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1.
We used chemical equilibrium and chemical kinetic calculations to model chemistry of the volatiles released by heating different types of carbonaceous, ordinary and enstatite chondritic material as a function of temperature and pressure. Our results predict the composition of atmospheres formed by outgassing during accretion of the Earth and other terrestrial planets. Outgassing of CI and CM carbonaceous chondritic material produces H2O-rich (steam) atmospheres in agreement with the results of impact experiments. However, outgassing of other types of chondritic material produces atmospheres dominated by other gases. Outgassing of ordinary (H, L, LL) and high iron enstatite (EH) chondritic material yields H2-rich atmospheres with CO and H2O being the second and third most abundant gases. Outgassing of low iron enstatite (EL) chondritic material gives a CO-rich atmosphere with H2, CO2, and H2O being the next most abundant gases. Outgassing of CV carbonaceous chondritic material gives a CO2-rich atmosphere with H2O being the second most abundant gas. Our results predict that the atmospheres formed during accretion of the Earth and Mars were probably H2-rich unless the accreted material was dominantly CI and CM carbonaceous chondritic material. We also predict significant amounts of S, P, Cl, F, Na, and K in accretionary atmospheres at high temperatures (1500-2500 K). Finally, our results may be useful for interpreting spectroscopic observations of accreting extrasolar terrestrial planets.  相似文献   

2.
We calculate the D/H ratio of CH4 from serpentinization on Titan to determine whether Titan’s atmospheric CH4 was originally produced inside the giant satellite. This is done by performing equilibrium isotopic fractionation calculations in the CH4-H2O-H2 system, with the assumption that the bulk D/H ratio of the system is equivalent to that of the H2O in the plume of Enceladus. These calculations show that the D/H ratio of hydrothermally produced CH4 would be markedly higher than that of atmospheric CH4 on Titan. The implication is that Titan’s CH4 is a primordial chemical species that was accreted by the moon during its formation. There are two evolutionary scenarios that are consistent with the apparent absence of endogenic CH4 in Titan’s atmosphere. The first is that hydrothermal systems capable of making CH4 never existed on Titan because Titan’s interior has always been too cold. The second is that hydrothermal systems on Titan were sufficiently oxidized so that C existed in them predominately in the form of CO2. The latter scenario naturally predicts the formation of endogenic N2, providing a new hypothesis for the origin of Titan’s atmospheric N2: the hydrothermal oxidation of 15N-enriched NH3. A primordial origin for CH4 and an endogenic origin for N2 are self-consistent, but both hypotheses need to be tested further by acquiring isotopic data, especially the D/H ratio of CH4 in comets, and the 15N/14N ratio of NH3 in comets and that of N2 in one of Enceladus’ plumes.  相似文献   

3.
In this paper we present an in-depth study of the distributions of various neutral species in Titan's upper atmosphere, between 950 and 1500 km for abundant species (N2, CH4, H2) and between 950 and 1200 km for other minor species. Our analysis is based on a large sample of Cassini/INMS (Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer) measurements in the CSN (Closed Source Neutral) mode, obtained during 15 close flybys of Titan. To untangle the overlapping cracking patterns, we adopt Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) to determine simultaneously the densities of different species. Except for N2, CH4, H2 and 40Ar (as well as their isotopes), all species present density enhancements measured during the outbound legs. This can be interpreted as a result of wall effects, which could be either adsorption/desorption of these molecules or heterogeneous surface chemistry of the associated radicals on the chamber walls. In this paper, we provide both direct inbound measurements assuming ram pressure enhancement only and abundances corrected for wall adsorption/desorption based on a simple model to reproduce the observed time behavior. Among all minor species of photochemical interest, we have firm detections of C2H2, C2H4, C2H6, CH3C2H, C4H2, C6H6, CH3CN, HC3N, C2N2 and NH3 in Titan's upper atmosphere. Upper limits are given for other minor species.The globally averaged distributions of N2, CH4 and H2 are each modeled with the diffusion approximation. The N2 profile suggests an average thermospheric temperature of 151 K. The CH4 and H2 profiles constrain their fluxes to be and , referred to Titan's surface. Both fluxes are significantly higher than the Jeans escape values. The INMS data also suggest horizontal/diurnal variations of temperature and neutral gas distribution in Titan's thermosphere. The equatorial region, the ramside, as well as the nightside hemisphere of Titan appear to be warmer and present some evidence for the depletion of light species such as CH4. Meridional variations of some heavy species are also observed, with a trend of depletion toward the north pole. Though some of the above variations might be interpreted by either the solar-driven models or auroral-driven models, a physical scenario that reconciles all the observed horizontal/diurnal variations in a consistent way is still missing. With a careful evaluation of the effect of restricted sampling, some of the features shown in the INMS data are more likely to be observational biases.  相似文献   

