Dawn Spacecraft Research Articles

Asymmetric Craters on the Dwarf Planet Ceres—Results of Second Extended Mission Data Analysis

After almost three years of successful operation on Ceres, the Dawn spacecraft entered its last orbits around the dwarf planet and obtained a set of high-resolution images of 3 to 5 m/pixel. These images reveal a variety of morphologic features, including a set of asymmetric crater morphologies as observed earlier in the mission on the asteroid Vesta. We identified 269 craters, which are located between 60° N to 60° S latitude and 197° E to 265° E longitude, and investigated their morphological characteristics using a digital terrain model (DTM). These craters range in diameter from 0.30 to 4.2 km, and exhibit a sharp crater rim on the uphill side and a smooth one on the downhill side. We found that all asymmetric craters are formed on a sloping surface with the majority appearing at slope angles between 5 and 20 degrees. This implies that, as observed on Vesta, the topography is the main cause for these asymmetries.

Unified Attitude Determination Problem From Vector Observations and Hand–Eye Measurements

The hand-eye measurements have recently been proven to be very efficient for spacecraft attitude determination relative to an ellipsoidal asteroid. However, recent method does not guarantee full attitude observability for all conditions. This paper refines this problem by taking the vector observations into account so that the accuracy and robustness of the spacecraft attitude estimation can be improved. The vector observations come from many sources including visual perspective geometry, optical navigation and point clouds that frequently occur in aerospace electronic systems. Completely closed-form solutions along with their uncertainty descriptions are presented for the proposed problem. Experiments using our simulated dataset and real-world spacecraft measurements from NASA dawn spacecraft verify the effectiveness and superiority of the derived solution.

Differentiation and magmatic history of Vesta: Constraints from HED meteorites and Dawn spacecraft data

Quantifying the amounts of various igneous lithologies in Vesta’s crust allows the estimation of petrologic ratios that describe the asteroid’s global differentiation and subsequent magmatic history. The eucrite:diogenite (Euc:Diog) ratio measures the relative proportions of mafic and ultramafic components. The intrusive:extrusive (I:E) ratio assesses the effectiveness of magma ascent and eruption. We estimate these ratios by counting numbers and masses of eucrites, cumulate eucrites, and diogenites in the world’s meteorite collections, and by calculating their proportions as components of crustal polymict breccias (howardites) using chemical mixing diagrams and petrologic mapping of multiple thin sections. The latter two methods yield a Euc:Diog ratio of ∼2:1, although meteorite numbers and masses give slightly higher ratios. Surface lithologic maps compiled from spectra of Dawn spacecraft instruments (VIR and GRaND) yield Euc:Diog ratios that bracket estimates of Euc:Diog from the meteorites. The I:E ratios from HEDs lie between 0.5–2.1:1, due to uncertainties in identifying cumulate eucrite. Gravity mapping of Vesta by the Dawn spacecraft supports the existence of diogenite plutons in the crust. Quantifying the proportion of high-density diogenitic crust in the gravity map yields I:E ratios of 0.8-1:2:1, values which are bracketed by calculations based on HEDs. The I:E ratio for Vesta is lower than for Earth and Mars, consistent with physical modeling of asteroid-size bodies. Nevertheless, it indicates a significant role for pluton emplacement during the formation of Vesta’s crust. These results are inconsistent with simple differentiation models that produce the crust by crystallization of a global magma ocean, unless residual melts are extracted into crustal magma chambers.

The composition and structure of Ceres' interior

Results of Ceres' exploration with the Dawn spacecraft are modeled and discussed in terms of rock/organic/elemental composition, density and porosity in the interior, and formation, migration and geological evolution of the body. Carbon-rich surface composition is used to assess phase and elemental composition of the interior. The consistent bulk density and surface composition suggest an abundant organic matter within the body. Ceres is modeled as a chemically uniform mixture of CI-type carbonaceous chondritic rocks and 12–29 vol% of macromolecular organic matter. Water ice, gas hydrates or high porosity (>10%) are not required to explain bulk density. Ceres may not have a partially differentiated interior structure because gravity and shape could be explained by compaction of chemically uniform materials. Gravity data suggest a two-layer structure with an abrupt density change. Gravity may not reflect the current global density distribution in the interior because the implied bulk porosity >9% and grain density > 2380 kg m−3 disagree with organic-rich compositions. In contrast, Ceres' polar flattening indicates mild density gradients that could be explained by two-layer and gradual compaction models. The flattening implies grain density of 2200–2350 kg m−3 that is consistent with the organic-rich interior. Viscosity of warmed rock-organic mixtures at depth could account for the observed relaxation of long wavelength topography. The organic-rich composition together with abundant surface carbonates and NH4-bearing phases suggests Ceres' formation at larger heliocentric distances and later than CI chondrites. Ceres-forming materials could have been more water-rich than parent bodies of CI chondrites and excessive water could have been lost from the body. A majority of Ceres' surface compounds could have formed through water-rock-organic reactions in a middle interior followed by collisional stripping of an upper interior.

