Lunar Atmosphere Research Articles

The LimPa mission: a small mission proposal to characterize the enigmatic lunar dust exosphere

The lunar environment is known to be characterized by complex interactions between plasma, the exosphere, dust, and the surface. However, our understanding of the environment is limited due to the lack of experimental evidence. Here, we propose a small, low-cost mission to characterize the dust and exosphere environment of the Moon. Named the Limb Pathfinder (LimPa), this is a proof-of-concept mission aimed toward understanding the coupling between plasma, dust, and tenuous neutral atmosphere. The LimPa mission was proposed to a call for the Small Mission to the Moon issued by European Space Agency in 2023. LimPa is designed to examine the dust exosphere above the lunar polar regions by using an utterly novel remote-sensing technique to measure the solar wind hydrogen atoms—the solar wind protons that are neutralized to hydrogen atoms. Its goals are (1) to detect for the first time the neutralized solar wind hydrogen produced by exospheric gas and levitated dust; (2) to measure the height profiles of the levitated dust and exospheric gas densities; and (3) to determine the emission mechanism of the horizon glow. Our baseline design of the LimPa mission is a 12U CubeSat. Three highly matured instruments are used: an energetic neutral atom camera, a proton sensor, and a camera system. The LimPa CubeSat is proposed to be inserted into a circular lunar polar orbit, with an altitude of 100 km as a baseline. The Sun-pointing attitude will allow measurements of neutralized solar wind that are produced by the exosphere and dust grains above the polar regions. The nominal lifetime is for 3 months as a pathfinder mission. The LimPa mission will open a new window to remote characterization of the lunar dust exosphere environment above the poles, and will demonstrate that this monitoring can be achieved with a simple and low-cost instrument system and spacecraft operation. The concept to be proven by the LimPa mission will enable long-term monitoring of the fragile dust exosphere environment, which substantially impacts on lunar exploration and will be significantly altered by human activities.Graphical abstract

Self‐Organization of Relaxed Structures in the Lunar Atmosphere

ABSTRACTThe study investigates the relaxation of a three‐component dusty plasma in the lunar atmosphere. By employing Ampère's law with momentum balance equation of the plasma species, which includes an electron, a positive ion, and a negatively charged dust particle, a Triple Beltrami (TB) state is obtained. This TB state is characterized by three scale parameters, which may be real or complex. The Cartesian coordinate geometry is employed to analyze the magnetic field profiles. The Beltrami parameters, mass of negative charged dust particulates and density variations at different height and angle have a significant impact on the magnetic properties of the self‐organized structures in lunar atmosphere. The study reveals that all scale parameters associated with diamagnetic structures are real and complex, while all scale parameters for paramagnetic structures are real. It has been shown that the magnetic field, along with its complex conjugate and real part, increases with height and angle, and only diamagnetic structures are formed in the lunar atmosphere. The findings of this study should help to explain relaxed structures found in other astronomical objects and in lab settings including negatively charged dust particles, ions, and electrons.

Detection of lunar water, hydroxyl ion and their diurnal changes from CHACE-2 orbiter observation

This work reports the spatial and diurnal variations of the number densities of lunar molecular water (H2O), atomic mass unit (amu) 18 and hydroxyl (OH), amu 17 over low (0° to 30°), middle (31° to 60°) and high (61° to 80°) latitudinal regions of the lunar exosphere during the pre-sunrise, noon, sunset and midnight periods using the mass spectrometric data of CHandra's Atmospheric Composition Explorer-2 (CHACE-2) on board Chandrayaan-2, the second lunar mission developed in India. Both H2O and OH exhibit, particularly in the low latitude regions, a trend of increasing number density after the sunrise and up to noon, followed by a decrease till sunset. An overall higher density of H2O is obtained compared to the previous reports. The findings are justified in terms of the polar orbital height of the instrument and the duration of data procurement. The maximum number density for the low, middle and high latitudes reaches 5225 cm−3, 5135 cm−3 and 3747 cm−3, respectively. The corresponding OH abundances are found to be 5079 cm−3, 5565 cm−3 and 5720 cm−3. The diurnal variations of H2O and OH and their comparisons, similar to those of the present report may provide suitable means for tracing the lunar water cycle. The CHACE-2 observations imply that the influence of magnetotail passage on volatiles like water is to be further quantified in future missions with other sensors.

The Origin of the Moon’s Thin Atmosphere Might Be Tiny Impacts

Minuscule meteoroids slamming into the lunar surface could be kicking up most of the atoms that make up the lunar exosphere.

