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1. Enantioselective three-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatographic determination of amino acids in the Hayabusa2 returned samples from the asteroid Ryugu

Author: Aogu Furusho, Chiharu Ishii, Takeyuki Akita, Mai Oyaide, Masashi Mita, Hiroshi Naraoka, Yoshinori Takano, Jason P. Dworkin, Yasuhiro Oba, Toshiki Koga, Kazuhiko Fukushima, Dan Aoki, Minako Hashiguchi, Hajime Mita, Yoshito Chikaraishi, Naohiko Ohkouchi, Nanako O. Ogawa, Saburo Sakai, Daniel P. Glavin, Jamie E. Elsila, Eric T. Parker, José C. Aponte, Hannah L. McLain, Francois-Regis Orthous-Daunay, Véronique Vuitton, Roland Thissen, Cédric Wolters, Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin, Alexander Ruf, Junko Isa, Norbert Hertkorn, John M. Eiler, Toshihiro Yoshimura, Haruna Sugahara, Heather V. Graham, Yoshihiro Furukawa, Daisuke Araoka, Satoru Tanaka, Takaaki Yoshikawa, Fumie Kabashima, Kazunori Sasaki, Hajime Sato, Tomoya Yamazaki, Morihiko Onose, Mayu Morita, Yuki Kimura, Kuniyuki Kano, Junken Aoki, Kosuke Fujishima, Shin-ichiro Nomura, Shogo Tachibana, Tomoki Nakamura, Takaaki Noguchi, Ryuji Okazaki, Hikaru Yabuta, Hisayoshi Yurimoto, Kanako Sakamoto, Toru Yada, Masahiro Nishimura, Aiko Nakato, Akiko Miyazaki, Kasumi Yogata, Masanao Abe, Tomohiro Usui, Makoto Yoshikawa, Takanao Saiki, Satoshi Tanaka, Fuyuto Terui, Satoru Nakazawa, Tatsuaki Okada, Sei-ichiro Watanabe, Yuichi Tsuda, and Kenji Hamase
Subjects: Amino acids, Enantiomer separation, Three-dimensional HPLC, Meteorite, Asteroid, Hayabusa2, Analytical chemistry, QD71-142
Abstract: The chirality of amino acids in extraterrestrial materials may provide an insight into the origin of the essential l-enantiopure amino acids in the terrestrial biosphere. In 2020, the Hayabusa2 mission succeeded in bringing back surface materials from the C-type asteroid (162173) Ryugu to the Earth. Amino acids were one of the targeted organic molecules to be studied in the Ryugu samples. To analyze the various structural isomers of amino acids, which were expected to be present, from the limited amount of the returned samples, the development of a highly-sensitive and selective analytical method was necessary. In the present study, a three-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography (3D-HPLC) system has been developed for the enantioselective determination of five proteinogenic and three non-proteinogenic amino acids in the Ryugu samples, in which amino acids in the sample were separated by reversed-phase, anion-exchange and enantioselective columns after the fluorescence derivatization with 4-fluoro-7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiozole. The applicability of the analytical system to the extraterrestrial samples was evaluated by analyzing several types of carbonaceous meteorites before applying the system to the Ryugu samples. In the analysis of the Ryugu samples, all of the target amino acids were successfully determined quantitatively. Non-proteinogenic amino acids including 2-amino-n-butyric acid, isovaline and norvaline, rarely present in the terrestrial environment, were found as almost racemic mixtures with 47.1 to 55.2%l.
Published: 2024
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2. The spatial distribution of soluble organic matter and their relationship to minerals in the asteroid (162173) Ryugu

Author: Minako Hashiguchi, Dan Aoki, Kazuhiko Fukushima, Hiroshi Naraoka, Yoshinori Takano, Jason P. Dworkin, Karin E. Dworkin, José C. Aponte, Jamie E. Elsila, John M. Eiler, Yoshihiro Furukawa, Aogu Furusho, Daniel P. Glavin, Heather V. Graham, Kenji Hamase, Norbert Hertkorn, Junko Isa, Toshiki Koga, Hannah L. McLain, Hajime Mita, Yasuhiro Oba, Nanako O. Ogawa, Naohiko Ohkouchi, Francois-Regis Orthous-Daunay, Eric T. Parker, Alexander Ruf, Saburo Sakai, Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin, Haruna Sugahara, Roland Thissen, Véronique Vuitton, Cédric Wolters, Toshihiro Yoshimura, Hisayoshi Yurimoto, Tomoki Nakamura, Takaaki Noguchi, Ryuji Okazaki, Hikaru Yabuta, Kanako Sakamoto, Shogo Tachibana, Toru Yada, Masahiro Nishimura, Aiko Nakato, Akiko Miyazaki, Kasumi Yogata, Masanao Abe, Tomohiro Usui, Makoto Yoshikawa, Takanao Saiki, Satoshi Tanaka, Fuyuto Terui, Satoru Nakazawa, Sei-ichiro Watanabe, and Yuichi Tsuda
Subjects: Ryugu, Hayabusa2, Spatial distribution of soluble organic compounds, DESI-HRMS imaging, ToF–SIMS analysis, Geography. Anthropology. Recreation, Geodesy, QB275-343, Geology, QE1-996.5
Abstract: Abstract We performed in-situ analysis on a ~ 1 mm-sized grain A0080 returned by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft from near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu to investigate the relationship of soluble organic matter (SOM) to minerals. Desorption electrospray ionization-high resolution mass spectrometry (DESI-HRMS) imaging mapped more than 200 CHN, CHO, CHO–Na (sodium adducted), and CHNO soluble organic compounds. A heterogeneous spatial distribution was observed for different compound classes of SOM as well as among alkylated homologues on the sample surface. The A0080 sample showed mineralogy more like an Ivuna-type (CI) carbonaceous chondrite than other meteorites. It contained two different lithologies, which are either rich (lithology 1) or poor (lithology 2) in magnetite, pyrrhotite, and dolomite. CHN compounds were more concentrated in lithology 1 than in lithology 2; on the other hand, CHO, CHO–Na, and CHNO compounds were distributed in both lithologies. Such different spatial distribution of SOM is likely the result of interaction of the SOM with minerals, during precipitation of the SOM via fluid activity, or could be due to difference in transportation efficiencies of SOMs in aqueous fluid. Organic-related ions measured by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF–SIMS) did not coincide with the spatial distribution revealed by DESI-HRMS imaging. This result may be because the different ionization mechanism between DESI and SIMS, or indicate that the ToF–SIMS data would be mainly derived from methanol-insoluble organic matter in A0080. In the Orgueil meteorite, such relationship between altered minerals and SOM distributions was not observed by DESI-HRMS analysis and field-emission scanning electron microscopy, which would result from differences of SOM formation processes and sequent alteration process on the parent bodies or even on the Earth. Alkylated homologues of CHN compounds were identified in A0080 by DESI-HRMS imaging as observed in the Murchison meteorite, but not from the Orgueil meteorite. These compounds with a large C number were enriched in Murchison fragments with abundant carbonate grains. In contrast, such relationship was not observed in A0080, implying different formation or growth mechanisms for the alkylated CHN compounds by interaction with fluid and minerals on the Murchison parent body and asteroid Ryugu. Graphical Abstract
Published: 2023
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3. The Role of Ultrahigh Resolution Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometry (FT-MS) in Astrobiology-Related Research: Analysis of Meteorites and Tholins

Author: Árpád Somogyi, Roland Thissen, Francois-Régis Orthous-Daunay, and Véronique Vuitton
Subjects: origin of life, prebiotic material, ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry, Fourier transform (FT), Orbitrap, ion cyclotron resonance (ICR), chemical compositions, isomeric structures, Biology (General), QH301-705.5, Chemistry, QD1-999
Abstract: It is an important but also a challenging analytical problem to understand the chemical composition and structure of prebiotic organic matter that is present in extraterrestrial materials. Its formation, evolution and content in the building blocks (“seeds”) for more complex molecules, such as proteins and DNA, are key questions in the field of exobiology. Ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry is one of the best analytical techniques that can be applied because it provides reliable information on the chemical composition and structure of individual components of complex organic mixtures. Prebiotic organic material is delivered to Earth by meteorites or generated in laboratories in simulation (model) experiments that mimic space or atmospheric conditions. Recent representative examples for ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry studies using Fourier-transform (FT) mass spectrometers such as Orbitrap and ion cyclotron resonance (ICR) mass spectrometers are shown and discussed in the present article, including: (i) the analysis of organic matter of meteorites; (ii) modeling atmospheric processes in ICR cells; and (iii) the structural analysis of laboratory made tholins that might be present in the atmosphere and surface of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.
Published: 2016
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4. Soluble Organic Molecules in Samples of the Carbonaceous Asteroid (162173) Ryugu

Author: Hiroshi Naraoka, Yoshinori Takano, Jason P Dworkin, Yasuhiro Oba, Kenji Hamase, Aogu Furusho, Nanako O Ogawa, Minako Hashiguchi, Kazuhiko Fukushima, Dan Aoki, Philippe Schmitt Kopplin, José C Aponte, Eric T Parker, Daniel P Glavin, Hannah L McLain, Jamie E Elsila, Heather V Graham, John M Eiler, Francois-Regis Orthous-Daunay, Cedric Wolters, Junko Isa, Véronique Vuitton, Roland Thissen, Saburo Sakai, Toshihiro Yoshimura, Toshiki Koga, Naohiko Ohkouchi, Yoshito Chikaraishi, Haruna Sugahara, Hajime Mita, Yoshihiro Furukawa, Norbert Hertkorn, Alexander Ruf, Hisayoshi Yurimoto, Tomoki Nakamura, Takaaki Noguchi, Ryuji Okazaki, Hikaru Yabuta, Kanako Sakamoto, Shogo Tachibana, Harold C Connolly, Jr, Dante S Lauretta, Masanao Abe, Toru Yada, Masahiro Nishimura, Kasumi Yogata, Aiko Nakato, Miwa Yoshitake, Ayako Suzuki, Akiko Miyazaki, Shizuho Furuya, Kentaro Hatakeda, Hiromichi Soejima, Yuya Hitomi, Kazuya Kumagai, Tomohiro Usui, Tasuku Hayashi, Daiki Yamamoto, Ryota Fukai, Kohei Kitazato, Seiji Sugita, Noriyuki Namiki, Masahiko Arakawa, Hitoshi Ikeda, Masateru Ishiguro, Naru Hirata, Koji Wada, Yoshiaki Ishihara, Rina Noguchi, Tomokatsu Morota, Naoya Sakatani, Koji Matsumoto, Hiroki Senshu, Rie Honda, Eri Tatsumi, Yasuhiro Yokota, Chikatoshi Honda, Tatsuhiro Michikami, Moe Matsuoka, Akira Miura, Hirotomo Noda, Tetsuya Yamada, Keisuke Yoshihara, Kosuke Kawahara, Masanobu Ozaki, Yu-ichi Iijima, Hajime Yano, Masahiko Hayakawa, Takahiro Iwata, Ryudo Tsukizaki, Hirotaka Sawada, Satoshi Hosoda, Kazunori Ogawa, Chisato Okamoto, Naoyuki Hirata, Kei Shirai, Yuri Shimaki, Manabu Yamada, Tatsuaki Okada, Yukio Yamamoto, Hiroshi Takeuchi, Atsushi Fujii, Yuto Takei, Kento Yoshikawa, Yuya Mimasu, Go Ono, Naoko Ogawa, Shota Kikuchi, Satoru Nakazawa, Fuyuto Terui, Satoshi Tanaka, Takanao Saiki, Makoto Yoshikawa, Sei-ichiro Watanabe, and Yuichi Tsuda
Subjects: Lunar and Planetary Science and Exploration
Abstract: The Hayabusa2 spacecraft collected samples from the surface of the carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu, and brought them to Earth. The samples were expected to contain organic molecules, which record processes that occurred in the early Solar System. We analyzed organic molecules extracted from the Ryugu surface samples. We identify a variety of molecules containing the atoms CHNOS, formed by methylation, hydration, hydroxylation, and sulfurization reactions. Amino acids, aliphatic amines, carboxylic acids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and nitrogen-heterocyclic compounds were detected, with properties consistent with an abiotic origin. These compounds likely arose from aqueous reaction on Ryugu’s parent body and are similar to organics in Ivuna-type meteorites. These molecules can survive on the surfaces of asteroids and be transported throughout the Solar System.
Published: 2023
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5. Exploring in the Laboratory the Impact of Low Energy Oxygen Ions on Titan’s Aerosols

