Related papers: The composition of Mars
We have measured the concentration, isotopic composition and thermal release profiles of Mercury (Hg) in a suite of meteorites, including both chondrites and achondrites. We find large variations in Hg concentration between different…
To first order, the Earth as well as other rocky planets in the Solar System and rocky exoplanets orbiting other stars, are refractory pieces of the stellar nebula out of which they formed. To estimate the chemical composition of rocky…
The layered polar caps of Mars have long been thought to be related to variations in orbit and axial tilt. We dynamically link Mars's past climate variations with the stratigraphy and isotopic composition of its ice by modeling the exchange…
The atmospheric C/O ratio of exoplanets is widely used to constrain their formation. To guarantee that the C/O ratio provides robust information, we need to accurately quantify the amount of C and O in exoplanetary atmospheres. In the case…
Because of their common origin, it was assumed that the composition of planet building blocks should, to a first order, correlate with stellar atmospheric composition, especially for refractory elements. In fact, information on the relative…
To evaluate the feasibility of measuring differences in bulk composition among carbonaceous meteorite parent bodies from an asteroid or comet orbiter, we present the results of a performance simulation of an orbital gamma-ray spectroscopy…
The origin of Phobos and Deimos is still an open question. Currently, none of the three proposed scenarios for their origin (intact capture of two distinct outer solar system small bodies, co-accretion with Mars, and accretion within an…
The atmospheres of hot rocky exoplanets (HREs), should they persist, are products of interactions with underlying magma oceans. Spectra collected by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) hint at a CO/CO$_2$-rich atmosphere on the HRE 55…
Observations of small extrasolar planets with a wide range of densities imply a variety of planetary compositions and structures. Currently, the only technique to measure the bulk composition of extrasolar planetary systems is the analysis…
The compositions of the Solar System terrestrial bodies are fractionated from that of the Sun, where elemental depletions in the bulk rocky bodies correlate with element volatility, expressed in its 50% condensation temperature. However,…
The distribution and isotopic composition of volatile elements in planetary materials holds a key to the characterization of the early solar system and the Moon's formation. The Moon and Earth are chemically and isotopically very similar.…
Lithium is overabundant in cosmic rays because protons impact on carbon and oxygen nuclei and fission them. Among the products of this fission is lithium. Given this preference for carbon and oxygen atoms, in this work I propose that in an…
Models of terrestrial planet formation for our solar system have been successful in producing planets with masses and orbits similar to those of Venus and Earth. However, these models have generally failed to produce Mars-sized objects…
Aspects of our Solar System's formation are deduced from observations of the chemical nature of matter. Massive cores are indicative of terrestrial-planet-composition-similarity to enstatite chondrite meteorites, whose highly-reduced state…
We present a map of the near subsurface hydrogen distribution on Mars, based on epithermal neutron data from the Mars Odyssey Neutron Spectrometer. The map's spatial resolution is approximately improved two-fold via a new form of the pixon…
The ongoing discussion about the atomic chemical composition of the Sun is commented on. The main focus in this review is on the deviation of the solar composition from that of most other solar-type stars in that its ratio of volatiles…
Modeling the interior of a planet is difficult because the small number of measured parameters is insufficient to constrain the many variables involved in describing the interior structure and composition. One solution is to invoke…
There is a degeneracy in the interior structure between a planet that has no atmosphere and a small Fe content, and a planet that has a thin atmosphere and a higher core mass fraction. We present a self-consistent interior-atmosphere model…
Core segregation and atmosphere formation are two of the major processes that redistribute the volatile elements-hydrogen (H), carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and sulfur (S)-in and around rocky planets during their formation. The volatile…
The elemental composition of the gas and dust in a protoplanetary disk influences the compositions of the planets that form in it. We use the Molecules with ALMA at Planet-forming Scales (MAPS) data to constrain the elemental composition of…