Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
R. J. Soare, S. J. Conway, J-P Williams, A. J. Hepburn
Summary: This passage discusses the cyclical glacial and periglacial activities on Mars, focusing on specific terrain features and revealing the roles of glaciation and freeze-thaw cycles in the geological history of Mars.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
R. J. Soare, J-P Williams, A. J. Hepburn, F. E. G. Butcher
Summary: This study examines ancient geomorphic features in the Protonilus Mensae region of Mars, including continuous coverage of circular structures and polygon structures, as well as stratigraphic features intertwined with glacial and periglacial cycles. The results suggest that the cold climate geology on Mars may be more similar to Earth's than previously thought.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
R. J. Soare, S. J. Conway, J-P Williams, M. Philippe, L. E. Mc Keown, E. Godin, J. Hawkswell
Summary: Ice complexes are common landscapes in Arctic coastal plains on Earth, formed by freeze-thaw cycling of water and characterized by features like thermokarst terrain, lakes, basins, and ice-wedge polygons. The hypothesis of ice-rich terrain on Mars remains unvalidated due to lack of regolith samples. The similarities between ice and sand-wedge polygons on Mars have complicated the understanding of ice-wedge hypotheses.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
S. Maurice, B. Chide, N. Murdoch, R. D. Lorenz, D. Mimoun, R. C. Wiens, A. Stott, X. Jacob, T. Bertrand, F. Montmessin, N. L. Lanza, C. Alvarez-Llamas, S. M. Angel, M. Aung, J. Balaram, O. Beyssac, A. Cousin, G. Delory, O. Forni, T. Fouchet, O. Gasnault, H. Grip, M. Hecht, J. Hoffman, J. Laserna, J. Lasue, J. Maki, J. McClean, P. -y. Meslin, S. Le Mouelic, A. Munguira, C. E. Newman, J. A. Rodriguez Manfredi, J. Moros, A. Ollila, P. Pilleri, S. Schroder, M. de la Torre Juarez, T. Tzanetos, K. M. Stack, K. Farley, K. Williford
Summary: The acoustic environment on Mars was unknown before the Perseverance rover landing. This study presents the first characterization of the acoustic environment on Mars using Perseverance microphone recordings, providing important data for atmospheric studies.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Robin Wordsworth, Andrew H. Knoll, Joel Hurowitz, Mark Baum, Bethany L. Ehlmann, James W. Head, Kathryn Steakley
Summary: Reconciling the geology of Mars with models of atmospheric evolution remains challenging, but a model predicting Mars transitioning from reducing to oxidizing atmospheric conditions in its early history helps explain diverse observations. Early Mars was generally cold, but had episodic warm intervals conducive to forming features like valley networks. The transient build-up of atmospheric oxygen can explain the occurrence of oxidized mineral species like manganese oxides.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Hiroyuki Kurokawa, Takeshi Kuroda, Shohei Aoki, Hiromu Nakagawa
Summary: The study confirmed the potential relationship between the formation of dark streaks called RSL on Mars and water vapor, but existing observations cannot differentiate the released water vapor from the background. The research also pointed out that, in certain cases, water vapor tends to accumulate in basins and valleys, suggesting these locations as targets for future atmospheric studies on Mars.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Bruce M. Jakosky, Allan H. Treiman
Summary: The formation of the Mars atmosphere was controlled by volcanic outgassing, which determined the early climate and subsequent evolution. Comparing the amount of gas released by volcanism with the amounts present in the atmosphere, it was found that the volcanic outgassing of H2O, 36Ar, and 40Ar were insufficient to explain their current presence in the atmosphere. Most of these components must have been degassed earlier during the formation of Mars, early magma-ocean stage, and early-Noachian crust formation. The Mars atmosphere was essentially fully formed during the middle and late Noachian, with subsequent evolution dominated by gas loss to the crust and space.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Michael D. Smith, Khalid Badri, Samuel A. Atwood, Christopher S. Edwards, Philip R. Christensen, Michael J. Wolff, Tanguy Bertrand, Francois Forget, Eman Al Tunaiji, Christopher Wolfe, Nathan Smith, Saadat Anwar