Author: Julia Shouse, Thibault Launois, Naïla Chaouche, Cédric Wolters, Philippe Boduch, Eric Quirico, Fabien Stalport, Laurène Flandinet, François-Régis Orthous-Daunay, Hervé Cottin, and Véronique Vuitton
Abstract: Introduction The Saturn system has been explored for 13 years (2004-2017) by the Cassini-Huygens mission that revealed the extraordinary chemical diversity of Titan and Enceladus. In particular, O+ ions (1 - 100 keV), originating from Enceladus' geysers, precipitate in Titan's upper atmosphere where molecules reaching mass-on-charge (m/z) of several thousand atomic mass units have been detected. These aerosol embryos have been attributed to polycyclic aromatic (nitrogen bearing) hydrocarbons (PANHs) that most likely result from the ionization and dissociation of the major atmospheric compounds, N2 and CH4 by solar photons [Hörst, 2017]. It is to be expected that the small fraction of energetic O+ ions, implanting themselves in organic aerosols, would modify their optical properties and chemical composition. If complex oxygenated molecules are formed, the aerosols, by sedimenting towards the surface, can then provide it with prebiotic material, adding a dimension with strong exobiological implications to the carbon / nitrogen / hydrogen chemistry endogenous to Titan [Hörst et al., 2012]. The objective of this project is thus to study the impact of oxygen ions from 1 to 100 keV on Titan aerosol analogues (tholins) and model materials by characterizing their effect on the chemical, structural and optical properties of the targets. Experimental Methodology Preliminary experiments were performed with adenine samples. Adenine was chosen because (i) it is a PANH, (ii) it has been identified in Titan’s tholins [Hörst et al. 2012; Sebree et al., 2018], (iii) there is some existing literature on its irradiation by UV photons and ions over a wide energy range showing that it does form a solid residue probably of macromolecular nature [Gerakines et al. 2012; Vignoli Muniz et al. 2017; Poch et al. 2014], (iv) some protocols to deposit it as a thin film on windows were available at LISA [Poch et al. 2014; Saïagh et al. 2014]. The samples consist of a thin (150 – 500 nm) adenine deposit on a MgF2 or ZnSe window. 8 samples were irradiated in the IGLIAS set-up at the ARIBE beam line at GANIL (Caen, France) with 35 or 70 keV 17O4+, 18O5+, or 20Ne3,4+ at a total fluence ranging from 9x1014 to 5x1015 ions cm-2. Samples were kept at 300 or 150 K and under ultra-high vacuum. Using the Stopping and Ranges of Ions in Matter (SRIM) software, we calculated that ions stop at a depth of 100 and 200 nm, for 35 and 70 keV incident ions, respectively, ensuring that they are implanted well within the sample. IR absorption spectra were obtained in situ during the irradiation with a Brüker V70 FTIR spectrometer. Results and Conclusions During energetic ion irradiation of the adenine films, their overall IR absorption intensity decreases (Fig. 1). The adenine molecule disappearance is caused by both destruction and sputtering. The projected stopping range being lower than the sample thickness, a part of the sample is not irradiated and the evolution of a given peak area A as a function of the ion fluence F can be written as A(F) = a*exp(-bF)+Y*F+c, where a is the initial absorption of the peak area, b is the destruction cross section, Y characterizes the sputtering yield and c gives the number of molecules in the non-irradiated layer at the end of the experiment. Figure 1: Infrared absorption spectra of adenine at 300 K under irradiation of 35 keV 18O5+ at different fluences. Table 1 displays the destruction cross section and sputtering yield (v7, 1609 cm-1) for different projectiles and temperatures. Our destruction cross sections are similar to that obtained for 1 keV and 0.8 MeV H+ [Gerakines et al. 2012; Vignoli Muniz et al. 2017]. The sputtering yield often has a large error but a rough approximation is that 15% to 35% of the sample is sputtered away. Further experiments with in situ mass spectrometry measurements of the gas phase could determine whether the sputtered material is intact adenine or some other molecules. Samples irradiated at 150 K have the largest destruction cross section and sputtering yield. This behavior has also been observed in previous experiments performed in the MeV range where the decay rate increased with decreasing temperature [Gerakines et al. 2012; Vignoli Muniz et al. 2017]. Projectile T b Y 35 keV 18O5+ 300 (1.71±0.08)e-15 6±1 35 keV 18O5+ 150 (3.6±0.9)e-15 11±26 35 keV 20Ne3+ 300 (2.5±0.1)e-15 13±1 Table 1: Destruction cross section (cm2) and sputtering yield (molecules/ion) for different projectiles and temperatures (K). Beyond adenine destruction, a new broad IR absorption band clearly arises between 2050 and 2250 cm-1 that may be attributed to nitriles or isonitriles. However, we could not find any evidence for absorption bands from oxygen-bearing molecules. More sensitive ex situ analysis of the irradiated samples by mass spectrometry are ongoing to characterize the macromolecular residue. Acknowledgements We thank the Programme National de Planétologie (PNP) for supporting this work. References Gerakines, P.A. et al. « In situ measurements of the radiation stability of amino acids at 15–140 K ». Icarus 220, 647 (2012). Hörst, S. M. et al. Formation of amino acids and nucleotide bases in a Titan atmosphere simulation experiment ». Astrobiology 12, 809 (2012). Hörst, S. M. « Titan’s atmosphere and climate ». J. Geophys. Res. Planets 122 (2017): doi:10.1002/2016JE005240. Poch, O. « Laboratory insights into the chemical and kinetic evolution of several organic molecules under simulated Mars surface UV radiation conditions ». Icarus 242, 50 (2014). Saïagh, K. « VUV and mid-UV photoabsorption cross sections of thin films of adenine: Application on its photochemistry in the solar system ». Planet. Space Sci. 90, 90 (2014). Sebree, J. A. et al. « Detection of prebiotic molecules in plasma and photochemical aerosol analogs using GC/MS/MS techniques ». ApJ 865, 133 (2018). Vignoli Muniz, G. S. et al. « Radioresistance of adenine to cosmic rays ». Astrobiology 17, 298 (2017).
Published: 2022

6. Haze Formation in Warm H2-rich Exoplanet Atmospheres

Author: Chao He, Sarah M. Hörst, Nikole K. Lewis, Xinting Yu, Julianne I. Moses, Patricia McGuiggan, Mark S. Marley, Eliza M.-R. Kempton, Caroline V. Morley, Jeff A. Valenti, and Véronique Vuitton
Published: 2020
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7. The spatial distribution of soluble organic matter and its relationship to minerals in the asteroid (162173) Ryugu.

Author: Hashiguchi, Minako, primary, Aoki, Dan, additional, Fukushima, Kazuhiko, additional, Naraoka, Hiroshi, additional, Takano, Yoshinori, additional, Jason, Dworkin P., additional, Jose, Aponte C., additional, Jamie, Elsila E., additional, John, Eiler M., additional, Furukawa, Yoshihiro, additional, Furusho, Aogu, additional, Daniel, Glavin P., additional, Graham, Heather V., additional, Hamase, Kenji, additional, Norbert, Hertkorn, additional, Isa, Junko, additional, Koga, Toshiki, additional, Hannah, McLain L., additional, Mita, Hajime, additional, Oba, Yasuhiro, additional, Ogawa, Nanako O., additional, Ohkouchi, Naohiko, additional, Orthous-Daunay, Francois-Regis, additional, Parker, Eric T., additional, Alexander, Ruf, additional, Sakaki, Saburo, additional, Philippe, Schmitt-Kopplin, additional, Sugahara, Haruna, additional, Roland, Thissen, additional, Véronique, Vuitton, additional, Wolters, Cédric, additional, Yoshimura, Toshihiro, additional, Yurimoto, Hisayoshi, additional, Nakamura, Tomoki, additional, Noguchi, Takaaki, additional, Okazaki, Ryuji, additional, Yabuta, Hikaru, additional, Sakamoto, Kanako, additional, Tachibana, Shogo, additional, Yada, Toru, additional, Nishimura, Masahiro, additional, Nakato, Aiko, additional, Miyazaki, Akiko, additional, Yogata, Kasumi, additional, Abe, Masanao, additional, Usui, Tomohiro, additional, Yoshikawa, Makoto, additional, Saiki, Takanao, additional, Tanaka, Satoshi, additional, Terui, Fuyuto, additional, Nakazawa, Satoru, additional, Watanabe, Sei-ichiro, additional, and Tsuda, Yuichi, additional
Published: 2022
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8. On a radiolytic origin of red organics at the surface of the Arrokoth Trans-Neptunian Object

Author: Eric Quirico, Aurore Bacmann, Cédric Wolters, Basile Augé, Laurène Flandinet, Thibault Launois, John F. Cooper, Véronique Vuitton, Thomas Gautier, Lora Jovanovic, Philippe Boduch, Hermann Rothard, Léopold Desage, Alexandre Faure, Bernard Schmitt, Olivier Poch, William M. Grundy, Silvia Protopapa, Sonia Fornasier, Dale P. Cruikshank, S. Alan Stern, Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Météo-France -Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Météo-France, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), PLANETO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique = Laboratory of Space Studies and Instrumentation in Astrophysics (LESIA), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), Centre de recherche sur les Ions, les MAtériaux et la Photonique (CIMAP - UMR 6252), Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-École Nationale Supérieure d'Ingénieurs de Caen (ENSICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche sur les Matériaux Avancés (IRMA), Normandie Université (NU)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Rouen Normandie (UNIROUEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Institut national des sciences appliquées Rouen Normandie (INSA Rouen Normandie), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Normandie Université (NU)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Rouen Normandie (UNIROUEN), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Normandie Université (NU)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Lowell Observatory [Flagstaff], Southwest Research Institute [Boulder] (SwRI), Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche (M.E.N.E.S.R.), and University of Central Florida [Orlando] (UCF)
Subjects: [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics], Space and Planetary Science, Astronomy and Astrophysics
Abstract: International audience; The classical Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) Arrokoth was surveyed by the New Horizons spacecraft on 1st January 2019, revealing a small bilobed object with a red surface, whose spectral slope lies in the average of the whole KBOs population. This red color has been assigned to reddish organic materials, either inherited from the protosolar disk during accretion, or formed through radiolytic processes in the surface due to exposure to solar or interstellar photons, Solar Wind, Solar Energetic Particles or Galactic Cosmic Rays. We report here a study investigating the radiolytic scenario, based on numerical calculations and experimental simulations run with swift heavy ions (74.8 MeV136Xe19+ and 33.06 MeV58Ni9+), and low-energy 105 keV18O6+ions on CH3OH ice, the only molecule identified at Arrokoth’s surface.
Published: 2023

9. Haze evolution in temperate exoplanet atmospheres through surface energy measurements

Author: Sarah M. Hörst, Peter Gao, Nikole K. Lewis, Jonathan J. Fortney, Caroline V. Morley, Xinting Yu, Austin H. Dymont, Patricia McGuiggan, Véronique Vuitton, Chao He, Jeff A. Valenti, Julianne I. Moses, Diana Powell, Xi Zhang, Sarah E. Moran, Eliza M.-R. Kempton, Laboratoire de Génie Civil, Diagnostic et Durabilité (GC2D), Institut des Procédés Appliqués aux Matériaux (IPAM), Université de Limoges (UNILIM)-Université de Limoges (UNILIM), Morton K. Blaustein Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences [Baltimore], Johns Hopkins University (JHU), Space Telescope Science Institute (STSci), University of California [Santa Cruz] (UCSC), University of California, Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), and Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP), Planetary equilibrium temperature, Haze, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Opacity, [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 01 natural sciences, Exoplanet, Surface energy, Astrobiology, Atmosphere, Affordable and Clean Energy, 13. Climate action, 0103 physical sciences, Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics, Energy source, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Circumstellar habitable zone, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract: Photochemical hazes are important opacity sources in temperate exoplanet atmospheres, hindering current observations from characterizing exoplanet atmospheric compositions. The haziness of an atmosphere is determined by the balance between haze production and removal. However, the material-dependent removal physics of the haze particles is currently unknown under exoplanetary conditions. Here we provide experimentally-measured surface energies for a grid of temperate exoplanet hazes to characterize haze removal in exoplanetary atmospheres. We found large variations of surface energies for hazes produced under different energy sources, atmospheric compositions, and temperatures. The surface energies of the hazes were found to be the lowest around 400 K for the cold plasma samples, leading to the lowest removal rates. We show a suggestive correlation between haze surface energy and atmospheric haziness with planetary equilibrium temperature. We hypothesize that habitable zone exoplanets could be less hazy, as they would possess high-surface-energy hazes which can be removed efficiently., Comment: 6 figures, 2 tables, 23 pages
Published: 2021

10. Cassini CAPS-ELS Observations of Negative Ions in Titan's Ionosphere: Solar Zenith Angle - Density Trends

Author: Richard Haythornthwaite, Andrew J. Coates, Erik Vigren, Panayotis Lavvas, Oleg Shebanits, Geraint H. Jones, Véronique Vuitton, and Anne Wellbrock
Subjects: Physics, symbols.namesake, Solar zenith angle, symbols, Astronomy, Ionosphere, Titan (rocket family), Ion
Abstract: The discovery of heavy organic anions by in situ measurements using Cassini’s CAPS Electron Spectrometer (ELS) in Titan’s ionosphere was an unexpected result of the Cassini mission (Coates et al, 2007, Waite et al, 2007); a complete reconsideration of chemical processes in this enigmatic atmosphere was necessary as a result. These negative ions can be associated with complex hydrocarbon and nitrile processes which are linked to haze formation at lower altitudes. Cassini’s CAPS ELS observed negative ions during Titan encounters at altitudes below 1400 km. The ions can reach masses over 13,000 amu/q (Coates et al., 2009), while recurring peaks in the mass spectra can be used to identify different mass groups as reported by Coates et al. (2007) and Wellbrock et al. (2013, 2019). Studying density and mass trends of these groups helps to identify controlling factors of the production and destruction mechanisms, and ultimately to improve our understanding of how organic macromolecules can be produced by naturally occurring abiotic processes. In this study we examine the effects different solar zenith angle conditions might have on both the light and heavy negative ion mass groups, and consider the role of processes such as photodetachment and dissociative electron attachment. We also compare the negative ion data with RPWS electron measurements and discuss the possible implications associated with the above processes.
Published: 2021

11. Simulating the density of organic species in the atmosphere of Titan with a coupled ion-neutral photochemical model

Author: Véronique Vuitton, Sarah M. Hörst, Stephen J. Klippenstein, Panayotis Lavvas, Roger V. Yelle, Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Lunar and Planetary Laboratory [Tucson] (LPL), University of Arizona, Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division [Argonne], Argonne National Laboratory [Lemont] (ANL), Morton K. Blaustein Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences [Baltimore], Johns Hopkins University (JHU), Groupe de spectrométrie moléculaire et atmosphérique (GSMA), Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), and Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])
Subjects: Atmospheres, Materials science, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Photochemistry, Ab initio, Organic chemistry, chemistry, 7. Clean energy, 01 natural sciences, Ion, Atmosphere, symbols.namesake, 0103 physical sciences, [CHIM]Chemical Sciences, Molecule, Atmosphere of Titan, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Stratosphere, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, [PHYS]Physics [physics], [SDU.ASTR]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph], Photodissociation, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Ionospheres, [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics], 13. Climate action, Space and Planetary Science, Physics::Space Physics, atmosphere, symbols, Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics, Titan, [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph], Titan (rocket family)
Abstract: We present a one-dimensional coupled ion-neutral photochemical kinetics and diffusion model to study the atmospheric composition of Titan in light of new theoretical kinetics calculations and scientific findings from the Cassini–Huygens mission. The model extends from the surface to the exobase. The atmospheric background, boundary conditions, vertical transport and aerosol opacity are all constrained by the Cassini–Huygens observations. The chemical network includes reactions between hydrocarbons, nitrogen and oxygen bearing species. It takes into account neutrals and both positive and negative ions with masses extending up to 116 and 74 u, respectively. We incorporate high-resolution isotopic photoabsorption and photodissociation cross sections for N2 as well as new photodissociation branching ratios for CH4 and C2H2. Ab initio transition state theory calculations are performed in order to estimate the rate coefficients and products for critical reactions. Main reactions of production and loss for neutrals and ions are quantitatively assessed and thoroughly discussed. The vertical distributions of neutrals and ions predicted by the model generally reproduce observational data, suggesting that for the small species most chemical processes in Titan’s atmosphere and ionosphere are adequately described and understood; some differences are highlighted. Notable remaining issues include (i) the total positive ion density (essentially HCNH + ) in the upper ionosphere, (ii) the low mass negative ion densities ( CN − , C 3 N − / C 4 H − ) in the upper atmosphere, and (iii) the minor oxygen-bearing species (CO2, H2O) density in the stratosphere. Pathways towards complex molecules and the impact of aerosols (UV shielding, atomic and molecular hydrogen budget, nitriles heterogeneous chemistry and condensation) are evaluated in the model, along with lifetimes and solar cycle variations.
Published: 2019

12. Ultraviolet-photon fingerprints on chondritic large organic molecules

Author: Laurette Piani, Shogo Tachibana, Hiroshi Naraoka, Olivier Poch, Cédric Wolters, Iyo Sugawara, Véronique Vuitton, Frédéric Moynier, Laurène Flandinet, R. Thissen, François-Régis Orthous-Daunay, Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019]), Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques (CRPG), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Lorraine (UL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-IPG PARIS-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Hokkaido University [Sapporo, Japan], Kyushu University [Fukuoka], The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Université de Lorraine (UL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Subjects: chemistry.chemical_classification, Photon, [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], 010502 geochemistry & geophysics, medicine.disease_cause, 01 natural sciences, Astrobiology, Organic molecules, Cosmochemistry, Interstellar medium, Geophysics, Meteorite, chemistry, Geochemistry and Petrology, 0103 physical sciences, medicine, Organic matter, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, Ultraviolet, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Abstract: International audience
Published: 2019

