IcarusPub Date : 2025-06-06DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116699
Barbara Giuri , Carolyn H. van der Bogert , Harald Hiesinger
{"title":"How old are hermean smooth plains? A detailed study","authors":"Barbara Giuri , Carolyn H. van der Bogert , Harald Hiesinger","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116699","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116699","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Early surface observations of Mercury by the Mariner 10 spacecraft revealed a heavily cratered surface similar to that of the Moon. Today, the high-resolution images acquired by MESSENGER spacecraft during 2008–2015, greatly enhanced our understanding of the stratigraphy, geology, and volcanic history of the innermost planet. In this study, we investigate the global distribution, origin(s), and age(s) of smooth plains (SPs) deposits on Mercury. Despite numerous studies indicating that SPs were of presumably volcanic origin, the origin of other, smaller-scale deposits remain unclear. This work examines (1) the full extent of smooth materials, regardless of their origin, by generating a new detailed global map of SPs, (2) the absolute model ages (AMAs) of 65 SP units across the mid-latitudes to test their volcanic origin, and (3) the origin(s) and age(s) of other, smaller-scale plains materials. Here, we present the first step of this global study. We find that 33.5 % of the surface of Mercury is covered by smooth plains deposits emplaced within ~100–200 My, between ~3.6 and ~3.8 Ga. This geologically short period of time for the emplacement of all SPs units across the surface of Mercury is best explained by volcanism, thus our work further supports a volcanic origin for most large-scale SPs deposits. The origin of smaller-scale SPs units and of plains materials within crater floors remains uncertain. The model ages for 10 basins and 6 crater fillings show (a) basins dating within the Mansurian-Calorian period, after the emplacement of the extensive SPs, and (b) other units with diverse origins. Three of the six crater fillings have an impact-related origin, one is likely volcanic in origin, and two plains materials are unusually old leaving their origin(s) and age(s) an open question. In the next steps, we aim to evaluate the ages of more of these plains materials distributed across the hermean surface to decipher their potential origin(s) for a complete depiction of SPs on Mercury. To assist in identifying compositionally distinct units, data from BepiColombo mission will prove to be of upmost importance in improving our understanding of the origin of all SPs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"441 ","pages":"Article 116699"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144298019","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IcarusPub Date : 2025-06-06DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116692
Yiming Diao , Honglei Lin , Juan Li , Shouding Li , Changyi Xu , Zhaobin Zhang , Zongyu Yue , Bo Zheng , Xiukuo Sun , Tao Xu , Xinshuo Chen , Yanfang Wu , Xiao Li
{"title":"UPRS-1: A regolith simulant of Utopia Planitia, Mars","authors":"Yiming Diao , Honglei Lin , Juan Li , Shouding Li , Changyi Xu , Zhaobin Zhang , Zongyu Yue , Bo Zheng , Xiukuo Sun , Tao Xu , Xinshuo Chen , Yanfang Wu , Xiao Li","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116692","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116692","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding the composition and properties of Martian soils is crucial for scientific research and engineering tests for payloads and landers, which is why simulants are utilized in diverse applications in the absence of Martian samples returned to Earth. Existing simulants are predominantly based on the global Martian surface materials and some regions in the southern highlands of Mars, neglecting the northern lowlands such as Utopia Planitia. The Zhurong rover of the Chinese Tianwen-1 mission explored Utopia Planitia, collecting extensive physical and chemical data from surface materials and facilitating the development of a new Mars simulant representing the northern lowlands. Thus, we developed Utopia Planitia Regolith Simulant-1 (UPRS-1) to replicate the soil properties of Utopia Planitia and proposed a quantitative evaluation to assess the high similarity of UPRS-1. The overall similarity parameter of UPRS-1 is 86.1 % via quantitative evaluation. Additionally, its composition is adaptable to specific research requirements, enabling its application in diverse fields, including geotechnical experiments, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) technology, ground tests for exploration missions, and astrobiology.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"441 ","pages":"Article 116692"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144306288","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IcarusPub Date : 2025-06-04DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116689
Colin M. Dundas , Michael T. Mellon , Aditya R. Khuller , Vidhya Ganesh Rangarajan
{"title":"Widespread pseudo-perennial water ice patches at high northern latitudes on Mars","authors":"Colin M. Dundas , Michael T. Mellon , Aditya R. Khuller , Vidhya Ganesh Rangarajan","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116689","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116689","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The distribution and stability state of Martian water ice deposits are of great interest for understanding recent climate history. Perennial surface ice deposits are rare, but in many regions ice occurs in the subsurface. We observe that summertime meter-scale bright patches are widespread on the plains around the North Polar Layered Deposits. These patches can persist long after disappearance of most seasonal frost but are variable both spatially and year-to-year. These are interpreted as persistent water frost under conditions very near those for perennial surface ice stability. Near this stability point, summer sublimation amounts should be very sensitive to small differences in albedo and thermal inertia, allowing significant variation in the survival time of the patches. Conditions favorable for such pseudo-perennial surface ice are also favorable for current or recent subsurface accumulation. This suggests that the north polar region may be a depositional sink for unstable ice inferred to be receding elsewhere on the planet.