Related papers: The composition of Io - a late confirmation
The tenuous atmospheres of the Galilean satellites are sourced from their surfaces and produced by a combination of plasma-surface interactions and thermal processes. Though thin, these atmospheres can be studied via their auroral…
The radial-dependent positions of snowlines of abundant oxygen- and carbon-bearing molecules in protoplanetary discs will result in systematic radial variations in the C/O ratios in the gas and ice. This variation is proposed as a tracer of…
In the 2 March 1979 issue of Science 203 S. J. Peale, P. Cassen and R. T. Reynolds published their paper "Melting of Io by tidal dissipation" indicating "the dissipation of tidal energy in Jupiter's moon Io is likely to have melted a major…
The analysis of the chemical composition of galaxies provides fundamental insights into their evolution. This holds true also in the case of the outer regions of spiral galaxies. This Chapter presents the observational data, accumulated in…
Probing the interiors of the gas giant planets in our Solar System is not an easy task. It requires a set of accurate measurements combined with theoretical models that are used to infer the planetary composition and its depth dependence.…
In 1614, the German astronomer Simon Mayr published his claim to have discovered the satellites of Jupiter. Writing in the treatise Mundus Jovialis, Mayr made his assertion in a convoluted but unequivocal manner, earning the displeasure of…
Heavy stable charged particles can exist, hidden from us in bound atomlike states. Models with new stable charged leptons and quarks give rise to realistic composite dark matter scenarios. Significant or even dominant component of O-helium…
Tremendous progress in the science of extrasolar planets has been achieved since the discovery of a Jupiter orbiting the nearby Sun-like star 51 Pegasi in 1995. Theoretical models have now reached enough maturity to predict the…
The flow of material from Io's volcanoes into the Io plasma torus, out into the magnetosphere, and along field lines into Jupiter's upper atmosphere is not adequately understood. The lack of observations of spatial and temporal variations…
The obliquity of the Galilean satellites is small but not yet observed. Studies of cycloidal lineaments and strike-slip fault patterns on Europa suggest that Europa's obliquity is about 1 deg, although theoretical models of the obliquity…
Motivated by recent spectroscopic observations suggesting that atmospheres of some extrasolar giant-planets are carbon-rich, i.e. carbon/oxygen ratio (C/O) $\ge$ 1, we find that the whole set of compositional data for Jupiter is consistent…
The origin and properties of the cosmic radiation are one of the most intriguing question in modern astrophysics. The precise measurement of the chemical composition and energy spectra of the cosmic rays provides fundamental insight into…
I report a model for the formation of Saturn's family of mid-sized icy moons to coincide with the first flypast of Rhea by the Cassini Orbiter spacecraft on 26 November 2005. It is proposed that these moons had condensed from a concentric…
The Nice model of the dynamical instability and migration of the giant planets can explain many properties of the present Solar System, and can be used to constrain its early architecture. In the jumping-Jupiter version of the Nice model,…
Auroral emissions provide opportunities to study the tenuous atmospheres of Solar System satellites, revealing the presence and abundance of molecular and atomic species as well as their spatial and temporal variability. Far-UV aurorae have…
We introduce a new method to perform preliminary orbit determination for space debris on low Earth orbits (LEO). This method works with tracks of radar observations: each track is composed by $n\ge 4$ topocentric position vectors per pass…
The era of high-precision astrometry has dawned upon us. The potential of Gaia $\mu$as-level precision in positional measurements is about to be unleashed in the field of extrasolar planetary systems. The Gaia data hold the promise for much…
The origin of the regular satellites ties directly to planetary formation in that the satellites form in gas and dust disks around the giant planets and may be viewed as mini-solar systems, involving a number of closely related underlying…
Many exoplanets have been observed close to their parent stars with orbital periods of a few days. As for the major satellites of the Jovian planets, the figure of these planets is expected to be strongly shaped by tidal forces. However,…
Stellar occultations provide a powerful tool to explore objects of the outer solar system. The Gaia mission now provides milli-arcsec accuracy on the predictions of these events and makes possible observations that were previously…