4.
Total internal partition sums are determined from 65 to 3010 K for 13C18O2, 13C18O17O, 12CH3D, 13CH3D, H12C12CD, 13C12CH6, 12CH379Br, 12CH381Br, 12CF4, H12C12C12C12CH, H12C12C12C14N, H12C12C13C14N, H12C13C12C14N, H13C12C12C14N, H12C12C12C15N, D12C12C12C14N, 14N12C12C14N, 15N12C12C15N, 12C32S, 12C33S, 12C34S, 13C32S, H2, HD, 32S16O, 32S18O, 34S16O, 12C3H4, 12CH3, 12C32S2, 32S12C34S, 13C32S2, and 32S12C33S. These calculations complete the partition sum data needed for additional isotopologues in HITRAN2008 and also extend the partition sums to molecules of astrophysical interest. These data, at 25 K steps, are incorporated into a FORTRAN code (TIPS_2011.for) that can be used to rapidly generate the data at any temperature in the range 70-3000 K.  相似文献   

5.
We measured the chemical composition of Comet C/2007 W1 (Boattini) using the long-slit echelle grating spectrograph at Keck-2 (NIRSPEC) on 2008 July 9 and 10. We sampled 11 volatile species (H2O, OH∗, C2H6, CH3OH, H2CO, CH4, HCN, C2H2, NH3, NH2, and CO), and retrieved three important cosmogonic indicators: the ortho-para ratios of H2O and CH4, and an upper-limit for the D/H ratio in water. The abundance ratios of almost all trace volatiles (relative to water) are among the highest ever observed in a comet. The comet also revealed a complex outgassing pattern, with some volatiles (the polar species H2O and CH3OH) presenting very asymmetric spatial profiles (extended in the anti-sunward hemisphere), while others (e.g., C2H6 and HCN) showed particularly symmetric profiles. We present emission profiles measured along the Sun-comet line for all observed volatiles, and discuss different production scenarios needed to explain them. We interpret the emission profiles in terms of release from two distinct moieties of ice, the first being clumps of mixed ice and dust released from the nucleus into the sunward hemisphere. The second moiety considered is very small grains of nearly pure polar ice (water and methanol, without dark material or apolar volatiles). Such grains would sublimate only very slowly, and could be swept into the anti-sunward hemisphere by radiation pressure and solar-actuated non-gravitational jet forces, thus providing an extended source in the anti-sunward hemisphere.  相似文献   