Summary: Thermal infrared spectra taken by EMIRS on the EMM spacecraft are useful for retrieving surface temperatures, atmospheric temperature profiles, and column abundance of dust aerosols, water ice clouds, and water vapor. A retrieval algorithm that includes multiple scattering has been developed, and first atmospheric science results have shown extensive water ice clouds and the expected transport of water vapor. An unusually strong and early regional dust storm and its thermal response were also observed.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Alexey A. Pankine, Cecilia Leung, Leslie Tamppari, German Martinez, Marco Giuranna, Sylvain Piqueux, Michael Smith, Alexander Trokhimovskiy
Summary: Martian global dust storms can significantly impact the water cycle in the lower atmosphere, leading to a decrease in water vapor abundances. This may be due to disruption of vapor transport by atmospheric circulation or decreased desorption of vapor from the subsurface.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-PLANETS
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Yann Leseigneur, Mathieu Vincendon
Summary: While dust is an important parameter of Mars climate, its behavior can be erratic and is notably related to Global Dust Storms. Long-term monitoring of dust dynamics is required to better understand surface-atmosphere dust exchanges on Mars. A new method based on OMEGA NIR dataset is presented to detect atmospheric dust as a function of space and time.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Courtney M. L. Batterson, Melinda A. Kahre, Alison F. C. Bridger, R. John Wilson, Richard A. Urata, Tanguy Bertrand
Summary: Regional dust storms occur in the southern hemisphere of Mars during spring and summer, with one storm specifically confined to the south pole. The NASA Ames Mars Global Climate Model (MGCM) is used to recreate this storm and investigate the mechanisms responsible for the uplift of dust into the middle atmosphere. The study finds that semi-regular dust pluming events poleward of 70 degrees S contribute to the dust load in the middle atmosphere during the storm.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Huiqun Wang, Morgan Saidel, Mark I. Richardson, Anthony D. Toigo, J. Michael Battalio
Summary: Dust storms on Mars were tracked manually using data from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Mars Daily Global Maps (MDGMs) during Mars Year 29 to 33. This data was used to create the Mars Dust Storm Sequence Dataset (MDSSD) which includes over 12,000 distinguishable dust storm instances. The study proposes a partition of Mars year into six pseudo-seasons and a hierarchical system for organizing and describing the development of dust storms.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
H. Savijarvi, A-M Harri
Summary: Observations from Phoenix and Curiosity show diurnal adsorption of near-surface air moisture, which is insensitive to the mineralogy of regolith. Standard-form adsorption isotherms with different specific surface areas produce nearly identical matches with observed water vapor pressures, suggesting low-pressure water vapor adsorption to martian regolith is nonspecific and associated with low enthalpy.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Kathryn E. Steakley, Melinda A. Kahre, Robert M. Haberle, Kevin J. Zahnle
Summary: The impact heating hypothesis suggests that injecting water, energy, and reducing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere could warm early Mars and induce rainfall. By simulating post-impact scenarios, we found that degassed hydrogen does not prolong the warm temperatures and heavy rainfall immediately after an impact. However, it does contribute enough warming to raise mean annual surface temperatures, with long-lasting warm conditions as hydrogen slowly escapes to space. The ability of impacts to induce transient warm and wet conditions on early Mars is much better than previously thought if those impacts degassed H2 in thick CO2 atmospheres.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
H. I. Savijarvi, G. M. Martinez, A. -M. Harri
