arXiv subjects

E. Quirico

Publications and source records attributed to E. Quirico.

22 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Pluto's global surface composition through pixel-by-pixel Hapke modeling of New Horizons Ralph/LEISA data

On July 14th 2015, NASA's New Horizons mission gave us an unprecedented detailed view of the Pluto system. The complex compositional diversity of Pluto's encounter hemisphere was revealed by the Ralph/LEISA infrared spectrometer on board of New Horizons. We present compositional maps of Pluto defining the spatial distribution of the abundance and textural properties of the volatiles methane and nitrogen ices and non-volatiles water ice and tholin. These results are obtained by applying a pixel-by-pixel Hapke radiative transfer model to the LEISA scans. Our analysis focuses mainly on the large scale latitudinal variations of methane and nitrogen ices and aims at setting observational constraints to volatile transport models. Specifically, we find three latitudinal bands: the first, enriched in methane, extends from the pole to 55deg N, the second dominated by nitrogen, continues south to 35deg N, and the third, composed again mainly of methane, reaches 20deg N. We demonstrate that the distribution of volatiles across these surface units can be explained by differences in insolation over the past few decades. The latitudinal pattern is broken by Sputnik Planitia, a large reservoir of volatiles, with nitrogen playing the most important role. The physical properties of methane and nitrogen in this region are suggestive of the presence of a cold trap or possible volatile stratification. Furthermore our modeling results point to a possible sublimation transport of nitrogen from the northwest edge of Sputnik Planitia toward the south.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2016

Surface Compositions Across Pluto and Charon

The New Horizons spacecraft mapped colors and infrared spectra across the encounter hemispheres of Pluto and Charon. The volatile ices CH$_4$, CO, and N$_2$, that dominate Pluto's surface, have complicated spatial distributions resulting from sublimation, condensation, and glacial flow acting over seasonal and geological timescales. Pluto's H$_2$O ice "bedrock" is also mapped, with isolated outcrops occurring in a variety of settings. Pluto's surface exhibits complex regional color diversity associated with its distinct provinces. Charon's color pattern is simpler, dominated by neutral low latitudes and a reddish northern polar region. Charon near infrared spectra reveal highly localized areas with strong NH$_3$ absorption tied to small craters with relatively fresh-appearing impact ejecta.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2016

Inflight Radiometric Calibration of New Horizons' Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC)

We discuss two semi-independent calibration techniques used to determine the in-flight radiometric calibration for the New Horizons' Multi-spectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC). The first calibration technique compares the observed stellar flux to modeled values. The difference between the two provides a calibration factor that allows the observed flux to be adjusted to the expected levels for all observations, for each detector. The second calibration technique is a channel-wise relative radiometric calibration for MVIC's blue, near-infrared and methane color channels using observations of Charon and scaling from the red channel stellar calibration. Both calibration techniques produce very similar results (better than 7% agreement), providing strong validation for the techniques used. Since the stellar calibration can be performed without a color target in the field of view and covers all of MVIC's detectors, this calibration was used to provide the radiometric keywords delivered by the New Horizons project to the Planetary Data System (PDS). These keywords allow each observation to be converted from counts to physical units; a description of how these keywords were generated is included. Finally, mitigation techniques adopted for the gain drift observed in the near-infrared detector and one of the panchromatic framing cameras is also discussed.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2015

Hydrogen isotope exchanges between water and methanol in interstellar ices

The deuterium fractionation of gas-phase molecules in hot cores is believed to reflect the composition of interstellar ices. The deuteration of methanol is a major puzzle, however, because the isotopologue ratio [CH2DOH]/[CH3OD], which is predicted to be equal to 3 by standard grain chemistry models, is much larger (~20) in low-mass hot corinos and significantly lower (~1) in high-mass hot cores. This dichotomy in methanol deuteration between low-mass and massive protostars is currently not understood. In this study, we report a simplified rate equation model of the deuterium chemistry occurring in the icy mantles of interstellar grains. We apply this model to the chemistry of hot corinos and hot cores, with IRAS 16293-2422 and the Orion~KL Compact Ridge as prototypes, respectively. The chemistry is based on a statistical initial deuteration at low temperature followed by a warm-up phase during which thermal hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchanges occur between water and methanol. The exchange kinetics is incorporated using laboratory data. The [CH2DOH]/[CH3OD] ratio is found to scale inversely with the D/H ratio of water, owing to the H/D exchange equilibrium between the hydroxyl (-OH) functional groups of methanol and water. Our model is able to reproduce the observed [CH2DOH]/[CH3OD] ratios provided that the primitive fractionation of water ice [HDO]/[H2O] is ~ 2% in IRAS 16293-2422 and ~0.6% in Orion~KL. We conclude that the molecular D/H ratios measured in hot cores may not be representative of the original mantles because molecules with exchangeable deuterium atoms can equilibrate with water ice during the warm-up phase.

astro-ph.SR↗