6.
Darrell F. Strobel 《Icarus》2009,202(2):632-641
In Strobel [Strobel, D.F., 2008. Icarus, 193, 588-594] a mass loss rate from Titan's upper atmosphere, , was calculated for a single constituent, N2 atmosphere by hydrodynamic escape as a high density, slow outward expansion driven principally by solar UV heating due to CH4 absorption. It was estimated, but not proven, that the hydrodynamic mass loss is essentially CH4 and H2 escape. Here the individual conservation of momentum equations for the three major components of the upper atmosphere (N2, CH4, H2) are solved in the low Mach number limit and compared with Cassini Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) measurements to demonstrate that light gases (CH4, H2) preferentially escape over the heavy gas (N2). The lightest gas (H2) escapes with a flux 99% of its limiting flux, whereas CH4 is restricted to ?75% of its limiting flux because there is insufficient solar power to support escape at the limiting rate. The respective calculated H2 and CH4 escape rates are 9.2×1027 and 1.7×1027 s−1, for a total of . From the calculated densities, mean free paths of N2, CH4, H2, and macroscopic length scales, an extended region above the classic exobase is inferred where frequent collisions are still occurring and thermal heat conduction can deliver power to lift the escaping gas out of the gravitational potential well. In this region rapid acceleration of CH4 outflow occurs. With the thermal structure of Titan's thermosphere inferred from INMS data by Müller-Wodarg et al. [Müller-Wodarg, I.C.F., Yelle, R.V., Cui, J., Waite Jr., J.H., 2008. J. Geophys. Res. 113, doi:10.1029/2007JE003033. E10005], in combination with calculated temperature profiles that include sputter induced plasma heating at the exobase, it is concluded that on average that the integrated, globally average, orbit-averaged, plasma heating rate during the Cassini epoch does not exceed ().  相似文献   

7.
The in situ measurements of the Galileo Probe Mass Spectrometer (GPMS) were expected to constrain the abundances of the cloud-forming condensible volatile gases: H2O, H2S, and NH3. However, since the probe entry site (PES) was an unusually dry meteorological system—a 5-μm hotspot—the measured condensible volatile abundances did not follow the canonical condensation-limited vertical profiles of equilibrium cloud condensation models (ECCMs) such as Weidenschilling and Lewis (1973, Icarus 20, 465-476). Instead, the mixing ratios of H2S and NH3 increased with depth, finally reaching well-mixed equilibration levels at pressures far greater than the lifting condensation levels, whereas the mixing ratio of H2O in the deep well-mixed atmosphere could not be measured. The deep NH3 mixing ratio (with respect to H2) of (6.64±2.54)×10−4 from 8.9-11.7 bar GPMS data is consistent with the NH3 profile from probe-to-orbiter signal attenuation (Folkner et al., 1998, J. Geophys. Res. 103, 22847-22856), which had an equilibration level of about 8 bar. The GPMS deep atmosphere H2S mixing ratio of (8.9±2.1)×10−5 is the only measurement of Jupiter's sulfur abundance, with a PES equilibration level somewhere between 12 and 15.5 bar. The deepest water mixing ratio measurement is (4.9±1.6)×10−4 (corresponding to only about 30% of the solar abundance) at 17.6-20.9 bar, a value that is probably much smaller than Jupiter's bulk water abundance. The 15N/14N ratio in jovian NH3 was measured at (2.3±0.3)×10−3 and may provide the best estimate of the protosolar nitrogen isotopic ratio. The GPMS methane mixing ratio is (2.37±0.57)×10−3; although methane does not condense on Jupiter, we include its updated analysis in this report because like the condensible volatiles, it was presumably brought to Jupiter in icy planetesimals. Our detailed discussion of calibration and error analysis supplements previously reported GPMS measurements of condensible volatile mixing ratios (Niemann et al., 1998, J. Geophys. Res. 103, 22831-22846; Atreya et al., 1999, Planet. Space Sci. 47, 1243-1262; Atreya et al., 2003, Planet. Space Sci. 51, 105-112) and the nitrogen isotopic ratio (Owen et al., 2001b, Astrophys. J. Lett. 553, L77-L79). The approximately three times solar abundance of NH3 (along with CH4 and H2S) is consistent with enrichment of Jupiter's atmosphere by icy planetesimals formed at temperatures <40 K (Owen et al., 1999, Nature 402 (6759), 269-270), but would imply that H2O should be at least 3×solar as well. An alternate model, using clathrate hydrates to deliver the nitrogen component to Jupiter, predicts O/H?9×solar (Gautier et al., 2001, Astrophys. J. 550 (2), L227-L230). Finally we show that the measured condensible volatile vertical profiles in the PES are consistent with column-stretching or entraining downdraft scenarios only if the basic state (the pre-stretched column or the entrainment source region) is described by condensible volatile vertical profiles that are drier than those in the equilibrium cloud condensation models. This dryness is supported by numerous remote sensing results but seems to disagree with observations of widespread clouds on Jupiter at pressure levels predicted by equilibrium cloud condensation models for ammonia and H2S.  相似文献   