Search for water outgassing of (1) Ceres near perihelion

Context. (1) Ceres is the largest body in the main asteroid belt and one of the most intriguing objects in the solar system, in part because of the discovery of water outgassing by the Herschel Space Observatory (HSO) and its still-debated origin. Ceres was the target of NASA’s Dawn spacecraft for 3.5 yr, which achieved a detailed characterization of the dwarf planet. The possible influence of the local flux of solar energetic particles (SEP) on the production of a Cerean exosphere and water vapor has been suggested, in addition to the sublimation of water ice that depends on the temperature, meaning the heliocentric distance. Aims. We used the opportunity of both the perihelion passage of (1) Ceres in April 2018, and the presence of Dawn in its vicinity (for measuring the SEP flux in real time) to check the influence of heliocentric distance and SEP flux on water outgassing. Methods. We searched for OH emission lines near the limb of Ceres in the near-UV with the UVES spectrograph mounted on the 8-m ESO Very Large Telescope. Two spectra were recorded when Ceres was close to its perihelion, in February 2018, and with Dawn spacecraft orbiting Ceres. It was possible to simultaneously measure energetic particles around Ceres at the time of our observations. Results. Our observations did not permit detection of OH emission lines to a very high sensitivity level. This level is estimated to correspond to a global water production rate of QH2O ∽ 2 × 1026 molecules s−1, similar to the water production rate derived from HSO observations. The solar energetic particles flux measured around Ceres was negligible at the time of these observations. Conclusions. Our observations support the idea that heliocentric distance (i.e., the sublimation of water ice) does not play a major role in the water emission from Ceres. This production rate could be either related to SEP events or to other mechanisms, possibly of endogenic origin.

A Global Inventory of Ice‐Related Morphological Features on Dwarf Planet Ceres: Implications for the Evolution and Current State of the Cryosphere

AbstractWe present a comprehensive global catalog of the geomorphological features with clear or potential relevance to subsurface ice identified during the Dawn spacecraft's primary and first extended missions at Ceres. We define eight broad feature classes and describe analyses supporting their genetic links to subsurface ice. These classes include relaxed craters; central pit craters; large domes; small mounds; lobate landslides and ejecta; pitted materials; depressions and scarps; and fractures, grooves, and channels. Features in all classes are widely distributed on the dwarf planet, consistent with multiple lines of observational evidence that ice is a key component of Ceres' crust. Independent analyses of multiple feature types suggest rheological and compositional layering may be common in the upper ~10 km of the crust. Clustering of features indicates that ice concentration is heterogeneous on nearly all length scales, from ~1 km to hundreds of kilometers. Impacts are likely the key driver of heterogeneity, causing progressive devolatilization of the low latitude and midlatitude crust on billion‐year timescales but also producing localized enhancements in near surface ice content via excavation of deep ice‐rich material and possible facilitation of cryomagmatic and cryovolcanic activity. Impacts and landslides may be the dominant mechanism for ice loss on modern Ceres. Our analysis suggests specific locations where future high‐resolution imaging can be used to probe (1) current volatile loss rates and (2) the history of putative cryomagmatic and cryovolcanic features. The Cerean cryosphere and its unique morphology promise to be a rich subject of ongoing research for years to come.