The Peregrine Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer (PITMS) Investigation Development and Preflight Planning

The Peregrine Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer (PITMS) is a mass spectrometer instrument that operated during the Astrobotic Peregrine Mission-1 as part of the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. This paper describes the instrument and investigation design, development, and planning conducted by the PITMS team, consisting of a successful partnership between NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), The Open University, NASA, and ESA. PITMS was designed to measure the abundance and temporal variability of volatile species in the near-surface lunar exosphere from a landed platform on the lunar surface. The PITMS instrument consisted of a European Space Agency–provided Exospheric Mass Spectrometer (including sensor, electronics, controller, and power supply boards) and a GSFC wrapper that provided structural elements, thermal control, and a deployable dust cover. PITMS was designed to operate as a passive sampler, where ambient gases would enter PITMS through an aperture, diffuse around the mass analyzer cavity, become ionized by electron impact and trapped in an RF field, and then sequentially be released to a detector to build a mass spectrum. PITMS was capable of measuring species with a mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) from 10 to 150 Da, with a mass resolution of approximately 0.5 amu. The PITMS science investigation was planned to be operated by GSFC with an international team of scientists. Though the mission did not achieve its lunar landing, information about the PITMS instrument and planning is provided to be able to understand and effectively use data that will be forthcoming from the investigation.

Lunar soil record of atmosphere loss over eons.

The Moon has a tenuous atmosphere produced by space weathering. The short-lived nature of the atoms surrounding the Moon necessitates continuous replenishment from lunar regolith through mechanisms such as micrometeorite impacts, ion sputtering, and photon-stimulated desorption. Despite advances, previous remote sensing and space mission data have not conclusively disentangled the contributions of these processes. Using high-precision potassium (K) and rubidium (Rb) isotopic analyses of lunar soils from the Apollo missions, our study sheds light on the lunar surface-atmosphere evolution over billions of years. The observed correlation between K and Rb isotopic ratios (δ 87Rb = 0.17 δ 41K) indicates that, over long timescales, micrometeorite impact vaporization is the primary source of atoms in the lunar atmosphere.

Temporal Variations of 222Rn Density Distributions in the Lunar Exosphere

Because of radiogenic processes, the lunar interior is a source of rare gases like helium (4He), argon (40Ar), and radon (222Rn) that might be released continuously, or impulsively during moonquakes. The detection of radon is therefore important in the sense that it can help trace the crustal dynamics on the Moon. In this study, we will introduce a Monte Carlo–based model designed to investigate the time-dependent transient dynamics of the lunar 222Rn exosphere. Our model accounts for the background emission and transient ejection of gas molecules from the lunar surface, encompassing loss processes such as radioactive decay, photoionization, and the cold trapping in permanently shadowed regions near the poles. Additionally, it incorporates the diurnal temperature fluctuations of the lunar surface, which significantly influence the condensation duration of the radon atoms and their subsequent release near the sunrise. This model also can support future observations in missions such as Chang’E 6 or other lunar explorations.

Large impacts and their contribution to the water budget of the Early Moon

The Earth/Moon system likely results from a giant impact between a Mars-size object and the proto-Earth. This high-energy impact leads to extreme conditions under which volatile elements would not normally be preserved in the protolunar disk. However, recent measurements of lunar samples highlight the presence of a non-negligible amount of water in the Moon’s interior (from 1.2 to 74 ppm). The aim of the present work is to quantify the water contribution of the late accretion on the early Moon. Here, we use a 2D axisymmetric model with the hydrocode iSALE-Dellen to study the fate of a large impactor on a target body similar to the early Moon with a crust, a magma ocean, and a mantle. For this purpose, we compute different models to monitor the depth to which the impacted material is buried at the end of the impact event and the degree of devolatilisation of the impactor. Three parameters are explored: the crustal thickness (ranging from 10 to 80 km), the impactor radius (ranging from 25 to 200 km) and the impactor velocity (ranging from 1 to 4 times the target escape velocity). Our models show that impactors with a radius greater than 25 km impacting a partially molten lunar body with a crust thinner than 40 km could significantly contribute to the water content of the lunar mantle even for impact velocities close to the lunar escape velocity. For impact velocities greater than 3 times the target escape velocity, the impactor material is significantly molten and its water content is devolatilised within the lunar atmosphere. Depending on the water content of the impactor material and the ability of the lunar magma ocean to maintain chemical heterogeneities, the late lunar accretion following the Moon-forming giant impact could explain the differences in water content among the lunar samples.