8.
The chemical species containing carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen in atmospheres of giant planets, brown dwarfs (T and L dwarfs), and low-mass stars (M dwarfs) are identified as part of a comprehensive set of thermochemical equilibrium and kinetic calculations for all elements. The calculations cover a wide temperature and pressure range in the upper portions of giant planetary and T-, L-, and M-dwarf atmospheres. Emphasis is placed on the major gases CH4, CO, NH3, N2, and H2O but other less abundant gases are included. The results presented are independent of particular model atmospheres, and can be used to constrain model atmosphere temperatures and pressures from observations of different gases. The influence of metallicity on the speciation of these key elements under pressure-temperature (P-T) conditions relevant to low-mass object atmospheres is discussed. The results of the thermochemical equilibrium computations indicate that several compounds may be useful to establish temperature or pressure scales for giant planet, brown dwarf, or dwarf star atmospheres. We find that ethane and methanol abundance are useful temperature probes in giant planets and methane dwarfs such as Gl 229B, and that CO2 can serve as a temperature probe in more massive objects. Imidogen (NH) abundances are a unique pressure-independent temperature probe for all objects. Total pressure probes for warmer brown dwarfs and M dwarfs are HCN, HCNO, and CH2O. No temperature-independent probes for the total pressure in giant planets or T-dwarf atmospheres are identified among the more abundant C, N, and O bearing gases investigated here.  相似文献   

9.
The contribution of exothermic ion and neutral chemistry to Titan's corona is studied. The production rates for fast neutrals N2, CH4, H, H2, 3CH2, CH3, C2H4, C2H5, C2H6, N(4S), NH, and HCN are determined using a coupled ion and neutral model of Titan's upper atmosphere. After production, the formation of the suprathermal particles is modeled using a two-stream simulation, as they travel simultaneously through a thermal mixture of N2, CH4, and H2. The resulting suprathermal fluxes, hot density profiles, and energy distributions are compared to the N2 and CH4 INMS exospheric data presented in [De La Haye, V., Waite Jr., J.H., Johnson, R.E., Yelle, R.V., Cravens, T.E., Luhmann, J.G., Kasprzak, W.T., Gell, D.A., Magee, B., Leblanc, F., Michael, M., Jurac, S., Robertson, I.P., 2007. J. Geophys. Res., doi:10.1029/2006JA012222, in press], and are found insufficient for producing the suprathermal populations measured. Global losses of nitrogen atoms and carbon atoms in all forms due to exothermic chemistry are estimated to be and .  相似文献   

10.
C/2006 P1 McNaught is a dynamically new comet from the Oort cloud that passed very close to the Sun, driving overall volatile production rates up to about 1031 molecules s−1. Post-perihelion observations were obtained in a target-of-opportunity campaign using the CSHELL instrument at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii, on UT 2007 January 27 and 28. Eight parent volatiles (H2O, CH4, C2H2, C2H6, HCN, CO, NH3, H2CO) and two daughter fragments (OH and NH2) were detected, enabling the determination of a rotational temperature and production rate for H2O on UT January 27 and absolute and relative production rates for all the detected parent species on UT January 28. The chemical composition measured in the coma suggests that this close perihelion passage stripped off processed outer surface layers, likely exposing relatively fresh primordial material during these observations. The post-perihelion abundances we measure for CO and CH4 (relative to H2O) are slightly depleted while C2H2, NH2 and possibly NH3 are enhanced when compared to the overall comet population. Measured abundances for other detected molecular species were within the range typically observed in comets.  相似文献   

