Related papers: Composition, Structure and Origin of the Moon
Hundreds of exoplanets between 1-1.8 times the size of the Earth have been discovered on close in orbits. However, these planets show such a diversity in densities that some appear to be made entirely of iron, while others appear to host…
The timeline of the lunar bombardment in the first Gy of the Solar System remains unclear. Some basin-forming impacts occurred 3.9-3.7Gy ago. Many other basins formed before, but their exact ages are not precisely known. There are two…
Understanding the Moon's formation mechanism is necessary for studying not only the Moon itself, but also the evolution, formation, habitability, and structure of other planets and the moons in the Solar system and in extrasolar planetary…
One of the unique aspects of Earth is that it has a fractionally large Moon, which is thought to have formed from a Moon-forming disk generated by a giant impact. The Moon stabilizes the Earth's spin axis at least by several degrees and…
Recent works have shown that Martian moons Phobos and Deimos may have accreted within a giant impact-generated disk whose composition is about an equal mixture of Martian material and impactor material. Just after the giant impact, the…
Isotope analyses on meteorites, planets, lunar samples, the solar wind, and solar flares show that heterogeneous debris of a supernova (SN) that exploded here 5 Gy ago formed the solar system. The Sun formed on the collapsed SN core. Iron…
The solar chemical composition is an important ingredient in our understanding of the formation, structure and evolution of both the Sun and our solar system. Furthermore, it is an essential reference standard against which the elemental…
The first detailed chemical abundance analysis of the M dwarf (M4.0) exoplanet-hosting star Ross 128 is presented here, based upon near-infrared (1.5--1.7 \micron) high-resolution ($R$$\sim$22,500) spectra from the SDSS-APOGEE survey. We…
We study the origin and escape of catastrophically outgassed volatiles (H$_2$O, CO$_2$) from exomoons with Earth-like densities and masses of $0.1M_{\oplus}$, $0.5M_{\oplus}$ and $1M_{\oplus}$ orbiting an extra-solar gas giant inside the…
Mercury's high uncompressed mass density suggests that the planet is largely composed of iron, either bound within metal (mainly Fe-Ni), or iron sulfide. Recent results from the MESSENGER mission to Mercury imply a low temperature history…
The microwave radiometer aboard the Juno spacecraft provided a measurement of the water abundance found to range between 1 and 5.1 times the protosolar abundance of oxygen in the near-equatorial region of Jupiter. Here, we aim to combine…
The formation of Saturn is modeled by detailed numerical simulations according to the core-nucleated accretion scenario. Previous models are enhanced to include the dissolution of accreting planetesimals, composed of water ice, rock, and…
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,…
Evidence is now compelling that most externally-polluted white dwarfs derive their heavy atoms by accretion from asteroids - the building blocks of rocky planets. Optical and ultraviolet spectroscopy of a small sample of suitable white…
Isotopic anomalies provide a means of probing the materials responsible for the formation of terrestrial planets. By analyzing new iron isotopic anomaly data from Martian meteorites and drawing insights from published data for O, Ca, Ti,…
We determine the proportions of two mixed crater populations distinguishable by size distributions on the Moon. A "multiple power-law" model is built to formulate crater size distribution $N(D) \propto D^{-\alpha}$ whose slope $\alpha$…
Knowledge of both the mass and radius of an exoplanet allows us to estimate its mean density, and therefore its composition. Exoplanets seem to fill a very large parameter space in terms of mass and composition, and unlike the…
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…
Dynamical models of planet formation coupled with cosmochemical data from martian meteorites show that Mars' isotopic composition is distinct from that of Earth. Reconciliation of formation models with meteorite data require that Mars grew…
Influence of the meteoroid bombardment on properties of the lunar exosphere has been confirmed. Quick increase in the zenith column density of Na atoms above the lunar north pole on August 13, 2009 at 0-1 UT is detected and explained by…