Summary: Based on the M2020 mission observations and simulations, the diurnal ground surface and air temperatures, as well as the five major surface energy budget fluxes, were well modeled using diurnally variable apparent ground thermal inertia derived from hourly observations. The measurements, diagnostic method, and model results are consistent with the nonhomogeneous terrain in the field-of-view of the thermal infrared and solar sensors. However, the simulations of observed air temperatures require less extreme values of apparent ground thermal inertia consistent with THEMIS retrievals. Therefore, the measured ground temperature for the small FOV may not always represent the larger region controlling the near-surface atmospheric temperature profile around the rover.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-PLANETS
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Alexander M. Barrett, Matthew R. Balme, Mark Woods, Spyros Karachalios, Danilo Petrocelli, Luc Joudrier, Elliot Sefton-Nash
Summary: The study utilized a deep learning system, NOAH-H, to classify HiRISE images and train DNN for semantic segmentation. It discussed the methods and results from a geomorphologists perspective, highlighting considerations for training datasets, ontological class selection, and model reliability. The study concluded that the classified raster is suitable for further work, providing valuable insights into landscape features distribution and prevalence in the study areas.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Peter Fawdon, Matthew Balme, Joel Davis, John Bridges, Sanjeev Gupta, Cathey Quantin-Nataf
Summary: Oxia Planum, the landing site for the ExoMars rover mission, is a shallow basin on the southern margin of Chryse Planitia that hosts remnants of fan-shaped sedimentary deposits associated with the ancient channel system Coogoon Vallis. This study reveals that the fluvial system in the Oxia Planum catchment experienced two phases of activity and there is evidence of paleolake deposits. The groundwater activity during both phases of fluvial activity may have influenced the mineralogy of Oxia Planum.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-PLANETS
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Paul M. Streeter, Graham Sellers, Michael J. Wolff, Jonathon P. Mason, Manish R. Patel, Stephen R. Lewis, James A. Holmes, Frank Daerden, Ian R. Thomas, Bojan Ristic, Yannick Willame, Cedric Depiesse, Ann Carine Vandaele, Giancarlo Bellucci, Jose Juan Lopez-Moreno
Summary: The vertical opacity structure of the martian atmosphere and its relationship with ice and dust are studied using data from the UVIS spectrometer aboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. Regional dust storms are found to enhance the transport of vapor to mesospheric altitudes, and the season of the dust storms impacts the lifetime of cloud features.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-PLANETS
(2022)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Lori-Ann Foley, Matthew Balme, Stephen R. Lewis, Liam Steele, James Holmes
Summary: Latitude and topography influence shadow casting, affecting the stability of water, ice, or snow on the landscape. In a Mars climate model, incorporating a shadow scheme and understanding its interaction with relevant variables is crucial. This study added a shadow scheme to a Mars model and investigated its impact on surface temperature and the presence of surface water ice in the Lyot crater area. The results showed that simulating shadows increased the predicted surface ice amount by up to 83%, with the greatest differences observed in shadowed regions.
Article
Geography
Jack Wright, Alexander M. Barrett, Peter Fawdon, Elena A. Favaro, Matthew R. Balme, Mark J. Woods, Spyros Karachalios
Summary: The deep learning terrain classification system NOAH-H was successfully applied to the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover landing site and showed promising results in classifying the terrain and aiding photogeological mapping.
Article
Geography
Alexander M. Barrett, Jack Wright, Elena Favaro, Peter Fawdon, Matthew R. Balme, Mark J. Woods, Spyros Karachalios, Eleni Bohachek, Elliot Sefton-Nash, Luc Joudrier
Summary: This study presents a DL-based map classification system for the landing site on Mars. By training a DL network with the developed hierarchical scheme, the system achieved high agreement with manually mapped areas. The resulting map is presented in both descriptive classes and interpretive groups, allowing for intuitive analysis by human users.