13. The Science Case for a Titan Flagship-class Orbiter with Probes (White paper for the NRC Decadal Survey for Planetary Science and Astrobiology)

Author: Nixon, Conor A., James Abshire, Andrew Ashton, Barnes, Jason W., Nathalie Carrasco, Mathieu Choukroun, Athena Coustenis, Louis-Alexandre Couston, Edberg, Niklas J. T., Alexander Gagnon, Hofgartner, Jason D., Luciano Iess, Stéphane Le Mouélic, Rosaly Lopes, Juan Lora, Lorenz, Ralph D., Adrienn Luspay-Kuti, Michael Malaska, Kathleen Mandt, Marco Mastrogiuseppe, Erwan Mazarico, Marc Neveu, Taylor Perron, Jani Radebaugh, Sébastien Rodriguez, Farid Salama, Ashley Schoenfeld, Soderblom, Jason M., Anezina Solomonidou, Darci Snowden, Xioali Sun, Nicholas Teanby, Gabriel Tobie, Trainer, Melissa G., Tucker, Orenthal J., Turtle, Elizabeth P., Sandrine Vinatier, Véronique Vuitton, Xi Zhang, GSFC Planetary Systems Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), University of Idaho [Moscow, USA], PLANETO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology (CALTECH)-NASA, Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA (UMR_8109)), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Paris (UP), British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Swedish Institute of Space Physics [Uppsala] (IRF), School of Oceanography [Seattle], University of Washington [Seattle], Università degli Studi di Roma 'La Sapienza' = Sapienza University [Rome], Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique [UMR 6112] (LPG), Université d'Angers (UA)-Université de Nantes - UFR des Sciences et des Techniques (UN UFR ST), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Yale University [New Haven], Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [Laurel, MD] (APL), University of Maryland [Baltimore], Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Brigham Young University (BYU), Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-IPG PARIS-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Paris (UP), NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), University of California [Los Angeles] (UCLA), University of California, European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), European Space Agency (ESA), Central Washington University, School of Earth Sciences [Bristol], University of Bristol [Bristol], Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), and University of California [Santa Cruz] (UCSC)
Subjects: [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP]
Abstract: 13 pages, white paper submitted to the NRC Decadal Survey for Planetary Science and Astrobiology; International audience; We outline a flagship-class mission concept focused on studying Titan as a global system, with particular emphasis on the polar regions. Investigating Titan from the unique standpoint of a polar orbit would enable comprehensive global maps to uncover the physics and chemistry of the atmosphere, and the topography and geophysical environment of the surface and subsurface. The mission includes two key elements: (1) an orbiter spacecraft, which also acts as a data relay, and (2) one or more small probes to directly investigate Titan's seas and make the first direct measurements of their liquid composition and physical environment. The orbiter would carry a sophisticated remote sensing payload, including a novel topographic lidar, a long-wavelength surface-penetrating radar, a sub-millimeter sounder for winds and for mesospheric/thermospheric composition, and a camera and near-infrared spectrometer. An instrument suite to analyze particles and fields would include a mass spectrometer to focus on the interactions between Titan's escaping upper atmosphere and the solar wind and Saturnian magnetosphere. The orbiter would enter a stable polar orbit around 1500 to 1800 km, from which vantage point it would make global maps of the atmosphere and surface. One or more probes, released from the orbiter, would investigate Titan's seas in situ, including possible differences in composition between higher and lower latitude seas, as well as the atmosphere during the parachute descent. The number of probes, as well as the instrument complement on the orbiter and probe, remain to be finalized during a mission study that we recommend to NASA as part of the NRC Decadal Survey for Planetary Science now underway, with the goal of an overall mission cost in the "small flagship" category of ~$2 bn. International partnerships, similar to Cassini-Huygens, may also be included for consideration.
Published: 2021

14. Heavy positive ion groups in Titan's ionosphere: Cassini Plasma Spectrometer IBS observations

Author: Anne Wellbrock, Hunter Waite, Véronique Vuitton, Richard Haythornthwaite, Geraint H. Jones, Andrew J. Coates, Panayotis Lavvas, Department of Space and Climate Physics [UCL London], Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL), University College of London [London] (UCL)-University College of London [London] (UCL), University College of London [London] (UCL), Space Science Division [San Antonio], Southwest Research Institute [San Antonio] (SwRI), Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), and Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)
Subjects: Physics, symbols.namesake, Spectrometer, 13. Climate action, [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], symbols, Astronomy, Plasma, Ionosphere, Titan (rocket family), 7. Clean energy, Ion
Abstract: IntroductionTitan is the largest moon of Saturn and has a thick extended atmosphere along with a large ionosphere. Titan's ionosphere contains a plethora of hydrocarbons and nitrile cations and anions as measured by the Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer and Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) onboard the Cassini spacecraft1.Previous ion composition studies in Titan’s ionosphere by Cassini instruments revealed "families" of ions around particular mass values and a regular spacing of 12 to 14 u/q between mass groups 2. These are thought to be related to a carbon or nitrogen backbone that dominates the ion chemistry2. Previous studies also identified possible heavy ions such as naphthalene, anthracene derivatives and an anthracene dimer at 130, 170 and 335 u/q respectively1. Methodology The CAPS Ion Beam Spectrometer3 is an electrostatic analyser that measures energy/charge ratios of ions. During the Titan flybys Cassini had a high velocity (~6 km/s) relative to the low ion velocities (< 230 m/s) observed in the ionosphere. The ions were also cold, having ion temperatures around 150K. The combination of these factors meant that the ions appeared as a highly-directed supersonic beam in the spacecraft frame. This means the ions appear at kinetic energies associated with the spacecraft velocity and the ion mass, therefore the measured energy spectra (eV/q) can be converted to mass spectra (u/q). Results and ConclusionsPositive ion masses between 170 and 310 u/q are examined with ion mass groups identified between 170 and 275 u/q containing between 14 and 21 heavy (carbon/nitrogen/oxygen) atoms4. These groups are the heaviest positive ion groups reported so far from the available in situ ion data at Titan.The ion group peaks are found to be consistent with masses associated with Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds, including Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) and nitrogen-bearing polycyclic aromatic molecular ions. The ion group peak identifications are compared with previously proposed neutral PAHs5 and are found to be at similar masses, supporting a PAH interpretation. The spacing between the ion group peaks is also investigated, finding a spacing of 12 or 13 u/q indicating the addition of C or CH. Lastly, the occurrence of several ion groups is seen to vary across the five flybys studied, possibly relating to the varying solar radiation conditions observed across the flybys.The discovery of these groups will aid future atmospheric chemical models of Titan through identification of prominent heavy positive ions and further the understanding between the low mass ions and the high mass negative ions, as well as the process of aerosol formation in Titan's atmosphere.References1. Waite et al., The Process of Tholin Formation in Titan’s Upper Atmosphere, Sci., 2007, doi:10.1126/science.11397272. Crary et al., Heavy ions, temperatures and winds in Titan's ionosphere: Combined Cassini CAPS and INMS observations, P&SS, 2009, doi:10.1016/j.pss.2009.09.006.3. Young et al., Cassini Plasma Spectrometer Investigation. Space Sci. Rev., 2004, doi:10.1007/s11214-004-1406-44. Haythornthwaite et al., Heavy Positive Ion Groups in Titan's Ionosphere from Cassini Plasma Spectrometer IBS Observations, eprint arXiv:2009.087495. López-Puertas et al., Large Abundances of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Titan's Upper Atmosphere, ApJ, 2013, doi:10.1088/0004-637X/770/2/132
Published: 2021

15. H2SO4 and Organosulfur Compounds in Laboratory Analogue Aerosols of Warm High-metallicity Exoplanet Atmospheres

Author: Chao He, Sarah E. Moran, Jeff A. Valenti, François-Régis Orthous-Daunay, Julianne I. Moses, Véronique Vuitton, Cédric Wolters, Laurène Flandinet, Nikole K. Lewis, Sarah M. Hörst, Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), Space Telescope Science Institute (STSci), and Johns Hopkins University (JHU)
Subjects: 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Chemistry, [PHYS.ASTR.EP]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], Metallicity, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Mass spectrometry, 01 natural sciences, Exoplanet, Astrobiology, Geophysics, Molecule formation, 13. Climate action, Space and Planetary Science, 0103 physical sciences, Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous), 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Organosulfur compounds, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Abstract: Recent transit spectra suggest organic aerosol formation in the atmosphere of sub-Neptunes. Sulfur gases are expected to be present in warm exoplanet atmospheres with high metallicity. Many aspects of the sulfur fixation process by photochemistry in planetary atmospheres are not fully understood. In this work, tholins produced in a CO2-rich atmosphere simulation experiment with H2S were analyzed with very high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) that allows for searching specific molecules in addition to providing some insight on the mixture complexity. To our knowledge, this is the first experimental investigation of sulfur-bearing organic aerosol formation from irradiation of H2S at temperatures relevant to warm exoplanets. The analysis of the mass spectra shows that the soluble organic fraction of the solid particles contains over 2500 organosulfur (CHS/CHOS/CHNS/CHNOS) molecular formulas (73% of all assigned signals) within a broad mass range (from 50 to 400 u, atomic mass unit). In particular, 14 sulfuric acid derivatives were detected and 13 unique molecular formulae that could correspond to amino acid derivatives were identified. This high molecular diversity indicates a rich and active sulfur chemistry triggered by irradiation of H2S. The average elemental composition (wt%) of the soluble fraction of the particles is 40%C, 30%O, 21%S, 6%H, and 3%N, making the sulfur abundance a factor of ∼14 larger than in the initial gas composition. Our analysis of experimental simulations shows that organosulfur species are likely an important component of the haze in exoplanet atmospheres.
Published: 2021

16. Testing tholins as analogues of the dark reddish material covering Pluto’s Cthulhu region

Author: Bernard Schmitt, Silvia Protopapa, Dale P. Cruikshank, Alan Stern, Olivier Poch, Véronique Vuitton, C. M. Dalle Ore, Tanguy Bertrand, Lora Jovanovic, Leslie A. Young, Marie Fayolle, Thomas Gautier, Nathalie Carrasco, Eric Quirico, Will Grundy, Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Météo-France -Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Météo-France, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), PLANETO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Lowell Observatory [Flagstaff], Southwest Research Institute [Boulder] (SwRI), NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539) (LMD), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Département des Géosciences - ENS Paris, École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL), European Project: 636829,H2020,ERC-2014-STG,PRIMCHEM(2015), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives - Laboratoire d'Electronique et de Technologie de l'Information (CEA-LETI), Direction de Recherche Technologique (CEA) (DRT (CEA)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), Institut de biologie et chimie des protéines [Lyon] (IBCP), Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Lipides - Nutrition - Cancer (U866) (LNC), Université de Bourgogne (UB)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-AgroSup Dijon - Institut National Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, de l'Alimentation et de l'Environnement-Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Biologie Appliquée à la Nutrition et à l'Alimentation de Dijon (ENSBANA), Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), and Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris)
Subjects: Materials science, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Pluto's Cthulhu region, Continuum (design consultancy), [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], Pluto’s Cthulhu region, Astrophysics, 01 natural sciences, Tholins, Atmosphere, New Horizons, symbols.namesake, 0103 physical sciences, Radiative transfer, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Single-scattering albedo, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Tholin, Pluto, [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics], 13. Climate action, Space and Planetary Science, symbols, Titan (rocket family)
Abstract: International audience; New Horizons' reectance spectra of the Cthulhu dark belt of Pluto were modelled with tholins. Reectance factors, phase function and optical constants of these tholins were numerically determined from tholins' reectance measurements. Tholins do not reproduce the featureless spectra of Cthulhu. These results could suggest that this region is covered with a highly porous layer of organic aerosolsPluto’s fly-by by the New Horizons spacecraft in July 2015 has revealed a dark reddish equatorial region, named Cthulhu, covered by a dark, non-icy material whose origin and composition have yet to be determined. It has been suggested that this material could form from the sedimentation of photochemical aerosols, originating from dissociation and ionisation processes in Pluto’s high atmosphere (similarly to aerosols forming Titan’s haze). This hypothesis is here further investigated by comparing New Horizons spectra collected both in the visible and the near-infrared to laboratory reflectance measurements of analogues of Pluto’s aerosols (Pluto tholins). These aerosols were synthesised in conditions mimicking Pluto’s atmosphere, and their optical and reflectance properties were determined, before being used in Hapke models. In particular, the single scattering albedo and phase function of Pluto tholins were retrieved through Hapke model inversion, performed from laboratory reflectance spectra collected under various geometries. From reconstructed reflectance spectra and direct comparison with New Horizons data, some of these tholins are shown to reproduce the photometric level (i.e. reflectance continuum) reasonably well in the near-infrared. Nevertheless, a misfit of the red visible slope still remains and tholins absorption bands present in the modelled spectra are absent in those collected by the New Horizons instruments. Several hypotheses are considered to explain the absence of these absorption features in LEISA data, namely high porosity effects or GCR irradiation. The formation of highly porous structures, which is currently our preferred scenario, could be promoted by either sublimation of ices initially mixed with the aerosols, or gentle deposition under Pluto’s weak gravity.
Published: 2021
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17. Composition of Titan's Atmosphere

Author: Véronique Vuitton, Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), David Alderton, and Scott A. Elias
Subjects: Solar System, Haze, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Nitrogen, [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], chemistry.chemical_element, 01 natural sciences, Methane, Astrobiology, Atmosphere, chemistry.chemical_compound, symbols.namesake, Saturn, Clouds, Saturnian system, 0103 physical sciences, Nitriles, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Aerosol, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Hydrocarbons, Dynamics, Pluto, Chemistry, chemistry, 13. Climate action, Huygens, symbols, Cassini, Titan (rocket family), Titan, Composition
Abstract: International audience; As a result of the 13-year exploration of the Saturn system by the Cassini-Huygens mission (2004–17), there has been a revolution in our understanding of Titan, Saturn's largest satellite. Titan's atmosphere shows the most complex chemistry in the solar system. A chain of chemical reactions is being initiated in the upper atmosphere by ionization and dissociation of the major species, nitrogen and methane, primarily by solar UV photons. The produced photochemical molecules and aerosols have a strong impact on the radiative budget of Titan's atmosphere, and hence on its temperature profile. Furthermore, transport by global dynamics, which reverses each half Titan year, greatly affects the distribution of these compounds. These complex couplings between chemistry, radiation, and dynamics make Titan's atmosphere an ideal laboratory to understand physical and chemical processes at play in atmospheres in general, particularly those showing the presence of photochemical haze such as Pluto or the increasing number of detected exoplanets showing hazy atmospheres. Finally, the study of Titan's chemistry has astrobiological implications as it naturally produces complex organic nitrogen species that settle to the surface to produce an organic soil. This material is postulated to be exposed to aqueous melt pools produced through meteoritic impact or cryovolcanism, or even to be transported to an underground ocean of liquid water. Therefore, we may entertain the idea that, in certain regions at the (sub-)surface of Titan, the results of chemistry leading to life as we know it may be present.
Published: 2021

