 (0)1908 652520
darry.khajehpour@open.ac.uk

Anita Heward
Press Officer
Europlanet 2020 RI
+44 (0) 7756 034243
anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org

Notes for Editors

About The Open University
The Open University (OU) is the largest academic institution in the UK and a world leader in flexible distance learning. Since it began in 1969, the OU has taught more than 1.8 million students and has almost 170,000 current students, including more than 15,000 overseas.

Space Science is one of The Open University’s Key Strategic Research Areas. OU research into space contributes to major global challenges through scientific exploitation of imaging and detection technologies and to building the Space sector of the UK economy. For further information please visit: www.open.ac.uk/research/main/our-research/space

The OU has a 42 year partnership with the BBC and has moved from late-night lectures in the 1970s to co-producing around 35 prime-time series a year such as The Hunt, Exodus: Our Journey to Europe, Full Steam Ahead and The Big C and Me on TV, and Inside Science, The Bottom Line and Thinking Allowed on Radio 4. Our OU viewing and listening events attracted 250m people in the UK last year which prompted more than 780k visits to the OU’s free learning website, OpenLearn: www.open.edu/openlearn/

Regarded as the UK’s major e-learning institution, the OU is a world leader in developing technology to increase access to education on a global scale. Its vast ‘open content portfolio’ includes free study units, as well as games, videos and academic articles and has reached audiences of up to 9.8 million across a variety of online formats including OpenLearn, YouTube and iTunes U.

The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt charity in England & Wales and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302). The Open University is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to its secondary activity of credit broking.

About Europlanet
Since 2005, Europlanet has provided Europe’s planetary science community with a platform to exchange ideas and personnel, share research tools, data and facilities, define key science goals for the future, and engage stakeholders, policy makers and European citizens with planetary science.

The Europlanet 2020 Research Infrastructure (RI) has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 654208 to provide access to state-of-the-art research facilities across the European Research Area and a mechanism to coordinate Europe’s planetary science community. The project builds on a €2 million Framework 6 Coordination Action and €6 million Framework 7 Research Infrastructure funded by the European Commission. The Europlanet collegial organisation, linked by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), has a membership of over 85 research institutes and companies.

Europlanet project website: http://www.europlanet-2020-ri.eu
Europlanet outreach website: http://www.europlanet-eu.org
Follow on Twitter via @europlanetmedia

Monitoring microbes to keep Marsonauts healthy

October 4, 2017

Monitoring microbes to keep Marsonauts healthy

To guarantee a safe environment for astronauts on long-duration space missions such as a journey to Mars, it is important to monitor how microorganisms such as bacteria adapt to the confined conditions onboard spacecraft, according to a study published in the open access journal Microbiome.

Dr Petra Schwendner, University of Edinburgh, corresponding author of the study said: “Until now, little was known about the influence of long-term confinement on the microorganisms that live inside habitats that may one day be used to travel to other planets, and whether the structure of the microbiota changes with time. Ours is the first comprehensive long-time study that investigates the microbial load, diversity and dynamics in a closed habitat – a mock-up spacecraft – for 520 days, the full duration of a simulated flight to Mars.”

The team of researchers from Germany, UK and Austria, led by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), found that apart from the crew who were the main source of human-associated bacteria inside the habitat, confinement appeared to be the strongest trigger shaping the bacterial community – the microbiota – which remained highly dynamic over time.

Human-associated microorganisms, including Bacillus and Staphylococcus species were the most frequent, indicating that humans were the main source for microbial dispersal, according to the researchers. For example, Staphylococcus, which is frequently found in the nose, respiratory tract, and on the skin, was probably dispersed via skin flakes shed by the crew. Although Staphylococcus will not always cause disease, it is a common cause of skin infections, especially in individuals with weakened immune systems.

In order to find out which bacterial species may be present in the air and on the surfaces inside spacecraft and how the composition of the microbiota may change during human habitation, a crew of six male “Marsonauts” lived inside a mock-up spacecraft, located in Moscow, from 3rd June 2010 to 5th November 2011. During the isolation period the crew members remained fully confined – they never left the closed habitat. Simulating conditions during a manned mission to Mars, they followed a strict diet and schedule, which included cleaning the habitat and conducting scientific experiments. They collected 360 microbial samples from 20 locations (9 air, 11 surface) at 18 time points, using air filters and swabs.

While a core microbiota of the same bacteria was present in all areas of the mock-up spacecraft, the authors noticed specific bacterial signatures for each individual area, or module, indicating that – much like in other indoor environments – microbial presence is associated with human presence as well as the type of activity that an area is used for. Communal areas, sleep areas, the gym, and the toilet had the highest numbers and greatest diversity of bacteria, while the lowest numbers of bacteria were found inside the medical module.

Dr Schwendner said: “We also saw the impact of cleaning agents. Although we located some microbial hotspots, where the number of bacteria was much higher than in other areas, we were quite relieved to find that the overall bacterial counts were within the acceptable limits. Due to appropriate cleaning measures, the microbial community inside the habitat was under control at all times with no or little risk for the crew.”

The researchers also noticed that the microbial diversity decreased significantly over time which means that there were fewer different species of bacteria present. This may indicate potentially problematic developments within the microbial community during long-duration isolation, according to the authors. High microbial diversity is normally associated with systemic stability and health.

Dr Schwendner said: “In addition to potential health risks for the crew, some of these microorganisms could have a negative impact on spacecraft, as they grow on and might damage spacecraft material. To ensure the systems’ stability, countermeasures may be required to avoid development of highly resistant, adapted microorganisms, and a complete loss of microbial diversity. Our study provides valuable insights into the quality of habitat maintenance and improves the selection of appropriate microbial monitoring approaches, allowing for the development of efficient and adequate countermeasures.”

The MICHA study was part-funded through the Europlanet 2020 Research Infrastructure (RI) Transnational Access Programme.

Media Contacts
Anne Korn
Communications Manager
BMC
+44 (0)20 3192 2722
anne.korn@biomedcentral.com

Anita Heward
Communications Officer
Europlanet 2020 Research Infrastructure
+44 (0) 7756 034243
anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org

Notes to editor:
1. Images of the facility:

External view of the facility. Credit: IBMP/Oleg Voloshin

Medical Module. Credit: IMBP/OlegVoloshin

Individual quarter. Credit: IBMP/Oleg Voshin

2. Research article: Preparing for the crewed Mars journey: Microbiome dynamics in the confined Mars500 habitat during simulated Mars flight and landing Schwendner et al. Microbiome 2017
DOI: 10.1186/s40168-017-0345-8
After the embargo lifts, the article will be available at the journal website here: https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40168-017-0345-8
Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BMC’s open access policy.

3. The central purpose of Microbiome is to unite investigators conducting microbiome research in environmental, agricultural, and biomedical arenas. Topics broadly addressing the study of microbial communities, such as, microbial surveys, bioinformatics, meta-omics approaches and community/host interaction modeling will be considered for publication. Through this collection of literature Microbiome hopes to integrate researchers with common scientific objectives across a broad cross-section of sub-disciplines within microbial ecology.

4. A pioneer of open access publishing, BMC has an evolving portfolio of high quality peer-reviewed journals including broad interest titles such as BMC Biology and BMC Medicine, specialist journals such as Malaria Journal and Microbiome, and the BMC series. At BMC, research is always in progress. We are committed to continual innovation to better support the needs of our communities, ensuring the integrity of the research we publish, and championing the benefits of open research. BMC is part of Springer Nature, giving us greater opportunities to help authors connect and advance discoveries across the world.

5. The “MIcrobial ecology of Confined Habitats and humAn health” (MICHA) experiment was implemented to acquire comprehensive microbiome data from the unique, confined manned habitat Mars500. The aim was to retrieve important information on the occurring microbiome dynamics, the microbial load and diversity in the air and on various surfaces. The Radiation Biology Department of the German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) Institute of Aerospace Medicine was involved in selecting, cultivating and sequencing of the samples. In total, 360 samples from 20 locations were taken at 18 time-points and processed by isolation of bacteria and characterization of the overall bacterial load present. The Principal Investigator of this study at the DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine was Dr. Petra Rettberg. Dr. Petra Schwendner wrote her thesis on the topic as part of the SpaceLife Graduate Program (http://www.dlr.de/me/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-4960/)at DLR in cooperation with the University of Regensburg. Simon Barczyk was responsible for the preparation and training of the Mars500 crew.
The Radiation Biology Department of the Institute addresses radiophysical, radiobiological and microbiological questions relevant for aviation and spaceflight. The division’s central task is to create the experimental and theoretical conditions necessary to provide effective protection from radiation in aviation and spaceflight. Moreover, the department investigates astrobiological issues with regard to the origin, distribution, and development of life.

6. Europlanet
Since 2005, Europlanet has provided Europe’s planetary science community with a platform to exchange ideas and personnel, share research tools, data and facilities, define key science goals for the future, and engage stakeholders, policy makers and European citizens with planetary science.
The Europlanet 2020 Research Infrastructure (RI) has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 654208 to provide access to state-of-the-art research facilities across the European Research Area and a mechanism to coordinate Europe’s planetary science community. The project builds on a €2 million Framework 6 Coordination Action and €6 million Framework 7 Research Infrastructure funded by the European Commission. The Europlanet collegial organisation, linked by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), has a membership of over 85 research institutes and companies.
Europlanet project website: http://www.europlanet-2020-ri.eu
Europlanet outreach website: http://www.europlanet-eu.org
Follow on Twitter via @europlanetmedia

Lava tubes: the hidden sites for future human habitats on the Moon and Mars

September 24, 2017

European Planetary Science Congress 2017 Press Notice
Sunday, 24th September

Lava tubes: the hidden sites for future human habitats on the Moon and Mars

Lava tubes, underground caves created by volcanic activity, could provide protected habitats large enough to house streets on Mars or even towns on the Moon, according to research presented at the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2017 in Riga. A further study shows how the next generation of lunar orbiters will be able to use radar to locate these structures under the Moon’s surface.

Lava tubes can form in two ways: ‘overcrusted’ tubes form when low-viscosity lava flows fairly close to the surface, developing a hard crust that thickens to create a roof above the moving lava stream. When the eruptions end, the conduit is drained leaving a tunnel a few metres beneath the surface. ‘Inflated’ tubes are complex and deep structures that form when lava is injected into existing fissures between layers of rock or cavities from previous flows. The lava expands and leaves a huge network of connected galleries as it forces its way to the surface. Lava tubes are found in many volcanic areas on Earth, including Lanzarote, Hawaii, Iceland, North Queensland in Australia, Sicily and the Galapagos islands. Underground networks of tubes can reach up to 65 kilometres. Space missions have also observed chains of collapsed pits and ‘skylights’ on the Moon and Mars that have been interpreted as evidence of lava tubes. Recently the NASA GRAIL mission provided detailed gravity data for the Moon that suggested the presence of enormous subsurface voids related to lava tubes below the lunar ‘Maria’, plains of basalt formed in volcanic eruptions early in the Moon’s history.

Now, researchers from the University of Padova and the University of Bologna in Italy have carried out the first systematic comparison of lava tube candidates on the Earth, Moon and Mars, based on high-resolution Digital Terrain Models (DTM) created from data from spacecraft instrumentation.

“The comparison of terrestrial, lunar and martian examples shows that, as you might expect, gravity has a big effect on the size of lava tubes. On Earth, they can be up to thirty metres across. In the lower gravity environment of Mars, we see evidence for lava tubes that are 250 metres in width. On the Moon, these tunnels could be a kilometre or more across and many hundreds of kilometres in length,” says Dr Riccardo Pozzobon, of the University of Padova. “These results have important implications for habitability and human exploration of the Moon but also for the search of extraterrestrial life on Mars. Lava tubes are environments shielded from cosmic radiation and protected from micrometeorites flux, potentially providing safe habitats for future human missions. They are also, potentially, large enough for quite significant human settlements – you could fit most of the historic city centre of Riga into a lunar lava tube.”

The work by Pozzobon and colleagues is already being used in the European Space Agency’s astronaut training programme. The teams lead a planetary geology training course called PANGAEA for the European Space Agency’s astronauts and engineers. The PANGAEA project has included a field trip and a test campaign in lava tubes in the Canary Island to familiarise the astronauts with geological research they could carry out during future missions to the Moon or Mars, as well as to test technical and operational systems. In particular, PANGAEA has focused on using laser technologies to characterise the Corona lava tube, an 8-kilometre long tunnel on Lanzarote.

However, analysis of lava tubes with DEMs requires that a collapse or a puncture from a meteorite reveals the presence of the hidden tunnel. Conventional remote sensing instruments cannot detect and characterise the lava tubes, as they cannot acquire measurements beneath the surface.

In a separate talk at EPSC, Leonardo Carrer and colleagues of the University of Trento presented a concept for a radar system specifically designed to detect lava tubes on the Moon from orbit. The radar probes beneath the lunar surface with low frequency electromagnetic waves and measures the reflected signals. This radar instrument could determine accurately the physical composition, size and shape of the caves and obtain a global map of their location.