Article
Geography
Christopher C. Malliband, David A. Rothery, Matthew R. Balme, Susan J. Conway, David L. Pegg, Jack Wright
Summary: This article presents the geological mapping results of Mercury's Derain quadrangle using data from the MESSENGER spacecraft. The map provides valuable information for the upcoming BepiColombo mission and is compatible with previous maps.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
M. A. J. Brown, M. R. Patel, S. R. Lewis, J. A. Holmes, G. J. Sellers, P. M. Streeter, A. Bennaceur, G. Liuzzi, G. L. Villanueva, A. C. Vandaele
Summary: A positive vertical correlation between ozone and water ice on Mars is revealed through observation and simulation, with heterogeneous chemistry potentially impacting ozone abundance. This relationship is crucial for understanding ozone variations in the Martian atmosphere.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-PLANETS
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
J. A. Holmes, S. R. Lewis, M. R. Patel, J. Alday, S. Aoki, G. Liuzzi, G. L. Villanueva, M. M. J. Crismani, A. A. Fedorova, K. S. Olsen, D. M. Kass, A. C. Vandaele, O. Korablev
Summary: This study investigates the global vertical distribution of water vapor on Mars and its relationship with supersaturation and water loss. The research reveals that during the dusty season, there is a lack of water vapor below 20 km in the northern polar latitudes, while variations above this altitude are caused by factors such as transport from mid-latitudes and dust storms. The findings also suggest the presence of supersaturated water vapor in the northern winter polar vortex.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-PLANETS
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Frances E. G. Butcher, Neil S. Arnold, Matthew R. Balme, Susan J. Conway, Christopher D. Clark, Colman Gallagher, Axel Hagermann, Stephen R. Lewis, Alicia M. Rutledge, Robert D. Storrar, Savana Z. Woodley
Summary: Until recently, it was believed that the influence of basal liquid water on the evolution of buried glaciers in Mars' mid latitudes was negligible. However, the recent discovery of landforms interpreted as eskers associated with these glaciers challenges this assumption. These findings indicate a more complex mid-to-late Amazonian environment on Mars than previously thought, raising questions about their abundance, distribution, melting dynamics, and the fate of meltwater. Opportunities for collaboration between Mars and Earth cryosphere research communities arise from these questions.
ANNALS OF GLACIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geography
Benjamin Man, David A. Rothery, Matthew R. Balme, Susan J. Conway, Jack Wright, David L. Pegg, Annie R. Lennox, Salvatore Buoninfante
Summary: We have created the first geological map of the Neruda Quadrangle (H13) on Mercury, which covers an area of approximately 5 million square kilometers in the southern hemisphere of the planet. The map was digitized using data from NASA's MESSENGER mission and includes three main photogeologic plains units, as well as the identification of craters and their degradation state. The map serves as a valuable resource for the upcoming BepiColombo mission to Mercury by providing context and target locations.
Article
Geography
Savana Z. Woodley, Peter Fawdon, Matthew R. Balme, David A. Rothery
Summary: We present a 1:4,000,000 scale map of tectonic landforms in Chryse Planitia and Arabia Terra, revealing evidence of widespread tectonic shortening structures in the region. The map contributes to a broader understanding of the geological history of the area and Mars' tectonic history as a whole.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Benjamin Man, David A. Rothery, Matthew R. Balme, Susan J. Conway, Jack Wright
Summary: Research on tectonic features on Mercury using MESSENGER imagery reveals the widespread occurrence of relatively young grabens, supporting the hypothesis of continued activity of Mercury's shortening structures and thermochemical evolution models.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Maria Angeles Lopez-Cayuela, Maria-Paz Zorzano, Juan Luis Guerrero-Rascado, Carmen Cordoba-Jabonero
Summary: The atmospheric dust cycle on Mars plays a dominant role in the planetary radiative balance, atmospheric photochemistry escape, and redistribution of materials on the surface. A methodology is presented to accurately describe the annual dust redistribution cycle on Mars using orbital global and seasonal measurements of atmospheric dust opacity. The analysis shows that approximately 4 trillion kilograms of dust is transported globally in the atmosphere during a typical Mars year.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Audrey Vorburger, Shahab Fatemi, Shane R. Carberry Mogan, Andre Galli, Lucas Liuzzo, Andrew R. Poppe, Lorenz Roth, Peter Wurz