18. Triton Haze Analogues: the Role of Carbon Monoxide in Haze Formation

Author: Sarah E. Moran, Sarah M. Hörst, Chao He, Michael J. Radke, Joshua A. Sebree, Noam R. Izenberg, Véronique Vuitton, Laurène Flandinet, François‐Régis Orthous‐Daunay, and Cédric Wolters
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP), Geophysics, Space and Planetary Science, Geochemistry and Petrology, Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous), FOS: Physical sciences, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract: Triton is the largest moon of the Neptune system and possesses a thin nitrogen atmosphere with trace amounts of carbon monoxide and methane, making it of similar composition to that of the dwarf planet Pluto. Like Pluto and Saturn's moon Titan, Triton has a haze layer thought to be composed of organics formed through photochemistry. Here, we perform atmospheric chamber experiments of 0.5% carbon monoxide and 0.2% methane in molecular nitrogen at 90 K and 1 mbar to generate Triton haze analogues. We then characterize the physical and chemical properties of these particles. We measure their production rate, their bulk composition with combustion analysis, their molecular composition with very high resolution mass spectrometry, and their transmission and reflectance from the optical to the near-infrared (0.4 to 5 microns) with Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. We compare these properties to existing measurements of Triton's tenuous atmosphere and its surface, as well as contextualize these results in view of all the small, hazy nitrogen-rich worlds of our solar system. We find that carbon monoxide present at greater mixing ratios than methane in the atmosphere can lead to significantly oxygen- and nitrogen-rich haze materials. These Triton haze analogues have clear observable signatures in their near-infrared spectra, which may help us differentiate the mechanisms behind haze formation processes across diverse solar system bodies., Comment: 48 pages (but only 26 actual article pages!), 11 figures, 4 tables; accepted for publication in JGR: Planets
Published: 2021
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19. Science goals and new mission concepts for future exploration of Titan's atmosphere geology and habitability: Titan POlar Scout/orbitEr and In situ lake lander and DrONe explorer (POSEIDON)

Author: Sébastien Rodriguez, Sandrine Vinatier, Daniel Cordier, Gabriel Tobie, Richard K. Achterberg, Carrie M. Anderson, Sarah V. Badman, Jason W. Barnes, Erika L. Barth, Bruno Bézard, Nathalie Carrasco, Benjamin Charnay, Roger N. Clark, Patrice Coll, Thomas Cornet, Athena Coustenis, Isabelle Couturier-Tamburelli, Michel Dobrijevic, F. Michael Flasar, Remco de Kok, Caroline Freissinet, Marina Galand, Thomas Gautier, Wolf D. Geppert, Caitlin A. Griffith, Murthy S. Gudipati, Lina Z. Hadid, Alexander G. Hayes, Amanda R. Hendrix, Ralf Jaumann, Donald E. Jennings, Antoine Jolly, Klara Kalousova, Tommi T. Koskinen, Panayotis Lavvas, Sébastien Lebonnois, Jean-Pierre Lebreton, Alice Le Gall, Emmanuel Lellouch, Stéphane Le Mouélic, Rosaly M. C. Lopes, Juan M. Lora, Ralph D. Lorenz, Antoine Lucas, Shannon MacKenzie, Michael J. Malaska, Kathleen Mandt, Marco Mastrogiuseppe, Claire E. Newman, Conor A. Nixon, Jani Radebaugh, Scot C. Rafkin, Pascal Rannou, Ella M. Sciamma-O’Brien, Jason M. Soderblom, Anezina Solomonidou, Christophe Sotin, Katrin Stephan, Darrell Strobel, Cyril Szopa, Nicholas A. Teanby, Elizabeth P. Turtle, Véronique Vuitton, Robert A. West, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP (UMR_7154)), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPG Paris)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA (UMR_8109)), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), Groupe de spectrométrie moléculaire et atmosphérique (GSMA), Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géosciences [UMR_C 6112] (LPG), Université d'Angers (UA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Nantes université - UFR des Sciences et des Techniques (Nantes univ - UFR ST), Nantes Université - pôle Sciences et technologie, Nantes Université (Nantes Univ)-Nantes Université (Nantes Univ)-Nantes Université - pôle Sciences et technologie, Nantes Université (Nantes Univ)-Nantes Université (Nantes Univ), Department of Astronomy [College Park], University of Maryland [College Park], University of Maryland System-University of Maryland System, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Department of Physics and Astronomy [Leicester], University of Leicester, University of Idaho [Moscow, USA], Southwest Research Institute [Boulder] (SwRI), PLANETO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Planetary Science Institute [Tucson] (PSI), Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques (LISA (UMR_7583)), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency (ESA), Physique des interactions ioniques et moléculaires (PIIM), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux [Pessac] (LAB), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Physical Geography [Utrecht], Utrecht University [Utrecht], Department of Physics [Imperial College London], Imperial College London, Department of Physics [Stockholm], Stockholm University, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory [Tucson] (LPL), University of Arizona, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas (LPP), Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-École polytechnique (X)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Cornell University [New York], Institute of Geological Sciences [Berlin], Department of Earth Sciences [Berlin], Free University of Berlin (FU)-Free University of Berlin (FU), Faculty of Mathematics and Physics [Charles University of Praha], Charles University [Prague] (CU), Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539) (LMD), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Département des Géosciences - ENS Paris, École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL), Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace (LPC2E), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers en région Centre (OSUC), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales [Paris] (CNES), Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences [New Haven], Yale University [New Haven], Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [Laurel, MD] (APL), Università degli Studi di Roma 'La Sapienza' = Sapienza University [Rome] (UNIROMA), Aeolis Research, Department of Geological Sciences [BYU], Brigham Young University (BYU), Space Science and Astrobiology Division at Ames, NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences [MIT, Cambridge] (EAPS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences [Pasadena], California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), DLR Institut für Planetenforschung, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt [Berlin] (DLR), Johns Hopkins University (JHU), School of Earth Sciences [Bristol], University of Bristol [Bristol], Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Météo-France -Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Météo-France, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-IPG PARIS-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Paris (UP), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Paris (UP), Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique [UMR 6112] (LPG), Université d'Angers (UA)-Université de Nantes - UFR des Sciences et des Techniques (UN UFR ST), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Paris (UP), European Space Agency (ESA), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Università degli Studi di Roma 'La Sapienza' = Sapienza University [Rome], Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique = Laboratory of Space Studies and Instrumentation in Astrophysics (LESIA), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-IPG PARIS-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPC), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL), Lancaster University, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPC), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU), Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, and Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales [Paris] (CNES)
Subjects: geology, space mission concept, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, [PHYS.ASTR.EP]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], Habitability, [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], FOS: Physical sciences, orbiter, 7. Clean energy, 01 natural sciences, drones, Orbiter, Poseidon, 0103 physical sciences, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Drones, Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP), Atmosphere, 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik::520 Astronomie::520 Astronomie und zugeordnete Wissenschaften, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Geology, FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences, habitability, lake lander, 13. Climate action, Space and Planetary Science, atmosphere, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Titan, Lake lander, Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract: In response to ESA Voyage 2050 announcement of opportunity, we propose an ambitious L-class mission to explore one of the most exciting bodies in the Solar System, Saturn largest moon Titan. Titan, a "world with two oceans", is an organic-rich body with interior-surface-atmosphere interactions that are comparable in complexity to the Earth. Titan is also one of the few places in the Solar System with habitability potential. Titan remarkable nature was only partly revealed by the Cassini-Huygens mission and still holds mysteries requiring a complete exploration using a variety of vehicles and instruments. The proposed mission concept POSEIDON (Titan POlar Scout/orbitEr and In situ lake lander DrONe explorer) would perform joint orbital and in situ investigations of Titan. It is designed to build on and exceed the scope and scientific/technological accomplishments of Cassini-Huygens, exploring Titan in ways that were not previously possible, in particular through full close-up and in situ coverage over long periods of time. In the proposed mission architecture, POSEIDON consists of two major elements: a spacecraft with a large set of instruments that would orbit Titan, preferably in a low-eccentricity polar orbit, and a suite of in situ investigation components, i.e. a lake lander, a "heavy" drone (possibly amphibious) and/or a fleet of mini-drones, dedicated to the exploration of the polar regions. The ideal arrival time at Titan would be slightly before the next northern Spring equinox (2039), as equinoxes are the most active periods to monitor still largely unknown atmospheric and surface seasonal changes. The exploration of Titan northern latitudes with an orbiter and in situ element(s) would be highly complementary with the upcoming NASA New Frontiers Dragonfly mission that will provide in situ exploration of Titan equatorial regions in the mid-2030s., Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1908.01374
Published: 2021
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20. Non-targeted direct infusion soluble organic analysis on Tarda meteorite extract

Author: J. Isa, Véronique Vuitton, Laurène Flandinet, François-Régis Orthous-Daunay, and Michael E. Zolensky
Subjects: Non targeted, Meteorite, Biochemistry, Chemistry
Published: 2021

21. The composition of outer solar system icy surfaces: hints from the analysis of laboratory analogues

Author: Louis D'Hendecourt, Cédric Wolters, Véronique Vuitton, Alexander Ruf, Rosario Brunetto, Zahia Djouadi, Obadias Mivumbi, Grégoire Danger, Vassilissa Vinogradoff, Laurène Flandinet, R. G. Urso, and François-Régis Orthous-Daunay
Subjects: Solar System, Materials science, Composition (visual arts), Astrobiology
Abstract: Cosmic rays, solar wind and solar energetic particles induce changes in the physical structure and chemical composition of frozen volatiles on the surface solar system outer objects, such as satellites of giant planets, centaurs and Kuiper-belt objects (e.g., Johnson 1990, Strazzulla et al. 2003, Urso et al. 2020). Such energetic particles can be responsible for the formation of C-rich refractory materials that determine the appearance of red slopes in the visible and near-infrared spectra of small bodies (e.g., Brunetto et al. 2006, Brown et al. 2011). Laboratory experiments performed to simulate the irradiation of frozen surfaces in space show that energetic ions or electrons (keV-MeV) determine the formation of new species, not present in the original samples (e.g., Rothard et al. 2017). The subsequent warm-up of processed mixtures causes both the sublimation of volatile compounds and an increase in the molecular diffusion and reactivity. As a consequence, the chemical complexity increases and organic refractory residues are formed. Residues are thought to be representative of the refractory materials on the surface of outer bodies as well as of cometary materials and a possible precursor of the soluble organic matter (SOM) found in meteorites (e.g., Strazzulla & Johnson 1991, Munoz-Caro & Schutte 2003, Brunetto et al. 2006, Danger et al. 2013, Baratta et al 2015, Urso et al. 2017, Poston et al. 2018}. We present recent laboratory experiments to produce and characterize organic refractory residues produced after ion irradiation of frozen volatiles. Water, methanol and ammonia mixtures in ratios 1:1:1 and 3:1:1 are deposited at 15 K and exposed to 40 keV H+ by means of the INGMAR setup (Urso et al. 2020). After irradiation, mixtures are warmed up with a constant heating rate and organic refractory residues are formed at 300 K. Throughout the experiment, we monitor the sample evolution by means of in-situ infrared transmission spectroscopy (4000-700 cm-1, 2.5-13.3 µm). After warmup, organic refractory residues are recovered from the irradiation chamber and are further characterized through ex-situ Very High Resolution Mass Spectrometry. The combination of both techniques allows to shed light on the composition of irradiated frozen volatiles and of residues. We also search for specific molecules by means of tandem Mass Spectrometry/High Resolution Mass Spectrometry. Furthermore, we compare the chemical composition of our samples with that of organic refractory residues produced after UV photolysis of volatile mixtures. Our results give information on the effects induced by different experimental parameters (dose, mixture ratio) on the composition of organic refractory materials. In particular, we investigate the effects of increasing irradiation dose in the elemental abundance and in the Double Bond Equivalent (DBE) of residues. We also give the timescales necessary to observe in solar system outer objects the effects revealed in laboratory experiments, and we discuss the role of the various sources of processing (cosmic rays, solar wind, solar energetic particles) in determining changes in the chemical composition of frozen surfaces in space. Our work supports the interpretation of space mission data and astronomical observations of comets and solar system outer objects as well as of star-forming regions in the Interstellar medium, where cosmic rays bombard icy grain mantles and thus play a role in the synthesis of complex organic molecules in the early stage of star-formation. Acknowledgements This work is supported by the CNES-France. INGMAR (IAS-CSNSM, Orsay) is funded by the French Programme National de Planétologie (PNP), Faculté des Sciences d'Orsay, Université Paris-Sud (Attractivité 2012), French National Research Agency ANR (contract ANR-11-BS56-0026, OGRESSE), P2IO LabEx (ANR-10-LABX-0038) in the framework Investissements d'Avenir (ANR-11-IDEX-0003-01). We thank the support from RAHIIA SSOM (ANR-16-CE29-0015). R.G.U. thanks the CNES postdoctoral program. References:Baratta, G. A., Chaput, D., Cottin, H., et al. 2015, Planetary and Space Science, 211 Brunetto, R., Barucci, M. A., Dotto, E., Strazzulla, G. 2006, ApJ, 644, 646 Brown, M. E. Schaller, E. L., Fraser, W. C. 2011, ApJ Letters, 739, L60 Danger, G., Orthous-Daunay, F. R., de Marcellus, P., et al. 2013, GeoCoA, 118, 184 Johnson, R. E., 1990, Energetic charged-particle interactions with atmospheres and surfaces Munoz Caro, G. M., Schutte, W. A. 2003, A&A, 412, 121 Poston, M. J., Mahjoub, A., Ehlmann, B. L., et al. 2018, ApJ, 856, 124 Rothard, H., Domaracka, A., Boduch, P. et al. 2017, Journal of Physics B, 50, 062011 Strazzulla, G., & Johnson, R. E. 1991, Irradiation Effects on Comets and Cometary Debris, Comets in the post-Halley era (Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands) Strazzulla, G., Cooper, J. F., Christina, E. R., Johnson, R. E., 2003, Comptes Rendus Physique, 4, 7, 791 Urso, R. G., Scirè, C., Baratta, G. A., et al. 2017, PCCP, 19, 21759 Urso, R. G. Baklouti, D., Djouadi, Z., Pinilla-Alonso, N., Brunetto, R. 2020, ApJ Letters, 894, 1, L3
Published: 2020

