Related papers: Tall Towers on the Moon
Each of the giant planets within the Solar System has large moons but none of these moons have their own moons (which we call ${\it submoons}$). By analogy with studies of moons around short-period exoplanets, we investigate the…
New and complimentary constraints are placed on the spin-independent interactions of dark matter with baryonic matter. Similar to the Earth and other planets, the Moon does not have any major internal heat source. We derive constraints by…
Detecting massive satellites of extrasolar planets has now become feasible, which led naturally to questions about their habitability. In a previous study we presented constraints on the habitability of moons from stellar and planetary…
Three principal concepts regarding lunar formation have been examined: the accretion hypothesis, the mega-impact theory, and the multi-impact model. The multi-impact model amalgamates the salient facets of the mega-impact theory and the…
Beyond Earth-like planets, moons can be habitable, too. No exomoons have been securely detected, but they could be extremely abundant. Young Jovian planets can be as hot as late M stars, with effective temperatures of up to 2000 K. Transits…
The formation of electric potential over lunar magnetized regions is essential for understanding fundamental lunar science, for understanding the lunar environment, and for planning human exploration on the Moon. A large positive electric…
A central question surrounding possible human exploration of Mars is whether crewed missions can be supported by available technologies using in situ resources. Here, we show that photovoltaics-based power systems would be adequate and…
Of the few thousand discovered exoplanets, a significant number orbit in the habitable zone of their star. Many of them are gas giants lacking a rocky surface and solid water reservoirs necessary for life as we know it. The search for…
We formulated tidal decay lifetimes for hypothetical moons orbiting extrasolar planets with both lunar and stellar tides. Previous work neglected the effect of lunar tides on planet rotation, and are therefore applicable only to systems in…
Small primordial black holes could be captured by rocky planets or asteroids, consume their liquid cores from inside and leave hollow structures. We calculate the surface density and surface tension of a hollow structure around a black hole…
The intense activity of cratering on the Moon and in the inner regions of the solar system was accomplished during the first 10^9 years [1]. Occasionally, some impact events occur even nowadays. In Section 1, we treat, from a historical…
Saturn's moon Iapetus has an equatorial ridge system, which may be as high as 20 km, that may have formed by endogenic forces, such as tectonic and convective forces, or exogenic processes such as debris infall. We use high-resolution…
One of the key differences between normal neutron and (bare) quark stars is relevant to the fact that the former are gravitationally bound while the latter self-confined unless their masses approach the maximum mass. This difference results…
The lunar surface is extremely harsh and current mineral processing and metal extraction technologies are not adequately equipped to address this environment. In this paper we review the metals available for extraction and conditions at the…
By volume, more than 99% of the solar system has not been imaged at radio frequencies. Almost all of this space (the solar wind) can be traversed by fast electrons producing radio emissions at frequencies lower than the terrestrial…
To take advantage of the distinctive nature of the lunar environment with respect to heat flow due to the low thermal conductivity of lunar soil and the moon's negligible atmosphere, thermoelectric generators have been identified as a…
The habitability of exoplanets can be strongly influenced by the presence of an exomoon, and in some cases the exomoon itself could be a possible place for life to develop. For moons outside of the habitable zone, significant tidal heating…
The Moon is our future. It may seem like a chimera with a projected cost in excess of 100 billion\$, and counting, dispensed on ARTEMIS with little to show to date. However it is the ideal site for the largest telescopes that we can dream…
Accurate estimation of cratering asymmetry on the Moon is crucial for understanding Moon evolution history. Early studies of cratering asymmetry have omitted the contributions of high lunar obliquity and inclination. Here, we include lunar…
Mars lacks a substantial magnetic field; as a result, the solar wind ablates the Martian atmosphere, making the surface uninhabitable. Therefore, any terraforming attempt will require an artificial Martian magnetic shield. The fundamental…