Summary: The study presents new model results for the composition of Ganymede's atmosphere, finding that sublimation remains the major source process for H2O, while radiolysis induced by auroral electrons dominates the source fluxes for O2 and H2.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Qi He, Zhi Cao, Yuqi Qian, Hejiu Hui, Ioannis Baziotis, Long Xiao, Zaicong Wang, Biji Luo, Yiheng Li, Zongjun Ying, Yang Li
Summary: The Chang'e-5 mission collected lunar soil containing magnesian troctolitic granulites, which provide valuable information on the composition of the lunar crust. Through analysis and modeling, it is suggested that these granulites may have originated from the Pythagoras crater and were transported to the landing site.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Jordan M. Bretzfelder, Kathryn M. Stack, Abigail A. Fraeman, Mackenzie Day, William E. Dietrich, Alexander B. Bryk
Summary: This study investigates the development of bedrock ridges on Mars and their implications for wind history, deposition, and erosion in Gale crater.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Lot Ram, Diptiranjan Rout, Rahul Rathi, Paul Withers, Sumanta Sarkhel
Summary: This study investigates the impacts of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) on the Martian ionosphere, specifically the behavior of the ionospheric peak density and height during ICME passages. The study used observations from the Radio Occultation Science Experiment (ROSE) aboard the MAVEN spacecraft and selected 8 ICMEs from existing catalogs. The results show that ICMEs lead to an elevation of the ionospheric peak height and a decrease in peak density, and propose that vertical pressure gradient and electron temperature enhancement are plausible causes for ionospheric variability.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Benoit Jabaud, Riccardo Artoni, Gabriel Tobie, Erwan Le Menn, Patrick Richard
Summary: The Cassini spacecraft discovered active jets of water vapour and ice grains at the South Pole of Enceladus, resulting in the deposit of freshly erupted materials on the moon's icy surface. Similar processes may be happening on Europa as well. Determining the mechanical properties of fresh icy powder-like materials is essential for future landing and sampling missions. The flowability and surface energy of ice powders decrease with increasing temperatures, which may have implications for stable landing and the flow of ice materials on Enceladus and Europa.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Lydie Bonal, Eric Quirico, Gilles Montagnac, Mutsumi Komatsu, Yoko Kebukawa, Hikaru Yabuta, Kana Amano, Jens Barosch, Laure Bejach, George D. Cody, Emmanuel Dartois, Alexandre Dazzi, Bradley De Gregorio, Ariane Deniset-Besseau, Jean Duprat, Cecile Engrand, Minako Hashiguchi, Kanami Kamide, David Kilcoyne, Zita Martins, Jeremie Mathurin, Smail Mostefaoui, Larry Nittler, Takuji Ohigashi, Taiga Okumura, Laurent Remusat, Scott Sandford, Miho Shigenaka, Rhonda Stroud, Hiroki Suga, Yoshio Takahashi, Yasuo Takeichi, Yusuke Tamenori, Maximilien Verdier-Paoletti, Shohei Yamashita, Tomoki Nakamura, Hiroshi Naraoka, Takaaki Noguchi, Ryuji Okazaki, Hisayoshi Yurimoto, Shogo Tachibana, Masanao Abe, Akiko Miyazaki, Aiko Nakato, Satoru Nakazawa, Masahiro Nishimura, Tatsuaki Okada, Takanao Saiki, Kanako Sakamoto, Satoshi Tanaka, Fuyuto Terui, Yuichi Tsuda, Tomohiro Usui, Sei-ichiro Watanabe, Toru Yada, Kasumi Yogata, Makota Yoshikawa
Summary: This paper focuses on characterizing the thermal history of asteroid Ryugu by studying the structure of polyaromatic carbonaceous matter in the returned samples. The study finds that there is no structural difference in the polyaromatic component between the two sampling sites on Ryugu, indicating that the thermal metamorphism related to radioactive decay was not significant. However, some structural variability is observed within the particle set.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
M. Luginin, A. Fedorova, D. Belyaev, F. Montmessin, O. Korablev, J. -l. Bertaux
Summary: Spectroscopic solar occultation measurements by the SPICAV/SOIR instrument onboard the Venus Express orbiter provided new data on the upper haze aerosol properties, its distribution, and variations. A joint analysis of data from two spectrometers revealed a bimodal distribution in about 50% of observations previously believed to be unimodal, and characterized the size distribution 10 km higher in the atmosphere compared to previous analysis.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