22. Simulated effect of the Galactic Cosmic Rays on the surface of Pluto’s dark-red region

Author: César Feniou, Lora Jovanovic, Thomas Gautier, Nathalie Carrasco, Jérémy Bourgalais, Philippe Boduch, Hermann Rothard, Basile Augé, Bernard Schmitt, Marie Fayolle, Véronique Vuitton, Olivier Poch, and Eric Quirico
Abstract: I. Introduction On Pluto, the largest object in the Kuiper Belt, the dark surface of Cthulhu seems to indicate the presence of photochemical aerosols, stemming from the interaction between solar ultraviolet radiation and atmospheric methane, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and further sedimentation [1-4]. Tholins have been tested and identified as analogues of the said surface. The flyby of the New Horizons Pluto probe enabled reflectance spectra acquisitions of the Cthulhu region. Dissimilarities were found with the reflectance of Pluto tholins, which might be due to Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) irradiation of Pluto’s surface [5]. To test this hypothesis, Pluto tholins were synthesized and swift heavy ion irradiation was performed on the analogues to simulate the impact of cosmic rays on the surface of Cthulhu region. Moreover, GCR-analogues irradiation of the said tholins triggers a desorption of organic volatile compounds whose study could provide crucial information on both the structure of tholins and the chemical mechanisms involved. The volatile desorption was followed by mass spectrometry. II. Methods The tholins samples were produced within the PAMPRE experiment (LATMOS, France) using a N2:CH4 (99:1) and CO (500 ppm) gaseous mixture submitted to a plasma discharge [6]. The operating conditions were 0.9 ± 0.1 mbar total pressure and ambient temperature. The tholins samples were deposited as thin film onto a polished MgF2 substrate. The irradiation experiments were performed at the heavy ion accelerator GANIL (Caen, France) using the IGLIAS experimental setup [7] at ambient temperature with a beam flux of 109 Xe ions cm−2 s−1. Mass spectrometry measurements were performed using a quadrupole mass-spectrometer operating with electron ionization (EI) at 70 eV and a scan range from m/z 1 to 100 before and during the irradiation. Mass spectrometry was normalized to the signal of water (m/z 18) because it is the most intense peak and it is not affected by the irradiation. The error bars represent Type B uncertainties relating to measurement. A Monte-Carlo approach [8] was used to decompose the mass spectrum. Fragmentation data under EI 70 eV of 118 molecules were collected from the NIST Chemistry WebBook. The database was then narrowed by removing the molecules whose parent peak does not coincide with a signal on the experimental spectrum. The Monte-Carlo algorithm then managed to fit the fragmentation patterns of the dabatase compounds with the experimental spectrum. The deconvolution was performed 100,000 times to obtain a statistical distribution and the calculation uncertainties were plotted. III. Results The mass spectrometry analysis (Fig. 1) shows a notable increase in intensity for many peaks of the C1 and C2 groups under irradiation. For higher m/z, most peaks only appear at a significant intensity when the tholins are irradiated. No signal was detected over m/z 53 in either experiment. The deconvolution (Fig. 2) permitted identification of the volatiles released. First, we report a clear increase in desorption of nitriles and unsaturated hydrocarbons under heavy ion irradiation. When the tholins were irradiated, hydrogen cyanide production was 20 times higher and it is observed that cyanogen and propiolonitrile formation and fragmentation shaped the significant C4-group signals (m/z 50, 51, 52). Allene and acetylene production also appeared under irradiation. Second, the Monte-Carlo calculation did not manage to fit the database’s compounds to the experimental results for m/z 12, 26, 29, 36, 38. These signals are thought to be fragments from secondary reactions, fragments being C+, CN+, N2H+, C3+, C2N+ respectively [9,10], but may also be fragments of a molecule from outside our database. For instance, methanimine (m/z 29) is a credible candidate [11] but no EI fragmentation data is available. IV. Discussion and conclusion The interaction of cosmic rays’ analogues with N2-rich ices inside icy bodies in the outer Solar System already shown a production of a few different species (HCN, CN−, NH3…) [12-14]. The identification of the desorbed species has shown that the chemical families of volatiles follow a similar trend under pyrolysis [15]. Herein, we reported that GCRs are likely to create diversity in desorbed volatiles from the organic surface of Pluto. Consequently, the atmosphere might contain new molecules. Their abundance is however a pending issue, and the determination of the production yield of these new species requires further investigation of the experimental data. Investigations are ongoing to test if the modifications induced by the GCRs could explain the optical differences found between the organic deposits observed on Pluto and the tholins produced in the laboratory. References [1] Stern S. A. et al., Science, Vol. 350, aad1815, 2015.[2] Gladstone G. R. et al., Science, Vol. 351, aad8866, 2016.[3] Grundy W. M. et al., Icarus, Vol. 314, pp. 232-245, 2018.[4] Cruikshank D. P. et al., Icarus, Vol. 246, pp. 82-92, 2015.[5] Fayolle M. et al., EPSC-DPS 2019, Testing tholins as analogs of the dark reddish material covering the Cthulhu region[6] Szopa C. et al., Planetary and Space Science, Vol. 54, pp. 394-404, 2006.[7] Augé B. et al., Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 89, 075105, 2018.[8] Gautier T. et al., Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 2019.[9] Bohme D. K. et al., Mass Spectrom. Ion Processes, Vol. 81, pp. 123-145, 1987.[10] Carrasco N. et al., Icarus, Vol. 2019, pp. 230–240, 2012.[11] Bourgalais J. et al., JGR Space Physics, 2019, 10.1029/2019JA026953.[12] Augé B. et al., Astronomy & Astrophysics, 592, A99, 2016.[13] Vasconcelos F. A. et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys, 19, 1284, 2017.[14] Vasconcelos F. A. et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys, 19(35), 24154–24165, 2017.[15] He J. et al., Icarus, Vol. 248, pp. 205–212, 2015.
Published: 2020

23. Sulfur-driven haze formation in warm CO2-rich exoplanet atmospheres

Author: Julianne I. Moses, Chao He, Véronique Vuitton, Caroline V. Morley, Sarah E. Moran, Patricia McGuiggan, Sarah M. Hörst, Xinting Yu, Nikole K. Lewis, Mark S. Marley, Eliza M.-R. Kempton, Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), and Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP), Solar System, Haze, Materials science, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Hydrogen sulfide, [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], chemistry.chemical_element, FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Context (language use), 7. Clean energy, 01 natural sciences, Sulfur, Exoplanet, Astrobiology, Atmosphere, chemistry.chemical_compound, chemistry, 13. Climate action, 0103 physical sciences, Biosignature, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract: Sulfur gases substantially affect the photochemistry of planetary atmospheres in our Solar System, and are expected to be important components in exoplanet atmospheres. However, sulfur photochemistry in the context of exoplanets is poorly understood due to a lack of chemical kinetics information for sulfur species under relevant conditions. Here, we study the photochemical role of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in warm CO2-rich exoplanet atmospheres (800 K) by carrying out laboratory simulations. We find that H2S plays a prominent role in photochemistry, even when present in the atmosphere at relatively low concentrations (1.6%). It participates in both gas and solid phase chemistry, leading to the formation of other sulfur gas products (CH3SH/SO, C2H4S/OCS, SO2/S2 and CS2) and to an increase in solid haze particle production and compositional complexity. Our study shows that we may expect thicker haze with small particle sizes (20–140 nm) for warm CO2-rich exoplanet atmospheres that possess H2S. Laboratory experiments show that the inclusion of even small quantities of sulfur in the atmospheres of exoplanets at 800 K significantly increases photochemical complexity, both in the vapour and in the solid phase: many sulfur gas products are created (including potential biosignature gases) and the production of organic haze particles increases threefold.
Published: 2020

24. The Science Case for a Titan Flagship-class Orbiter with Probes

Author: Conor A. Nixon, Jason M. Soderblom, Xi Zhang, Athena Coustenis, Sébastien Rodriguez, Jani Radebaugh, Jason W. Barnes, Ralph D. Lorenz, Andrew D. Ashton, Mathieu Choukroun, Kathleen Mandt, Adrienn Luspay-Kuti, Elizabeth P. Turtle, Juan M. Lora, Ashley Schoenfeld, Alexander C. Gagnon, Niklas J. T. Edberg, Louis-Alexandre Couston, Stéphane Le Mouélic, Marco Mastrogiuseppe, Gabriel Tobie, Véronique Vuitton, Sandrine Vinatier, Erwan Mazarico, Nathalie Carrasco, X. Sun, Taylor Perron, Darci Snowden, Orenthal J. Tucker, Melissa G. Trainer, Marc Neveu, Luciano Iess, Anezina Solomonidou, Farid Salama, Michael Malaska, Jason D. Hofgartner, Rosaly M. C. Lopes, Nicholas A Teanby, James B. Abshire, Coustenis, Athena, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), University of Idaho [Moscow, USA], PLANETO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA (UMR_8109)), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Paris (UP), Swedish Institute of Space Physics [Uppsala] (IRF), and University of Washington [Seattle]
Subjects: Solar System, [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], FOS: Physical sciences, [SDU.ASTR.EP] Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], 7. Clean energy, Astrobiology, law.invention, Atmosphere, symbols.namesake, Orbiter, Planet, law, Saturn, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), Physics::Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics, Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP), Spacecraft, business.industry, Planetary science, 13. Climate action, Physics::Space Physics, symbols, Environmental science, Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics, Titan (rocket family), business, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract: We outline a flagship-class mission concept focused on studying Titan as a global system, with particular emphasis on the polar regions. Investigating Titan from the unique standpoint of a polar orbit would enable comprehensive global maps to uncover the physics and chemistry of the atmosphere, and the topography and geophysical environment of the surface and subsurface. The mission includes two key elements: (1) an orbiter spacecraft, which also acts as a data relay, and (2) one or more small probes to directly investigate Titan's seas and make the first direct measurements of their liquid composition and physical environment. The orbiter would carry a sophisticated remote sensing payload, including a novel topographic lidar, a long-wavelength surface-penetrating radar, a sub-millimeter sounder for winds and for mesospheric/thermospheric composition, and a camera and near-infrared spectrometer. An instrument suite to analyze particles and fields would include a mass spectrometer to focus on the interactions between Titan's escaping upper atmosphere and the solar wind and Saturnian magnetosphere. The orbiter would enter a stable polar orbit around 1500 to 1800 km, from which vantage point it would make global maps of the atmosphere and surface. One or more probes, released from the orbiter, would investigate Titan's seas in situ, including possible differences in composition between higher and lower latitude seas, as well as the atmosphere during the parachute descent. The number of probes, as well as the instrument complement on the orbiter and probe, remain to be finalized during a mission study that we recommend to NASA as part of the NRC Decadal Survey for Planetary Science now underway, with the goal of an overall mission cost in the "small flagship" category of ~$2 bn. International partnerships, similar to Cassini-Huygens, may also be included for consideration., 13 pages, white paper submitted to the NRC Decadal Survey for Planetary Science and Astrobiology
Published: 2020

25. Author response for 'Enhancing data acquisition for the analysis of complex organic matter in direct-infusion Orbitrap mass spectrometry by using micro-scans'

Author: Roland Thissen, Laurène Flandinet, Véronique Vuitton, J. Isa, Sarah M. Hörst, Cédric Wolters, Chao He, and François-Régis Orthous-Daunay
Subjects: chemistry.chemical_classification, Data acquisition, Chromatography, Chemistry, law, Organic matter, Orbitrap, Mass spectrometry, law.invention
Published: 2020

26. Irradiation dose affects the composition of organic refractory materials in space

Author: L. Le Sergeant d'Hendecourt, O. Mivumbi, Cédric Wolters, Rosario Brunetto, Véronique Vuitton, R. G. Urso, Alexander Ruf, Z. Djouadi, Grégoire Danger, Vassilissa Vinogradoff, Laurène Flandinet, François-Régis Orthous-Daunay, FRA, Institut d'astrophysique spatiale (IAS), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Lunar and Planetary Laboratory [Tucson] (LPL), University of Arizona, Physique des interactions ioniques et moléculaires (PIIM), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), and Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)
Subjects: Materials science, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Inorganic chemistry, astrobiology, Infrared spectroscopy, FOS: Physical sciences, Cosmic ray, Context (language use), Mass spectrometry, 01 natural sciences, chemistry.chemical_compound, Physics - Space Physics, Physics - Chemical Physics, 0103 physical sciences, Irradiation, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Chemical composition, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP), Chemical Physics (physics.chem-ph), Solar energetic particles, astrochemistry, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Space Physics (physics.space-ph), chemistry, solid state: refractory, 13. Climate action, Space and Planetary Science, methods: laboratory: solid state, Kuiper belt: general, Hexamethylenetetramine, [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph], Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract: Context. Near- and mid-infrared observations have revealed the presence of organic refractory materials in the solar system, in cometary nuclei and on the surface of centaurs, Kuiper-belt and trans-neptunian objects. In these astrophysical environments, organic materials can be formed because of the interaction of frozen volatile compounds with cosmic rays, stellar/solar particles, and favoured by thermal processing. The analysis of laboratory analogues of such materials gives information on their properties, complementary to observations. Aims. We present new experiments to contribute in the understanding of the chemical composition of organic refractory materials in space. Methods. We bombard frozen water, methanol and ammonia mixtures with 40 keV H$^+$ and we warm the by-products up to 300~K. The experiments allow the production of organic residues that we analyse by means of infrared spectroscopy and by Very High Resolution Mass Spectrometry to study their chemical composition and their high molecular diversity, including the presence of hexamethylenetetramine and its derivatives. Results. We find that the accumulated irradiation dose plays a role in determining the residue's composition. Conslusions. Based on the laboratory doses, we estimate the astrophysical timescales to be short enough to induce an efficient formation of organic refractory materials at the surface of icy bodies in the outer solar system., Comment: in publication on Astronomy & Astrophysics, sect. Planets and planetary systems
Published: 2020

27. A Sketch for a Photolytic History of Organic Molecules in the Solar System

Author: François-Régis Orthous-Daunay, Laurette Piani, Laurène Flandinet, Roland Thissen, Cédric Wolters, Véronique Vuitton, Olivier Poch, Frédéric Moynier, Iyo Sugawara, Hiroshi Naraoka, and Shogo Tachibana
Published: 2020

28. Laboratory experiments to unveil the molecular reactivity occurring during the processing of ices in the protosolar nebula

Author: Grégoire Danger, O. Mousis, L. Flandinet, Roland Thissen, François-Régis Orthous-Daunay, Thierry Chiavassa, Véronique Vuitton, Fabrice Duvernay, Thomas Gautier, Louis Le Sergeant d'Hendecourt, Alexander Ruf, IMPEC - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Physique des interactions ioniques et moléculaires (PIIM), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche (M.E.N.E.S.R.), Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES), Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Chimie Physique D'Orsay (LCPO), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Aix Marseille Université (AMU), PLANETO - LATMOS, Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), Institut de Chimie Physique (ICP), Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Météo-France -Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Météo-France, and ANR-16-CE29-0015,RAHIIA_SSOM,Analyses de résidus provenant d'analogues de glace interstellaire pour la compréhension de la formation de la matière organique du Système Solaire(2016)
Subjects: 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, [PHYS.ASTR.EP]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], chemistry.chemical_element, 010502 geochemistry & geophysics, Mass spectrometry, Protosolar Nebula, 01 natural sciences, Astrobiology, Geochemistry and Petrology, Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous), Molecule, Organic matter, Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, chemistry.chemical_classification, Nebula, Laboratory simulations, Interstellar Ices, Nitrogen, Interstellar medium, Geophysics, chemistry, 13. Climate action, Space and Planetary Science, Organic Matter, Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics, Formation and evolution of the Solar System, High Resolution Mass Spectrometry, Carbon, Geology
Abstract: International audience; Using laboratory experiments, we investigate the role of photo and thermal degradation in the possible complexification mechanisms of organic matter that may originate from interstellar ices prior to, or during the formation of the Solar System. We perform High Resolution Orbitrap Mass Spectrometry on organic residues formed from the photo- and thermochemical alterations of Interstellar Medium (ISM) dirty ice laboratory analogues. We probe, at the molecular level, the possible effects within the protosolar nebula on the composition and structure of these organic refractory materials obtained from an initial ice composition representative of astrophysical ices. We show that nitrogen incorporation, by competing with the carbon, has a strong influence on the final composition of the residue. NH3 rich ices lead to a group of unsaturated molecules in the final residue, while H2O rich ices lead to saturated ones. Finally, we observe and discuss the strong effect of UV irradiation on the decarboxylation on organic matter and discuss potential implications of this result for the protosolar nebula.
Published: 2020