11.
We calculate the amount of methane that may form via reactions catalyzed by metal-rich dust that condenses in the wake of large cometary impacts. Previous models of the gas-phase chemistry of impacts predicted that the terrestrial planets' atmospheres should be initially dominated by CO/CO2, N2, and H2O. CH4 was not predicted to form in impacts because gas-phase reactions in the explosion quench at temperatures ∼2000 K, at which point all of the carbon is locked in CO. We argue that the dust that condenses out in the wake of a large comet impact is likely to have very effective catalytic properties, opening up reaction pathways to convert CO and H2 to CH4 and CO2, at temperatures of a few hundred K. Together with CO2, CH4 is an important greenhouse gas that has been invoked to compensate for the lower luminosity of the Sun ∼4 Gyr ago. Here, we show that heterogeneous (gas-solid) reactions on freshly-recondensed dust in the impact cloud may provide a plausible nonbiological mechanism for reducing CO to CH4 before and during the emergence of life on Earth, and perhaps Mars as well. These encouraging results emphasize the importance of future research into the kinetics and catalytic properties of astrophysical condensates or “smokes” and also more detailed models to determine the conditions in impact-generated dust clouds.  相似文献   

12.
Simon Petrie 《Icarus》2004,171(1):199-209
We report results of quantum chemical calculations of Mg+/ligand bond dissociation energies involving ligands identified as major constituents of Titan's upper atmosphere. Trends identified in these results allow elucidation of the important bimolecular and termolecular reactions of Mg+, and of simple molecular ions containing Mg+, arising from meteoric infall into Titan's atmosphere. Our study highlights, and includes calculated rate coefficients for, crucial ligand-switching and ligand-stripping reactions which ensure that a dynamic equilibrium exists between atomic and molecular ions of Mg+. Neutralization of ionized meteoric Mg is expected to produce the radical MgNC in high yield. The highly polar MgNC radical should provide an excellent nucleation site for condensation of polar (e.g., HCN, CH3CN, and HC3N) and highly unsaturated (e.g., C2H2, C4H2, and C2N2) neutrals at comparatively high altitude, leading to precipitation of Mg-doped tholin-like material. The implications for Titan's prebiotic chemical evolution, of the surface deposition of such material (which may feasibly contain magnesium porphyrins, or other bioactive Mg-containing complexes) remain to be assessed.  相似文献   

13.
Darrell F. Strobel 《Icarus》2008,193(2):588-594
The upper atmosphere of Titan is currently losing mass at a rate , by hydrodynamic escape as a high density, slow outward expansion driven principally by solar UV heating by CH4 absorption. The hydrodynamic mass loss is essentially CH4 and H2 escape. Their combined escape rates are restricted by power limitations from attaining their limiting rates (and limiting fluxes). Hence they must exhibit gravitational diffusive separation in the upper atmosphere with increasing mixing ratios to eventually become major constituents in the exosphere. A theoretical model with solar EUV heating by N2 absorption balanced by HCN rotational line cooling in the upper thermosphere yields densities and temperatures consistent with the Huygens Atmospheric Science Investigation (HASI) data [Fulchignoni, M., and 42 colleagues, 2005. Nature 438, 785-791], with a peak temperature of ∼185-190 K between 3500-3550 km. This model implies hydrodynamic escape rates of and , or some other combination with a higher H2 escape flux, much closer to its limiting value, at the expense of a slightly lower CH4 escape rate. Nonthermal escape processes are not required to account for the loss rates of CH4 and H2, inferred by the Cassini Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) measurements [Yelle, R.V., Borggren, N., de la Haye, V., Kasprzak, W.T., Niemann, H.B., Müller-Wodarg, I., Waite Jr., J.H., 2006. Icarus 182, 567-576].  相似文献   