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"441 ","pages":"Article 116689"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144339013","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Identification of H2O ice at lunar south polar region based on deep learning","authors":"Tianwei Wang, Jian Chen, Changqing Liu, Ziyuan Wang, Haijun Cao, Zongcheng Ling","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116682","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116682","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The presence of frozen volatiles (especially H<sub>2</sub>O ice) has been proposed in the permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) near the poles of the Moon, based on various remote measurements including the visible and near-infrared (VNIR) spectroscopy. Compared with the middle- and low-latitude areas, the VNIR spectral signals in the PSRs are noisy due to poor solar illumination. Coupled with the lunar regolith coverage and mixing effects, the available VNIR spectral characteristics for the identification of H<sub>2</sub>O ice in the PSRs are limited. Deep learning models, as emerging techniques in lunar exploration, are able to learn spectral features and patterns, and discover complex spectral patterns and nonlinear relationships from large datasets, enabling them applicable on lunar hyperspectral remote sensing data and H<sub>2</sub>O-ice identification task. Here we present H<sub>2</sub>O ice identification results by a deep learning-based model named one-dimensional convolutional autoencoder. During the model application, there are intrinsic differences between the remote sensing spectra obtained by the orbital spectrometers and the laboratory spectra acquired by state-of-the-art instruments. To address the challenges of limited training data and the difficulty of matching laboratory and remote sensing spectra, we introduce self-supervised learning method to achieve pixel-level identification and mapping of H<sub>2</sub>O ice in the lunar south polar region. Our model is applied to the level 2 reflectance data of Moon Mineralogy Mapper. The spectra of the identified H<sub>2</sub>O ice-bearing pixels were extracted to perform dual validation using spectral angle mapping and peak clustering methods, further confirming the identification of most pixels containing H<sub>2</sub>O ice. The spectral characteristics of H<sub>2</sub>O ice in the lunar south polar region related to the crystal structure, grain size, and mixing effect of H<sub>2</sub>O ice are also discussed. H<sub>2</sub>O ice in the lunar south polar region tends to exist in the form of smaller particles (∼70 μm in size), while the weak/absent 2-μm absorption indicate the existence of unusually large particles. Crystalline ice is the main phase responsible for the identified spectra of ice-bearing surface however the possibility of amorphous H2O ice beneath optically sensed depth cannot be ruled out.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"441 ","pages":"Article 116682"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144271415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IcarusPub Date : 2025-06-02DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116672
J. Walmsley , F. Fueten , R. Stesky , E. Hauber , A.P. Rossi
{"title":"Timing of smooth-topped chaotic terrain formation in southern Circum-Chryse, Mars","authors":"J. Walmsley , F. Fueten , R. Stesky , E. Hauber , A.P. Rossi","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116672","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116672","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The presence of large outflow channels on Mars underscores the planet's dynamic hydrologic history. Chaotic terrain has been identified as the source regions for the floodwaters responsible for carving these channels, however they remain enigmatic due to unresolved questions regarding the mechanisms of water expulsion and the evolution of terrain deformation. Utilizing the latest CTX, HRSC, and MOLA datasets alongside Digital Elevation Models (DEM) and Triangulated Irregular Networks (TIN), we examined smooth-topped chaotic terrain including Hydraotes Chaos, a crater pair in Hydaspis Chaos, Baetis Chaos, and Candor Chaos, all located south of Chryse Planitia. Our findings indicate that the collapse of these chaotic terrain is predominantly controlled by local processes rather than by regional influences. Furthermore, the evidence supports the conclusion that the largest chaotic terrain can proceed by multiple mechanisms and is not solely reliant on heat sources such as crustal heating or local volcanism and that their formation spanned from the Middle Noachian to the Late Hesperian/Early Amazonian. These results refine our understanding of Martian surface processes by emphasizing the significance of localized geological conditions in chaotic terrain evolution.</div></div><div><h3>Plain English Abstract</h3><div>Large areas of broken up ‘chaotic terrain’ are thought to be the source regions for some of the floodwaters responsible for carving large channels on the surface of Mars. In this study we use orbital images to create 3D models of the surface of 4 chaotic terrain locations in and around Valles Marineris, Mars. Our findings suggest that the chaotic terrain are formed by local mechanisms, rather than being controlled by regional-scale tectonics. In addition, the largest chaotic areas did not need extra heat from external sources to trigger their collapse, and they formed over a much longer time span than previously thought. This work helps clarify how local conditions influenced the evolution of Mars' surface.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"441 ","pages":"Article 116672"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144240784","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IcarusPub Date : 2025-06-02DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116650