“The studies we have developed show that a multi- frequency sounding system is the best option for detecting lava tubes of very different dimensions. The electromagnetic simulations show that lava tubes have unique electromagnetic signatures, which can be detected from orbit irrespective of their orientation to the radar movement direction. Therefore, a mission carrying this instrument would enable a crucial step towards finding safe habitats on the Moon for human colonisation,” says Carrer.

Images
ESA Astronauts training in terrestrial lava tubes in Lanzarote during the PANGEA 2016 course. Credit: ESA/S. Sechi

ESA Astronauts training in terrestrial lava tubes in Lanzarote during the PANGEA 2016 course. Credit: ESA/L. Ricci

Checking the mineral composition of some weathered rocks with the HaloSpec Spectrometer during ESA astronaut PANGEA training course in terrestrial lava tubes in Lanzarote. Credit: ESA/L. Ricci

Artist’s impression of the radar instrument to probe for lava tubes beneath the lunar surface. Credit: NASA/U. Trento

Video
Pangaea 2016: Taking astronauts to other planets – on Earth. Credit: ESA

Science Contacts
Dr Riccardo Pozzobon
Department of Geosciences
University of Padova
Via G. Gradenigo 6, 35131, Padova, Italy
riccardo.pozzobon@unipd.it
+393492814992

Leonardo Carrer
Remote Sensing Laboratory
Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science
University of Trento
Via Sommarive 9, I-38123 Povo, Trento, Italy
+393331273627
leonardo.carrer@unitn.it

Media Contacts
Anita Heward
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
+44 07756 034243
anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org

Livia Giacomini
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
livia.giacomini@europlanet-eu.org

EPSC 2017 is organised by Europlanet and Copernicus Meetings. The Local Organising Committee is led by Baltics in Space, a not-for-profit organisation that is supporting 25 members centred around nine Baltic space facilities for the conference. The meeting is sponsored by Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, the Latvian Ministry of Education and Science, Latvijas Mobilais Telefons, Finnish Meteorological Institute, The Estonia-Latvia programme, The Representation of the European Commission in Latvia, the Planetary Science Institute, Latvijas Universitate and The Division for Planetary Sciences of the AAS.

Details of the Congress and a full schedule of EPSC 2017 scientific sessions and events can be found at the official website:
http://www.epsc2017.eu/

Europlanet
Since 2005, the Europlanet project has provided European’s planetary science community with a platform to exchange ideas and personnel, share research tools, data and facilities, define key science goals for the future and engage stakeholders, policy makers and European Citizens with planetary science. Europlanet is the parent organisation of the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC), and the EPSC Executive Committee is drawn from its membership.

The Europlanet 2020 Research Infrastructure (RI) is a €9.95 million project to address key scientific and technological challenges facing modern planetary science by providing open access to state-of-the-art data, models and facilities across the European Research Area. The project was launched on 1st September 2015 and has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 654208. Europlanet 2020 RI is led by the Open University, UK, and has 33 beneficiary institutions from 19 European countries.
Project website: www.europlanet-2020-ri.eu
Outreach website: www.europlanet-eu.org
Follow @europlanetmedia

Baltics in Space
The philosophy of the nonprofit organization, Baltics in Space, is to “Inventory, Identify, and Integrate” with a sprinkling of Inspiration to build a space product greater than the sum of its parts. The best resource in the space business is people. With an eye to strengthening the triple helix links (Industry, Education, Research), its planned outcomes are integrating Baltic-wide space events, compiling catalogs of skill-sets for prospective users and Baltic space project development with distributed teams and Baltic space education.
http://www.balticsinspace.eu

‘Crash Scene Investigation’ reveals resting place of SMART-1 impact

September 22, 2017

European Planetary Science Congress 2017 Press Notice
Friday, 22nd September

‘Crash Scene Investigation’ reveals resting place of SMART-1 impact

Observations of the Moon have revealed the final resting place of the European Space Agency’s first lunar mission, SMART-1. The spacecraft was sent into a controlled impact with the lunar surface 11 years ago. Although an impact flash was imaged at the time by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on the dark side of the boundary between night and day on the lunar surface, the exact location had not been identified until now. Results have been presented today at the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2017 in Riga.

ESA SMART-1 Project Scientist, Bernard Foing, says: “SMART-1 had a hard, grazing and bouncing landing at two kilometres per second on the surface of the Moon. There were no other spacecraft in orbit at the time to give a close-up view of the impact, and finding the precise location became a ‘cold case’ for more than 10 years. For this ‘Crash Scene Investigation’, we used all possible Earth witnesses, observational facts and computer models to identify the exact site and have finally found the scars. The next steps will be to send a robotic investigator to examine the remains of the SMART-1 spacecraft body and ‘wings’ of the solar arrays.”

The location is 34.262° south and 46.193° west, consistent with the coordinates of impact calculated initially. The SMART-1 impact site was discovered by Dr Phil Stooke, of Western University, Ontario, using high-resolution images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). The images show a linear gouge in the surface, about four metres wide and 20 metres long, cutting across a small pre-existing crater. At the far end, a faint fan of ejecta sprays out to the south.

Foing said: “The high resolution LRO images show white ejecta, about seven metres across, from the first contact. A north-south channel has then been carved out by the SMART-1 spacecraft body, before its bouncing ricochet. We can make out three faint but distinct ejecta streams from the impact, about 40 metres long and separated by 20-degree angles.”

Stooke said: “Orbit tracking and the impact flash gave a good estimate of the impact location, and very close to that point was a very unusual small feature. It now seems that impacts of orbiting spacecraft, seen here from SMART-1, and also in the cases from GRAIL and LADEE, will form elongated craters, most of whose rather faint ejecta extends downrange”.

Prof Mark Burchell of the University of Kent, who performed laboratory impact experiments and simulated the SMART-1 grazing impact conditions, said: “It is exciting to see for the first time the real scars from the SMART-1 impact, and compare them to the models and laboratory simulations.”

Images

Image 1: Discovery of SMART-1 impact site on high resolution Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images. The field is 50 metres wide (north is up). SMART-1 touched down from north to south at a grazing speed of 2 kilometres per second. This image, with west illumination, clearly shows a linear gouge of 15 metres length in the surface. Credit: (P Stooke/B Foing et al 2017/ NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University)

Image 2: Discovery of SMART-1 impact site on high resolution Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images. The field is 50 metres wide (north is up). SMART-1 touched down from north to south at a grazing speed of 2 kilometres per second. This image has sunlight shining along the gouge, so it has no clear shadows, but it displays the fan of bear ejecta more clearly. (P Stooke/B Foing et al 2017/ NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University)

Science Contacts

Prof Bernard H. Foing
ESA ESTEC
Bernard.Foing@esa.int
+31 653945301

Media Contacts

Anita Heward
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
+44 7756 034243
anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org

Livia Giacomini
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
livia.giacomini@europlanet-eu.org

Notes for Editors

EPSC 2017

The European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2017 (www.epsc2017.eu) is taking place at the Radisson Blu Latvija in Riga, from Sunday 17 to Friday 22 September 2017. EPSC is the major European annual meeting on planetary science and in 2017 is hosted for the first time in the Baltic States. Around 800 scientists from Europe and around the world will attend the meeting and will give around 1,000 oral and poster presentations about the latest results on our own Solar System and planets orbiting other stars.

Details of the Congress and a full schedule of EPSC 2017 scientific sessions and events can be found at the official website:

http://www.epsc2017.eu/

Europlanet

Project website: www.europlanet-2020-ri.eu

Outreach website: www.europlanet-eu.org

Follow @europlanetmedia

Baltics in Space

The philosophy of the nonprofit organization, Baltics in Space, is to “Inventory, Identify, and Integrate” with a sprinkling of Inspiration to build a space product greater than the sum of its parts. The best resource in the space business is people. With an eye to strengthening the triple helix links (Industry, Education, Research), its planned outcomes are integrating Baltic-wide space events, compiling catalogs of skill-sets for prospective users and Baltic space project development with distributed teams and Baltic space education.

http://www.balticsinspace.eu

Solar eruption ‘photobombed’ Mars encounter with Comet Siding Spring

September 21, 2017

European Planetary Science Congress 2017 Press Notice
Thursday, 21st September

Solar eruption ‘photobombed’ Mars encounter with Comet Siding Spring

When Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) passed just 140,000 kilometres from Mars on 19th October 2014, depositing a large amount of debris in the martian atmosphere, space agencies coordinated multiple spacecraft to witness the largest meteor shower in recorded history. It was a rare opportunity, as this kind of planetary event occurs only once every 100,000 years. However, scientists analysing the data have found that a very powerful Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) launched by the Sun also arrived at Mars 44 hours before the comet, creating significant disturbances in the martian upper atmosphere and complicating analysis of the data. Results describing the combined effects of the comet and the CME throughout the martian atmosphere are being presented in a special session at the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2017 in Riga on Thursday, 21st September.

Dr Beatriz Sanchez-Cano, of the University of Leicester and co-organiser of the session, explains: “Comet Siding Spring flew very close to Mars, at one third of the Earth-Moon distance. This is one of the most exciting planetary events that we’ll see in our lifetime. Mars was literally engulfed by the coma, the comet’s outer atmosphere, for several hours. However, a deeper analysis of the data shows that the comet’s interaction with Mars is much more difficult to understand than we expected because of the effects of a CME that hit Mars a few hours earlier. In addition, the encounter happened at the peak of the martian dust season. We need to understand the full context of the observations in order to separate out the real cometary effects on Mars.”

CMEs occur when magnetic field lines at the visible surface of the Sun become tangled and break, releasing large quantities of electrically charged particles into space. The interval before, during and after the Comet Siding Spring encounter with Mars was one of the most disturbed periods of the current solar cycle. The CME was launched from the largest sunspot group observed in the last 24 years and several additional solar flares were detected that would have impacted on Mars around this time.

Sanchez-Cano has investigated the interaction of the comet with energetic particles from the Sun, and the effects of the CME and cometary encounter on the martian atmosphere, using data from ESA’s Mars Express mission, NASA’s MAVEN and Mars Odyssey orbiters, and the Curiosity rover on the martian surface. Her results show clear signs of ‘showers’ of energetic oxygen ions and dust from the time that Mars was inside the coma up to 35 hours after comet’s closest approach. These ions, most likely from the comet, were accelerated by the highly active solar wind during the comet encounter and delivered into the martian atmosphere. This created an extra electrically-conducting layer (ionosphere) at a lower level than the planet’s usual ionosphere. None of those particles seem to have arrived at the martian surface as observed by the Curiosity rover, confirming that they were absorbed in the atmosphere.

Prof Mats Holmström, of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics, who will present the first results of the encounter from the Mars Express ASPERA-3 instrument, says: “Our data and modelling show that the upper layers of the martian atmosphere were disturbed by the passing comet. The precipitation from the comet was mainly water, either in the form of neutral molecules or broken down into ions through interactions with light. However, the ASPERA-3 results show that the amount of ionised water interacting with the martian atmosphere was much smaller than expected, compared to the amount of neutral water molecules and the charged particles from the solar wind. This means that there were less of the ions interacting with the upper atmosphere and more water molecules interacting at lower depths. We think that, because of the relatively large size and activity of the comet, the majority of ionised water was carried away by the solar wind rather than dropping down into Mars’s atmosphere.

Matteo Crismani, of the University of Colorado at Boulder, will present observations of the encounter from the MAVEN orbiter. These indicate that the meteor shower was the largest in recorded history, peaking at 30 meteors per second and lasting up to 3 hours. Dust grains from the comet, travelling at 200,000 kilometres per hour, entered Mars’s atmosphere with enough energy to melt and release their constituent atoms, such as magnesium and iron. Data from MAVEN’s Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph (IUVS) enabled Crismani and colleagues to determine the composition these metallic species, how they evolved and how they moved through the martian atmosphere.

Animation

3D scenario of the encounter of comet Siding Spring with Mars, showing how different spacecraft at Mars coordinated observations. Credit: Marc Costa/European Space Agency. URL: https://youtu.be/dhI8VxZX1dA)

Images

Still from animation showing encounter of Comet Siding Spring with Mars, showing the orientation of the comet’s tails and orbits of the spacecraft at Mars. Credit: Marc Costa/European Space Agency

An artist’s conception of the martian meteor shower due to Comet Siding Spring. The comet has passed the planet in this image, and is shown left and above the planet, heading towards the outer solar system. The planet’s atmosphere is exaggerated to highlight the presence of a coherent group of meteors due to the comet’s debris stream. Credit: Don Davis/IUVS Team

Hubble image of Comet Siding Spring before and after filtering, as captured by Wide Field Camera 3 on NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA, ESA, and J.-Y. Li (Planetary Science Institute)

Science Contacts

Dr Beatriz Sanchez-Cano
University of Leicester, UK
bscmdr1@le.ac.uk

Prof Mats Holmström
Swedish Institute of Space Physics
Kiruna, Sweden
matsh@irf.se

Matteo Crismani
University of Colorado, USA
matteo.crismani@colorado.edu

Media Contacts

Anita Heward
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
+44 07756 034243
anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org

Livia Giacomini
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
livia.giacomini@europlanet-eu.org

Notes for Editors
EPSC 2017
The European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2017 (www.epsc2017.eu) is taking place at the Radisson Blu Latvija in Riga, from Sunday 17 to Friday 22 September 2017. EPSC is the major European annual meeting on planetary science and in 2017 is hosted for the first time in the Baltic States. Around 800 scientists from Europe and around the world will attend the meeting and will give around 1,000 oral and poster presentations about the latest results on our own Solar System and planets orbiting other stars.
EPSC 2017 is organised by Europlanet and Copernicus Meetings. The Local Organising Committee is led by Baltics in Space, a not-for-profit organisation that is supporting 25 members centred around nine Baltic space facilities for the conference. The meeting is sponsored by Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, the Latvian Ministry of Education and Science, Latvijas Mobilais Telefons, Finnish Meteorological Institute, The Estonia-Latvia programme, The Representation of the European Commission in Latvia, the Planetary Science Institute, Latvijas Universitate and The Division for Planetary Sciences of the AAS.
Details of the Congress and a full schedule of EPSC 2017 scientific sessions and events can be found at the official website:
http://www.epsc2017.eu/

Diamonds show Earth still capable of ‘superhot’ surprises

Europlanet 2020 Research Infrastructure Press Release
21st September 2017

Diamonds show Earth still capable of ‘superhot’ surprises

Diamonds may be ‘forever’ but some may have formed more recently than geologists thought. A study of 26 diamonds, formed under extreme melting conditions in the Earth’s mantle, found two populations, one of which has geologically ‘young’ ages. The results show that certain volcanic events on Earth may still be able to create super-heated conditions previously thought to have only existed early in the planet’s history before it cooled. The findings may have implications for diamond prospecting.