14.
The goal of this study was to explore prebiotic chemistry in a range of plausible early Earth and Mars atmospheres. To achieve this laboratory continuous flow plasma irradiation experiments were performed on N2/H2/CO/CO2 gas mixtures chosen to represent mildly reducing early Earth and Mars atmospheres derived from a secondary volcanic outgassing of volatiles in chemical equilibrium with magmas near present day oxidation state. Under mildly reducing conditions (91.79% N2, 5.89% H2, 2.21% CO, and 0.11% CO2), simple nitriles are produced in the gas phase with yield (G in molecules per 100 eV), for the key prebiotic marker molecule HCN at G∼1×10−3 (0.1 nmol J−1). In this atmosphere localized HCN concentrations possibly could approach the 10−2 M needed for HCN oligomerization. Yields under mildly oxidizing conditions (45.5% N2, 0.1% H2, 27.2% CO, 27.2% CO2) are significantly less as expected, with HCN at G∼3×10−5 (). Yields in a Triton atmosphere which can be plausibly extrapolated to represent what might be produced in trace CH4 conditions (99.9% N2, 0.1% CH4) are significant with HCN at G∼1×10−2 (1 nmol J−1) and tholins produced. Recently higher methane abundance atmospheres have been examined for their greenhouse warming potential, and higher abundance hydrogen atmospheres have been proposed based on a low early Earth exosphere temperature. A reducing (64.04% N2, 28.8% H2, 3.60% CO2, and 3.56% CH4), representing a high CH4 and H2 abundance early Earth atmosphere had HCN yields of G∼5×10−3 (0.5 nmol J−1). Tholins generated in high methane hydrogen gas mixtures is much less than in a similar mixture without hydrogen. The same mixture with the oxidizing component CO2 removed (66.43% N2, 29.88% H2, 0% CO2, and 3.69% CH4) had HCN yields of G∼1×10−3 (0.1 nmol J−1) but more significant tholin yields.  相似文献   

15.
A two-dimensional kinetic model calculation for the water group species (H2O, H2, O2, OH, O, H) in Europa's atmosphere is undertaken to determine its basic compositional structure, gas escape rates, and velocity distribution information to initialize neutral cloud model calculations for the most important gas tori. The dominant atmospheric species is O2 at low altitudes and H2 at higher altitudes with average day-night column densities of 4.5×1014 and 7.7×1013 cm−2, respectively. H2 forms the most important gas torus with an escape rate of ∼2×1027 s−1 followed by O with an escape rate of ∼5×1026 s−1, created primarily as exothermic O products from O2 dissociation by magnetospheric electrons. The circumplanetary distributions of H2 and O are highly peaked about the satellite location and asymmetrically distributed near Europa's orbit about Jupiter, have substantial forward clouds extending radially inward to Io's orbit, and have spatially integrated cloud populations of 4.2×1033 molecules for H2 and 4.0×1032 atoms for O that are larger than their corresponding populations in Europa's local atmosphere by a factor of ∼200 and ∼1000, respectively. The cloud population for H2 is a factor of ∼3 times larger than that for the combined cloud population of Io's O and S neutral clouds and provides the dominant neutral population beyond the so-called ramp region at 7.4-7.8 RJ in the plasma torus. The calculated brightness of Europa's O cloud on the sky plane is very dim at the sub-Rayleigh level. The H2 and O tori provide a new source of europagenic molecular and atomic pickup ions for the thermal plasma and introduce a neutral barrier in which new plasma sinks are created for the cooler iogenic plasma as it is transported radially outward and in which new sinks are created to alter the population and pitch angle distribution of the energetic plasma as it is transported radially inward. The europagenic instantaneous pickup ion rates are peaked at Europa's orbit, dominate the iogenic pickup ion rates beyond the ramp region, and introduce new secondary plasma source peaks in the solution of the plasma transport problem. The H2 torus is identified as the unknown Europa gas torus that creates both the observed loss of energetic H+ ions at Europa's orbit and the corresponding measured ENA production rate for H.  相似文献   

