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| Titel |
Determining Io's Lava Eruption Temperature: Strategies for a New Mission to the Most Dynamic Satellite in the Solar System |
| VerfasserIn |
Ashley Davies, Laszlo Keszthelyi, Alfred McEwen |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2010
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 12 (2010) |
| Datensatznummer |
250036548
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Spacecraft observations of lava fountains [1, 2] and skylights (holes in the roof of a lava tube)
[2, 3] offer the best opportunities for determining eruption temperature of Io’s dominant
lavas, probably the most important unanswered science question in the wake of the Galileo
mission. Determining if Io’s lavas are predominantly mafic (1850
K) immediately applies strong constraints to composition and state of Io’s mantle [1]. To
answer this question we have evaluated the best observations to be made from an Io-dedicated
mission, such as the proposed Discovery-class Io Volcano Observer (IVO) [4] or a
mission including a close Io flyby, as well as what is required to determine eruption
mode using the most efficient selection of imager wavelengths [2]. Episodes of lava
fountaining during fissure eruptions are the cause of large thermal outbursts from Io. The
magnitude of the thermal emission means that this mode of eruption has the advantage
of being easily detectable from great distances, allowing identification during Io
monitoring phases of spacecraft missions. Variability in fountain activity and the need
to isolate fountain thermal emission from that of associated lava flows requires
detailed modelling of clast cooling and the integrated fountain and flow thermal
emission. Also required is the almost contemporaneous ( |
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