Diamonds can be categorised by their inclusions: minerals trapped within the carbon crystal structure that give clues about the conditions and the rocks in which they formed. The diamonds studied contain harzburgitic inclusions, a type of peridotite, the most common rock in Earth’s mantle, which have experienced extreme temperatures and undergone very large amounts of melting.

The study led by researchers at the Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam used radioisotope analysis to date tiny inclusions trapped in diamonds from the Venetia mine in South Africa. Results showed that the diamonds had formed in at least two separate events. Nine of the diamonds had an age of around 3 billion years, and could be linked to volcanism caused by the break-up of an old continent that led to large-scale melting. However, surprisingly, ten diamonds were dated as just over a billion years old, correlating with a giant volcanic event at Umkondo in southern Zimbabwe, 1.1 billion years ago.

“Conventional thinking has been that the level of melting needed to create these diamonds could only happen early in the history of the Earth when it was much hotter. We show that this is not the case and that some harzburgitic diamonds are much younger than assumed. We propose that our younger set of diamonds formed in a special environment where a major plume from the deep mantle was raised towards the surface and underwent extensive melting as the pressure reduced,” said Janne Koornneef, who led the study, published today in Nature Communications.

Gareth Davies, co-author of the study, commented, “This is a fascinating insight into the inner workings of planet Earth. While young diamonds are formed in other types of rocks and conditions in the mantle, it’s very unexpected to find harzburgitic diamonds linked to relatively recent geological activity. As harzburgitic rocks are important markers for diamond prospecting, the findings may have implications for the geological environments where we look for new diamond mines.”

The analysis of the diamonds at VU Amsterdam was funded by Europlanet 2020 Research Infrastructure and the research was funded by the European Research Council. The De Beers Group of Companies donated the diamonds used in this study.

Further Information

‘Archaean and Proterozoic diamond growth from contrasting styles of large-scale magmatism,’ J.M. Koornneef, M.U. Gress, I.L. Chinn, H.A. Jelsma, J.W. Harris & G.R. Davies. Nature Communications.

Dr Janne Koornneef has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant, Project Number 759563, worth 1.7 million euros for Quantifying Recycling Fluxes of Earth Surface Materials and Volatiles in Subduction Zones using Melt Inclusions (ReVolusions).

The work supported by Europlanet 2020 RI received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 654208.

Images

Image. 1. Electron microprobe images of inclusions. (a, c) show diamond imposed cubo-octahedral morphology. The surface of V471 (b) has trigonal features that establish that the inclusion and host diamond formed simultaneously. The top surface of V405 (d) records stepped features and the side faces show well developed growth lines consistent with simultaneous growth with the host diamond. Credit: Koornneef et al.

Image. 2. Simplified geological map and cross-section cartoons. (a), (b), and (c) show the inferred relation between magmatic rocks in the region that result from large scale tectono-magmatic events, and the diamond growth events as recorded by the garnet inclusions in diamonds from Venetia (red star). Dashed black lines in (a) are international boundaries. (b) shows the formation of the diamonds dated 1.1 billion years through active upwelling of a plume of the hot, deep mantle. (c) shows the formation of the diamonds circa 3 billion years ago through passive upwelling associated with continental rifting. (b) and (c) are not to scale. Outlines of Umkondo outcrops after Hansen et al. Credit: Koornneef et al.

Image 3. P-Type diamond from Jwaneng with a garnet mineral inclusion. Credit: Michael Gress

Image 4. Octaedral P-type diamond from Venetia with a garnet mineral inclusion. Credit: Michael Gress

Image 5. Cathode luminiscence (CL) image of a polished diamond plate revealing the diamond’s growth history and showing the locality of mineral inclusions to be dated. Credit: Michael Gress

Image 6. Cathode luminiscence (CL) image of a polished diamond plate revealing the diamond’s growth history and showing the locality of mineral inclusions to be dated. Credit: Michael Gress

Science Contacts

Dr. Janne Koornneef
VU University
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
j.m.koornneef@vu.nl
+31 20 598 1824

Prof. Gareth R. Davies
VU University
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
g.r.davies@vu.nl
+31 205987329

Media Contact

Anita Heward
Europlanet Media Centre
anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org
+44 7756 034243

About Europlanet

Since 2005, Europlanet has provided Europe’s planetary science community with a platform to exchange ideas and personnel, share research tools, data and facilities, define key science goals for the future, and engage stakeholders, policy makers and European citizens with planetary science.

EPSC 2017 Press Briefings Live Stream

September 20, 2017

EPSC 2017 Press Briefings will be streamed live at 13:00 Eastern European Time (10:00 UTC) on Tuesday 19th and Thursday 21st September.

EPSC 2017 Press Briefing – Thursday, 21st September, 13:00-13:40 Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3) – Cassini/Comet Siding Spring encounter with Mars

Cassini – Scott Edgington, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Cassini/Dust in the Outer Solar System as measured by Cassini-CDA – Nicolas Altobelli, European Space Agency
Resolving the Mass Production and Surface Structure of the Enceladus Dust Plume – Sascha Kempf
Energetic particle showers over Mars from comet Siding-Spring – Beatriz Sanchez-Cano, University of Leicester
Interaction between Mars’ induced magnetosphere and the comet Siding Spring – Mats Holmström, Swedish Institute of Space Physics
The Metals Delivered by Comet Siding Spring to Mars – Matteo Crismani, University of Colorado at Boulder

Submit questions through the USTREAM chat window or via Twitter @europlanetmedia

Programme of EPSC 2017 Press Briefing on Tuesday, 19th September – Pushing the Boundaries of Planetary Exploration

Answers to questions from asteroid miners – JL Galache, Aten Engineering
Asteroid touring nanosat fleet – Pekka Janhunen, Finnish Meteorological Institute
A population study of hot Jupiter atmospheres – Angelos Tsigaris, University College London

What do we need to know to mine an asteroid?

September 19, 2017

European Planetary Science Congress 2017 Press Notice
Tuesday, 19th September

What do we need to know to mine an asteroid?

The mining of resources contained in asteroids, for use as propellant, building materials or in life-support systems, has the potential to revolutionise exploration of our Solar System. To make this concept a reality, we need to increase our knowledge of the very diverse population of accessible Near Earth Asteroids (NEA). Last year, dozens of the world’s leading asteroid scientists and asteroid mining entrepreneurs came together in Luxembourg to discuss key questions and identify scientific knowledge gaps. A White Paper outlining the results of that discussion, “Answers to Questions from the Asteroid Miners” will be presented at the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2017 in Riga on Tuesday 19th September by Dr JL Galache and Dr Amara Graps.

“Asteroid mining is this incredible intersection of science, engineering, entrepreneurship and imagination,” says Galache of Aten Engineering. “The problem is, it’s also a classic example of a relatively young scientific field in that the more we find out about asteroids through missions like Hayabusa and Rosetta, the more we realise that we don’t know.”

The aim of the Asteroid Science Intersections with In-Space Mine Engineering (ASIME) 2016 conference on September 21-22, 2016 in Luxembourg City was to provide an environment for the detailed discussion of the specific properties of asteroids, with the engineering needs of space missions that utilise asteroids. Outcomes of ASIME 2016 Conference produced a layered record
of discussions from the asteroid scientists and the asteroid miners to understand each other’s key concerns.

The White Paper covers questions surrounding the need for asteroid surveys in preparing for mining missions, the asteroid’s surface and interior, implications for astrobiology and planetary protection and other questions relating to policy and strategy for developing a roadmap for advancing asteroid in-space resource utilisation.

A number of knowledge gaps were identified: the asteroid miners need access to a map of known NEAs with an orbit similar to the Earth so that they can fine-tune their selection of potential targets. Many objects are – as yet – undiscovered, or very little is known about them, so there is also a need to develop a dedicated NEA discovery and follow-up programme.

Galache explains: “NEAs are usually discovered when they are at their brightest, so our best chance of studying them is by immediately following up detections with further observations to characterise their shape and spectral properties. That needs good quality, relatively large, dedicated telescopes that are available at short notice. We don’t have reliable access to these facilities right now.”

Further studies are needed to understand the link between meteorites and asteroids, and to share data more widely about the composition of meteorites so that more accurate simulant asteroid soils, or “regolith”, can be created. This is important for understanding which asteroids hold which resources, and for preparing for the practical side of a mining mission, such as landing and extraction of material.

“Aside from samples returned from a handful of missions, the only way we can study the composition of asteroids is by analysing light reflected from their surfaces, or by examining fragments that have landed on Earth in the form of meteorites,” says Graps of the University of Latvia and the Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Arizona. “Both these techniques have limitations. Spectral observations come from the ‘top veneer’ of the asteroid, which has been space weathered and subjected to other kinds of processing. Meteorites are crucial, but they also lack part of the story: fragile constituents of primitive material contained within asteroids may be lost during atmospheric entry. At the moment, our mapping of types of meteorites back to the different classes of parent asteroid is not that robust.”

Three quarters of known asteroids are classed as Carbonaceous or “C-type”, dark, carbon-rich objects. However, most NEAs are from the Silicaceous “S-type” class of asteroids, which are reddish-coloured stony bodies that dominate the inner Asteroid Belt. For asteroid miners looking for water to use in rocket fuel or life support systems, being able to identify the class of asteroid is vital. Carbonaceous chondrite meteorites have been found to contain clay minerals that appear to have been altered by water on their parent body. While these meteorites are thought to be derived from sub-classes of C-type asteroids, there is not an exact match with any single spectral class.

A short-cut to understanding an NEA’s composition could be to identify where in the Solar System they formed and look at the characteristics of their “orbital family”. Thus, another knowledge gap is the link is between the dynamical predictions of where an NEA originates and its actual physical characterisations.

Information is also sparse on the size of grains at the surface of the asteroid. The asteroids Eros and Itokawa have similar spectral signatures and reflectiveness, but rendezvous missions show that they have very different regolith properties. NEAR Shoemaker showed that Eros is covered in fine dust, while Hayabusa revealed that the surface of Itokawa has chunky blocks tens of centimetres in diameter. Comprehensive knowledge of regolith properties at asteroids’ surface and subsurface will be vital for developing strategies for landing and extracting materials. However, as yet, no mission has explored how asteroid regolith might vary with depth.

“Results from ESA’s Rosetta mission showed that the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov Gerasimenko is much denser than its interior. It may be that we’ll find the same thing if we dig down into the regolith of NEAs. But at the moment, we just don’t know,” said Graps.

More work also needs to be done to understand the dynamics of granular material in low-gravity. Studies suggest that granular material can behave as a solid, a liquid or a gas in this environment. This behaviour will be particularly important for asteroids that are rubble-piles, as spacecraft trying to land or drill into these could easily destabilise regolith causing granular flow or avalanches.

“Asteroid mining techniques will need to adapt to the low-gravity environment. Possible solutions include cancelling out action-reaction forces by digging in opposite directions at the same time, or by producing a reaction force, such as by strapping a net around the asteroid for robots to grab onto while they dig,” says Galache. “It’s a challenge! But answering the questions posed in this White Paper will be an important first step.”

Further Information

The ASIME 2016 workshop was supported by Europlanet 2020 RI, the Luxembourg Ministry of the Economy, SpaceResources.lu and the European Space Agency.

The thirty ASIME 2016 contributors to the White Paper were: JL Galache, Amara L. Graps (lead author), Philippe Blondel, Grant Bonin, Daniel Britt, Simone Centuori, Marco Delbo, Line Drube, Rene Duffard, Martin Elvis, Daniel Faber, Elizabeth Frank, Simon F. Green, Jan Thimo Grundmann, Henry Hsieh, Akos Kereszturi, Pauli Laine, Anny-Chantal Levasseur-Regourd, Philipp Maier, Philip Metzger, Patrick Michel, Migo Mueller, Thomas Mueller, Naomi Murdoch, Alex Parker, Petr Pravec, Vishnu Reddy, Joel Sercel, Andy Rivkin, Colin Snodgrass, and Paolo Tanga.