A. Mahieux, S. Viscardy, K. L. Jessup, F. P. Mills, L. Trompet, S. Robert, S. Aoki, A. Piccialli, A. C. Vandaele
Summary: We report on the mean upper limit number densities and volume concentrations of H2CO, O-3, NH3, HCN, N2O, NO2, NO, and HO2 at the Venus terminator above the cloud layer. Attempts to detect these species using a statistical algorithm and the method presented by Trompet et al. (2021) were unsuccessful, and upper limits of detection are provided.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
P. M. Streeter, S. R. Lewis, M. R. Patel, J. A. Holmes, K. Rajendran
Summary: The northern polar vortex on Mars shows a high degree of interannual repeatability in its structure and evolution, except during large dust storms. The seasonal timing of these storms seems to be the key factor determining their impacts on the polar vortex.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Michael T. Mellon, Hanna G. Sizemore, Jennifer L. Heldmann, Christopher P. McKay, Carol R. Stoker
Summary: The search for life is a major focus of Mars exploration, with temperature and water activity being key factors for habitability. The most recent habitable conditions occurred about 510 kyrs ago and lasted for about 10s of kyrs each occurrence. All latitudes offer potential for life exploration, but middle-latitude sites have access to 100-kyr-old ice that experienced past habitable conditions, while high-latitude sites offer access to ancient ice over 1 Myrs old.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Anthony Ozerov, Jeffrey C. Smith, Jessie L. Dotson, Randolph S. Longenbaugh, Robert L. Morris
Summary: The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) instruments, with their large combined field of view, are useful for studying the population of atmospheric phenomena like bolides. However, there are biases when using GLM for non-lightning purposes, which need to be studied and accounted for before precise measurements of bolide flux can be obtained. A Bayesian Poisson regression model was developed to estimate instrumental biases and the latitudinal variation of bolide flux concurrently. The estimated bias corresponds to the known sensitivity of the GLM instruments, and the latitudinal flux variation estimates are consistent with a strong bias towards high-velocity bolides, as compared to existing theoretical models.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
P. Beck, P. Y. Meslin, A. Fau, O. Forni, O. Gasnault, J. Lasue, A. Cousin, S. Schroeder, S. Maurice, W. Rapin, R. C. Wiens, A. M. Ollila, E. Dehouck, N. Mangold, B. Garcia, S. Schwartz, W. Goetz, N. Lanza
Summary: Analysis of data obtained by ChemCam on Mars reveals that the carbon signal is mainly related to ionization of the atmosphere, with variability potentially linked to the physical state of the atmosphere. Up to sol 3355, no carbonate was detected in the ChemCam dataset, suggesting that it is not a major constituent (>50%) in the analyzed targets and that carbon in soils is not enriched beyond the limit of detection. The dominant salts found in Gale are sulfate and chlorides, while the absence of carbonates, seen in Jezero, may be due to differences in protolith.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Eloy Pena-Asensio, Jaakko Visuri, Josep M. Trigo-Rodriguez, Hector Socas-Navarro, Maria Gritsevich, Markku Siljama, Albert Rimola
Summary: The observation of interstellar objects 1I/'Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov suggests the existence of a larger population of smaller projectiles that impact our planet with unbound orbits. A statistical evaluation of uncertainties in the CNEOS database and study of its hyperbolic fireballs reveals an anisotropic geocentric radiant distribution and low orbital inclinations, challenging the assumption of a randomly incoming interstellar population. These findings suggest that apparent interstellar meteors may, in fact, be the result of accelerated meteoroid impacts caused by close encounters with massive objects within or passing through our solar system.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Cecilia W. S. Leung, Leslie K. Tamppari, David M. Kass, German Martinez, Erik Fischer, Michael D. Smith
Summary: Using a combination of orbital and surface observations, this study investigates the vertical distribution of water vapor in the lower atmospheres of Mars. The findings suggest that the assumption of uniformly mixed water vapor in the boundary layer is not always consistent with observational constraints. The results provide important insights into the seasonal transport of water and the role of regolith-atmospheric exchange.