16.
Buu N. Tran  John J. Chera 《Icarus》2003,162(1):114-124
The photochemical flow reactor (D.W. Clarke et al., 2000, Icarus 147, 282-291) has been modified to minimize the incorporation of oxygen and other impurities in the photoproducts. A mixture of gases that approximate their mixing ratios on Titan (N2, CH4, H2, C2H2, C2H4, and HC3N) (0.98, 0.018, 0.002, 3.5 × 10−4, 3 × 10−4, 1.7 × 10−5, respectively) was irradiated in the flow photochemical reactor using a 185-nm source to give a Titan haze analog as a solid product. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) gave a composition of 93.3% C, 5.3% N, and 1.4% O. Of the 93.3% carbon, high-resolution XPS revealed that 81.2% was present as CH, CC, and CC groups, 12.1% may be CO, CN, CN, CN, and/or CN groups, 5.3% as a CN group. The peak for N was symmetrical and was assigned to the CN while that for oxygen was assigned to the CO and/or the CO group. Some of these assignments were confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy. The polymeric product had a C:N ratio of 17.6, which is significantly greater than that for Titan haze analogs prepared in discharge reactions. When the polymer was exposed to air for seven days the oxygen content increased by 6% along with an increase in the infrared absorption at 1710 cm−1 assigned to the CO group of a ketone. The oxidation is attributed to the reaction of oxygen with free radicals trapped in the polymer matrix. It is proposed that the photochemical initiation of Titan haze formation from compounds formed from starting materials formed high in Titan’s atmosphere is a more plausible model than haze formed in reactions initiated by solely by discharges. These data will be helpful in the interpretation of the data returned from the Huygens probe of the Cassini mission.  相似文献   

17.
The neutral gas environment of a comet is largely influenced by dissociation of parent molecules created at the surface of the comet and collisions of all the involved species. We compare the results from a kinetic model of the neutral cometary environment with measurements from the Neutral Mass Spectrometer and the Dust Impact Detection System onboard the Giotto spacecraft taken during the fly-by at Comet 1P/Halley in 1986. We also show that our model is in good agreement with contemporaneous measurements obtained by the International Ultraviolet Explorer, sounding rocket experiments, and various ground based observations.The model solves the Boltzmann equation with a Direct Simulation Monte Carlo technique (Tenishev, V., Combi, M., Davidsson, B. [2008]. Astrophys. J. 685, 659-677) by tracking trajectories of gas molecules and dust grains under the influence of the comet’s weak gravity field with momentum exchange among particles modeled in a probabilistic manner. The cometary nucleus is considered to be the source of dust and the parent species (in our model: H2O, CO, H2CO, CO2, CH3OH, C2H6, C2H4, C2H2, HCN, NH3, and CH4) in the coma. Subsequently our model also tracks the corresponding dissociation products (H, H2, O, OH, C, CH, CH2, CH3, N, NH, NH2, C2, C2H, C2H5, CN, and HCO) from the comet’s surface all the way out to 106 km.As a result we are able to further constrain cometary the gas production rates of CO (13%), CO2 (2.5%), and H2CO (1.5%) relative to water without invoking unknown extended sources.  相似文献   