The White Paper can be found at: https://arxiv.org/abs/1612.00709

EPSC 2017 abstracts: http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2017/EPSC2017-985.pdf

Images

A montage of 17 of the 18 asteroids and comets that have been photographed up close as of August 2014, when Rosetta arrived at comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This version is in color and shows the bodies at their correct relative (though not absolute) albedo or brightness. Not included are Vesta or Ceres, both of which are many times larger than Lutetia. Credit: Montage by Emily Lakdawalla. Data from NASA / JPL / JHUAPL / UMD / JAXA / ESA / OSIRIS team / Russian Academy of Sciences / China National Space Agency. Processed by Emily Lakdawalla, Daniel Machacek, Ted Stryk, Gordan Ugarkovic.
Full resolution image: http://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/images/9-small-bodies/2015/20150313_asteroids_comets_sc_0-000-020_2015_color_lighter.png

Artist’s impression of ESA’s AIM mission encountering asteroid Didymos. Credit: ESA
http://www.europlanet-eu.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/AIM_at_Didymos.jpg

Science Contacts
Dr JL Galache
Chief Technology Officer
Aten Engineering
jl@atenengineering.com

Dr Amara Graps
University of Latvia/Planetary Science Institute
graps@psi.edu
+371 28853907

Media Contacts
Anita Heward
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
+44 07756 034243
anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org

Livia Giacomini
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
livia.giacomini@europlanet-eu.org

Details of the Congress and a full schedule of EPSC 2017 scientific sessions and events can be found at the official website:
http://www.epsc2017.eu/

Nanosat fleet proposed for voyage to 300 asteroids

European Planetary Science Congress 2017 Press Notice
Tuesday, 19th September

Nanosat fleet proposed for voyage to 300 asteroids

A fleet of tiny spacecraft could visit over 300 asteroids in just over three years, according to a mission study led by the Finnish Meteorological Institute. The Asteroid Touring Nanosat Fleet concept comprises 50 spacecraft propelled by innovative electric solar wind sails (E-sails) and equipped with instruments to take images and collect spectroscopic data on the composition of the asteroids. Each nanosat would visit six or seven asteroids before returning to Earth to deliver the data. The concept will be presented by Dr Pekka Janhunen at the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2017 in Riga on Tuesday 19th September.

“Asteroids are very diverse and, to date, we’ve only seen a small number at close range. To understand them better, we need to study a large number in situ. The only way to do this affordably is by using small spacecraft,” says Janhunen.

In the mission scenario, the nanosats flyby their target asteroids at a range of around 1000 kilometres. Each nanosat carries a 4-centimetre telescope capable of imaging the surface of asteroids with a resolution of 100 metres or better. An infrared spectrometer analyses spectral signatures in light reflected or emitted by the asteroid to determine its mineralogy. The instruments can be pointed at the target using two internal reaction wheels inside the nanosats.

“The nanosats could gather a great deal of information about the asteroids they encounter during their tour, including the overall size and shape, whether there are craters on the surface or dust, whether there are any moons, and whether the asteroids are primitive bodies or a rubble pile. They would also gather data on the chemical composition of surface features, such as whether the spectral signature of water is present,” says Janhunen.

E-sails make use of the solar wind – a stream of electrically charged particles emitted from the Sun – to generate efficient propulsion without need for propellant. Thrust is generated by the slow rotation of a tether, attached at one end to a main spacecraft carrying an electron emitter and a high-voltage source and at the other to a small remote unit. The spinning tether completes a rotation in about 50 minutes, tracing out a broad, shallow cone around a centre of mass close to the main spacecraft. By altering its orientation in relation to the solar wind, the nanosat can change thrust and direction.

The thrust generated by E-sails is small; a 5 kilogramme spacecraft with a 20-kilometre tether would give an acceleration of 1 millimetre per second at the distance of the Earth from the Sun. However, calculations show that, on top of the initial boost from launch, this is enough for the spacecraft to complete a tour through the asteroid belt and back to Earth in 3.2 years. Nanosatellites do not have the capacity for a large antenna, so the concept includes a final flyby of Earth to download the data. The overall mission would cost around 60 million Euros, including launch, giving a cost of about 200,000 Euros for each asteroid visited.

“The cost of a conventional, state-of-the-art mission to visit this number of asteroids could run into billions. This mission architecture, using a fleet of nanosats and innovative propulsion, would reduce the cost to just a few hundred thousand Euros per asteroid. Yet the value of the science gathered would be immense,” says Janhunen.

EPSC 2017 abstract: http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2017/EPSC2017-215-1.pdf

Images

Artist’s concept of the spacecraft. Credit: FMI

The single-tether E-sail spacecraft. Credit: Janhunen et al

The orbital trajectory of the 3.2 year mission tour. Credit Janhunen et al

Science Contact
Pekka Janhunen
Finnish Meteorological Institute
Helsinki
Finland
pekka.janhunen@fmi.fi

Media Contacts
Anita Heward
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
+44 07756 034243
anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org

Livia Giacomini
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
livia.giacomini@europlanet-eu.org

Baltics in Space
The philosophy of the nonprofit organization, Baltics in Space, is to “Inventory, Identify, and Integrate” with a sprinkling of Inspiration to build a space product greater than the sum of its parts. The best resource in the space business is people. With an eye to strengthening the triple helix links (Industry, Education, Research), its planned outcomes are integrating Baltic-wide space events, compiling catalogs of skill-sets for prospective users and Baltic space project development with distributed teams and Baltic space education.
http://www.balticsinspace.eu

Size matters in the detection of exoplanet atmospheres

A group-analysis of 30 exoplanets orbiting distant stars suggests that size, not mass, is a key factor in whether a planet’s atmosphere can be detected. The largest population-study of exoplanets to date successfully detected atmospheres around 16 ‘hot Jupiters’, and found that water vapour was present in every case.

The work by a UCL-led team of European researchers has important implications for the comparison and classification of diverse exoplanets. The results will be presented by Angelos Tsiaras at the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2017 in Riga on Tuesday 19th September.

“More than 3,000 exoplanets have been discovered but, so far, we’ve studied their atmospheres largely on an individual, case-by-case basis. Here, we’ve developed tools to assess the significance of atmospheric detections in catalogues of exoplanets,” said Angelos Tsiaras, the lead author of the study. “This kind of consistent study is essential for understanding the global population and potential classifications of these foreign worlds.”

The researchers used archive data from the ESA/NASA Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) to retrieve spectral profiles of 30 exoplanets and analyse them for the characteristic fingerprints of gases that might be present. About half had strongly detectable atmospheres.

Results suggest that while atmospheres are most likely to be detected around planets with a large radius, the planet’s mass does not appear to be an important factor. This indicates that a planet’s gravitational pull only has a minor effect on its atmospheric evolution.

Most of the atmospheres detected show evidence for clouds. However, the two hottest planets, where temperatures exceed 1,700 degrees Celsius, appear to have clear skies, at least at high altitudes. Results for these two planets indicate that titanium oxide and vanadium oxide are present in addition to the water vapour features found in all 16 of the atmospheres analysed successfully.

“To understand planets and planet formation we need to look at many planets: at UCL we are implementing statistical tools and models to handle the analysis and interpretation of large sample of planetary atmospheres. 30 planets is just the start,” said Ingo Waldmann, a co-author of the study.

“30 exoplanet atmospheres is a great step forward compared to the handful of planets observed years ago, but not yet big-data. We are working at launching dedicated space missions in the next decade to bring this number up to hundreds or even thousands,” commented Giovanna Tinetti, also UCL.

Further information

EPSC 2017 abstract: http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2017/EPSC2017-389.pdf

The research at UCL has been funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and the ERC projects ExoLights (617119) and ExoMol.

Results are summarized by Tsiaras et al. in the paper “A population study of hot Jupiter atmospheres,” which has been submitted to the Astrophysical Journal.

The team of astronomers in this study consists of A. Tsiaras (UCL, UK), I. P. Waldmann (UCL, UK), T. Zingales (UCL, UK/INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo, Italy), M. Rocchetto (UCL, UK), G. Morello (UCL, UK), M. Damiano (UCL, UK/INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo, Italy), K. Karpouzas (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece), G. Tinetti (UCL, UK), L. K. McKemmish (UCL, UK), S. N. Yurchenko (UCL, UK), J. Tennyson (UCL, UK)

Images

Montage of artist’s impressions of exoplanetary systems. Credit: Alexaldo

Artist’s impressions of exoplanetary system. Credit: Alexaldo

Science Contacts

Angelos Tsiaras
University College London
+44 (0)7477 834386
atsiaras@star.ucl.ac.uk

Prof Giovanna Tinetti
University College London
+44 (0) 7912 509617
g.tinetti@ucl.ac.uk

Media Contacts

Anita Heward
Europlanet Media Centre
+44 7756 034243
anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org

Dr Rebecca Caygill
UCL Communications & Marketing
+44 (0)77 3330 7596
r.caygill@ucl.ac.uk

Notes for Editors

About the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.

About UCL (University College London)

UCL was founded in 1826. We were the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to open up university education to those previously excluded from it, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. We are among the world’s top universities, as reflected by performance in a range of international rankings and tables. UCL currently has over 39,000 students from 150 countries and over 12,500 staff. Our annual income is more than £1 billion.

www.ucl.ac.uk | Follow us on Twitter @uclnews | Watch our YouTube channel YouTube.com/UCLTV
www.ucl.ac.uk | Follow us on Twitter @uclnews | Watch our YouTube channel YouTube.com/UCLTV

EPSC 2017

Details of the Congress and a full schedule of EPSC 2017 scientific sessions and events can be found at the official website:

http://www.epsc2017.eu/

Europlanet

Project website: www.europlanet-2020-ri.eu
Outreach website: www.europlanet-eu.org
Follow @europlanetmedia

Baltics in Space

http://www.balticsinspace.eu

2017 Farinella Prize Awarded to Simone Marchi

September 18, 2017

Dr Simone Marchi, an Italian scientist working at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, has been awarded the seventh Paolo Farinella Prize in 2017 for his contributions to understanding the impact history and physical evolution of the inner Solar System. The award ceremony was hosted today at the 12th European Planetary Science Congress in Riga, Latvia. The ceremony included a lecture by Dr. Marchi on recent developments in our understanding of the early solar system.

The annual prize was established in 2010 to honour the memory of the Italian scientist Paolo Farinella (1953-2000) and, each year, it acknowledges an outstanding researcher not older than 47 years (the age of Farinella when he passed away) who has achieved important results in one of Farinella’s fields of work. Each year the Prize focuses on a different research area and in 2017, the seventh edition was devoted to planetary science and specifically to the physics and dynamics of the inner planets of the solar system and their satellites.

Dr Marchi has made significant contributions to understanding the complex problems related to the impact history and physical evolution of the inner Solar System, including the Moon. He has investigated the origin and consequences of Late Heavy Bombardment, including the surface properties and evolution of Ceres and Vesta. His research has always been interdisciplinary and he has successfully exploited knowledge coming from meteorite geology and geochemistry.

“Simone Marchi’s outstanding publication record shows that he has mastered the different techniques of image processing and analysis, spectroscopy and numerical simulations.” said Alberto Cellino, Member of the Organizing Committee of the Farinella Prize. “Considering his young age and his record of scientific publications and involvement in space missions, he has demonstrated the wide impact of his research on the many domains of the modern planetology, and is well deserving the 2017 Farinella Prize.”

Dr. Marchi, has received a Master’s Degree in Physics and a PhD in Applied Physics at Pisa University, in Italy. He has worked at Padua University, Observatoire de la Cote d’Azur, German Aerospace Agency, and NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute. He currently holds a position of Senior Research Scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

Before receiving the Prize, Dr. Marchi commented: “I feel particularly honored for receiving this prize as I personally knew Paolo Farinella. I met him during my last year at Pisa University and he was one of my Master’s thesis advisors. I have fond memories of our meetings in his office. In particular, I recall his insight about physical phenomena, which appeared to me, as a young student, really astonishing. On the personal side, he was very friendly and always ready to help. I also appreciated his informal character that helped overcome the barrier between a professor and a student. Today, one of the pivotal points of my work is the synergy among theoretical models, remote sensing from space missions, and sample analysis. This approach characterizes my research and certainly also was a distinctive mark of Paolo’s research. Perhaps I have inherited this from him.”

