Compositional Mapping of the Surfaces of Europa and Ganymede

Details Compositional Mapping of the Surfaces of Europa and Ganymede Compositional Mapping of the Surfaces of Europa and Ganymede

Oct 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010dps....42.4908g&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #42, #49.08; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.1004

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The determination of the global surface compositions of Europa and Ganymede is a prime objective of the Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM). Classical methods to analyze surfaces of airless planetary objects are IR and gamma ray spectroscopy, and neutron backscatter measurements. Here we present a complementary method to analyze dust particles as samples of planetary objects from which they were released. All airless moons and planets are exposed to the ambient meteoroid bombardment that erodes the surface and generates ejecta particles. The Galileo dust detector (Krueger et al., Icarus, 164, 170, 2003) discovered tenuous ejecta clouds around all Galilean satellites. In-situ mass spectroscopic analysis of these dust particles impacting onto a detector of an orbiting spacecraft reveals their composition. Depending on the altitude from which the dust measurements are taken, the position of origin on the surface can be determined with at least corresponding resolution. Since the detection rates are on the order of thousands per day, spatially resolved maps of the surface composition can be obtained. This `dust spectrometer’ approach provides key chemical and isotopic constraints for varying provinces on the surfaces, leading to better understanding of the body's geological evolution. Traces of mineral or organic components in an ice matrix can be identified and quantified even at low impact speeds >1 km/s. Compositional measurements by the Cassini Cosmic Dust Analyzer of ice grains emitted from Enceladus probed the deep interior of this satellite (Postberg et al., Nature, 459, 1098, 2009). New instrumentation has been developed that meet or exceeded the capabilities in sensitivity and mass resolution of all previous dust analyzers. The deployment of such dust analyzers on the Jupiter Europa Orbiter (JEO) and the Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter (JGO) missions will provide unprecedented information on the surface compositions of these satellites and their potential activity.

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