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Raponi A, De Sanctis MC, Giacomo Carrozzo F, Ciarniello M, Rousseau B, Ferrari M, Ammannito E, De Angelis S, Vinogradoff V, Castillo-Rogez JC, Tosi F, Frigeri A, Formisano M, Zambon F, Raymond CA, Russell CT. Organic Material on Ceres: Insights from Visible and Infrared Space Observations. Life (Basel) 2020; 11:life11010009. [PMID: 33374247 PMCID: PMC7823631 DOI: 10.3390/life11010009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2020] [Revised: 12/08/2020] [Accepted: 12/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The NASA/Dawn mission has acquired unprecedented measurements of the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres, the composition of which is a mixture of ultra-carbonaceous material, phyllosilicates, carbonates, organics, Fe-oxides, and volatiles as determined by remote sensing instruments including the VIR imaging spectrometer. We performed a refined analysis merging visible and infrared observations of Ceres’ surface for the first time. The overall shape of the combined spectrum suggests another type of silicate not previously considered, and we confirmed a large abundance of carbon material. More importantly, by analyzing the local spectra of the organic-rich region of the Ernutet crater, we identified a reddening in the visible range, strongly correlated to the aliphatic signature at 3.4 µm. Similar reddening was found in the bright material making up Cerealia Facula in the Occator crater. This implies that organic material might be present in the source of the faculae, where brines and organics are mixed in an environment that may be favorable for prebiotic chemistry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Raponi
- Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica–Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, 00133 Rome, Italy; (M.C.D.S.); (F.G.C.); (M.C.); (B.R.); (M.F.); (S.D.A.); (F.T.); (A.F.); (M.F.); (F.Z.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Maria Cristina De Sanctis
- Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica–Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, 00133 Rome, Italy; (M.C.D.S.); (F.G.C.); (M.C.); (B.R.); (M.F.); (S.D.A.); (F.T.); (A.F.); (M.F.); (F.Z.)
| | - Filippo Giacomo Carrozzo
- Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica–Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, 00133 Rome, Italy; (M.C.D.S.); (F.G.C.); (M.C.); (B.R.); (M.F.); (S.D.A.); (F.T.); (A.F.); (M.F.); (F.Z.)
| | - Mauro Ciarniello
- Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica–Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, 00133 Rome, Italy; (M.C.D.S.); (F.G.C.); (M.C.); (B.R.); (M.F.); (S.D.A.); (F.T.); (A.F.); (M.F.); (F.Z.)
| | - Batiste Rousseau
- Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica–Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, 00133 Rome, Italy; (M.C.D.S.); (F.G.C.); (M.C.); (B.R.); (M.F.); (S.D.A.); (F.T.); (A.F.); (M.F.); (F.Z.)
| | - Marco Ferrari
- Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica–Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, 00133 Rome, Italy; (M.C.D.S.); (F.G.C.); (M.C.); (B.R.); (M.F.); (S.D.A.); (F.T.); (A.F.); (M.F.); (F.Z.)
| | | | - Simone De Angelis
- Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica–Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, 00133 Rome, Italy; (M.C.D.S.); (F.G.C.); (M.C.); (B.R.); (M.F.); (S.D.A.); (F.T.); (A.F.); (M.F.); (F.Z.)
| | - Vassilissa Vinogradoff
- Physique des Interactions Ioniques et Moléculaires, PIIM, Université d’Aix-Marseille, 13013 Marseille, France;
| | - Julie C. Castillo-Rogez
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA; (J.C.C.-R.); (C.A.R.)
| | - Federico Tosi
- Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica–Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, 00133 Rome, Italy; (M.C.D.S.); (F.G.C.); (M.C.); (B.R.); (M.F.); (S.D.A.); (F.T.); (A.F.); (M.F.); (F.Z.)
| | - Alessandro Frigeri
- Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica–Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, 00133 Rome, Italy; (M.C.D.S.); (F.G.C.); (M.C.); (B.R.); (M.F.); (S.D.A.); (F.T.); (A.F.); (M.F.); (F.Z.)
| | - Michelangelo Formisano
- Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica–Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, 00133 Rome, Italy; (M.C.D.S.); (F.G.C.); (M.C.); (B.R.); (M.F.); (S.D.A.); (F.T.); (A.F.); (M.F.); (F.Z.)
| | - Francesca Zambon
- Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica–Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, 00133 Rome, Italy; (M.C.D.S.); (F.G.C.); (M.C.); (B.R.); (M.F.); (S.D.A.); (F.T.); (A.F.); (M.F.); (F.Z.)
| | - Carol A. Raymond
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA; (J.C.C.-R.); (C.A.R.)
| | - Christopher T. Russell
- Earth Planetary and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA;
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Rousseau B, De Sanctis MC, Raponi A, Ciarniello M, Ammannito E, Scarica P, Fonte S, Frigeri A, Carrozzo FG, Tosi F. Correction of the VIR-visible dataset from the Dawn mission at Vesta. THE REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS 2020; 91:123102. [PMID: 33379964 DOI: 10.1063/5.0022902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2020] [Accepted: 11/15/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
This work describes the correction method applied to the dataset acquired at the asteroid (4) Vesta by the visible channel of the visible and infrared mapping spectrometer. The rising detector temperature during data acquisitions in the visible wavelengths leads to a spectral slope increase over the whole spectral range. This limits the accuracy of the studies of the Vesta surface in this wavelength range. Here, we detail an empirical method to correct for the visible detector temperature dependency while taking into account the specificity of the Vesta dataset.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Rousseau
- IAPS-INAF, Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - M C De Sanctis
- IAPS-INAF, Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - A Raponi
- IAPS-INAF, Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - M Ciarniello
- IAPS-INAF, Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - E Ammannito
- Italian Space Agency (ASI), Via del Politecnico, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - P Scarica
- IAPS-INAF, Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - S Fonte
- IAPS-INAF, Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - A Frigeri
- IAPS-INAF, Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - F G Carrozzo
- IAPS-INAF, Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - F Tosi
- IAPS-INAF, Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Rome, Italy
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