Niels Rubbrecht , Stéphanie Cazaux , Benoît Seignovert , Matthew Kenworthy , Nicholas Kutsop , Stéphane Le Mouélic , Jérôme Loicq
{"title":"Peculiar rainbows in Saturn’s E ring: Uncovering luminous bands near Enceladus","authors":"Niels Rubbrecht , Stéphanie Cazaux , Benoît Seignovert , Matthew Kenworthy , Nicholas Kutsop , Stéphane Le Mouélic , Jérôme Loicq","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116650","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116650","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We report observations of stripe-like features in Enceladus’ plumes captured simultaneously by Cassini’s VIMS-IR and ISS NAC instruments during flyby E17, with similar patterns seen in VIMS-IR data from flyby E13 and E19. These parallel stripes, inclined at approximately 16°to the ecliptic and 43°to Saturn’s ring plane, appear continuous across images when projected in the J2000 frame. A bright stripe, most visible at wavelengths around <span><math><mrow><mn>5</mn><mspace></mspace><mi>μ</mi><mi>m</mi></mrow></math></span>, acts as the zeroth-order diffraction peak of a reflection grating with an estimated groove spacing of 0.12–2.60 mm, while adjacent stripes are attributed to higher-order diffraction peaks. We suggest that this light-dispersing phenomenon originates from an inclined periodic structure within Saturn’s E ring. This structure, constrained between Saturn’s G ring and Rhea’s orbit, likely consists of fresh ice particles supplied by Enceladus’ plumes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"441 ","pages":"Article 116650"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144220997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IcarusPub Date : 2025-05-31DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116671
Aditya R. Khuller , Al Emran
{"title":"Quantitative evaluation of the delta-Eddington, Hapke, and Shkuratov models for predicting the albedo and inferring the grain radius of ice","authors":"Aditya R. Khuller , Al Emran","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116671","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116671","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Determining the physical properties of ices across the solar system is essential for understanding the surface dynamics, volatile transport, and climate evolution on ice-covered planetary bodies. Here, we use well-constrained measurements of snow that has metamorphosed into coarse-grained firn and bubbly glacier ice in East Antarctica to test three commonly-used radiative transfer models: delta-Eddington, Hapke, and Shkuratov. Using the measured optical properties, we find that the delta-Eddington model generally shows the least deviation from the measured albedo, followed by the Shkuratov and Hapke models, respectively. But when the models are used to infer the grain radius using the measured albedo, the Shkuratov model provides closer best-fit grain radii (off by average factor 0.9) than delta-Eddington (0.6), and Hapke (1.8). Despite this, the spectral albedos estimated by the Shkuratov and Hapke models using their respective best-fit grain radii deviate more from the measurements than delta-Eddington. This result is caused by the Hapke and Shkuratov models not accounting for: (1) the increased absorption within dense ice, and (2) specular reflection at the surface of firn and ice. Additionally, all three models do not account for the nonsphericity of bubbles within ice. The combination of these factors leads to model errors generally increasing with increasing grain radius. Based on our quantitative comparison, we recommend using the delta-Eddington model for predicting the albedo and inferring the grain radius of ices across the solar system because it generally produces the least error while using realistic physical parameters.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"441 ","pages":"Article 116671"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144203981","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IcarusPub Date : 2025-05-31DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116673
Javier Eduardo Suárez-Valencia , Angelo Pio Rossi , Monica Pondrelli , Lucia Marinangeli , Vikram Unnithan
{"title":"Geological analysis of the dome field in western Utopia Planitia, on Mars","authors":"Javier Eduardo Suárez-Valencia , Angelo Pio Rossi , Monica Pondrelli , Lucia Marinangeli , Vikram Unnithan","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116673","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116673","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Hundreds of domes are scattered over a plain composed of different geological units in the western margin of Utopia Planitia, near the northern martian dichotomy. These structures have traditionally been considered of igneous origin. In this work, we utilized recent data to study the geomorphological and compositional properties of this dome field. We found that the domes originated from an intrusive-to-extrusive system, since they range from cryptodomes to volcanic domes. Each dome appears to represent a single magmatic event, indicating they formed in a monogenetic regime. Two main groups of domes were identified according to their shapes and stratigraphic relationships with the floor units, which represent two different stages of igneous activity. It was established from a linear analysis that the domes are preferentially aligned following a NW-SE trend, which is consistent with the regional faults and fractures. The domes field in Utopia Planitia was likely created by two monogenetic magmatic events at different ages, which took advantage of the tectonic configuration of the area to be emplaced. Some magmas were able to reach the surface creating extrusive structures, while the majority crystalized near the surface creating intrusive ones. Of the last group, the majority were uncovered by tectonic or erosive processes, while a small number of them remained trapped underground as cryptodomes. This sequence of events would explain the large distribution of the domes, as well as the wide variety of morphologies that we observe today.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"441 ","pages":"Article 116673"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144203982","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IcarusPub Date : 2025-05-31DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116674