Introduction to the Special Issue: Ice on Ceres

AbstractCeres is the largest body in the asteroid belt, and the most water‐rich inner solar system body after Earth. Its exploration by the Dawn spacecraft has been long anticipated, in large part because it was expected to be an ice‐rich world. A variety of ice‐ and volatile‐related physical processes were expected to occur on Ceres, including possible cryovolcanism. A major goal of the Dawn mission at Ceres was to understand the abundance, distribution, and phase partitioning of water in the subsurface. Coordinated investigations of subsurface ice during the Dawn mission benefited from the decades‐long effort to inventory and characterize subsurface ice on Mars. Specifically, morphological analysis was leveraged to bridge a length‐scale gap between geophysical remote sensing data sets that provide quantitative constraints on the abundance of subsurface ice at very shallow depths (<1 m; neutron spectroscopy) and data sets that provide quantitative constraints on composition at much longer length scales (tens of kilometers; gravity science). This morphological analysis underscores that Ceres shares geophysical characteristics with terrestrial planets, icy moons, comets, and asteroids, and blurs some of the conventional boundaries between these terms. Grappling with this ambiguity stands to benefit investigations of interior evolution and volatile‐related processes on all solid planetary bodies.

Slurry extrusion on Ceres from a convective mud-bearing mantle

Ceres is a 940-km-diameter dwarf planet that is predominantly composed of silicates and water ice. In Ceres’ partially differentiated interior, extrusive processes have led to the emplacement on its surface of domes with heights of kilometres. Here we report the analysis of a gravity anomaly detected by the Dawn spacecraft, which is associated with the geologically recent dome Ahuna Mons. By modelling the anomaly with a mass concentration method, we determine that the subsurface structure includes a regional mantle uplift, which we interpret as a plume. This structure is the probable source of fluids forming Ahuna Mons and, together with constraints from the dome’s morphology, indicates a rheological regime corresponding to a slurry of brine and solid particles. We propose that the properties of such a solid–liquid mixture can explain the viscous relaxation and the mineralogy of the dome. The presence of a plume and of slurry material indicate recent convection in a mud-bearing mantle. The inferred slurry extrusion on Ceres differs from the water-dominated cryovolcanism of icy satellites, and so reveals compositional and rheological diversity in extrusive phenomena on planetary surfaces. Ahuna Mons dome on Ceres formed by extrusion of a mixture of brine and solids sourced from a muddy mantle plume, according to numerical modelling of slurry rheology and a gravity anomaly found by the Dawn mission.

Surface Roughness and Gravitational Slope Distributions of Vesta and Ceres

AbstractHeavily cratered terrains dominate the surfaces of asteroid 4 Vesta and dwarf planet 1 Ceres. The data from the Dawn spacecraft allowed reconstruction of high‐resolution shape models of these bodies. We used the stereophotoclinometric shape models to compute gravitational slopes and topographic roughness of Vesta and Ceres. We compute the slope distributions of Vesta and Ceres and compare them to those of the other bodies with heavily cratered terrains. The distribution of slopes of Vesta and Ceres has a kink at ≈34°. The slope distribution is steeper for slopes higher than ≈34°. The Moon and Mars have a similar kink but at a lower (shallower) slope (≈29°–30°). We hypothesize that this kink corresponds to the angle of repose, which is higher on the two minor bodies compared to that of Mars and the Moon. We have also analyzed the topographic roughness of Vesta and Ceres. Vesta's topography is characterized by lower roughness in the southern hemisphere that was resurfaced by giant impacts. The roughness of Ceres is mostly controlled by regional‐scale geology with no significant large‐scale variations. Large, fresh craters have smooth ejecta blankets on both Vesta and Ceres unlike previously observed rough ejecta on the Moon, Mars, and Mercury. On Ceres, the smooth ejecta craters also have smooth floors explained by impact slurry. Lineaments of elevated roughness are abundant on Ceres, whereas are nearly absent on Vesta. The roughness maps we produced provide a synoptic view of the surface texture and could be used to aid geologic mapping.

