• Title of article

    Seasonal variations in Mercury’s dayside calcium exosphere

  • Author/Authors

    Burger، نويسنده , , Matthew H. and Killen، نويسنده , , Rosemary M. and McClintock، نويسنده , , William E. and Merkel، نويسنده , , Aimee W. and Vervack Jr.، نويسنده , , Ronald J. and Cassidy، نويسنده , , Timothy A. and Sarantos، نويسنده , , Menelaos، نويسنده ,

  • Issue Information
    روزنامه با شماره پیاپی سال 2014
  • Pages
    8
  • From page
    51
  • To page
    58
  • Abstract
    The Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer on the MESSENGER spacecraft has observed calcium emission in Mercury’s exosphere on a near-daily basis since March 2011. During MESSENGER’s primary and first extended missions (March 2011 – March 2013) the dayside calcium exosphere was measured over eight Mercury years. We have simulated these data with a Monte Carlo model of exospheric source processes to show that (a) there is a persistent source of energetic calcium located in the dawn equatorial region, (b) there is a seasonal dependence in the calcium source rate, and (c) there are no obvious year-to-year variations in the near-surface dayside calcium exosphere.
  • Keywords
    mercury , Atmospheres , Spectroscopy , Structure , Atmosphere , mercury
  • Journal title
    Icarus
  • Serial Year
    2014
  • Journal title
    Icarus
  • Record number

    2380424