Effects of charged particles on the surfaces of the satellites of Uranus

Details Effects of charged particles on the surfaces of the satellites of Uranus Effects of charged particles on the surfaces of the satellites of Uranus

Dec 1987

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987jgr....9214949l&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 92, Dec. 30, 1987, p. 14949-14957.

Physics

19

Color, Ice, Molecular Ions, Radiation Trapping, Satellite Surfaces, Uranus Satellites, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Charged Particles, Energy Spectra, Methane, Voyager 2 Spacecraft, Water

Scientific paper

Measurements of the ion and electron fluxes in the Uranian magnetosphere made by the low-energy charged-particle (LECP) instrument on the Voyager 2 spacecraft are used to discuss possible particle-induced modifications of the moons and rings of Uranus. The energy spectra of the orbit-integrated particle dosages expected on the major moons are derived from the LECP measurements of particle intensities and pitch-angle distributions. Laboratory-derived results on charged-particle-induced chemical and physical modifications of H2O, CH4, CO, and CO2 ions are used. The erosion rates of water ice and the darkening of organic ices on the surfaces of the moons are estimated from the orbit-integrated fluxes. Significant darkening of fresh organic ices to depths of the order of 1 micron is expected to occur for times as short as a few thousand years. Darkening at deeper depths will occur at increasingly longer times. The implications of these results for the interpretation of remote-sensing data are discussed.

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