Synergy in Planetary Science From the Ground Up
Abstract
During the past 60 years, we have witnessed humankind's first good, detailed look at the planets in our Solar System. Before then, planetary science research was limited to naked eye or ground-based telescopic observations. The Mariner and Luna space probes opened the terrestrial planets to us; Voyager provided our first set of eyes on the outer giant planets. Ground-based telescopic technology caught up with the size and extent of the Solar System, and we discovered the Kuiper Belt: now New Horizons has imaged one. These advances built upon Earth-based telescopic observations. We have first-order evidence that reflectance spectra confirm the surface mineralogy of the Moon following the return of the Apollo and Luna samples. We anticipate surface conditions on other Solar System bodies to set the stage before spacecraft reach them for in situ study. Mercury, for example, was not predicted from ground-based observations to have spectrally detectable FeO in its surface, later confirmed by MESSENGER. All of these inform the interpretation of Earth-based data: for example, we study how space weathering effects on returned lunar and asteroid surface materials affect remote sensing data. There are at least 796,487 known asteroids (7/31/19). Selected due to ground-based telescopic data, we will have sampled 3 and studied ~14 in situ. Our technological advances, coupled with samples returned, allow us to refine our remote sensing techniques to study this vast asteroid reservoir more accurately and more completely - a feat we will not accomplish with individual visits. As an example, water is arguably the most important resource we seek in other planetary bodies. We can probe the vast number of low-albedo asteroids for water by searching for the phyllosilicate spectral absorption feature centered near 0.7 µm in the asteroid's reflectance. We now know that planets around other stars are the norm in our galaxy. And, the first image of a planetary system around another star, β Pictoris, was enabled using a coronagraph with CCD in 1984. Today, the combination of advanced coronagraphic instrumentation with ground- and space-based telescopes allows detailed study of extrasolar planetary systems. The next 50 years of planetary exploration promise to yield amazing results from both (intertwined) ground-based and space-based study.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFM.P13D..01V
- Keywords:
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- 5460 Physical properties of materials;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLID SURFACE PLANETS;
- 5464 Remote sensing;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLID SURFACE PLANETS;
- 5470 Surface materials and properties;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLID SURFACE PLANETS;
- 5494 Instruments and techniques;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLID SURFACE PLANETS