Related papers: Wind erosion on Mars and other small terrestrial p…
The solar wind upstream of Mars's bow shock can be described in terms of Alfv\'enic turbulence, with an incompressible energy cascade rate of $10^{-17}$ J m$^{-3}$ s$^{-1}$ at magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) scales. The solar wind has more…
Reconciling the geology of Mars with models of atmospheric evolution remains a major challenge. Martian geology is characterized by past evidence for episodic surface liquid water, and geochemistry indicating a slow and intermittent…
The upper atmospheres of Mars and Titan, as well as those on many other planetary bodies, exhibit significant density variations vs. altitude that are interpreted as gravity waves. Such data is then used to extract vertical temperature…
The mesoscale structure of aeolian sand transport determines a variety of natural phenomena studied in planetary and Earth science. We analyze it theoretically beyond the mean-field level, based on the grain-scale transport kinetics and…
The erosion of lunar soil by rocket exhaust plumes is investigated experimentally. This has identified the diffusion-driven flow in the bulk of the sand as an important but previously unrecognized mechanism for erosion dynamics. It has also…
The photoionization-driven evaporation of planetary atmospheres has emerged as a potentially fundamental process for planets on short period orbits. While 1-D studies have proven the effectiveness of stellar fluxes at altering the…
We investigate the transition of the solar wind turbulent cascade from MHD to sub-ion range by means of a detail comparison between in situ observations and hybrid numerical simulations. In particular we focus on the properties of the…
The TRAPPIST-1 planetary system is observationally favorable for studying if planets orbiting M stars can retain atmospheres and host habitable conditions. Recent JWST secondary eclipse observations of TRAPPIST-1 c rule out a thick \ch{CO2}…
Observations and simulations show that Mars' atmosphere has large seasonal variations. Total atmospheric density can have an order of magnitude latitudinal variation at exobase heights. By numerical simulations we show that these latitude…
First high-altitude observations of gravity wave (GW)-induced CO$_2$ density perturbations in the Martian thermosphere retrieved from NASA's NGIMS instrument on board the MAVEN satellite are presented and interpreted using the extended GW…
Mars lacks a global magnetic field, and instead possesses small-scale crustal magnetic fields, making its magnetic environment fundamentally different from intrinsic magnetospheres like those of Earth or Saturn. Here we report the discovery…
On Mars, fields of sand dunes contrast with the general cratered, rocky terrain commonly seen from orbit. Near the equator, in Gale Crater, images from the rover, Curiosity, also reveal order on smaller scales: ripples on dunes, and ground…
A three-dimensional, multifluid simulation of a giant planet's magnetospheric interaction with steady-state stellar wind from a Sun-like star was performed for four different orbital semi-major axes - 10, 5, 1 and 0.2 AU. We simulate the…
Mars lacks a global intrinsic dipole magnetic field, but its interaction with the solar wind generates a global induced magnetosphere. Until now, most studies have relied on single-spacecraft measurements, which could not simultaneously…
Context: According to theory, high-energy emission from the coronae of cool stars can severely erode the atmospheres of orbiting planets. No observational tests of the long term effects of erosion have yet been made. Aims: To analyze the…
Erosion by flowing water is one of the major forces shaping the surface of Earth. Studies in the last decade have shown, in particular, that the drainage region of rivers, where water is collected, exhibits scale invariant features…
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 present an assessment of the effects of stellar wind magnetic and mechanical components on the habitability of Earth-like exoplanets orbiting the inner and outer radii of the habitable zone (HZ) of M dwarfs. We consider stars with masses…
The ongoing discovery of terrestrial exoplanets accentuates the importance of studying planetary evolution for a wide range of initial conditions. We perform thermal evolution simulations for generic terrestrial planets with masses ranging…
Windblown sand creates multiscale bedforms on Earth, Mars, and other planetary bodies. According to conventional wisdom, decameter-scale dunes and decimeter-scale ripples emerge via distinct mechanisms on Earth: a hydrodynamic instability…