Further Information

The Paolo Farinella prize (http://www.europlanet-eu.org/paolo-farinella-prize) was established to honour the memory and the outstanding figure of Paolo Farinella (1953-2000), an extraordinary scientist and person, in recognition of significant contributions given in the fields of interest of Farinella, which span from planetary sciences to space geodesy, fundamental physics, science popularization, and security in space, weapons control and disarmament. The winner of the prize is selected each year on the basis of his/her overall research results in a chosen field, among candidates with international and interdisciplinary collaborations, not older than 47 years, the age of Farinella when he passed away, at the date of 25 March 2000. The prize has first been proposed during the “International Workshop on Paolo Farinella the scientist and the man,” held in Pisa in 2010, supported by the University of Pisa, ISTI/CNR and by IAPS-INAF (Rome). The first “Paolo Farinella prize” was awarded in 2011 to William Bottke, for his contribution to the field of “physics and dynamics of small solar system bodies.” In 2012 the prize went to John Chambers, for his contribution to the field of “formation and early evolution of the solar system.” In 2013, to Patrick Michel, for his work in the field of “collisional processes in the solar system,”. In 2014, to David Vokrouhlicky for his contributions to “our understanding of the dynamics and physics of solar system, including how pressure from solar radiation affects the orbits of both asteroids and artificial satellites”, in 2015 to Nicolas Biver for his studies of “the molecular and isotopic composition of cometary volatiles by means of submillimeter and millimeter ground and space observations,” and in 2016 to Dr. Kleomenis Tsiganis for “his studies of the applications of celestial mechanics to the dynamics of planetary systems, including the development of the Nice model”

Images

Dr. Simone Marchi, winner of the Farinella Prize 2017. Credit: S.Marchi

Science Contacts

Dr Simone Marchi
Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO
marchi@boulder.swri.edu
+1 720 325 0316

Media Contacts

Anita Heward
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
+44 07756 034243
anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org

Livia Giacomini
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
livia.giacomini@europlanet-eu.org

Notes for Editors

EPSC 2017

Details of the Congress and a full schedule of EPSC 2017 scientific sessions and events can be found at the official website:

http://www.epsc2017.eu/

Europlanet

Project website: www.europlanet-2020-ri.eu
Outreach website: www.europlanet-eu.org
Follow @europlanetmedia

Baltics in Space

http://www.balticsinspace.eu

Watch live streaming of sessions and press briefings at EPSC 2017

Live streaming of sessions and press briefings at EPSC 2017

Selected talks from sessions and press briefings will be streamed live from the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2017 in Riga. World-wide live broadcast of the European Planetary Science Congress 2017 is provided by Latvijas Mobilais Telefons (LMT) – telecommunication industry leader and one of the most innovative companies in Latvia. Live broadcast and video archive of the congress is available in the app LMT Straume and on the Internet.

Press briefings:

Tuesday, 19th September, 13:00-13:40 Eastern European Time (UTC+3) –
Pushing the Boundaries of Planetary Exploration

Answers to questions from asteroid miners – JL Galache, Aten Engineering
Asteroid touring nanosat fleet – Pekka Janhunen, Finnish Meteorological Institute
A population study of hot Jupiter atmospheres – Angelos Tsiaras, University College London

Thursday, 21st September, 13:00-13:40 Eastern European Time (UTC+3) –
Cassini/Comet Siding Spring encounter with Mars

Cassini – Scott Edgington, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Cassini/Dust in the Outer Solar System as measured by Cassini-CDA – Nicolas Altobelli, European Space Agency
Resolving the Mass Production and Surface Structure of the Enceladus Dust Plume – Sascha Kempf
Energetic particle showers over Mars from comet Siding-Spring – Beatriz Sanchez-Cano, University of Leicester
Interaction between Mars’ induced magnetosphere and the comet Siding Spring – Mats Holmström, Swedish Institute of Space Physics
The Metals Delivered by Comet Siding Spring to Mars – Matteo Crismani, University of Colorado at Boulder

Selected scientific talks will also be streamed from the sessions listed below (may be subject to change). A detailed programme of the talks being streamed on the day will be uploaded first thing each morning.

Monday, 18th September

Tuesday, 19th September

Wednesday, 20th September

Thursday, 21st September

Outer planets systems and Pluto (OPS1)

Friday, 22nd September

Devilish source of dust in atmosphere of Earth and Mars

European Planetary Science Congress 2017 Press Notice
Monday, 18th September

Devilish source of dust in atmosphere of Earth and Mars

Swirling columns of sand and dust, known as dust devils, are a feature of desert areas on Mars and on Earth. Now, a study of terrestrial dust devils has shown that around two thirds of the fine particles lifted by these vortices can remain suspended in the atmosphere and be transported around the globe. The findings have implications for the climate and weather of both planets and, potentially, human health here on Earth. Results will be presented by Dr Jan Raack of the Open University at the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2017 in Riga, Latvia on Monday, 18th September 2017.

The study by Raack and an international team of collaborators gives important insights into the contribution of dust devils to mineral aerosols in planetary atmospheres. About half of the dust lifted into the martian atmosphere each year is thought to come from dust devils. However, to date, the structure of these vortices has not been well understood. As terrestrial dust devils act very similarly to those on Mars, Raack and colleagues have carried out multiple field campaigns over the past five years to study dust devils in three different deserts on Earth, in China, Morocco and the USA. The researchers took samples of grains lifted by dust devils at different heights, studied tracks left by dust devils on the surface and measured physical and meteorological properties of dust devils.

Raack explains: “The method for sampling is simple – although not actually that pleasant to carry out as it involves getting sandblasted. Essentially, we cover a 5-metre aluminium pipe with double sided sticky tape and run into an active dust devil. We hold the boom upright in the path of a dust devil and wait until the dust devil passes over the boom. Numerous grains are collected on the sticky tape, which are preserved on-site by pressing sections of the tape from different heights onto glass slides.”

Back in the lab, the glass slides are analysed under an optical microscope and all grains measured and counted to gain detailed relative grain size distributions of the sampled dust devils. The results presented at EPSC 2017 focus on samples taken during field campaigns in the south and southwest of Morocco, funded by Europlanet and supported by the Ibn Battuta Centre in Marrakesh.

“We found that the dust devils we measured have a very similar structure, despite different strengths and dimensions. The size distribution of particles within the dust devils seems to correspond to the distribution of grain sizes in the surface they passed over. We have been able to confirm the presence of a sand-skirt – the bottom part of the dust devil with high concentration of larger sand grains – and most particles were only lifted within the first metre. However, the decrease in grain diameter with height is nearly exponential,” says Raack.

In the terrestrial dust devils, the team found that around 60-70% of all the fine dust particles (with diameters up to three hundredths of a millimetre) appear to stay in suspension. These small mineral aerosols can be transported over long distances on Earth and have an influence on the climate and weather. They can also reach populated areas, affecting air quality and human health. On arid Mars, where most of the surface is desert-like and the dust content is much higher, the impact is even larger.

Further analysis of the datasets will include meteorological measurements of the dust devils that will be used to interpret data obtained by landers and rovers on Mars, including the Curiosity rover and the upcoming ExoMars and InSight lander missions.

Further Information

EPSC 2017 abstract: In Situ Sampling of Terrestrial Dust Devils and Implications for Mars, J. Raack, D. Reiss, M.R. Balme, K. Taj-Eddine and G.G. Ori: http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2017/EPSC2017-13.pdf

EPSC 2017 abstract: In situ measurements of dust devil pressure drop magnitudes and vertical wind speeds, D. Reiss and J. Raack: http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2017/EPSC2017-451-3.pdf

The results are also published in Astrobiology and are available online as open access (Jan Raack, Dennis Reiss, Matthew R. Balme, Kamal Taj-Eddine, Gian Gabrielle Ori (2017) In Situ Sampling of Relative Dust Devil Particle Loads and Their Vertical Grain Size Distributions. Astrobiology 17, ahead of print, doi:10.1089/ast.2016.1544).
http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/ast.2016.1544

Images

Fig. 1: Sampling a dust devil during field campaign ‘Morocco 2012’. Results of the sampling of this dust devil are presented in Raack et al. (2017) Astrobiology, as well as in the EPSC abstract #13. Image from Raack et al., 2017. Credit: Jan Raack/Dennis Reiss.

Fig. 2: Sampling another dust devil during field campaign ‘Morocco 2012’. This dust devil was not analysed. Credit: Jan Raack/Dennis Reiss.

Fig. 3: Sampling of a dust devil during field campaign ‘Morocco 2016’. The samples are still under analyses. Credit: Jan Raack/Dennis Reiss.

Fig. 4: Another three samplings of dust devils during field campaign ‘Morocco 2016’. Also these samples will be analysed soon. Credit: Jan Raack/Dennis Reiss.

Fig. 5: Chasing a dust devil with the sampling boom during field campaign ‘Morocco 2016’. Credit: Jan Raack/Dennis Reiss.

Fig. 6: Very distinct dust devil at some distance during field campaign ‘Morocco 2016’. Credit: Jan Raack/Dennis Reiss.

Fig. 7: Very large and intensive dust devil in some distance during field campaign ‘Morocco 2016’. Note the camels (small dark dots…) right next to the dust devil for scale. Credit: Jan Raack/Dennis Reiss.

Fig. 8: Same dust devil as in Fig. 7. Note the large dust plume the dust devil leaves in the atmosphere. Credit: Jan Raack/Dennis Reiss.

Fig. 9: Waiting for a dust devil can take some time, even some hours. Credit: Jan Raack/Dennis Reiss.

Fig. 10: The bivouac the team stayed in during the field campaign ‘Morocco 2012’. Credit: Jan Raack/Dennis Reiss.

Fig. 11: Investigating the soil dust devils move over during field campaign ‘Morocco 2012’. Credit: Jan Raack/Dennis Reiss.

Fig. 12: Dust devils can even have some influence on the traffic, therefore drivers should be take extra care when driving through some regions where dust devils are common. The picture shows Dennis Reiss next to a dust devil traffic sign. The image was taken during field campaign ‘Morocco 2016’. Credit: Jan Raack/Dennis Reiss.

Fig. 13: Our meteorological instruments (five stations with 10 different instruments each) on the ground are waiting for some dust devils, while my colleague Dennis Reiss calibrate the position of them via GPS. First results of some of these instruments will be presented at the EPSC (abstract #451). The image was taken during field campaign ‘Morocco 2016’. Credit: Jan Raack/Dennis Reiss.

Fig. 14: Collect some water from a well right in the desert during field campaign ‘Morocco 2012’. Credit: Jan Raack/Dennis Reiss.

Fig. 15: Animation of sampling a very small and weak dust devil during field campaign ‘Morocco 2016’. Samples will be analysed soon. Credit: Jan Raack/Dennis Reiss.

Fig. 16: Animation of Dr Jan Raack running to a dust devil and successful sampling of it during field campaign ‘Morocco 2016’. Samples will be analysed soon. Credit: Jan Raack/Dennis Reiss.

Fig. 17: Animation of a dust devil which directly crosses one of our meteorological stations. Some analyses of this dust devil crossing is presented in EPSC abstract #451. Images were taken during field campaign ‘Morocco 2016’. Credit: Jan Raack/Dennis Reiss.

Fig. 18: Animation of a larger and stronger dust devil who bowl down the team’s GoPro Camera on a tripod. Images were taken during field campaign ‘Morocco 2016’. Credit: Jan Raack/Dennis Reiss.

Fig. 19: Animation of the same dust devil as in Fig. 18, but in real time (1 second per image). Credit: Jan Raack/Dennis Reiss.

Science Contacts
Dr Jan Raack
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow
School of Physical Sciences
The Open University
Milton Keynes, UK
jan.raack@open.ac.uk

Media Contacts
Anita Heward
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
+44 07756 034243
anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org

Livia Giacomini
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
livia.giacomini@europlanet-eu.org

Notes for Editors

EPSC 2017
The European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2017 (www.epsc2017.eu) is taking place at the Radisson Blu Latvija in Riga, from Sunday 17 to Friday 22 September 2017. EPSC is the major European annual meeting on planetary science and in 2017 is hosted for the first time in the Baltic States. Around 800 scientists from Europe and around the world will attend the meeting and will give around 1,000 oral and poster presentations about the latest results on our own Solar System and planets orbiting other stars.

Details of the Congress and a full schedule of EPSC 2017 scientific sessions and events can be found at the official website:
http://www.epsc2017.eu/

Europlanet
Since 2005, the Europlanet project has provided European’s planetary science community with a platform to exchange ideas and personnel, share research tools, data and facilities, define key science goals for the future and engage stakeholders, policy makers and European Citizens with planetary science. Europlanet is the parent organisation of the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC), and the EPSC Executive Committee is drawn from its membership.

Studies of ‘Crater Capital’ in the Baltics show impactful history

European Planetary Science Congress 2017 Press Notice

Studies of ‘Crater Capital’ in the Baltics show impactful history

Studies of craters in the Baltics (Estonia) are giving insights into the many impacts that have peppered the Earth over its long history. In southeastern Estonia, scientists have dated charcoal from trees destroyed in an impact to prove a common origin for two small craters, named Illumetsa. A third submarine crater located on the seabed in the Gulf of Finland has been measured and dated with new precision. Results will be presented by two teams of researchers at the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2017 in Riga, Latvia, on Monday, 18th September 2017.

Illumetsa are a pair of small craters in Põlva County, Estonia, that have recently been studied by a team led by Dr Anna Losiak, a young researcher at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. The two craters are known locally as “Hell’s Grave” and “The Devil’s Grave”, the biggest of the two being up to 80 metres in diameter at its widest point, and 12.5 metres deep. The study defined precisely the age of the two structures using a new technique.