Water Vapor Contribution to Ceres' Exosphere From Observed Surface Ice and Postulated Ice‐Exposing Impacts

AbstractTelescopic observations have detected an exosphere around Ceres, composed of either water vapor or its photolytic products. Proposed mechanisms for its formation include sublimation or sputtering from solar energetic particles of buried ice, surface ice, or an optically thin seasonal polar cap. We estimate the amount of water vapor produced by known exposures of water ice, detected in Dawn spacecraft image and spectral data and by ice exposures from subresolution impact craters. We use thermal and sublimation modeling to take into account slope, orientation, and, in the case of water ice within craters, shadowing due to crater walls. We use a Monte Carlo approach to calculate the number of ice‐exposing impacts, where they occur on Ceres' surface, and how long the ice within the impact crater remains bright (e.g., less than one monolayer of sublimation lag). We find that the observed water ice patches on Ceres could account for ~0.06 kg/s of water vapor to (with Oxo crater as the main contributor) and that ice‐exposing impacts that remain bright in appearance after one Ceres year supply 0.08–0.56 kg/s of vapor, depending on the regolith volume fraction of the ice. While water ice has not been detected to date at Occator crater, if it were present we find that Occator is unlikely to be a major contributor of vapor. We find a typical background water vapor production rate from all of Ceres, combining surface and buried ice, of about a few tenths of a kilogram per second.

Ceres’ opposition effect observed by the Dawn framing camera

Context. The surface reflectance of planetary regoliths may increase dramatically towards zero phase angle, a phenomenon known as the opposition effect (OE). Two physical processes that are thought to be the dominant contributors to the brightness surge are shadow hiding (SH) and coherent backscatter (CB). The occurrence of shadow hiding in planetary regoliths is self-evident, but it has proved difficult to unambiguously demonstrate CB from remote sensing observations. One prediction of CB theory is the wavelength dependence of the OE angular width. Aims. The Dawn spacecraft observed the OE on the surface of dwarf planet Ceres. We aim to characterize the OE over the resolved surface, including the bright Cerealia Facula, and to find evidence for SH and/or CB. It is presently not clear if the latter can contribute substantially to the OE for surfaces as dark as that of Ceres. Methods. We analyze images of the Dawn framing camera by means of photometric modeling of the phase curve. Results. We find that the OE of most of the investigated surface has very similar characteristics, with an enhancement factor of 1.4 and a full width at half maximum of 3° (“broad OE”). A notable exception are the fresh ejecta of the Azacca crater, which display a very narrow brightness enhancement that is restricted to phase angles <0.5° (“narrow OE”); suggestively, this is in the range in which CB is thought to dominate. We do not find a wavelength dependence for the width of the broad OE, and lack the data to investigate the dependence for the narrow OE. The prediction of a wavelength-dependent CB width is rather ambiguous, and we suggest that dedicated modeling of the Dawn observations with a physically based theory is necessary to better understand the Ceres OE. The zero-phase observations allow us to determine Ceres’ visible geometric albedo as pV = 0.094 ± 0.005. A comparison with other asteroids suggests that Ceres’ broad OE is typical for an asteroid of its spectral type, with characteristics that are primarily linked to surface albedo. Conclusions. Our analysis suggests that CB may occur on the dark surface of Ceres in a highly localized fashion. While the results are inconclusive, they provide a piece to the puzzle that is the OE of planetary surfaces.

Reflectance spectroscopy of ammonium-bearing phyllosilicates

The identification of NH4-bearing phyllosilicates on Ceres poses the question on the NH4-carrier phase(s) and in this study we describe the laboratory production and IR spectroscopic measurements of a suite of ten NH4-phyllosilicates, starting from the corresponding NH4-free minerals. For each mineral, we prepared three types of powder samples: raw (R), ammoniated (A), and leached (L). All samples have been spectrally characterized by means of visible/infrared spectroscopy in the INAF-IAPS laboratories with the FieldSpec Pro in the 0.35–2.5 µm range, and with the FT-IR, using a Vertex 80 spectrometer operating in the range of 2–14 µm. The samples were also measured with the SPectral IMager, an imaging spectrometer operating in the spectral range 0.2–5.1 µm, which is a replica of the VIR spectrometer on-board Dawn spacecraft. Reflectance spectra of the ammoniated clays show bands near 1.56 µm, 2.05 µm, 2.12 µm, 3.06 µm, 3.25 µm, 3.55 µm, 4.2 µm, 5.7 µm and 7.0 µm that are related to the presence of nitrogen complexes. Treatment of phyllosilicates with ammonia shows that different minerals behave in different ways: NH4+ ions are easily accepted by the smectites, while other non-expandable structures do not accept these ions. The obtained results can be used to better constrain the NH4-bearing species present on Ceres and, possibly, other bodies of the solar system.

