Related papers: Impact inducted surface heating by planetesimals o…
MESSENGER observations suggest a magma ocean formed on proto-Mercury, during which evaporation of metals and outgassing of C- and H-bearing volatiles produced an early atmosphere. Atmospheric escape subsequently occurred by plasma heating,…
The bolometric radiation from a central body is potentially a powerful driver of atmospheric escape from planets or satellites. When heated above their equilibrium temperatures those satellites, due to their low surface gravity, are be…
The Martian atmosphere experiences large diurnal variations due to the ~24.6 h planetary rotation and its low heat capacity. Understanding such variations on a planetary scale is limited due to the lack of observations, which are greatly…
The atmospheres of highly irradiated exoplanets are observed to undergo hydrodynamic escape. However, due to strong pressures, stellar winds can confine planetary atmospheres, reducing their escape. Here, we investigate under which…
The ion escape of Mars' CO$_2$ atmosphere caused by its dissociation products C and O atoms is {simulated} from present time to $\sim 4.1$ billion years ago (Ga) by {numerical models of the upper atmosphere and its interaction with the…
Aeolian sediment transport is observed to occur on Mars as well as other extraterrestrial environments, generating ripples and dunes as on Earth. The search for terrestrial analogues of planetary bedforms, as well as environmental…
Terraforming Mars can be evaluated with a set of system-level constraints linking (i) target pressures & compositions to required atmospheric inventories, (ii) target surface temperatures to the required radiative control, (iii) inventories…
With dozens of Jovian and super-Jovian exoplanets known to orbit their host stars in or near the stellar habitable zones, it has recently been suggested that moons the size of Mars could offer abundant surface habitats beyond the solar…
We use the Mars Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (MRAMS) to simulate lake storms on Mars, finding that intense localized precipitation will occur for lake size >=10^3 km^2. Mars has a low-density atmosphere, so deep convection can be…
Laboratory experiments show that dusty bodies in a gaseous environment eject dust particles if they are illuminated. We find that even more intense dust eruptions occur when the light source is turned off. We attribute this to a compression…
Reducing atmospheres have recently emerged as a promising scenario to warm the surface of early Mars enough to drive the formation of valley networks and other ancient aqueous features that have been detected so far on the surface of Mars.…
Since the first \emph{in-situ} measurements of the altitude profile of upper atmospheric density and composition carried out by the Viking lander missions during 1976, similar data were continuously gathered by MAVEN and MOM spacecraft…
CO2+H2 greenhouse warming has recently emerged as a promising scenario to sufficiently warm the early martian surface to allow the formation of valley networks and lakes. Here we present numerical 3-D global climate simulations of the early…
Lower atmospheric global dust storms affect the small- and large-scale weather and variability of the whole Martian atmosphere. Analysis of the CO$_2$ density data from the Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer instrument (NGIMS) on board…
Earth likely acquired much of its inventory of volatile elements during the main stage of its formation. Some of Earth's proto-atmosphere must therefore have survived the giant impacts, collisions between planet-sized bodies, that dominate…
Stellar rotation at early ages plays a crucial role in the survival of primordial atmospheres around Earth-mass exoplanets. Earth-like planets orbiting fast-rotating stars may undergo complete photoevaporation within the first few hundred…
The impact heat accumulated during the late stage of planetary accretion can melt a significant part or even the entire mantle of a terrestrial body, giving rise to a global magma ocean. [...] Assuming fractional crystallization of the…
Planetary habitability is in part determined by the atmospheric evolution of a planet; one key component of such evolution is escape of heavy ions to space. Ion loss processes are sensitive to the plasma environment of the planet, dictated…
Much of the water that once flowed on the surface of Mars was lost to space long ago, and the total amount lost remains unknown. Clues to the amount lost can be found by studying hydrogen (H) and its isotope deuterium (D), which are…
Given rapid photodissociation and photodegradation, the recently discovered organics in the Martian subsurface and atmosphere were probably delivered in geologically recent times. Possible parent bodies are C-type asteroids, comets, and…