Losiak explains: “During the impact, small pieces of charcoaled tree fragments were buried in the material expelled from the crater, called the ejecta blanket. These small pieces were found about 10 metres from the rim, at a depth of around 60 centimetres. We have established their age by carbon-14 dating. We found that both craters were formed between 7,170 and 7,000 years ago. A similar method had been used recently to date other craters in the region.”

The fact that the two Illumetsa craters are the same age strongly supports the theory that they were formed in a meteorite impact. Losiak says: “Until now, the two craters had not been firmly proven to be of extraterrestrial origin: neither remnants of the projectile nor other identification criteria had been found up to this point. The lack of signs of high temperature and pressure is not surprising because such small craters are formed by relatively low energy impacts. The lack of pieces of meteorite fragments is more unusual, but not impossible. Most small impact craters are produced by iron meteorites and you usually can find broken pieces lying around with the aid of a metal detector. Other kinds of meteorites, such as stony ones, produce impact craters only in very rare cases as they usually blow up in atmosphere – like the recent Chelabinsk meteor. However, there are exceptions and Illumetsa could have been formed by stony meteorites, not leaving any trace of the meteorite after thousands of years of weathering.”

Further results were presented at EPSC about a submarine impact structure, called the Neugrund crater. The study was led by Dr Sten Suuroja, a researcher at the Geological Survey of Estonia. Neugrund is located on the bottom of the sea at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland, to the east of the Estonian island, Osmussaar. The crater is also called the “Tomb of Odin” because Osmussaar’s name originates from the Swedish, “Odensholm”, which means the Island of Odin (a god in Germanic and Norse mythology). Distinctive structures like the central plateau and ring walls are at depths of just 2–30 metres, so are easily accessible for scuba divers.

The 20-kilometre diameter crater was discovered in 1995 through a co-operation between Estonian and Swedish geologists. The origin and development of its structural elements have been studied in numerous marine expeditions, but this new study reveals a fuller story.

Suuroja says: “We found that the Neugrund structure, was formed in an asteroid impact during the early Cambrian period some 535 million years ago. The body was about a kilometre in diameter and hit the sea where the depth was about 100 metres. After the impact, the crater was buried under sediments and remained covered until the Ice Age. As a result, it is probably the best preserved example of an undersea crater we have.”

Glaciation dispersed impacted rocks, called Neugrund-breccia, from newly uncovered crater rims southwards to the Estonian mainland and archipelago, up to a distance of 170 kilometres.

“There are a total of 190 structures identified around the globe as meteorite craters. Estonia could claim to be the world’s ‘Capital of craters’, being the country with the highest number per square kilometres. This record doesn’t depend on the chances of being hit: every country has roughly the same probability of being impacted by an asteroid coming from space. But regions with older rocks, that have not experienced later intensive geological activity, such as mountain formation, have a higher chance of accumulating impacts with time. Many of the craters that can be found in the Baltic region are also related to local stories and legends. Some are sightseeing venues and have become tourist attractions in recent years,” says Suuroja.

Further Information

EPSC 2017 abstracts:
http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2017/EPSC2017-307.pdf
http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2017/EPSC2017-934.pdf

Related results can be found in Losiak et al, “Dating a small impact crater: An age of Kaali crater (Estonia) based on charcoal emplaced within proximal ejecta”, published in Meteoritics & Planetary Science, Volume 51, Issue 4, pages 681–695, April 2016.

Results on the Neugrund crater can be found in Suuroja et al. A comparative analysis of two Early Palaeozoic marine impact structures in Estonia, Baltic Sea: Neugrund and Kärdla. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Finland, 85, 79−97, 2013: www.geologinenseura.fi/bulletin/Volume85/Bulletin_vol85_1_2013_Suuroja_ea.pdf

A map of all the confirmed impact craters on Earth can be found at: http://www.passc.net/EarthImpactDatabase/Worldmap.html

Images

Caption: An inside view of the larger Ilumetsa Crater. Credit: A. Losiak

A cross-section through the ejecta blanket of the larger Ilumetsa crater, along with close-ups of the small pieces of charcoal used to date this structure. Credit: A. Losiak

Map showing location of Estonian meteorite craters. Credit: Sten Suuroja

The seabed relief of the Neugrund crater area. Credit: Sten Suuroja

The seabed relief of the Neugrund crater area, showing the locatin of Osmussaar Island. Credit: Sten Suuroja

Science Contacts
Dr Anna Losiak
Planetary Geology Lab, Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
anna.losiak@twarda.pan.pl
+48 660 53 56 57

Dr Sten Suuroja
Geological Survey of Estonia
s.suuroja@egk.ee
+372 53409924

Media Contacts
Anita Heward
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
+44 07756 034243
anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org

Livia Giacomini
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
livia.giacomini@europlanet-eu.org

Notes for Editors

EPSC 2017
The European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2017 (www.epsc2017.eu) is taking place at the Radisson Blu Latvija in Riga, from Sunday 17 to Friday 22 September 2017. EPSC is the major European annual meeting on planetary science and in 2017 is hosted for the first time in the Baltic States. Around 800 scientists from Europe and around the world will attend the meeting and will give around 1,000 oral and poster presentations about the latest results on our own Solar System and planets orbiting other stars.

Final media announcement and details of press briefings at European Planetary Science Congress 2017

September 15, 2017

Final media announcement and details of press briefings at European Planetary Science Congress 2017

The European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2017 (www.epsc2017.eu) will take place at the Radisson Blu Latvija in Riga, from Sunday 17 to Friday 22 September 2017. Around 800 scientists from Europe and around the world are expected to attend the meeting and will give around 1,000 oral and poster presentations about the latest results on our own Solar System and planets orbiting other stars.
EPSC is the major European annual meeting on planetary science and in 2017 will take place for the first time in the Baltic States. The EPSC programme covers the full spectrum of planetary science and technology. A full programme of scientific sessions can be found here.

Two press briefings will be held during the meeting:
Tuesday, 19th September, 13:00-13:40 Eastern European Time (UTC+3) –
Pushing the Boundaries of Planetary Exploration

Answers to questions from asteroid miners – JL Galache, Aten Engineering
Asteroid touring nanosat fleet – Pekka Janhunen, Finnish Meteorological Institute
A population study of hot Jupiter atmospheres – Angelos Tsigaris, University College London

Thursday, 21st September, 13:00-13:40 Eastern European Time (UTC+3) –
Cassini/Comet Siding Spring encounter with Mars

Cassini – Scott Edgington, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Cassini/Dust in the Outer Solar System as measured by Cassini-CDA – Nicolas Altobelli, European Space Agency
Energetic particle showers over Mars from Comet Siding-Spring – Beatriz Sanchez-Cano, University of Leicester
Interaction between Mars’s induced magnetosphere and the Comet Siding Spring – Mats Holmström, Swedish Institute of Space Physics
The Metals Delivered by Comet Siding Spring to Mars – Matteo Crismani, University of Colorado at Boulder

The live stream from the meeting, which will include selected talks from sessions, can be accessed at: http://straume.lmt.lv/epsc2017

World-wide live broadcast of the European Planetary Science Congress 2017 is provided by Latvijas Mobilais Telefons (LMT) – telecommunication industry leader and of the most innovative companies in Latvia. Live broadcast and video archive of the congress is available in the app LMT Straume and on the Internet.

Additional details may be posted at:
http://www.europlanet-eu.org/live-streaming-of-sessions-and-press-briefings-at-epsc-2017/

Press notices on presentations that may be of special interest to the media will be circulated during the meeting. The meeting hashtag is #EPSC2017.

The theme for EPSC 2017 is ‘Widening Participation’ and the programme will include sessions and associated events to promote the engagement and integration of new communities in Europe (and beyond) with planetary science.
Details of the Congress and a full schedule of EPSC 2017 scientific sessions and events can be found at the official website: http://www.epsc2017.eu

MEDIA REGISTRATION
Media representatives are cordially invited to attend. Press room facilities will be available for the duration of the conference from 9 am on Monday 18 September through to 3 pm on Friday 22 September. Media registration is free. For further details, contact anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org or Livia.Giacomini@iaps.inaf.it.

CONTACTS
Anita Heward
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
+44 07756 034243
anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org

Livia Giacomini
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
Livia.Giacomini@iaps.inaf.it

FURTHER INFORMATION

European Planetary Science Congress 2017: 2nd Media Announcement

August 10, 2017

European Planetary Science Congress 2017: 2nd Media Announcement

The European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2017 will take place at the Radisson Blu Latvija in Riga, from Sunday 17 to Friday 22 September 2017. Around 800 scientists from Europe and around the world are expected to attend the meeting and will give around 1,000 oral and poster presentations about the latest results on our own Solar System and planets orbiting other stars.

EPSC is the major European annual meeting on planetary science and in 2017 will take place for the first time in the Baltic States. The EPSC programme covers the full spectrum of planetary science and technology. For 2017, session highlights include:

Ceres and Vesta – 10th anniversary of Dawn Special Session
What do we know and what don’t we know following the cessation of the operational phase of the Rosetta mission
Juno at Jupiter and Supporting Earth-Based Observations
Outer planets systems and Pluto (including presentations on the Cassini mission Grand Finale)
Sample return missions: lessons learned and future perspectives
European Vision 2061 and NASA Planetary Science Vision 2050
Towards a Moon Village: Science & Innovation.

A full programme of scientific sessions can be found here:

www.europlanet-eu.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/EPSC_Session_Summary_Media.pdf

Press notices on presentations that may be of special interest to the media will be circulated during the meeting. Press briefings and selected talks will be streamed, courtesy of Latvijas Mobilais Telefons (LMT).

“Riga is a growing hub for Baltic space activity and we are excited to be hosting EPSC in Latvia for the first time,” said Amara Graps, Chair of the EPSC 2017 Local Organising Committee. “As we anticipate centenary celebrations of the independence of Latvia, Finland, Estonia and Lithuania, starting in late 2017 and continuing through 2018, we hope that the conference will inspire the next generation of space scientists and engineers in our region.”

“We are happy that Riga will host the European Planetary Science Congress. As one of Latvia’s innovation leaders, LMT will be proud to support the conference with our streaming technology, so we can share the exciting findings with the wider world.” said Juris Binde, President of LMT.

Details of the Congress and a full schedule of EPSC 2017 scientific sessions and events can be found at the official website: http://www.epsc2017.eu

MEDIA REGISTRATION

Media representatives are cordially invited to attend. Press room facilities will be available for the duration of the conference from 9 am on Monday 18 September through to 3 pm on Friday 22 September. Media registration is free. Any bona fide media delegates can pre-register by e-mailing anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org or livia.giacomini@europlanet-eu.org (advance registration is not essential but encouraged).

CONTACTS

Anita Heward
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
+44 07756 034243
anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org

Livia Giacomini
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
livia.giacomini@europlanet-eu.org

Dr Amara Graps
Chair, EPSC 2017 Local Organising Committee
amara@balticsinspace.eu
+371 28853907

FURTHER INFORMATION

Europlanet

Since 2005, the Europlanet project has provided European’s planetary science community with a platform to exchange ideas and personnel, share research tools, data and facilities, define key science goals for the future and engage stakeholders, policy makers and European Citizens with planetary science. Europlanet is the parent organisation of the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC), and the EPSC Executive Committee is drawn from its membership.
The Europlanet 2020 Research Infrastructure (RI) is a €9.95 million project to address key scientific and technological challenges facing modern planetary science by providing open access to state-of-the-art data, models and facilities across the European Research Area. The project was launched on 1st September 2015 and has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 654208. Europlanet 2020 RI is led by the Open University, UK, and has 33 beneficiary institutions from 19 European countries.

Project website: www.europlanet-2020-ri.eu
Outreach website: www.europlanet-eu.org
Follow @europlanetmedia

Baltics in Space

http://www.balticsinspace.eu

Ground-breaking ground-based images of planets obtained by Pic-Net Pro-Am team

July 20, 2017

Ground-breaking ground-based images of planets obtained by Pic-Net Pro-Am team
Europlanet 2020 RI Press Release
20 July 2017 – For Immediate Release

The first observing run of a collaboration between amateur and professional astronomers to monitor our planetary neighbours has resulted in some of the best planetary images ever taken from the ground.

The ‘Pic-Net’ project aims to use the one-metre diameter planetary telescope at the Pic du Midi Observatory in the French Pyrenees to monitor the meteorology of planets in our Solar System, measure global winds in their atmospheres, monitor impact of minor planet bodies producing giant fireballs in planetary atmospheres, and provide observational support for various space missions. Last month, a small team of amateur astronomers carried out a pilot observing run during a workshop funded by the Europlanet 2020 Research Infrastructure (RI). Superb-quality images of Jupiter, Saturn, Venus and Jupiter’s moon Ganymede were obtained during four nights of observations, as well as images of Uranus and Neptune.

“The key to the success of this project is our highly-experienced team of observers, the optical quality of the telescope, the highly stable atmosphere at the Pic du Midi observatory and cutting-edge instrumentation,” said Francois Colas, astronomer at the Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Ephémérides (IMCCE) and telescope and instrumentation lead of the Pic-Net project. “We believe that these are some of the best planetary observations from the ground to date.”

