The InSight Mars lander's meteor search

IF 1.8 4区物理与天体物理 Q3 ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS

Planetary and Space Science Pub Date : 2025-02-16 DOI:10.1016/j.pss.2025.106073

Mark T. Lemmon , Ingrid J. Daubar , Maria E. Banks , Jeremie Vaubaillon , Eleanor K. Sansom , Justin N. Maki

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Meteor surveys on other planets, such as Mars, can be used to constrain the variation in the meteoroid flux away from Earth. Images from the Spirit rover have previously been used for one such survey. We report on the sampling and results of a new survey conducted with InSight lander images. The InSight survey used cameras with wider fields of view and faster optics than the Spirit survey and comprised 9.7 h of cumulative exposure time, compared to 2.7 h for Spirit. No meteors were identified. We determined that while the InSight survey was more sensitive to bright meteors, it was less sensitive to faint meteors due to compression-related issues. Further, we determined that the Spirit survey was substantially less sensitive than previously reported, and neither survey had sufficient sensitivity to test theoretical expectations given expected detections ≪1. We conclude with recommendations for the design of any future surveys.

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在火星等其他行星上进行的流星调查可用于确定远离地球的流星体通量的变化情况。精神号 "漫游车的图像曾被用于此类调查。我们报告了利用 InSight 着陆器图像进行的新调查的取样和结果。与 "精神号 "相比，"好奇号 "勘测使用了视场更广、光学速度更快的相机，累计曝光时间为9.7小时，而 "精神号 "仅为2.7小时。没有发现流星。我们确定，虽然 InSight 勘测对亮流星更敏感，但由于压缩相关问题，它对暗流星的敏感度较低。此外，我们还确定，"精神 "号巡天探测器的灵敏度大大低于之前的报告，而且这两次巡天探测器都没有足够的灵敏度来检验预期探测到的≪1≫的理论预期。最后，我们对未来勘测的设计提出了建议。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Planetary and Space Science 地学天文-天文与天体物理

CiteScore

5.40

自引率

4.20%

发文量

126

审稿时长

15 weeks

期刊介绍： Planetary and Space Science publishes original articles as well as short communications (letters). Ground-based and space-borne instrumentation and laboratory simulation of solar system processes are included. The following fields of planetary and solar system research are covered: • Celestial mechanics, including dynamical evolution of the solar system, gravitational captures and resonances, relativistic effects, tracking and dynamics • Cosmochemistry and origin, including all aspects of the formation and initial physical and chemical evolution of the solar system • Terrestrial planets and satellites, including the physics of the interiors, geology and morphology of the surfaces, tectonics, mineralogy and dating • Outer planets and satellites, including formation and evolution, remote sensing at all wavelengths and in situ measurements • Planetary atmospheres, including formation and evolution, circulation and meteorology, boundary layers, remote sensing and laboratory simulation • Planetary magnetospheres and ionospheres, including origin of magnetic fields, magnetospheric plasma and radiation belts, and their interaction with the sun, the solar wind and satellites • Small bodies, dust and rings, including asteroids, comets and zodiacal light and their interaction with the solar radiation and the solar wind • Exobiology, including origin of life, detection of planetary ecosystems and pre-biological phenomena in the solar system and laboratory simulations • Extrasolar systems, including the detection and/or the detectability of exoplanets and planetary systems, their formation and evolution, the physical and chemical properties of the exoplanets • History of planetary and space research