29. Heavy negative ion growth in Titan’s polar winter

Author: J. H. Waite, Véronique Vuitton, Geraint H. Jones, Andrew J. Coates, Anne Wellbrock, R. T. Desai, Panayotis Lavvas, Groupe de spectrométrie moléculaire et atmosphérique (GSMA), Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL), University College of London [London] (UCL), The University of Sydney, Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Space Science Division [San Antonio], Southwest Research Institute [San Antonio] (SwRI), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), and Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])
Subjects: Physics, astrochemistry -planets and satellites, Astrochemistry, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, [PHYS.ASTR.EP]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], Astronomy and Astrophysics, atmospheres -planets and satellites, 7. Clean energy, 01 natural sciences, Ion, Astrobiology, symbols.namesake, 13. Climate action, Space and Planetary Science, [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics], 0103 physical sciences, symbols, Polar, individual, Titan (rocket family), Titan, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Abstract: A significant but unexpected result of the Cassini mission was the discovery of heavy organic negative ions in Titan’s ionosphere at altitudes between about 950 and 1400 km by the CAPS Electron Spectrometer (ELS). The heaviest ions were observed during the T16 fly-by with masses over 13 000 u/q. This is significantly higher than the maximum masses observed during other fly-bys. We study T16 CAPS-ELS observations and examine the evolution of mass spectra at different altitudes. We also study maximum mass trends using a large data set from all available CAPS-ELS observations of the Cassini mission in order to investigate the conditions necessary to allow negative ions to grow to the highest masses. For the first time, we are able to investigate the relationship between the highest mass particles and seasonal effects. We find that the combination of high latitude and winter conditions, resulting in long-term restricted solar flux, create an environment in which ion growth can reach the highest masses, as observed during T16. Restricting solar flux long term, and hence photodestruction reactions such as photodetachment, appears to be essential for negative ions to grow beyond 10 000 u/q.
Published: 2019

30. Haze production rates in super-Earth and mini-Neptune atmosphere experiments

Author: Chao He, Nikole K. Lewis, Mark S. Marley, Véronique Vuitton, Sarah M. Hörst, Julianne I. Moses, Caroline V. Morley, Jeff A. Valenti, and Eliza M.-R. Kempton
Subjects: Solar System, Haze, Super-Earth, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 01 natural sciences, Exoplanet, Astrobiology, Atmosphere, Pluto, Planet, 0103 physical sciences, Environmental science, Mini-Neptune, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Abstract: Numerous Solar System atmospheres possess photochemically generated hazes, including the characteristic organic hazes of Titan and Pluto. Haze particles substantially impact atmospheric temperature structures and may provide organic material to the surface of a world, potentially affecting its habitability. Observations of exoplanet atmospheres suggest the presence of aerosols, especially in cooler (
Published: 2018

31. Aqueous Alteration on Asteroids Simplifies Soluble Organic Matter Mixtures

Author: J. Isa, Christopher D. K. Herd, Laurène Flandinet, François-Régis Orthous-Daunay, Véronique Vuitton, P. Beck, Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), and Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP), chemistry.chemical_classification, 0303 health sciences, Aqueous solution, [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Chemical reaction, Accretion (astrophysics), Parent body, Astrobiology, 03 medical and health sciences, 0302 clinical medicine, chemistry, Meteorite, 13. Climate action, Space and Planetary Science, Asteroid, Abiogenesis, Physics - Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability, Organic matter, Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability (physics.data-an), 030217 neurology & neurosurgery, Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics, 030304 developmental biology
Abstract: Biologically relevant abiotic extraterrestrial soluble organic matter (SOM) has been widely investigated to study the origin of life and the chemical evolution of protoplanetary disks. Synthesis of biologically relevant organics, in particular, seems to require aqueous environments in the early solar system. However, SOM in primitive meteorites includes numerous chemical species besides the biologically relevant ones, and the reaction mechanisms that comprehensively explain the complex nature of SOM are unknown. Besides, the initial reactants, which formed before asteroid accretion, were uncharacterized. We examined the mass distribution of SOM extracted from three distinct Tagish Lake meteorite fragments, which exhibit different degrees of aqueous alteration though they originated from a single asteroid. We report that mass distributions of SOM in the primordial fragments are well fit by the SchulzZimm (SZ) model for the molecular weight distribution patterns found in chain growth polymerization experiments. Also, the distribution patterns diverge further from SZ with increasing degrees of aqueous alteration. These observations imply that the complex nature of the primordial SOM (1) was established before severe alteration on the asteroid, (2) possibly existed before parent-body accretion, and (3) later became simplified on the asteroid. Therefore, aqueous reactions on asteroids are not required conditions for cultivating complex SOM. Furthermore, we found that overall H over C ratios of SOM decrease with increasing aqueous alteration, and the estimate of H loss from the SOM is 10% to 30%. Organics seem to be a significant H2 source that may have caused subsequent chemical reactions in the Tagish Lake meteorite parent body., 29 pages
Published: 2021

32. Molecular reactivity of ices in the protosolar nebula

Author: Thomas Gautier, Alexander Ruf, Grégoire Danger, Olivier Mousis, Fabrice Duvernay, Véronique Vuitton, Laurène Flandinet, Roland Thissen, François-Régis Orthous-Daunay, Thierry Chiavassaa, Hendecourt, Louis D., IMPEC - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Physique des interactions ioniques et moléculaires (PIIM), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES), Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Chimie Physique D'Orsay (LCPO), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), PLANETO - LATMOS, Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019]), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)
Subjects: [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract: International audience; Using laboratory experiments, we probe, at the molecular level, the evolution within the protosolar nebula of the composition of organic refractory materials obtained from astrophysical ices.
Published: 2019

33. Chemical composition of Pluto's aerosols analogues

Author: Lora Jovanovic, Thomas Gautier, Nathalie Carrasco, Véronique Vuitton, Cédric Wolters, François-Régis Orthous-Daunay, Ludovic Vettier, Laurène Flandinet, IMPEC - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche (M.E.N.E.S.R.), Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Gautier, Thomas, PLANETO - LATMOS, Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019]), and Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)
Subjects: [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], [SDU.ASTR.EP] Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP]
Abstract: International audience; The discovery of haze in Pluto's atmosphere on July 14 th , 2015, has raised lots of questions. To help understand the data provided by the New Horizons spacecraft, Pluto's aerosols analogues were synthetized and their chemical composition was determined by high-resolution mass spectrometry (Orbitrap technique).
Published: 2019

34. ALMA Spectral Imaging of Titan Contemporaneous with Cassini 's Grand Finale

Author: Conor A. Nixon, Alexander E. Thelen, Steven B. Charnley, Martin A. Cordiner, Nicholas A Teanby, Véronique Vuitton, School of Earth Sciences [Bristol], University of Bristol [Bristol], NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019]), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), and Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Subjects: medicine.medical_specialty, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, [PHYS.ASTR.EP]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], FOS: Physical sciences, Spatial distribution, 01 natural sciences, Submillimeter Array, individual (Titan) [planets and satellites], symbols.namesake, Altitude, 0103 physical sciences, medicine, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Physics, Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP), Astronomy, Astronomy and Astrophysics, planetary systems [submillimeter], atmospheres [planets and satellites], imaging spectroscopy [techniques], Spectral imaging, interferometric [techniques], 13. Climate action, Space and Planetary Science, symbols, Millimeter, Ionosphere, Thermosphere, Titan (rocket family), Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract: The Cassini mission performed 127 targeted flybys of Titan during its 13-year mission to Saturn, culminating in the Grand Finale between April-September 2017. Here we demonstrate the use of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to continue Cassini's legacy for chemical and climatological studies of Titan's atmosphere. Whole-hemisphere, interferometric spectral maps of HCN, HNC, HC3N, CH3CN, C2H3CN, C2H5CN and C3H8 were obtained using ALMA in May 2017 at moderate (~0.2'', or 1300 km) spatial resolution, revealing the effects of seasonally-variable chemistry and dynamics on the distribution of each species. The ALMA sub-mm observations of HCN and HC3N are consistent with Cassini infrared data on these species, obtained in the same month. Chemical/dynamical lifetimes of a few years are inferred for C2H3CN and C2H5CN, in reasonably close agreement with the latest chemical models incorporating sticking of C2H5CN to stratospheric aerosol particles. ALMA radial limb flux profiles provide column density information as a function of altitude, revealing maximum abundances in the thermosphere (above 600 km) for HCN, HNC, HC3N and C2H5CN. This constitutes the first detailed measurement of the spatial distribution of HNC, which is found to be confined predominantly to altitudes above 730 $\pm$ 60 km. The HNC emission map shows an east-west hemispheric asymmetry of (13$\pm$3)%. These results are consistent with very rapid production (and loss) of HNC in Titan's uppermost atmosphere, making this molecule an effective probe of short-timescale (diurnal) ionospheric processes., Comment: AJ; submitted March 2019; accepted for publication June 2019
Published: 2019

35. Laboratory Simulation of Pluto's Atmosphere and Aerosols

Author: Lora Jovanovic, Thomas Gautier, Nathalie Carrasco, Véronique Vuitton, Quirico, E., Wolters, C., R Orthous-Daunay, F., Ludovic Vettier, Flandinet, L., PLANETO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS), Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche (M.E.N.E.S.R.), Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019]), Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS), IMPEC - LATMOS, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Subjects: [PHYS.ASTR.EP]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], Physics::Space Physics, Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics, Physics::Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
Abstract: International audience; We will present laboratory investigation of Pluto's atmosphere and its aerosols formation to help understand the data provided by the New Horizons spacecraft.
Published: 2019

36. Measured mass to stoichoimetric formula through exhaustive search

Author: Roland Thissen, François-Régis Orthous-Daunay, Véronique Vuitton, Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Chimie Physique, Centre Universitaire Paris-Sud-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019]), Laboratoire de Chimie Physique D'Orsay (LCPO), and Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Subjects: Physics, Constant coefficients, Resolution (mass spectrometry), astrochemistry, [PHYS.ASTR.EP]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], Diophantine equation, 010102 general mathematics, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 010502 geochemistry & geophysics, Mass spectrometry, Orbitrap, 01 natural sciences, methods: data analysis, Computational physics, law.invention, molecular processes, Space and Planetary Science, law, Mass spectrum, Molecule, 0101 mathematics, Stoichiometry, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Abstract: Electrospray ionisation has revolutionised mass spectrometry. Coupled to high mass resolution, it provides the stoichiometric formula of a lot of molecules in a mixture. The link between the mass spectrometry data and the chemical description relies on an interpretation of the measured masses. We present here the tools and tricks developed to exploit Orbitrap mass spectra. This piece of work focuses on the numerical method to assign a molecular formula to a measured mass. The problem is restrained to the solving of the Diophantine equation where the constant coefficients are stoichiometric groups. Peculiar case of a set of convenient groups is given with the chemical constraints it brings to the problem.
Published: 2019

37. Identification of organic molecules with a laboratory prototype based on the Laser Ablation-CosmOrbitrap

Author: P. Zapf, Gilles Chalumeau, Motoo Ito, Alexander Makarov, F. Colin, Laura Selliez, Nicolas Fray, S. Ruocco, B. Gaubicher, R. Thissen, François-Régis Orthous-Daunay, Laurent Thirkell, Noël Grand, Hervé Cottin, Cécile Engrand, Laurène Flandinet, Jean-Pierre Lebreton, Cyril Szopa, Véronique Vuitton, Nathalie Carrasco, C. Briois, Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace (LPC2E), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers en région Centre (OSUC), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University (PSL)-PSL Research University (PSL)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University (PSL)-PSL Research University (PSL)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales [Paris] (CNES), IMPEC - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche (M.E.N.E.S.R.), Laboratoire de Chimie Physique D'Orsay (LCPO), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques (LISA (UMR_7583)), Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre de Sciences Nucléaires et de Sciences de la Matière (CSNSM), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Thermo Fisher Scientific (Bremen) GmbH, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales) and the Région Centre-Val de Loire for the funding of her PhD., European Project: 636829,H2020,ERC-2014-STG,PRIMCHEM(2015), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales [Paris] (CNES), PLANETO - LATMOS, Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019]), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)
Subjects: Materials science, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Analyser, FOS: Physical sciences, High mass resolution, Mass spectrometry, Orbitrap, 01 natural sciences, 7. Clean energy, Space mass spectrometry, Space exploration, law.invention, law, 0103 physical sciences, Aerospace engineering, Aerospace, Enceladus, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP), Chemical identification, Laser ablation, business.industry, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Mars Exploration Program, Astrobiology, [SDU.ASTR.IM]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysic [astro-ph.IM], CosmOrbitrap, 13. Climate action, Space and Planetary Science, business, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, [CHIM.OTHE]Chemical Sciences/Other, Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract: International audience; In the Solar System, extra-terrestrial organic molecules have been found on cometary primitive objects, on Titan and Enceladus icy moons and on Mars. Identification could be achieved for simple organic species by remote sensing based on spectroscopic methods. However in situ mass spectrometry is a key technology to determine the nature of more complex organic matter. A large panel of mass spectrometers has already been developed for space exploration combining different types of analysers and ion sources. Up to now the highest mass resolution reached with a space instrument is 9,000 at m/z 28 and corresponds to the DFMS-ROSINA instrument (Balsiger et al., 2007) dedicated to the study of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's atmosphere and ionosphere, in a low pressure environment. A new concept of mass analyser offering ultra-high mass resolving power of more than 50,000 at m/z 56 (under high vacuum condition about 10−9 mbar) is currently being developed for space applications: the CosmOrbitrap (Briois et al., 2016), based on the Orbitrap™ technology.This work challenges the use of LAb-CosmOrbitrap, a space instrument prototype combining Laser Ablation ionisation and the CosmOrbitrap mass analyser, to identify solid organic molecules of relevance to the future space exploration. For this purpose a blind test was jointly organised by the JAXA-HRMS team (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency-High Resolution Mass Spectrometry) and the CosmOrbitrap consortium. The JAXA team provided two organic samples, whereas the CosmOrbitrap consortium analysed them without prior information. Thanks to the high analytical performances of the prototype and our HRMS data post-processing, we successfully identified the two molecules as HOBt, hydroxybenzotriazole (C6H5N3O) and BBOT, 2,5-Bis(5-tert-butyl-benzoxazol-2-yl)thiophene (C26H26N2O2S), with a mass resolving power of, respectively, 123 540 and 69 219. The success of this blind test on complex organic molecules shows the strong potential of LAb-CosmOrbitrap for future space applications.
Published: 2019