Repeated observations with ground-based telescopes provide a long-term, global view of planets that can put the detailed, close-up data collected by orbiting space missions into context. Amateur astronomers with relatively small telescopes can make extremely valuable scientific contributions by observing at dates where no equivalent data is available. Several observing runs like those from the Pic-Net pilot are needed over a year to understand the changes in the atmospheres of planets.

“Images obtained through Pic-Net can provide important, ongoing support for space missions,” said Marc Delcroix, an amateur astronomer who has piloted the use of the one-metre diameter telescope and is the organiser of the Europlanet workshop. “For instance, the high quality of Pic-Net observations of Saturn, which show clearly the hexagon feature surrounding the north polar vortex, atmospheric bands and cloud features, will also provide an avenue for continued study of Saturn and build on the legacy of the Cassini mission, which ends in September.”

Over the last 15 years, amateur astronomers have proven their skills, experience and potential in planetary imaging using new fast cameras that ‘freeze’ optical distortions introduced by the atmosphere on high-resolution telescopic observations. Professional astronomers collaborate closely with amateurs in many areas of planetary sciences, including the study of the atmospheres of planets like Venus, Jupiter or Saturn.

The ultimate goal of the Pic-Net project is to provide experienced observers with more access to the Pic-Midi facility in order to extract the full potential of the telescope and the observing site over time. Regular visits with an enlarged team of observers are envisioned as part of the Pic-Net project.

“The Pic-Net programme provides invaluable support for the Juno mission and complements other Earth-based observations from professional astronomers,” noted Glenn Orton of Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, who is the Juno science team member in charge of coordinating Earth-based observations to extend and enhance the science return from Juno’s investigation of Jupiter and its magnetosphere.

Orton added, “These observations not only provide details on planetary cloud morphology that are close to what we might expect from the Hubble Space Telescope, but also such a program of regular observing allows us to understand the evolution of intermediate- to small-sized features on a variety of time scales, helping Juno scientists to understand the history of features for which the spacecraft only gets one or two ‘snapshots’ on each close approach.”

Javier Peralta, team member of JAXA’s Akatsuki mission commented, “In the case of Venus, the amateur observations have experienced incredible steps forward in the last years. Images in ultraviolet and near-infrared wavelengths permit the study of winds at two altitudes of the dayside clouds, even when Venus is close to being at its furthest point from Earth, while smart combinations of infrared filters for nightside observations now allow us to clearly resolve many surface elevations. These are much needed in support of the Akatsuki mission.”

Images and animations

Jupiter images obtained at Pic du Midi show the global state of Jupiter’s atmosphere providing context to the time gaps between observations run by the Juno mission and are the basis for long-term studies. Credit: E. Kraaikamp/ D. Peach/ F. Colas / M. Delcroix / R. Hueso/ C. Sprianu / G. Therin / Pic du Midi Observatory (OMP-IRAP) / Paris Observatory (IMCCE / LESIA) / CNRS (PNP) / Europlanet 2020 RI / S2P

Colour image of Jupiter obtained on the 3^rd night of the Pic-Net workshop. Credit: D. Peach/E. Kraaikamp/ F. Colas / M. Delcroix / R. Hueso/ C. Sprianu / G. Therin / Pic du Midi Observatory (OMP-IRAP) / Paris Observatory (IMCEE / LESIA) / CNRS (PNP) / Europlanet 2020 RI / S2P

Jupiter in methane absorption band, showing bright the high altitude atmospheric features like “oval BA”. Credit: M. Delcroix/ E. Kraaikamp/ D. Peach/ F. Colas/ R. Hueso/ C. Sprianu / G. Therin / Pic du Midi Observatory (OMP-IRAP) / Paris Observatory (IMCCE / LESIA) / CNRS (PNP) / Europlanet 2020 RI / S2P

Jupiter high resolution animation in infrared, over more than 20 minutes, showing the rotation of the planet with the Great Red Spot setting, and Ganymede orbiting around it. Credit: M. Delcroix/ E. Kraaikamp/ D. Peach/ F. Colas/ R. Hueso/ C. Sprianu / G. Therin / Pic du Midi Observatory (OMP-IRAP) / Paris Observatory (IMCCE / LESIA) / CNRS (PNP) / Europlanet 2020 RI / S2P

Saturn and its rings a few months before Cassini’s Grand Finale. The planet’s shows the north polar “hexagon” surrounding the North polar vortex, atmospheric bands and faint cloud features at mid latitudes. These atmospheric clouds nicely contrast with the complex ring system. Future observations like this one will build over the Cassini legacy. Credit: D. Peach/E. Kraaikamp/ F. Colas / M. Delcroix / R. Hueso/ C. Sprianu / G. Therin / Pic du Midi Observatory (OMP-IRAP) / Paris Observatory (IMCEE / LESIA) / CNRS (PNP) / Europlanet 2020 RI / S2P

Animation showing the rotation of Saturn and its rings a few months before Cassini’s Grand Finale. Credit: E. Kraaikamp/ D. Peach/ F. Colas / M. Delcroix / R. Hueso/ C. Sprianu / G. Therin / Pic du Midi Observatory (OMP-IRAP) / Paris Observatory (IMCEE / LESIA) / CNRS (PNP) / Europlanet 2020 RI / S2P

Venus is a difficult target for many professional telescopes because of its close relative position to the Sun. Observations like this are highly complementary and useful to the observations obtained from the Japanese Akatsuki space mission (JAXA).Observations over four consecutive nights are needed to cover completely the clouds in Venus. Credit: R. Hueso/ D. Peach/ E. Kraaikamp/ F. Colas / M. Delcroix / C. Sprianu / G. Therin / Pic du Midi Observatory (OMP-IRAP) / Paris Observatory (IMCEE / LESIA) / CNRS (PNP) / Europlanet 2020 RI / S2P

Ganymede, the largest of Jupiter’s Moons was also observed with astonishing resolution by the Pic-Net team. Surface features as small as 350 km can be clearly identified in this image. Ganymede’s diameter is 5270 km and was located at a distance of 766 million kilometers from Earth at the time of this observation. Credit: E. Kraaikamp/ D. Peach/ F. Colas / M. Delcroix / R. Hueso/ C. Sprianu / G. Therin / Pic du Midi Observatory (OMP-IRAP) / Paris Observatory (IMCEE / LESIA) / CNRS (PNP) / Europlanet 2020 RI / S2P

The Pic-Net team. Upper row (L-R): Constantin Sprianu, Damian Peach, Marc Delcroix, Emil Kraaikamp, Gerard Thérin and François Colas. Lower row: Ricardo Hueso. Credit: Ricardo Hueso

Night observations at the Pic du Midi Observatory. Bright Jupiter can be seen clearly in the sky and the picture illumination comes from a low full Moon. Credit: Ricardo Hueso

Pic du Midi Observatory. Credit: Ricardo Hueso

The one-metre diameter planetary telescope at the Pic du Midi Observatory, used by the Pic-Net project. Credit: Ricardo Hueso

Science Contacts
François Colas
Pic-Net Telescope and project Lead
IMCCE/CNRS
Observatoire de Paris
Paris, France
+33 1 40 51 22 66
francois.colas@imcce.fr

Ricardo Hueso Alonso
Pic-Net Team Planetary Science Lead
Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería
Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
Bilbao, Spain
+ 34 94601 4262
ricardo.hueso@ehu.eus

Marc Delcroix
Pic-Net Team Amateur coordinator and Workshop organizer
Société Astronomique de France
Toulouse, France
+33 5 61 06 72 86
delcroix.marc@free.fr

Media Contact

Anita Heward
Europlanet Media Centre
Tel: +44 7756 034243
anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org

Further Information

Pic-Net Team

François Colas (France, IMCCE/CNRS, Paris observatory, telescope and project lead).
Marc Delcroix (France, amateur astronomer, planetary imager, president of the planetary observation commission in the Societé Astronomique de France and workshop organizer). http://astrosurf.com/delcroix
Emil Kraaikamp (Netherlands, amateur astronomer, planetary imager, author of Autostakkert planetary image processing software). astrokraai.nl
Damian Peach (UK, amateur astronomer, planetary imager). http://www.damianpeach.com/
Constantin Sprianu (Romania, amateur astronomer, planetary imager).
Gérard Thérin (France, amateur astronomer, planetary imager). httpHYPERLINK “http://www.naturepixel.com/ciel_1.htm”://www.naturepixel.com/ciel_1.htm
Ricardo Hueso (Spain, professional astronomer, planetary scientist lead).
Jean Luc Dauvergne (France, amateur astronomer, scientific journalist)

Pic du Midi observatory

The Pic du Midi observatory was founded in 1873 and continues a long tradition of high-resolution observations on several astrophysical domains. Built at 2,877 m altitude in the centre of the French Pyrenees it makes a unique observing site, night astronomical instruments are : 2m telescope (http://www.tbl.omp.eu/en) dedicated to stellar research and 1m telescope for planetary science (http://www.picdumidi.eu/). Accessible by cable-car, it hosts several touristic activities linked to astronomy (www.picdumidi.com), it is at the centre of the first French dark sky reserve (http://www.darksky.org/idsp/reserves/picdumidi/). The location above a sea of mountain clouds results in a stable atmosphere where magical “seeing” is regularly obtained, providing excellent conditions for high-resolution observations. It is also one of the professional observatories where more collaborative projects with amateur astronomers have been developed in Europe over the last two decades, including: 60 cm telescope operated by amateurs (http://www.astrosurf.com/t60/), continuous coronographic survey of the sun operated by amateurs (https://climso.fr/), and associated amateur observers for the 2m TBL telescope (http://oatbl.free.fr/wordpress/).
Pic du Midi observatory main web site: http://www.obs-mip.fr/

Europlanet

Europlanet project website: www.europlanet-2020-ri.eu

Europlanet outreach website: www.europlanet-eu.org

Follow on Twitter via @europlanetmedia

“Comets – The Rosetta Mission” Exhibition Curation Team Awarded Europlanet Prize 2017

June 28, 2017

“Comets – The Rosetta Mission” Exhibition Curation Team Awarded Europlanet Prize 2017

Europlanet honours team from DLR with Prize for Public Engagement with Planetary Science

The 2017 Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement with Planetary Science has been awarded to the team behind the outstandingly successful exhibition, “Comets – The Rosetta Mission: Journey to the Origins of the Solar System”, at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin. Ulrich Köhler, Dr. Barbara Stracke and Dr. Ekkehard Kührt, of the DLR Institute of Planetary Research, will accept the award on behalf of the exhibition’s curation team.

The centrepiece of the exhibition is a thousandth-scale model of comet 67P/Churymov-Gerasimenko based on data from Rosetta’s OSIRIS camera system, surrounded by backlit photographs of the comet and mission highlights, selected spacecraft and instrument hardware and memorabilia. As well as historical and technical background on comets as important building blocks of the Solar System, the Rosetta mission and its scientific achievements to date, the exhibition includes film-clips highlighting the personal stories of the men and women that made Rosetta a reality and the deep emotions evoked by involvement in the mission.

The special exhibition was visited by 820,000 members of the public between August 2016 and January 2017 at the museum in the heart of Germany’s capital. From 2018 on, the exhibition will start a tour of leading venues, including the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria, and other traditional museums in Germany, Switzerland and possibly the United States. Discussions with additional host locations around the world are in progress. A virtual version of the exhibition will also be available online later this year and will be updated in the years to come with new scientific results from Rosetta.

The Europlanet Prize, which includes an award of 4000 Euros, will be presented during the European Planetary Science Congress 2017 in Riga, Latvia on Monday 18th September.

Dr. Thierry Fouchet, Chair of the Europlanet Prize 2017 Judging Panel, said, “The judges were impressed by dedication and enthusiasm of the curation team in developing this exhibition, and the energy they have put into disseminating it worldwide through the scheduled tour and online version. Rosetta is one of the most complex space missions to ever explore the Solar System and a great success for European planetary science. This exhibition has made a very significant contribution in sharing the achievement and excitement of Rosetta with the general public.”

Prof. Tilman Spohn of DLR, who nominated the team for the Europlanet Prize, said, “The curation team profited from some members that were going the extra mile more than once. Without their tireless efforts, patience and vision, the exhibition would have never been realised.”

Details of the exhibition can be found at: http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10904/

The full Exhibition Curation Team consists of:

Ulrich Köhler, Barbara Stracke, Ekkehard Kührt, Tilman Spohn, Susanne Pieth, Stubbe Hviid, Stefano Mottola, Horst Uwe Keller, John Lee Grenfell, Frank Preusker, Frank Scholten, Stephan Elgner (DLR Institute for Planetary Research, Berlin); Stephan Ulamec (MUSC – DLR Microgravity User Support Center, Cologne); Sabine Hoffmann, Klaus Gering, Michael Müller, Petra Scholz, Cordula Tegen, Elke Heinemann, Philipp Burtscheid (DLR Communications, Cologne); Dieter Stöffler, Ansgar Greshake, Kai Wünnemann (Museum of Natural History, Berlin); Holger Sierks, Urs Mall, Harald Krüger (Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen); Kathrin Altwegg, Adrian Etter (University of Berne, Switzerland); Sylvain Lodiot, Bettina Braunstein (ESA Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt); Maria Menendez (ESA Head of Corporate Exhibitions and Events Office, Communication Department HQ, Paris); Karin Ranero Celius (EJR Quartz, translations). The exhibition was designed, planned and produced for DLR by CD Werbeagentur, Toisdorf, Germany.