18.
The discovery of CO2, CH4, and N2 in a plume at Enceladus provides useful clues about the chemistry and evolution of this moon of Saturn. Here, we use chemical equilibrium and kinetic calculations to estimate the oxidation state of hydrothermal systems on early Enceladus, with the assumption that the plume's composition was inherited from early hydrothermal fluids. Chemical equilibrium calculations are performed using the CO2/CH4 ratio in the plume, and kinetic calculations are conducted using equations from fluid dynamics and chemical kinetics. Our results suggest that chemical equilibrium between CO2 and CH4 would have been reachable at temperatures above ∼200 °C in hydrothermal systems. The oxidation state of the hydrothermal systems would have been close to the pyrrhotite-pyrite-magnetite (PPM) or fayalite-magnetite-quartz (FMQ) redox buffer (i.e., terrestrial-like) if the plume's CO2 and CH4 equilibrated in hydrothermal systems long ago. As for minerals, we suggest that iron metal would have been oxidized to magnetite by the escape of H2 from the early satellite. Our calculations also indicate that, assuming CO2 and CH4 reached chemical equilibrium, magnetite would not have been oxidized to hematite in hydrothermal systems, perhaps due to insufficient H2 escape. It is shown that, if Enceladus accreted as much NH3 as comets contain, the presence of N2 and deficiency of NH3 in the plume can be understood in the context of chemical equilibrium in the C-N-O-H system. We conclude by proposing an evolutionary hypothesis in which the fairly oxidized nature of the plume can be explained by a brief episode of oxidation caused by short-lived radioactivity. These suggestions can be rigorously tested by acquiring gravity and isotopic data in the future.  相似文献   

19.
M.H. Moore  R.L. Hudson 《Icarus》2003,161(2):486-500
Infrared spectra and radiation chemical behavior of N2-dominated ices relevant to the surfaces of Triton and Pluto are presented. This is the first systematic IR study of proton-irradiated N2-rich ices containing CH4 and CO. Experiments at 12 K show that HCN, HNC, and diazomethane (CH2N2) form in the solid phase, along with several radicals. NH3 is also identified in irradiated N2 + CH4 and N2 + CH4 + CO. We show that HCN and HNC are made in irradiated binary ice mixtures having initial N2/CH4 ratios from 100 to 4, and in three-component mixtures have an initial N2/(CH4 + CO) ratio of 50. HCN and HNC are not detected in N2-dominated ices when CH4 is replaced with C2H6, C2H2, or CH3OH.The intrinsic band strengths of HCN and HNC are measured and used to calculate G(HCN) and G(HNC) in irradiated N2 + CH4 and N2 + CH4 + CO ices. In addition, the HNC/HCN ratio is calculated to be ∼1 in both icy mixtures. These radiolysis results reveal, for the first time, solid-phase synthesis of both HCN and HNC in N2-rich ices containing CH4.We examine the evolution of spectral features due to acid-base reactions (acids such as HCN, HNC, and HNCO and a base, NH3) triggered by warming irradiated ices from 12 K to 30-35 K. We identify anions (OCN−, CN−, and N3−) in ices warmed to 35 K. These ions are expected to form and survive on the surfaces of Triton and Pluto. Our results have astrobiological implications since many of these products (HCN, HNC, HNCO, NH3, NH4OCN, and NH4CN) are involved in the syntheses of biomolecules such as amino acids and polypeptides.  相似文献   

20.
SCIAMACHY (SCanning Imaging Absorption spectrometer for Atmospheric CHartographY) is a space based spectrometer designed to measure sunlight transmitted, reflected and scattered by the Earth atmosphere or surface. It is a contribution to the Envisat-1 satellite to be launched in late 1999.SCIAMACHY measurements will provide amounts and distribution of 03, BrO, OCl0, ClO, S02, H2CO, N02, CO, CO2, CH4, H2O, N20, pressure, temperature, aerosol, radiation, cloud cover and cloud top height from atmospheric measurements in nadir, limb and occultation geometry.By the combination of the near simultaneous limb and nadir observations SCIAMACHY is one of a limited number of instruments which is able to detect tropospheric column amounts of 03, N02, CO, CH4, H2O, N20, S02, H2CO, and BrO down to the planetary boundary layer under cloud free conditions.  相似文献   

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