Energy spectra of energetic neutral hydrogen backscattered and sputtered from the lunar regolith by the solar wind

Context. The solar wind impinging on the lunar surface results in the emission of energetic neutral atoms. This particle population is one of the sources of the lunar exosphere. Aims. We present a semi-empirical model to describe the energy spectra of the neutral emitted atoms. Methods. We used data from the Advanced Small Analyzer for Neutrals (ASAN) on board the Yutu-2 rover of the Chang’E-4 mission to calculate high-resolution average energy spectra of the energetic neutral hydrogen flux from the surface. We then constructed a semi-empirical model to describe these spectra. Results. Excellent agreement between the model and the observed energetic neutral hydrogen data was achieved. The model is also suitable for describing heavier neutral species emitted from the surface. Conclusions. A semi-analytical model describing the energy spectrum of energetic neutral atoms emitted from the lunar surface has been developed and validated by data obtained from the lunar surface.

High-energy particle observations from the Moon.

The Moon is a unique natural laboratory for the study of the deep space plasma and energetic particles environment. During more than 3/4 of its orbit around the Earth it is exposed to the solar wind. Being an unmagnetized body and lacking a substantial atmosphere, solar wind and solar energetic particles bombardthe Moon's surface, interacting with the lunar regolith and the tenuous lunar exosphere. Energetic particles arriving at the Moon's surface can be absorbed, or scattered, or can remove another particle from the lunar regolith by sputtering or desorption. A similar phenomenon occurs also with the galactic cosmic rays, which have fluxes and energy spectra representative of interplanetary space. During the remaining part of its orbit the Moon crosses the tail of the terrestrial magnetosphere. It then provides the opportunity to study in-situ the terrestrial magnetotail plasma environment as well as atmospheric escape from the Earth's ionosphere, in the form of heavy ions accelerated and streaming downtail. The lunar environment is thus a unique natural laboratory for analysing the interaction of the solar wind, the cosmic rays and the Earth's magnetosphere with the surface, the immediate subsurface, and the surface-bounded exosphere of an unmagnetized planetary body. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Astronomy from the Moon: the next decades (part 2)'.

Latitudinal and radial dependence of the lunar sodium exospheric temperature and linewidths

A latitudinal and radial study of the lunar sodium exosphere has been performed utilizing observations made from two different methods: (1) observations made at targeted altitudes using a Fabry-Perot Spectrometer (FPS) and (2) observations made from a coronagraph. The FPS observations made from the National Solar Observatory McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope, Kitt Peak, Arizona and the coronagraph observations were made at the Winer Observatory, Sonoita, Arizona. A small subset of the high resolution FPS observations were made concurrently with coronagraph measurements. Measured linewidths and linewidth-derived temperatures from FPS observations were compared to temperatures derived from the coronagraphic intensity altitude profiles, with FPS linewidth-derived temperatures shown to be consistently lower. We suggest that the coronagraph method samples a velocity distribution perpendicular to the FPS's LOS, while the FPS samples a velocity distribution tangential to the lunar limb (i.e., along the FPS LOS). We also suggest that the coronagraph measurements may be more sensitive to the escaping population of atoms as the population close to the surface is not observed. The concurrent FPS measurements sit below the occulting disk of the coronagraph and measure the atoms closer to the surface. Furthermore, both the FPS linewidth-derived temperatures and the coronagraph scale heights show an increase towards high latitudes, an effect which is attributed to particle transport and/or contributions from a source like meteoroid impact vaporization. FPS linewidths decrease as a function of altitude, a result confirmed through a simulation of velocity distributions from nonthermal source mechanisms. And, finally, Linewidths are largest when looking over the dawn/dusk terminator. These results will enable improved characterization of the sources for the lunar sodium exosphere.

The surface of the Moon as a calibration source for Na and K observations of the lunar exosphere

The surface of the Moon as a calibration source for Na and K observations of the lunar exosphere

Coupled H, H2, OH, and H2O lunar exosphere simulation framework and impacts of conversion reactions

Numerical models of the lunar exosphere have been available for several decades to allow investigations of the Moon’s tenuous atmosphere beyond the few measurements made by satellite or ground-based experiments. We present a novel approach to modeling a system of elements, namely the hydrogen-bearing species H, H2, OH, and H2O, in a multi-element simulation, implementing exospheric and geochemical conversion reactions to connect the different species through their loss and source processes. The model resembles the lunar water cycle, including several source and sink mechanisms like the solar wind proton influx and the eventual loss through Jean’s escape, photodissociation, or cold trapping. Unknown and uncertain parameters have been modeled using probability distributions that propagate their uncertainty through the system to allow subsequent statistical analysis of the predictions. In eight studies we varied the reactivity of the lunar environment and investigated the response of the exosphere’s densities and dynamics. The results show that the new framework is able to reproduce many published values for the surface number densities and reported dynamics like the H2 dawn-dusk asymmetry, even with a very simple approach to many of the complex input parameters. The most diverging results can be found for the hydroxyl and water predictions. Nonetheless, we show that the multi-element approach using conversion reactions offers an alternative explanation to the observed H and H2 exosphere without having to assume these volatiles as condensable species.

