New Horizons Visible and Infrared Imaging of the Icy Galilean Satellites

Details New Horizons Visible and Infrared Imaging of the Icy Galilean Satellites New Horizons Visible and Infrared Imaging of the Icy Galilean Satellites

Oct 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007dps....39.1506g&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #39, #15.06; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.437

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Scientific paper

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft observed Jupiter's large icy satellites Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto during its flyby in 2007 February and March. The probe performed infrared spectral imaging at 1.25 - 2.5 µm wavelengths with its LEISA instrument, with higher spectral resolution than was achieved by Galileo or Cassini. We use the LEISA data to map H2O ice absorption on the satellites. We also map the hydrated "non-ice" contaminants on Europa's surface, bolstering the case for an exogenous source of that material. The New Horizons data fill large spatial gaps in previous compositional maps of Ganymede's Jupiter-facing hemisphere, and the new data show a strong correlation between ice absorption and visual albedo. The sub-Jupiter hemisphere of Callisto was mapped at 3 different phase angles, in order to search for spectral effects of phase and time of day.
Panchromatic images were captured by the LORRI instrument, with 15 to 30 km/pixel spatial resolutions. Images of Europa's afternoon terminator extend knowledge of a global pattern of arcuate troughs suggestive of true polar wander of Europa's ice shell. Photometry from the LORRI images, especially at large solar phase angles, fills in gaps in Europa's solar phase curve and shows that the satellite's surface scatters light more isotropically than other icy satellites.
We thank the entire New Horizons mission team and our colleagues on the New Horizons science team. New Horizons is funded by NASA, whose financial support we gratefully acknowledge.

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