After visits with Vesta and Ceres, asteroid-exploring Dawn spacecraft goes dark

After visits with Vesta and Ceres, asteroid-exploring Dawn spacecraft goes dark

Post-impact thermal structure and cooling timescales of Occator crater on asteroid 1 Ceres

Occator crater is perhaps the most distinct surface feature observed by NASA's Dawn spacecraft on the Cerean surface. Contained within the crater are the highest albedo features on the planet, Cerealia Facula and Vinalia Faculae, and relatively smooth lobate flow deposits. We present hydrocode simulations of the formation of Occator crater, varying the water to rock ratio of our pre-impact Cerean surface. We find that at water to rock mass ratios up to 0.3, sufficient volumes of Occator's post-impact subsurface would be above the melting point of water to allow for the deposition of faculae-like deposits via impact-heat driven hydrothermal effusion of brines. This reservoir of hydrothermally viable material beneath the crater is composed of a mixture of impactor material and material uplifted from 10′s of kilometers beneath the pre-impact surface, which could sample a deep subsurface volatile reservoir, if present. Using a conductive cooling model, we estimate that the lifetime of hydrothermal activity within such a system, depending on choice of material constants, is between 0.4 and 4 Myr. Our results suggest that impact heating from the Occator forming impact provides a viable mechanism for the creation of the observed faculae, with the proviso that the faculae formed within a relatively short time window after the crater itself formed.

NIR reflectance spectroscopy of hydrated and anhydrous sodium carbonates at different temperatures

Recent space-based observations have revealed or suggested the existence of various types of carbonate salts in several Solar System bodies, such as Mars, Ceres, Enceladus, and Europa. Natrite is the main component of the crater Occator's faculae observed in detail by the Dawn spacecraft on the dwarf planet Ceres. Sodium carbonates are thought to form as precipitates in brines, originating in aqueous environments in the subsurface of Ceres and icy bodies. Here we report about near-infrared (0.8–4.2 μm) reflectance spectroscopic investigations on three compounds, namely natrite (anhydrous Na2CO3), monohydrated sodium carbonate (Na2CO3•H2O, thermonatrite) and decahydrate sodium carbonate (Na2CO3•10H2O, natron). Spectral measurements have been carried out in the overall temperature range 93–279 K, representative of planetary surfaces. The analysis of diagnostic spectral signatures shows different temperature-dependent trends for several band parameters, as well as different behavior as a function of the grain size for a given temperature. While spectra of natrite are characterized by several CO3 absorptions, broad and strong absorption features due to H2O dominate the spectra of heavily hydrated natron. The intermediate sample (monohydrated) shows multiple bands due to the overlap of CO3 and H2O vibrational modes. Our temperature-dependent laboratory spectra are compared with Dawn-VIR spectra of Ceres and with Galileo-NIMS spectra of Europa.

A Possible Brine Reservoir Beneath Occator Crater: Thermal and Compositional Evolution and Formation of the Cerealia Dome and Vinalia Faculae