The exhibition has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 686709.
Project website: http://www.miard.eu/

Images
Images of the “Comets – The Rosetta Mission” Exhibition at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin. Credit: CD Werbeagentur/Eventfotograf Gerald Schmidt.

Panel speaking at the opening of the “Comets – The Rosetta Mission” Exhibition at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin. Credit: CD Werbeagentur/Eventfotograf Gerald Schmidt.

ESA Director General, Johann-Dietrich Wörner, speaking at the opening of the “Comets – The Rosetta Mission” Exhibition at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin. Credit: CD Werbeagentur/Eventfotograf Gerald Schmidt.
http://www.europlanet-eu.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/RosettaExhibition_Opening_ESA-DG_Wörner_U4Z6103.jpg

Contacts
Ulrich Köhler
DLR Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin
Phone: +49 – (0)30 – 67055-215
Mobile +49 – (0)172 – 565 66 94
ulrich.koehler@dlr.de

Anita Heward
Europlanet 2020 RI Press Officer
Mobile: +44 (0)77 5603 4243
anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org

Further information

Currently Europlanet 2020 Research Infrastructure has an open call for users to apply to use a variety of field and laboratory facilities. See details at: http://www.europlanet-2020-ri.eu/research-infrastructure/field-lab-visits
Europlanet project website: www.europlanet-2020-ri.eu
Europlanet outreach website: www.europlanet-eu.org
Follow on Twitter via @europlanetmedia

European Planetary Science Congress 2017 – 1st Media Announcement

June 12, 2017

European Planetary Science Congress 2017 – 1st Media Announcement

The European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2017 (www.epsc2017.eu) will take place at the Radisson Blu Latvija in Riga, Latvia, from Sunday 17 to Friday 22 September 2017. Around 800 scientists from Europe and around the world are expected to attend and 1,000 abstracts have been submitted for the meeting.

Riga is a growing hub for Baltic space activity and industry will be a strong focus at EPSC 2017. SMEs and companies are invited to showcase technical capabilities and 25 young space entrepreneurs from Latvia and Estonia will participate in the meeting through the Interreg Europe SpaceTEM project.

“The European Planetary Science Congress in Riga will highlight economic, educational, political and cultural opportunities for the Baltic region, as well as across the wider European Research Area,” said Amara Graps, Chair of the EPSC 2017 Local Organising Committee. “Space is one of the world’s fastest growing industries and this meeting will provide a concentrated view of the possibilities in this challenging and exciting sector.”

To capitalise on the Centenary celebrations of the independence of Latvia, Finland, Estonia and Lithuania, starting in late 2017 and continuing through 2018, there will cultural exhibits and a demonstration of the Baltic singing and dancing, and an opportunity to participate, during the EPSC 2017 mid-week social event.

Details of the Congress and a full schedule of EPSC 2017 scientific sessions and events can be found at the official website: http://www.epsc2017.eu

Press notices on presentations that may be of special interest to the media will be circulated during the meeting.

MEDIA REGISTRATION

Media representatives are cordially invited to attend. Press room facilities will be available for the duration of the conference from 9 am on Monday 18 September through to 3 pm on Friday 22 September. Media registration is free. Any bona fide media delegates can pre-register by e-mailing anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org or livia.giacomini@iaps.inaf.it (advance registration is not essential but encouraged).

CONTACTS

Anita Heward
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
+44 07756 034243
anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org

Livia Giacomini
EPSC 2017 Press Officer
Livia.giacomini@iaps.inaf.it

Dr Amara Graps
Chair, EPSC 2017 Local Organising Committee
amara@balticsinspace.eu
+371 28853907

FURTHER INFORMATION

Europlanet

Project website: www.europlanet-2020-ri.eu
Outreach website: www.europlanet-eu.org
Follow @europlanetmedia

Baltics in Space

http://www.balticsinspace.eu

Diamond’s 2-billion-year growth charts tectonic shift in early Earth’s carbon cycle

February 23, 2017

Diamond’s 2-billion-year growth charts tectonic shift in early Earth’s carbon cycle

A study of tiny mineral ‘inclusions’ within diamonds from Botswana has shown that diamond crystals can take billions of years to grow. One diamond was found to contain silicate material that formed 2.3 billion years ago in its interior and a 250 million-year-old garnet crystal towards its outer rim, the largest age range ever detected in a single specimen. Analysis of the inclusions also suggests that the way that carbon is exchanged and deposited between the atmosphere, biosphere, oceans and geosphere may have changed significantly over the past 2.5 billion years.

diamond_inclusions_fig1 — *Gem quality diamond from Letlhakane, containing multiple orange garnets. Credit: M. Gress, VU Amsterdam*

‘Although a jeweller would consider diamonds with lots of inclusions to be flawed, for a geologist these are the most valuable and exciting specimens,’ said Prof Gareth Davies, of Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam, who co-authored the study. ‘We can use the inclusions to date different parts of an individual diamond, and that allows us to potentially look at how the processes that formed diamonds may have changed over time and how this may be related to the changing carbon cycle on Earth.’

Sixteen diamonds from two mines in north eastern Botswana were analysed in the study: seven specimens from the Orapa mine and nine from the Letlhakane mine. A team at VU Amsterdam measured the radioisotope, nitrogen and trace element contents of inclusions within the diamonds. Although the mines are located just 40 kilometres apart, the diamonds from the two sources had significant differences in the age range and chemical composition of inclusions.

The Orapa diamonds contained material dating from between around 400 million and more than 1.4 billion years ago. The Letlhakane diamond inclusions ranged from less than 700 million and up to 2-2.5 billion years old. In every case, the team were able to link the age and composition of material in the inclusions to distinct tectonic events occurring locally in the Earth’s crust, such as a collision between plates, continental rifting or magmatism. This suggests that diamond formation is triggered by heat fluctuations and magma fluid movement associated with these events.

The Letlhakane diamonds also provided a rare opportunity to look back in time to the early Earth. The oldest inclusions date back to before the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) around 2.3 billion years ago, when oxygen produced by multicellular cyanobacteria started to fill the atmosphere, radically changing the weathering and sediment formation processes and thus altering the chemistry of rocks.

‘The oldest inclusions in the diamonds contain a higher proportion of the lighter carbon isotope. As photosynthesis favours the lighter isotope, carbon 12, over the heavier carbon 13, this ‘light’ ratio finding suggests that organic material from biological sources may have been more abundant in diamond-forming zones early in the Earth’s history than we find today,’ explained Suzette Timmerman, lead author on the study. ‘Higher temperatures in the Earth’s interior before the GOE may have affected the way that carbon was released into the diamond forming regions beneath the Earth’s continental plates and may be evidence of a fundamental change in tectonic processes. However, we are currently working with a very small dataset and need further studies to establish if this is a global phenomenon.’

Images

Figure 1: Gem quality diamond from Letlhakane, containing multiple orange garnets. Credit: M. Gress, VU Amsterdam
http://www.europlanet-eu.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/diamond_inclusions_fig1.jpeg

Figure 2: Close up of multiple orange garnet inclusions in gem quality diamond from Letlhakane. Credit: M. Gress, VU Amsterdam
http://www.europlanet-eu.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/diamond_inclusions_fig2.jpg

Figure 3: A plate cut through the centre of a gem quality diamond from Letlhakane, containing multiple orange garnets and green clinopyroxenes. Fractures in the diamond caused by the laser cutting and subsequent polishing. Credit: M. Gress, VU Amsterdam
http://www.europlanet-eu.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/diamond_inclusions_fig3.jpeg

Figure 4: A selection of unprocessed inclusion-bearing gem quality diamonds from Letlhakane. The dark areas surrounding the shiny metal like inclusions (sulphide) are graphite in cracks that from due to the differential expansion of the sulphide and diamond when brought to the surface from a depth of over 150 km. Bottom left diamond contains an orange garnet and a green clinopyroxene. Credit: M. Gress, VU Amsterdam
http://www.europlanet-eu.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/diamond_inclusions_fig4.jpeg

Figure 5: An orange garnet exposed at a broken diamond surface. Note the well-developed crystal face at the top left that implies that the diamond imposed its crystal form on the garnet during growth of the garnet. Credit: M. Gress, VU Amsterdam
http://www.europlanet-eu.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/diamond_inclusions_fig5.jpg

Figure 6: A composite of 9 catholuminescence images recording the growth history in an individual gem quality diamond 3 mm in diameter. The general tree ring structure defined by the different blue colours record variations in the nitrogen content of the diamond. Black equates to less than 10 parts per million and the brightest colours to ~500 ppm. The diamond has a complex history with multiple periods of growth. The irregular centre is surrounded by regular but rounded growth zones due to the diamond suffering resorption. This occurs when a diamond is eaten away by fluids deep in the Earth’s interior (> 150 km). Dating of inclusions from different growth zones allows the time taken for diamond growth to be determined. Credit: M. Gress, VU Amsterdam
http://www.europlanet-eu.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/catholuminescence_composite.jpg

Further Information

‘Dated eclogitic diamond growth zones reveal variable recycling of crustal carbon through time’, S. Timmerman, J.M. Koornneef, I.L. Chinn & G.R. Davies. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 463, 1 April 2017, Pages 178–188
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X17300614

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the 10 European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant agreement no. 319209. J Koornneef received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 654208 (Europlanet 2020 RI).

Science Contact

Gareth R. Davies
VU University
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
g.r.davies@vu.nl
+31 205987329

Media Contact

Anita Heward
Europlanet Media Centre
anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org
+44 7756 034243

About Europlanet

Currently Europlanet 2020 Research Infrastructure has an open call for users to apply to use a variety of field and laboratory facilities; see details at: http://www.europlanet-2020-ri.eu/research-infrastructure/field-lab-visits

Europlanet project website: www.europlanet-2020-ri.eu

Europlanet outreach website: www.europlanet-eu.org

Follow on Twitter via @europlanetmedia

DPS-EPSC 2016: Going Out in a Blaze of Glory: Cassini’s Grand Finale

October 20, 2016

With the conclusion of the international Cassini mission set for September 15, 2017, the spacecraft is poised to soon begin a thrilling two-part endgame.

Cassini will enter the first part of this denouement on November 30, 2016, when the spacecraft begins a series of 20 passes just beyond the outer edge of the main rings. These weekly loops around Saturn are called the F ring orbits, and they send the spacecraft high above and below the planet’s poles. During these orbits, Cassini will approach to within 4,850 miles (7,800 kilometers) of the center of the narrow F ring, with its wispy and ever-changing structure.

“During the F ring orbits we expect incredible views of the rings, along with the small moons and other structures embedded in them, as we’ve never seen them before,” said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. “The last time we got this close to the rings was during arrival at Saturn in 2004, and we saw only their backlit side. Now we have dozens of opportunities to examine their structure at extremely high resolution on both sides.”

Cassini’s final phase — called the Grand Finale — begins in earnest in April 2017. A close flyby of Saturn’s giant moon Titan will reshape the spacecraft’s orbit so that, instead of passing outside the rings, it passes through the gap between the rings and the planet. The spacecraft is expected to make 22 plunges through this gap — an unexplored space only about 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) wide — beginning with its first dive on April 27.

During the Grand Finale, Cassini will make the closest-ever observations of Saturn, mapping the planet’s magnetic and gravity fields with exquisite precision and returning ultra-close views of the atmosphere. Scientists also hope to gain new insights into Saturn’s interior structure, the precise length of a Saturn day, and the total mass of the rings — which may finally help settle the question of their age. The spacecraft will also directly analyze dust-sized particles in the main rings and sample the outer reaches of Saturn’s atmosphere — both first-time measurements for the mission.

The mission will come to a dramatic end on Sept. 15, 2017, after more than 13 years studying Saturn, its rings and moons — and nearly 20 years since launch. On that day, Cassini will dive into Saturn, returning data about the chemical composition of the planet’s upper atmosphere until its signal is lost, after which the spacecraft to burn up like a meteor.

“While it will be sad to say goodbye, Cassini’s final act is like getting a whole new mission in its own right,” said Spilker today at the joint 48th meeting of the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences and 11th European Planetary Science Congress in Pasadena, California. “The scientific value of the F ring and Grand Finale orbits is so compelling that you could imagine an entire mission to Saturn designed around what we’re about to do.”

Contacts:
Preston Dyches
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
+1 818-354-7013
preston.dyches@jpl.nasa.gov

Shantanu Naidu
DPS Press Office
+1 917-373-8840
dpspress@aas.org

Further information:

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency.

The joint 48th meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) and 11th European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) in Pasadena, California, is second time DPS and EPSC have been joined into one meeting. The goal of the joint meeting is to strengthen international scientific collaboration in all areas of planetary science. This is the first time that EPSC, which provides the dissemination platform for the Europlanet 2020 Research Infrastructure, is held outside Europe. For more information, see: https://aas.org/meetings/dps48. Follow: #dpsepsc, @DPSMeeting, @europlanetmedia, and @AAS_Press on Twitter.