Anomalous 33S in the Lunar Mantle

AbstractThe origin, evolution, and cycling of volatiles on the Moon are established by processes such as the giant moon forming impact, degassing of the lunar magma ocean, degassing during surface eruptions, and lunar surface gardening events. These processes typically induce mass‐dependent stable isotope fractionations. Mass‐independent fractionation of stable isotopes has yet to be demonstrated during events that release large volumes of gas on the moon and establish transient lunar atmospheres. We present quadruple sulfur isotope compositions of orange and black glass beads from drive tube 74002/1. The sulfur isotope and concentration data collected on the orange and black glasses confirm a role for magmatic sulfur loss during eruption. The Δ33S value of the orange glasses is homogenous (Δ33S = −0.029‰ ± 0.004‰, 2SE) and different from the isotopic composition of lunar basalts (Δ33S = 0.002‰ ± 0.004‰, 2SE). We link the negative Δ33S composition of the orange glasses to an anomalous sulfur source in the lunar mantle. The nature of this anomalous sulfur source remains unknown and is either linked to (a) an impactor that delivered anomalous sulfur after late accretion, (b) sulfur that was photochemically processed early during lunar evolution and was transported to the lunar mantle, or (c) a primitive sulfur component that survived mantle mixing. The examined black glass preserves a mass‐dependent Δ33S composition (−0.008‰ ± 0.006‰, 2SE). The orange and black glasses are considered genetically related, but the discrepancy in Δ33S composition among the two samples calls their relationship into question.

Analyzing LDEX's Current Measurements in Lunar Orbit

The Lunar Dust Experiment (LDEX) on board the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer mission orbited the Moon from 2014 September to 2015 April and observed a dynamic, permanently present dust cloud produced by continual meteoroid bombardment. In addition to measuring individual ejecta with radii >0.3 μm, LDEX also recorded an integrated current of the collective signal generated by the impacts of smaller ejecta particles. From this signal, we explore the potential for electrostatic dust lofting via twilight craters through correlation with changes in lunar topography. As the integrated current can contain numerous background contributions, we start by isolating regions of transient enhancements of this signal. A consistent lunar dayside enhancement is identified, with solar wind ions reflected as energetic neutral atoms shown to be a feasible source. We do not detect any enhanced integrated current correlated with the antihelion meteoroid bombardment or discernible enhancement due to electrostatic lofting via twilight craters, suggesting that electrostatic dust lofting does not contribute to the lunar dust environment at high altitudes (≫1 km).

The Lunar Breccia Dhofar 1442: Noble Gases, Nitrogen, and Carbon Released by Stepwise Combustion and Crushing

AbstractStepwise crushing and combustion methods were applied to study the KREEP-rich lunar breccia Dhofar 1442, the clastic material of which is cemented by porous matrix. The stepwise crushing released significant amount of gases of extraterrestrial origin from gas voids. Argon, nitrogen, and carbon are simultaneously released by stepwise combustion at 1100°С. The simultaneous high-temperature degassing of these gases, as well as the coincidence of С/N ratio and nitrogen and carbon contents in high-temperature combustion steps with those of crushing indicate that the gas carriers are voids in high-temperature phases (in particular, minerals, glasses), which are decomposed/melted at these temperatures. Helium and neon are released from the same positions at lower temperatures. The isotopic composition of neon obtained by stepwise combustion and crushing corresponds to the composition of fractionated solar wind. The fraction of argon in the first crushing steps is higher than that of any other of studied gases. The 40Ar/36Ar in the trapped lunar argon is ~18, which is not consistent with empirical model implying that 40Аr is implanted from lunar atmosphere (McKay et al., 1986; Eugster et al., 2001; Joy et al., 2011). We believe that the entrapment of volatile elements in gas voids of the meteorite Dhofar 1442 was caused by the redistribution of gases from one structural sites into others during impact events that accompanied the cratering, in particular, leading to the formation of the impact melt breccia Dhofar 1442. The trapped gases of the meteorite Dhofar 1442 contain not only typical volatile components (solar, radiogenic, cosmogenic, re-implanted 40Ar) of lunar breccias, but also nitrogen and carbon formed through the oxidation of organic matter of metamorphosed chondrites, which are present in the breccia. With increasing number of strokes and, correspondingly, a degree of crushing, the elemental ratios change. A slight decrease of 4He/20Ne ratio during crushing is likely related to the different diffusion ability and permeability of helium relative to neon under temperature influence and/or to the heterogeneous distribution of these gases in voids of different size. The 4He/36Ar, 20Ne/36Ar, 14N/36Ar, and 12С/36Ar ratios increase by factors of 10–100 during crushing. This can be explained by the combination of dynamically different processes leading to the argon fractionation relative to other gases and uneven redistribution of gases from different positions in voids of different sizes during impact metamorphism.