The Dawn spacecraft has imaged several putative cryovolcanic features on Ceres, and several lines of evidence point to past cryovolcanic activity at Occator crater. It is therefore possible that cryovolcanism played a key role in delivering sodium carbonate- and chloride-enriched brines to Ceres’ surface in recent geological times. The detection of a 200 km×200 km negative Bouguer anomaly beneath Occator suggests the presence of a low-density region beneath the crater. If this region is a residual, partially crystallized, cryomagma chamber, excess pressures caused by its gradual freezing, or stresses produced by the Occator-forming impact, could have facilitated the delivery of cryolavas to the surface in the geologically recent past. Here, the progressive solidification of a cryomagma chamber beneath Occator and implications for the delivery of cryolavas to the surface has been explored. Models for the behavior of cryolavas at Ceres’ surface, and for the formation of the Cerealia Dome and Vinalia Faculae, are also presented. Minimal crystallization of a subsurface fluid reservoir located at the crust-mantle boundary could have driven cryolavas enriched in chloride salts and NH3 to Ceres’ surface. However, cryolavas enriched in sodium carbonates would have had to have existed at shallower levels in the crust in order to be delivered to the surface via pressure-driven ascent. Depending on the size of the reservoir, cryolavas could have been driven to Ceres’ surface for tens to hundreds of millions of years after cooling of the cryomagma chamber commenced. The mineralogy at Occator is suggestive of subsurface cryomagma reservoirs enriched in sodium carbonate and chloride salts. Aqueous solutions enriched in chloride salts and/or ammonia would have arrived at the surface at warm enough temperatures to erupt if transported in propagating fractures that traveled at least 10−5 m/s. Additionally, if the Cerealia Dome was formed from viscous cryolava extrusions, bulk kinematic lava viscosities may have been between 106–108 m2/s at the onset of relaxation. Plausible relaxation times to form the dome, which are linked to bulk cryolava rheology, are found to have ranged from 2.5 to 273 days. Moreover, the low volatile content necessary to drive explosive eruptions on Ceres supports the possibility that Cerealia and Vinalia Faculae were emplaced as a consequence of ballistic eruptions. The enigmatic geology of Occator crater is consistent with a diversity of exchange processes operating on Ceres in the geologically recent past. Further, the processes that have occurred at Occator could shed light on the changing geology associated with a relic ocean world. Future studies of Occator and Ceres should be undertaken with these results in mind.

Composition of dwarf planet Ceres: Constraints from the Dawn spacecraft mission

Composition of dwarf planet Ceres: Constraints from the Dawn spacecraft mission

A global database and statistical analyses of (4) Vesta craters

In this paper, we present a global database of craters larger than 0.7 km in diameter on the surface of (4) Vesta, which we created based on a global mosaic of the Dawn spacecraft's high-altitude mapping orbit (HAMO) images at a resolution of ∼60 m/pixel and cross-checked using the images from the low-altitude mapping orbit (LAMO) mission phase. The method to produce the crater database consists of visual crater identification and mathematical shape determination. To give precise measurements, topographic corrections have also been considered by combining the digital elevation model (DEM) data in this global survey. We calculated the morphometric parameters of the craters, which consist of diameter, depth, depth-to-diameter ratio, ellipticity, and azimuth of the major axis. Our results show that the craters on (4) Vesta are very shallow, with a mean depth-to-diameter ratio of ∼0.065, which is similar to that of the craters on (1) Ceres and (25143) Itokawa but lower than for craters on other solid bodies. The results also show that the fractions of craters with an ellipticity greater than 1.1 or 1.2 are smaller than those of craters on the Martian surface, which is probably because few secondaries exist on the surface of (4) Vesta. In addition, the azimuths of the major axis are almost uniformly distributed in different directions. Our globally consistent crater database has many potential applications for future studies such as geologic mapping and surface age dating.

Variations in the amount of water ice on Ceres' surface suggest a seasonal water cycle.

The dwarf planet Ceres is known to host a considerable amount of water in its interior, and areas of water ice were detected by the Dawn spacecraft on its surface. Moreover, sporadic water and hydroxyl emissions have been observed from space telescopes. We report the detection of water ice in a mid-latitude crater and its unexpected variation with time. The Dawn spectrometer data show a change of water ice signatures over a period of 6 months, which is well modeled as ~2-km2 increase of water ice. The observed increase, coupled with Ceres' orbital parameters, points to an ongoing process that seems correlated with solar flux. The reported variation on Ceres' surface indicates that this body is chemically and physically active at the present time.

Morphological Indicators of a Mascon Beneath Ceres's Largest Crater, Kerwan

AbstractGravity data of Ceres returned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Dawn spacecraft is consistent with a lower density crust of variable thickness overlying a higher density mantle. Crustal thickness variations can affect the long‐term, postimpact modification of impact craters on Ceres. Here we show that the unusual morphology of the 280 km diameter crater Kerwan may result from viscous relaxation in an outer layer that thins substantially beneath the crater floor. We propose that such a structure is consistent with either impact‐induced uplift of the high‐density mantle beneath the crater or from volatile loss during the impact event. In either case, the subsurface structure inferred from the crater morphology is superisostatic, and the mass excess would result in a positive Bouguer anomaly beneath the crater, consistent with the highest‐degree gravity data from Dawn. Ceres joins the Moon, Mars, and Mercury in having basin‐associated gravity anomalies, although their origin may differ substantially.