38. Gas Phase Chemistry of Cool Exoplanet Atmospheres: Insight from Laboratory Simulations

Author: Caroline V. Morley, Chao He, Véronique Vuitton, Jeff A. Valenti, Mark S. Marley, Eliza M.-R. Kempton, Sarah M. Hörst, Julianne I. Moses, Nikole K. Lewis, Johns Hopkins University (JHU), Morton K. Blaustein Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences [Baltimore], Space Telescope Science Institute (STSci), Grinnell College, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory [Tucson] (LPL), and University of Arizona
Subjects: Atmospheric Science, Haze, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], chemistry.chemical_element, FOS: Physical sciences, Mass spectrometry, 01 natural sciences, Astrobiology, Atmosphere, Geochemistry and Petrology, 0103 physical sciences, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP), Plasma, Exoplanet, chemistry, 13. Climate action, Space and Planetary Science, Mass spectrum, Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics, Energy source, Carbon, Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract: Photochemistry induced by stellar UV flux should produce haze particles in exoplanet atmospheres. Recent observations indicate that haze and/or cloud layers exist in the atmospheres of exoplanets. However, photochemical processes in exoplanetary atmospheres remain largely unknown. We performed laboratory experiments with the PHAZER chamber to simulate haze formation in a range of exoplanet atmospheres (hydrogen-rich, water-rich, and carbon dioxide-rich at 300, 400, and 600 K), and observed the gas phase compositional change (the destruction of the initial gas and the formation of new gas species) during these experiments with mass spectrometer. The mass spectra reveal that distinct chemical processes happen in the experiments as a function of different initial gas mixture and different energy sources (plasma or UV photons). We find that organic gas products and O2 are photochemically generated in the experiments, demonstrating that photochemical production is one of the abiotic sources for these potential biosignatures. Multiple simulated atmospheres produce organics and O2 simultaneously, which suggests that even the co-presence of organics and O2 could be false positive biosignature. From the gas phase composition changes, we identify potential precursors (C2H2, HCN, CH2NH, HCHO, etc.) for haze formation, among which complex reactions can take place and produce larger molecules. Our laboratory results indicate that complex atmospheric photochemistry can happen in diverse exoplanet atmospheres and lead to the formation of new gas products and haze particles, including compounds (O2 and organics) that could be falsely identified as biosignatures., Comment: 30 pages, 11 Figures, accepted for publication in ACS Earth and Space Chemistry
Published: 2018

39. Heavy Positive Ion Groups in Titan’s Ionosphere from Cassini Plasma Spectrometer IBS Observations

Author: Panayotis Lavvas, Andrew J. Coates, Richard Haythornthwaite, Anne Wellbrock, Véronique Vuitton, Geraint H. Jones, J. Hunter Waite, Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), Groupe de spectrométrie moléculaire et atmosphérique (GSMA), and Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Subjects: Ion beam, Analytical chemistry, FOS: Physical sciences, Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, Mass spectrometry, 01 natural sciences, Ion, Atmosphere, symbols.namesake, Physics - Space Physics, 0103 physical sciences, Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous), 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP), chemistry.chemical_classification, Spectrometer, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, Chemistry, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Space Physics (physics.space-ph), Geophysics, [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics], 13. Climate action, Space and Planetary Science, symbols, Ionosphere, Titan (rocket family), Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract: Titan’s ionosphere contains a plethora of hydrocarbons and nitrile cations and anions as measured by the Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer and Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) on board the Cassini spacecraft. Data from the CAPS Ion Beam Spectrometer (IBS) sensor have been examined for five close encounters of Titan during 2009. The high relative velocity of Cassini with respect to the cold ions in Titan’s ionosphere allows CAPS IBS to function as a mass spectrometer. Positive ion masses between 170 and 310 u/q are examined with ion mass groups identified between 170 and 275 u/q containing between 14 and 21 heavy (carbon/nitrogen/oxygen) atoms. These groups are the heaviest positive ion groups reported so far from the available in situ ion data at Titan. The ion group peaks are found to be consistent with masses associated with polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAC), including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and nitrogen-bearing polycyclic aromatic molecular ions. The ion group peak identifications are compared with previously proposed neutral PAHs and are found to be at similar masses, supporting a PAH interpretation. The spacing between the ion group peaks is also investigated, finding a spacing of 12 or 13 u/q indicating the addition of C or CH. Lastly, the occurrence of several ion groups is seen to vary across the five flybys studied, possibly relating to the varying solar radiation conditions observed across the flybys. These findings further the understanding between the low-mass ions and the high-mass negative ions, as well as with aerosol formation in Titan’s atmosphere.
Published: 2021

40. Haze Formation in Warm H2-rich Exoplanet Atmospheres

Author: Xinting Yu, Mark S. Marley, Eliza M.-R. Kempton, Chao He, Caroline V. Morley, Jeff A. Valenti, Sarah M. Hörst, Véronique Vuitton, Julianne I. Moses, Nikole K. Lewis, and Patricia McGuiggan
Subjects: Haze, Materials science, Metallicity, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Chemical reaction, Exoplanet, Methane, Astrobiology, Atmosphere, chemistry.chemical_compound, Geophysics, chemistry, Space and Planetary Science, Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous), Particle size, Energy source
Abstract: New observing capabilities coming online over the next few years will provide opportunities for characterization of exoplanet atmospheres. However, clouds/hazes could be present in the atmospheres of many exoplanets, muting the amplitude of spectral features. We use laboratory simulations to explore photochemical haze formation in H2-rich exoplanet atmospheres at 800 K with metallicity either 100 or 1000 times solar. We find that haze particles are produced in both simulated atmospheres with small particle size (20–140 nm) and relatively low production rate (2.4 × 10−5 to 9.7 × 10−5 mg cm−3 hr−1), but the particle size and production rate is dependent on the initial gas mixtures and the energy sources used in the simulation experiments. The gas phase mass spectra show that complex chemical processes happen in these atmospheres and generate new gas products that can further react to form larger molecules and solid haze particles. Two H2-rich atmospheres with similar C/O ratios (∼0.5) yield different haze particle size, haze production rate, and gas products, suggesting that both the elemental abundances and their bonding environments in an atmosphere can significantly affect the photochemistry. There is no methane (CH4) in our initial gas mixtures, although CH4 is often believed to be required to generate organic hazes. However, haze production rates from our experiments with different initial gas mixtures indicate that CH4 is neither required to generate organic hazes nor necessary to promote the organic haze formation. The variety and relative yield of the gas products indicate that CO and N2 enrich chemical reactions in H2-rich atmospheres.
Published: 2020

41. Chemistry of Temperate Super-Earth and Mini-Neptune Atmospheric Hazes from Laboratory Experiments

Author: Jeff A. Valenti, Laurène Flandinet, Sarah M. Hörst, Joshua A. Sebree, Julianne I. Moses, Sarah E. Moran, Chao He, Mark S. Marley, Véronique Vuitton, Eliza M.-R. Kempton, Cédric Wolters, François-Régis Orthous-Daunay, Nikole K. Lewis, Caroline V. Morley, Nicole North, Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), and Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)
Subjects: Solar System, Haze, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], FOS: Physical sciences, Mass spectrometry, 01 natural sciences, Astrobiology, 0103 physical sciences, Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous), Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP), Super-Earth, Chemistry, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Early Earth, Exoplanet, Sugar derivatives, Geophysics, 13. Climate action, Space and Planetary Science, Mini-Neptune, Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract: Very little experimental work has been done to explore the properties of photochemical hazes formed in atmospheres with very different compositions or temperatures than that of the outer solar system or of early Earth. With extrasolar planet discoveries now numbering thousands, this untapped phase space merits exploration. This study presents measured chemical properties of haze particles produced in laboratory analogues of exoplanet atmospheres. We used very high resolution mass spectrometry to measure the chemical components of solid particles produced in atmospheric chamber experiments. Many complex molecular species with general chemical formulas C$_w$H$_x$N$_y$O$_z$ were detected. We detect molecular formulas of prebiotic interest in the data, including those for the monosaccharide glyceraldehyde, a variety of amino acids and nucleotide bases, and several sugar derivatives. Additionally, the experimental exoplanetary haze analogues exhibit diverse solubility characteristics, which provide insight into the possibility of further chemical or physical alteration of photochemical hazes in super-Earth and mini-Neptune atmospheres. These exoplanet analogue particles can help us better understand chemical atmospheric processes and suggest a possible source of in situ atmospheric prebiotic chemistry on distant worlds., 22 pages, 8 figures, 9 tables, accepted for publication in the Planetary Science Journal
Published: 2020

42. ALMA observations of Titan’s atmospheric chemistry and seasonal variation

Author: Nicholas A Teanby, S. B. Charnley, James Lai, M. Y. Palmer, M. J. Mumma, Martin Cordiner, Edward Molter, Conor Nixon, Zbigniew Kisiel, Véronique Vuitton, Patrick G. J. Irwin, A. E. Thelen, Eco-Efficient Products and Processes Laboratory (E2P2L), Université de Lyon-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Solvay, School of Earth Sciences [Bristol], University of Bristol [Bristol], Department of Astronomy [College Park], University of Maryland [College Park], University of Maryland System-University of Maryland System, Departament d'Astronomia i Meteorologia [Barcelona] (DAM), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics [Oxford] (AOPP), University of Oxford [Oxford], NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Eco-Efficient Products &Processes Laboratory (E2PL2), Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-RHODIA, Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), and Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])
Subjects: Astrochemistry, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Atmospheric circulation, [PHYS.ASTR.EP]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], Astronomy and Astrophysics, Equinox, Seasonality, Atmospheric sciences, medicine.disease, 01 natural sciences, symbols.namesake, 13. Climate action, Space and Planetary Science, Abundance (ecology), Atmospheric chemistry, 0103 physical sciences, symbols, medicine, Environmental science, Titan (rocket family), 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Southern Hemisphere, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Abstract: Results are presented from our ongoing studies of Titan using ALMA during the period 2012-2015, including a confirmation of the previous detection of vinyl cyanide (C2H3CN), as well as the first spatial map for this species on Titan. Simultaneous mapping of HC3N, CH3CN and C2H5CN reveal characteristic abundance patterns for each species that provide insight into their individual photochemical lifetimes, and help inform our understanding of Titan’s unique, time-variable atmospheric chemistry and global circulation. A time-sequence of HC3N maps covering 38 months reveals a dramatic change in the distribution of this gas consistent with high-altitude photochemical production followed by advection towards the southern (winter) pole, combined with rapid loss in the north after Titan’s 2009 seasonal equinox. The 2015 C2H3CN and C2H5CN maps show abundance peaks in Titan’s southern hemisphere, similar to those observed for the short-lived HC3N molecule. The longer-lived CH3CN, on the other hand, remains more concentrated in the north.
Published: 2018

43. Photochemical Haze Formation in the Atmospheres of super-Earths and mini-Neptunes

Author: Chao He, Sarah M. Hörst, Jeff A. Valenti, Véronique Vuitton, Caroline V. Morley, Julianne I. Moses, Patricia McGuiggan, Xinting Yu, Nikole K. Lewis, Mark S. Marley, and Eliza M.-R. Kempton
Subjects: Haze, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Infrared, Metallicity, FOS: Physical sciences, medicine.disease_cause, Photochemistry, 01 natural sciences, law.invention, Atmosphere, Telescope, law, 0103 physical sciences, medicine, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Physics, Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP), Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Exoplanet, Radiation flux, Space and Planetary Science, Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics, Ultraviolet, Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract: UV radiation can induce photochemical processes in exoplanet atmospheres and produce haze particles. Recent observations suggest that haze and/or cloud layers could be present in the upper atmospheres of exoplanets. Haze particles play an important role in planetary atmospheres and may provide a source of organic material to the surface which may impact the origin or evolution of life. However, very little information is known about photochemical processes in cool, high-metallicity exoplanetary atmospheres. Previously, we investigated haze formation and particle size distribution in laboratory atmosphere simulation experiments using AC plasma as the energy source. Here, we use UV photons to initiate the chemistry rather than the AC plasma, since photochemistry driven by UV radiation is important for understanding exoplanet atmospheres. We present photochemical haze formation in current UV experiments, we investigated a range of atmospheric metallicities (100x, 1000x, and 10000x solar metallicity) at three temperatures (300 K, 400 K, and 600 K). We find that photochemical hazes are generated in all simulated atmospheres with temperature-dependent production rates: the particles produced in each metallicity group decrease as the temperature increases. The images taken with atomic force microscopy show the particle size (15-190 nm) varies with temperature and metallicity. Our laboratory experimental results provide new insight into the formation and properties of photochemical haze, which could guide exoplanet atmosphere modeling and help to analyze and interpret current and future observations of exoplanets., Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, Accepted on The Astronomical Journal
Published: 2018
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44. Interferometric imaging of Titan's HC$_3$N, H$^{13}$CCCN and HCCC$^{15}$N

Author: Zbigniew Kisiel, Nicholas A Teanby, Edward Molter, Conor A. Nixon, Véronique Vuitton, Steven B. Charnley, and Martin A. Cordiner
Subjects: 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, chemistry.chemical_element, FOS: Physical sciences, Astrophysics, 01 natural sciences, Submillimeter Array, individual (Titan) [planets and satellites], chemistry.chemical_compound, symbols.namesake, 0103 physical sciences, Cyanoacetylene, Solstice, Isotopologue, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Physics, Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP), Astronomy and Astrophysics, planetary systems [submillimeter], atmospheres [planets and satellites], imaging spectroscopy [techniques], Nitrogen, interferometric [techniques], chemistry, Space and Planetary Science, Excited state, symbols, Millimeter, Titan (rocket family), Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract: We present the first maps of cyanoacetylene isotopologues in Titan's atmosphere, including H$^{13}$CCCN and HCCC$^{15}$N, detected in the 0.9 mm band using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter array (ALMA) around the time of Titan's (southern winter) solstice in May 2017. The first high-resolution map of HC$_3$N in its $v_7=1$ vibrationally excited state is also presented, revealing a unique snapshot of the global HC$_3$N distribution, free from the strong optical depth effects that adversely impact the ground-state ($v=0$) map. The HC$_3$N emission is found to be strongly enhanced over Titan's south pole (by a factor of 5.7 compared to the north pole), consistent with rapid photochemical loss of HC$_3$N from the summer hemisphere combined with production and transport to the winter pole since the April 2015 ALMA observations. The H$^{13}$CCCN/HCCC$^{15}$N flux ratio is derived at the southern HC$_3$N peak, and implies an HC$_3$N/HCCC$^{15}$N ratio of $67\pm14$. This represents a significant enrichment in $^{15}$N compared with Titan's main molecular nitrogen reservoir, which has a $^{14}$N/$^{15}$N ratio of 167, and confirms the importance of photochemistry in determining the nitrogen isotopic ratio in Titan's organic inventory., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJL, May 2018
Published: 2018
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45. Influence of local ionization on ionospheric densities in Titan's upper atmosphere