The Arid Regolith of the Moon

AbstractIn the original hypothesis of ice in lunar polar cold traps, it was presumed that meteoritic water acquired by the lunar surface would be concentrated in cold traps by exospheric lateral transport. That supposition is proven to be false by the absence of evidence of exospheric water in data obtained by the neutral mass spectrometer on the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft. The upper limit for exospheric water at the lunar surface, ∼3 molecules cm−3, is deficient by several orders of magnitude in accounting for transport of the present influx of meteoritic water to cold traps. The proffered process for removal of meteoritic water from the lunar regolith is solar wind sputter. This LADEE result does not rule out the possibly of past impulsive exospheric events like cometary impacts but does place a rigid constraint on the modern day water cycling.

A Comprehensive Model for Pickup Ion Formation at the Moon

AbstractThe lunar exosphere is an ensemble of multiple overlapping, noninteracting neutral distributions that reflect the primary physical processes acting on the lunar surface. While previous observations have detected and constrained the behavior of some species, many others have only circumstantial evidence or theoretical modeling suggesting their presence. Many species are so tenuous as to be unobservable by direct neutral sampling, yet in comparison, measurements in their ionized form provide a particularly sensitive method of detection. To better aid the interpretation of past measurements and planning of future observations, we present a model for the production of lunar pickup ions from the Moon consisting of two components: An analytic model for the distributions of 18 neutral species produced by various mechanisms and an analytic model for the ionization and subsequent acceleration of 20 exospheric and surface‐sputtered pickup ion species. The dominant lunar pickup ions in the model are , He+, CO+, 40Ar+, Al+, Na+, K+, Si+, Ca+, and O+ with an asymmetric distribution favoring the positive interplanetary electric field hemisphere of the Moon. We compare the model predictions to statistically averaged pickup ion fluxes around the Moon as observed by the ARTEMIS spacecraft over the past decade. By filtering for interplanetary electric field‐aligned, high‐energy observations, we find that the pickup ion model lacks an additional source of heavy species. We suggest that a dense CO2 exosphere of 3 × 104 − 1 × 105 cm−3 could account for the missing pickup ion flux as part of the recycling of solar wind carbon ions incident to the Moon.

Sodium Distribution on the Moon

The Moon is significantly depleted in volatile elements when compared to Earth, an observation that has resulted in various formation scenarios leading to the loss of volatiles. Sodium is a moderately volatile element that is a lithophile, which can be utilized as a tracer of the volatile history in planetary bodies. It is also well observed in the exosphere of several bodies in our solar system and exoplanetary systems. But lunar surface sodium abundances have so far been measured only in samples brought back to Earth. We report on results from the first effort to provide a global-scale measurement of sodium on the lunar surface using X-ray fluorescent spectra from Chandrayaan-2. A global average of 1.33 ± 0.03 wt% derived here is higher than previously known. Trends in the sodium abundance indicate a long-lived adsorbate component that could explain the higher abundances reported here, which would act as a reservoir that sustains the lunar sodium exosphere.

Selenographic and Local Time Dependence of Lunar Exospheric Sodium as Observed by LADEE

Even though sodium (Na) has been known to be a constituent of the lunar exosphere for the past thirty years, limitations introduced by Earth-based observations make it difficult to determine how its distribution varies with local time. We used observations from the Ultraviolet and Visible Spectrometer instrument on board the NASA Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer mission to search for evidence of near-instantaneous dayside variation of exospheric Na across one lunation (2014 February–March). Through comparison with model simulations, the data appear to be consistent with persistent southern enhancements of Na, while no evidence of systematic depletion of the Na exosphere reservoir within two hours of local noon was obtained. The results indicate an enhancement of the gas density over Mare regions and the lunar nearside; though this finding could mean that the weak Na emission is lost in the scattering continuum over brighter soils. Day-to-day variability is observed and may reflect a changing solar wind and meteoroid environment combined with inhomogeneities in the gas–surface interaction parameters and Na distribution on the lunar surface. We found that, due to the limited viewing geometry and sensitivity of the instrument to scattering from the bright lunar surface, it is difficult to uniquely separate the latitudinal and local time variations of Na.