Frédéric Foucher , Mickael Baqué , Aurélien Canizarès , Rebecca Martellotti , Jean-Pierre P. de Vera , Thierry Sauvage , Paul Sigot , Olivier Wendling , Aurélien Bellamy , William Hate , Frances Westall
{"title":"Degradation of beta-carotene under mineral thin sections during proton irradiation monitored in situ by Raman spectroscopy","authors":"Frédéric Foucher , Mickael Baqué , Aurélien Canizarès , Rebecca Martellotti , Jean-Pierre P. de Vera , Thierry Sauvage , Paul Sigot , Olivier Wendling , Aurélien Bellamy , William Hate , Frances Westall","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116674","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116674","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>More than 3.5 billion years ago, the surface of Mars experienced habitable conditions compatible with the emergence and development of primitive microbial life. Consequently, in the absence of plate tectonics, ancient biosignatures dating back several billion years could still be present at the surface of the red planet. Nevertheless, Mars has been continuously exposed to UV radiation and solar and galactic cosmic rays, which may have degraded these putative biosignatures at the surface over time. The European Space Agency's ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission, expected to land on Mars in 2030, is thus equipped with a drill to collect samples up to 2 m deep to increase the chances of detecting well preserved molecules.</div><div>Here, based on previous models, we first estimate the dose delivered in the first meters of Mars regolith over geological time. We then describe experiments in which beta-carotene (a pigment commonly used by microorganisms) was irradiated using a 2.8 MeV proton beam and its degradation with increasing dose studied by Raman spectroscopy, using a unique device allowing in situ measurements to be carried out within the irradiation chamber. Specific sample preparation, consisting of placing a thin mineral layer on top of the pigment, was also developed to take into account the dose distribution profile within the sample. Finally, based on the dose estimated for Mars, we correlate the change in the Raman signal-to-noise ratio of beta-carotene to an equivalent depth and time on Mars.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"441 ","pages":"Article 116674"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144240785","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IcarusPub Date : 2025-05-30DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116646
Marcin Wesołowski , Zuzanna Bober , Łukasz Ożóg , Adrian Truszkiewicz , Maria Gritsevich , Mariusz Bester , Grzegorz Wisz
{"title":"Is it possible to create a realistic structure of a cometary nucleus analog in the laboratory?","authors":"Marcin Wesołowski , Zuzanna Bober , Łukasz Ożóg , Adrian Truszkiewicz , Maria Gritsevich , Mariusz Bester , Grzegorz Wisz","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116646","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116646","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Planetary analogs play a key role in the study of celestial bodies by providing controlled environments to study processes, properties, and phenomena occurring on their surfaces and interiors. For comets, analogs are constructed using porous dust-ice agglomerates to replicate the primary components of cometary material, enabling investigations into sublimation veins, cavity formation, and the behavior of gas and dust under varying conditions. Laboratory research was divided into two parts. In the first part, a laboratory system was used to conduct research under high vacuum conditions. This system consists of a vacuum chamber and a rotary and turbomolecular pump. This system allowed for determining the value of the external pressure in the chamber at which the destruction of the tested sample of the cometary nucleus analog was observed. The second part presents the results of imaging a scaled-down cometary nucleus analog using computed tomography (CT) to examine its internal structure. The CT scanning process generated a three-dimensional representation of the analog, with a two-dimensional map of the X-ray attenuation coefficient distribution. Multiple attenuation measurements, processed through reconstruction algorithms, resulted in 248 virtual cross-sections, each 1.25 mm thick. The use of computed tomography also allows for the analysis of morphological changes in the structure of the cometary nucleus analog as a function of time. Analysis of these virtual cross-sections revealed cavities where sublimating gas accumulated and veins sublimation, reflecting the complex heterogeneity observed in real cometary nucleus. By measuring the volume fractions of the individual components of the analog, its density was calculated, which is comparable to the density of real comets. These findings highlight the value of laboratory based cometary analogs in improving the understanding of the physical processes driving cometary activity and evolution.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13199,"journal":{"name":"Icarus","volume":"441 ","pages":"Article 116646"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144184752","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}