Author: Roger V. Yelle, Erik Vigren, Véronique Vuitton, Marina Galand, Anne Wellbrock, Andrew J. Coates, Jun Cui, Luc Sagnières, and Panayotis Lavvas
Subjects: Solar System, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Astrophysics, Radiation, Physics::Geophysics, Ion, Astrobiology, Fusion, plasma och rymdfysik, symbols.namesake, Ionization, Physics::Atomic and Molecular Clusters, Astrophysics::Solar and Stellar Astrophysics, Atmosphere of Titan, Physics, upper atmosphere, Fusion, Plasma and Space Physics, Geophysics, Space and Planetary Science, Physics::Space Physics, ionization processes, symbols, Cassini, Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics, Ionosphere, Titan, Titan (rocket family)
Abstract: Titan has the most chemically complex ionosphere of the solar system. The main sources of ions on the dayside are ionization by EUV solar radiation and on the nightside include ionization by precipitated electrons from Saturn's magnetosphere and transport of ions from the dayside, but many questions remain open. How well do models predict local ionization rates? How strongly do the ionization processes drive the ionospheric densities locally? To address these questions, we have carried out an analysis of ion densities from the Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) from 16 close flybys of Titan's upper atmosphere. Using a simple chemical model applied to the INMS data set, we have calculated the ion production rates and local ionization frequencies associated with primary ions and . We find that on the dayside the solar energy deposition model overestimates the INMS-derived production rates by a factor of 2. On the nightside, however, the model driven by suprathermal electron intensities from the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer Electron Spectrometer sometimes agrees and other times underestimates the INMS-derived production rates by a factor of up to 2-3. We find that below 1200km, all ion number densities correlate with the local ionization frequency, although the correlation is significantly stronger for short-lived ions than long-lived ions. Furthermore, we find that, for a given N-2 local ionization frequency, has higher densities on the dayside than on the nightside. We explain that this is due to CH4 being more efficiently ionized by solar photons than by magnetospheric electrons for a given amount of N-2 ionization.
Published: 2015

46. A Revised Sensitivity Model for Cassini INMS: Results at Titan

Author: Gregory Fletcher, A. Y. Lee, E. L. Patrick, David A. Gell, Brian Magee, D. T. Young, Rebecca Perryman, J. Grimes, Wayne Kasprzak, Greg Miller, Hasso B. Niemann, B. D. Teolis, Véronique Vuitton, Roger V. Yelle, Jared Bell, Kathleen Mandt, F. J. Pelletier, and J. H. Waite
Subjects: Physics, Spacecraft, business.industry, Monte Carlo method, Detector, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Atmospheric sciences, Computational physics, Ion, Constant factor, symbols.namesake, Planetary science, Space and Planetary Science, symbols, Enceladus, Titan (rocket family), business
Abstract: Cassini Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) measurements from roughly a hundred Titan encounters over the Cassini mission yield neutral and ion densities systematically lower, by factors approximately 2 to 3, than estimates from several other spacecraft systems, including the Attitude and Articulation Control System, and Navigation system. In this paper we present a new INMS instrument sensitivity model, obtained by re-analyzing (1) the capture and transmission of neutral gas through the instrument, and (2) the detector gain reduction during pre-launch testing. By correcting for an under-estimation of gas leakage out of the instrument into space by the original calibration model, and adjusting for the gain change, the new model brings INMS densities into much closer agreement with the other Cassini systems. Accordingly, the INMS ion densities are revised upward by a constant detector sensitivity correction factor of 1.55±21 %, while the neutral sensitivities have a complex instrument pointing direction dependence, due (mostly) to the effect of the INMS vent and antechamber-to-closed source tube. In the special case of on-ram pointing the neutral densities are revised upward by a constant factor of 2.2±23 %. The corrected neutral and ion sensitivities given here are applicable to all previously published INMS results at Titan, Enceladus and elsewhere in the Saturn system. The new model gives reliable densities at high ram angles, in some cases above 90 degrees, thereby expanding the list of Titan flybys from which INMS densities may be extracted. We apply the model to obtain accurate densities from several off-ram Titan flybys which gave unusual neutral density vs. altitude profiles, or unreasonably high densities, with the original calibration.
Published: 2015

47. Ion composition at comet 67P near perihelion: Rosetta observations and model-based interpretation

Author: Myrtha Hässig, Sébastien Gasc, Ursina Calmonte, B. Fiethe, Tamas I. Gombosi, Jean-Jacques Berthelier, E. Kopp, Arnaud Beth, André Bieler, Kirk C. Hansen, Marina Galand, Martin Rubin, Hans Balsiger, S. A. Fuselier, Nicolas Fougere, Erik Vigren, M. R. Combi, Chia-Yu Tzou, Kathrin Altwegg, K. L. Heritier, Anders Eriksson, Elias Odelstad, Véronique Vuitton, J. De Keyser, N. Biver, Department of Physics [Imperial College London], Imperial College London, Physikalisches Institut [Bern], Universität Bern [Bern], IMPEC - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University (PSL)-PSL Research University (PSL)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC), Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences [Ann Arbor] (AOSS), University of Michigan [Ann Arbor], University of Michigan System-University of Michigan System, Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy / Institut d'Aéronomie Spatiale de Belgique (BIRA-IASB), Swedish Institute of Space Physics [Uppsala] (IRF), Institute of Computer and Network Engineering [Braunschweig] (IDA), Technische Universität Braunschweig [Braunschweig], Space Science and Engineering Division [San Antonio], Southwest Research Institute [San Antonio] (SwRI), The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Imperial College Trust, Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), European Space Agency / Estec, PLANETO - LATMOS, Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Technische Universität Braunschweig = Technical University of Braunschweig [Braunschweig], Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019]), and Universität Bern [Bern] (UNIBE)
Subjects: 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, 530 Physics, Comet, Data analysis, [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP], Coma (optics), Astronomy & Astrophysics, 01 natural sciences, UV radiation, Ion, law.invention, Orbiter, law, 0103 physical sciences, Comets, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Physics, Range (particle radiation), Spectrometer, [SDU.ASTR.SR]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Solar and Stellar Astrophysics [astro-ph.SR], 520 Astronomy, Sun, Astronomy, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 620 Engineering, 0201 Astronomical And Space Sciences, 13. Climate action, Space and Planetary Science, Plasmas
Abstract: International audience; We present the ion composition in the coma of comet 67P with newly detected ion species over the 28 to 37 u mass range, probed by Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA)/Double Focusing Mass Spectrometer (DFMS). In summer 2015, the nucleus reached its highest outgassing rate and ion-neutral reactions started to take place at low cometocentric distances. Minor neutrals can efficiently capture protons from the ion population, making the protonated version of these neutrals a major ion species. So far, only NH>sup>+4 has been reported at comet 67P. However, there are additional neutral species with proton affinities higher than that of water (besides NH3) that have been detected in the coma of comet 67P: CH3OH, HCN, H2CO and H2S. Their protonated versions have all been detected. Statistics showing the number of detections with respect to the number of scans are presented. The effect of the negative spacecraft potential probed by the Rosetta Plasma Consortium (RPC)/LAngmuir Probe (LAP) on ion detection is assessed. An ionospheric model has been developed to assess the different ion density profiles and compare them to the ROSINA/DFMS measurements. It is also used to interpret the ROSINA/DFMS observations when different ion species have similar masses, and their respective densities are not high enough to disentangle them using the ROSINA/DFMS high resolution mode. The different ion species that have been reported in the coma of 67P are summarised and compared with the ions detected at comet 1P/Halley during the Giotto mission.
Published: 2017

48. Cometary Materials Originating from Interstellar Ices: Clues from Laboratory Experiments

Author: Grégoire Danger, Laurène Flandinet, Véronique Vuitton, L. Ls d’Hendecourt, N. Abou Mrad, Thierry Chiavassa, Roland Thissen, A. Fresneau, François-Régis Orthous-Daunay, Fabrice Duvernay, Physique des interactions ioniques et moléculaires (PIIM), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019]), Aix Marseille Université (AMU), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and ANR-16-CE29-0015,RAHIIA_SSOM,Analyses de résidus provenant d'analogues de glace interstellaire pour la compréhension de la formation de la matière organique du Système Solaire(2016)
Subjects: Physics, chemistry.chemical_classification, [PHYS]Physics [physics], Astrochemistry, [CHIM.ORGA]Chemical Sciences/Organic chemistry, Molecular cloud, Lead (sea ice), Heteroatom, Infrared spectroscopy, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Physical history, 010502 geochemistry & geophysics, Mass spectrometry, 01 natural sciences, Astrobiology, chemistry, 13. Climate action, Space and Planetary Science, 0103 physical sciences, Organic matter, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Abstract: International audience; We use laboratory experiments to derive information on the chemistry occurring during the evolution of astrophysical ices from dense molecular clouds to interplanetary objects. Through a new strategy that consists of coupling very high resolution mass spectrometry and infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), we investigate the molecular content of the organic residues synthesized from different initial ice compositions. We also obtain information on the evolution of the soluble part of the residues after their over-irradiation. The results give insight into the role of water ice as a trapping and diluting agent during the chemical evolution. They also give information about the importance of the amount of ammonia in such ices, particularly regarding its competition with the carbon chemistry. All of these results allow us to build a first mapping of the evolution of soluble organic matter based on its chemical and physical history. Furthermore, our results suggest that interstellar ices should lead to organic materials enriched in heteroatoms that present similarities with cometary materials but strongly differ from meteoritic organic material, especially in their C/N ratios.
Published: 2017

49. Explorer of Enceladus and Titan (E2T): Investigating ocean worlds' evolution and habitability in the solar system

Author: Jason W. Barnes, Nathalie Carrasco, Roberto Orosei, Athena Coustenis, Andre Wong, Jean Pierre Paul de Vera, Paolo Tortora, Francesca Ferri, Andrea Martelli, Giuseppe Mitri, Andrea D'Ottavio, Marco Zannoni, Anastassios E. Petropoulos, Frank Postberg, Ralph D. Lorenz, Audrey Vorburger, Jason M. Soderblom, Kim Reh, J. Schmidt, Véronique Vuitton, Ralf Srama, Alexander Hayes, Marco Berga, Bernd Abel, Gabriel Tobie, Paul O. Hayne, Christophe Sotin, Peter Wurz, Sascha Kempf, Jon K. Hillier, Jean-Pierre Lebreton, Mitri, Giuseppe, Postberg, Frank, Soderblom, Jason M., Wurz, Peter, Tortora, Paolo, Abel, Bernd, Barnes, Jason W., Berga, Marco, Carrasco, Nathalie, Coustenis, Athena, Paul de Vera, Jean Pierre, D'Ottavio, Andrea, Ferri, Francesca, Hayes, Alexander G., Hayne, Paul O., Hillier, Jon K., Kempf, Sascha, Lebreton, Jean-Pierre, Lorenz, Ralph D., Martelli, Andrea, Orosei, Roberto, Petropoulos, Anastassios E., Reh, Kim, Schmidt, Juergen, Sotin, Christophe, Srama, Ralf, Tobie, Gabriel, Vorburger, Audrey, Vuitton, Véronique, Wong, Andre, Zannoni, Marco, Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique [UMR 6112] (LPG), Université d'Angers (UA)-Université de Nantes - UFR des Sciences et des Techniques (UN UFR ST), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Klaus-Tachira-Laboratory for Cosmochemistry, Heidelberg University, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences [MIT, Cambridge] (EAPS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Physikalisches Institut [Bern], Universität Bern [Bern], Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna [Bologna] (UNIBO), Universität Leipzig [Leipzig], University of Idaho [Moscow, USA], Thales Alenia Space Italia, PLANETO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS), Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA (UMR_8109)), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Centro di Ateneo di Studi e Attività Spaziali 'Giuseppe Colombo' (CISAS), Universita degli Studi di Padova, Center for Radiophysics and Space Research [Ithaca] (CRSR), Cornell University [New York], Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), University of Kent [Canterbury], Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics [Boulder] (LASP), University of Colorado [Boulder], Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace (LPC2E), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers en région Centre (OSUC), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales [Paris] (CNES), Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [Laurel, MD] (APL), Istituto di Radioastronomia [Bologna] (IRA), Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), University of Oulu, Institut für Raumfahrtsysteme (IRS), Universität Stuttgart [Stuttgart], University of Bern, Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ), Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019]), ITA, USA, GBR, FRA, DEU, FIN, CHE, Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique UMR6112 (LPG), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Nantes - Faculté des Sciences et des Techniques, Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Université d'Angers (UA), Università di Bologna [Bologna] (UNIBO), IMPEC - LATMOS, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), PSL Research University (PSL)-PSL Research University (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Cornell University, California Institute of Technology (CALTECH)-NASA, PSL Research University (PSL)-PSL Research University (PSL)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University (PSL)-PSL Research University (PSL)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales [Paris] (CNES), Istituto di Radioastronomia (IRA), Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), and Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Subjects: Solar System, Cosmic Vision, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Habitability, Terrain, 01 natural sciences, Astrobiology, Atmosphere, Origin of volatiles, symbols.namesake, Enceladus, Saturn, 0103 physical sciences, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Origin of volatile, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-AO-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics [physics.ao-ph], [SDU.ASTR]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph], Astronomy and Astrophysics, Astronomy and Astrophysic, 13. Climate action, Space and Planetary Science, symbols, Enceladu, Titan (rocket family), Titan, Geology
Abstract: International audience; Titan, with its organically rich and dynamic atmosphere and geology, and Enceladus, with its active plume, both harbouring global subsurface oceans, are prime environments in which to investigate the habitability of ocean worlds and the conditions for the emergence of life. We present a space mission concept, the Explorer of Enceladus and Titan (E2T), which is dedicated to investigating the evolution and habitability of these Saturnian satellites. E2T is proposed as a medium-class mission led by ESA in collaboration with NASA in response to ESA's M5 Cosmic Vision Call. E2T proposes a focused payload that would provide in-situ composition investigations and high-resolution imaging during multiple flybys of Enceladus and Titan using a solar-electric powered spacecraft in orbit around Saturn. The E2T mission would provide high-resolution mass spectrometry of the plume currently emanating from Enceladus' south polar terrain and of Titan's changing upper atmosphere. In addition, high-resolution infrared (IR) imaging would detail Titan's geomorphology at 50–100 m resolution and the temperature of the fractures on Enceladus' south polar terrain at meter resolution. These combined measurements of both Titan and Enceladus would enable the E2T mission scenario to achieve two major scientific goals: 1) Study the origin and evolution of volatile-rich ocean worlds; and 2) Explore the habitability and potential for life in ocean worlds. E2T's two high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometers would enable resolution of the ambiguities in chemical analysis left by the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens mission regarding the identification of low-mass organic species, detect high-mass organic species for the first time, further constrain trace species such as the noble gases, and clarify the evolution of solid and volatile species. The high-resolution IR camera would reveal the geology of Titan's surface and the energy dissipated by Enceladus' fractured south polar terrain and plume in detail unattainable by the Cassini mission.
Published: 2017

50. Perturbation of the Mars atmosphere by the near-collision with Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring)

Author: Véronique Vuitton, Roger V. Yelle, Sarah J. Morrison, Sarah M. Hörst, and Arnaud Mahieux
Subjects: Martian, Physics, Secondary atmosphere, Comet, Perturbation (astronomy), Astronomy and Astrophysics, Mars Exploration Program, Atmosphere of Mars, Astrobiology, Atmosphere, Space and Planetary Science, Comet nucleus, Physics::Space Physics, Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract: The martian upper atmosphere could be strongly perturbed by the near collision with Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring). Significant mass and energy will be deposited in the upper atmosphere of Mars if the comet coma is sufficiently dense. We predict that comet H 2 O production rates larger than 10 28 molecules/s would produce temperature increases exceeding 30 K and the H density in the upper atmosphere will approximately double. The temperature perturbation will persist for several hours and the increased H density for tens of hours. Drag on orbiting spacecraft may increase by substantial factors, depending upon comet activity, because of the thermal perturbation to the atmosphere. Observation of these perturbations may provide insight into the thermal and chemical balances of the atmosphere.
Published: 2014

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