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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/436618a | DOI Listing |
Space Sci Rev
May 2022
Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA.
Interstellar pickup ions are an ubiquitous and thermodynamically important component of the solar wind plasma in the heliosphere. These PUIs are born from the ionization of the interstellar neutral gas, consisting of hydrogen, helium, and trace amounts of heavier elements, in the solar wind as the heliosphere moves through the local interstellar medium. As cold interstellar neutral atoms become ionized, they form an energetic ring beam distribution comoving with the solar wind.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhilos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci
December 2020
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA.
Newly processed global imaging and topographic mapping of Uranus's five major satellites reveal differences and similarities to mid-sized satellites at Saturn and Pluto. Three modes of internal heat redistribution are recognized. The broad similarity of Miranda's three oval resurfacing zones to those mapped on Enceladus and (subtly) on Dione are likely due to antipodal diapiric upwelling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Space Res
December 2000
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park 20742, USA.
In the context of prebiotic chemistry in space, some of the outer planetary objects display H, C, N and O rich chemistry similar to the one in the biosphere of Earth. Of particular interest are Saturn's moon, Titan; Neptune's moon, Triton; and Pluto where extreme cold conditions prevail. Identifications of chemical species on these objects (surfaces and atmospheres) is essential to a better understanding of the radiation induced chemical reactions occurring thereon.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe atmospheres of bodies in the outer solar system are distinct in composition from those of the inner planets and provide a complementary set of clues to the origin of the solar system. This article reviews current understanding of the origin and evolution of these atmospheres on the basis of abundances of key molecular species. The systematic enrichment of methane and deuterated species from Jupiter to Neptune is consistent with formation models in which significant infall of icy and rocky planetesimals accompanies the formation of giant planets.
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