Shingo Kameda

Telescope of extreme ultraviolet (TEX) onboard SELENE: science from the Moon

The Upper Atmosphere and Plasma Imager (UPI) is to be launched in 2007 and sent to the Moon. From the lunar orbit, two telescopes are to be directed towards the Earth. The Moon has no atmosphere, which results in there being no active emission near the spacecraft; consequently, we will have a high-quality image of the near-Earth environment. As the Moon orbits the Earth once a month, the Earth will also be observed from many different directions. This is called a “science from the Moon”. The two telescopes are mounted on a two-axis gimbal system, the Telescope of Extreme ultraviolet (TEX) and Telescope of Visible light (TVIS). TEX detects the O II (83.4 nm) and He II (30.4 nm) emissions scattered by ionized oxygen and helium, respectively. The targets of extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) imaging are the polar ionosphere, the polar wind, and the plasmasphere and inner magnetosphere. The maximum spatial and time resolutions are 0.09 Re and 1 min, respectively.

First optical observation of the Moon's sodium exosphere from the lunar orbiter SELENE (Kaguya)

The first successful observations of resonant scattering emission from the lunar sodium exosphere were made from the lunar orbiter SELENE (Kaguya) using TVIS instruments during the period 17–19 December, 2008. The emission intensity of the NaD-line decreased by 12±6%, with an average value of 5.4 kR (kilorayleighs) in this period, which was preceded, by 1 day, by enhancement of the solar proton flux associated with a corotating interaction region. The results suggest that solar wind particles foster the diffusion of sodium atoms or ions in the lunar regolith up to the surface and that the time scale of the diffusion is a few tens of hours. The declining activity of the Geminid meteor shower is also one possible explanation for the decreasing sodium exosphere.

Development of an extreme ultraviolet imaging spectrometer for the BepiColombo mission

Abstract Extreme and far ultraviolet imaging spectrometers are proposed for the low-altitude orbiter of the BepiColombo mission. The UV instrument, consisting of the two spectrometers with common electronics, aims at measuring (1) emission lines from molecules, atoms and ions present in the Mercury’s tenuous atmosphere and (2) the reflectance spectrum of Mercury’s surface. The instrument pursues a complete coverage in UV spectroscopy. The extreme UV spectrometer covers the spectral range of 30–150 nm with the field of view of 5.0°, and the spectrum from 130 to 430 nm is obtained by the far UV spectrometer. The extreme UV spectrometer employs multi-layer coating technology to enhance its sensitivity at particular emission lines. This technology enables us to identify small ionospheric signatures such as He II (30.4 nm) and Na II (37.2 nm), which could not be detected with conventional optics.

The Upper Atmosphere and Plasma Imager/the Telescope of Visible Light (UPI/TVIS) onboard the Kaguya spacecraft

The Upper Atmosphere and Plasma Imager (UPI) was placed in a lunar orbit in order to study both the Moon and Earth. The UPI consists of two telescopes: a Telescope of Extreme Ultraviolet (TEX) and a Telescope of Visible Light (TVIS), which are both mounted on a two-axis gimbals system. The TVIS is equipped with fast catadioptric optics and a high-sensitivity CCD to image swift aurora and dark airglow in the terrestrial upper atmosphere. TVIS has a field-of-view equivalent to the Earth’s disk as seen from the Moon. The spatial resolution is about 30 km × 70 km on the Earth’s surface at auroral latitudes. The observation wavelengths can be changed by selecting different bandpass filters. Using the images of the northern and southern auroral ovals taken by TVIS, the intensities and shapes of the conjugate auroras will be quantitatively compared. Using the airglow imaging, medium- and large-scale ionospheric disturbances will be studied. In this paper, the instrumental design and performance of TVIS are presented.

IMAGING OBSERVATIONS of the HYDROGEN COMA of COMET 67P/CHURYUMOV-GERASIMENKO in 2015 SEPTEMBER by the PROCYON/LAICA

The water production rate of a comet is one of the fundamental parameters necessary to understand cometary activity when a comet approaches the Sun within 2.5 au, because water is the most abundant icy material in the cometary nucleus. Wide-field imaging observations of the hydrogen Lyα emission in comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko were performed by the Lyman Alpha Imaging Camera (LAICA) on board the 50 kg class micro spacecraft, the Proximate Object Close Flyby with Optical Navigation (PROCYON), on UT 2015 September 7.40, 12.37, and 13.17 (corresponding to 25.31, 30.28, and 31.08 days after the perihelion passage of the comet, respectively). We derive the water production rates, , of the comet from Lyα images of the comet by using a 2D axi-symmetric Direct Simulation Monte-Carlo model of the atomic hydrogen coma; (1.46 ± 0.47) × 1028, (1.24 ± 0.40) × 1028, and (1.30 ± 0.42) × 1028 molecules s−1 on 7.40, 12.37, and 13.17 September, respectively. These values are comparable to the values from in situ measurements by the Rosetta instruments in the 2015 apparition and the ground-based and space observations during the past apparitions. The comet did not show significant secular change in average water production rates just after the perihelion passage for the apparitions from 1982 to 2015. We emphasize that the measurements of absolute based on the wide field of view (e.g., by the LAICA/PROCYON) are so important to judge the soundness of the coma models used to infer based on in situ measurements by spacecraft, like the Rosetta.

Ecliptic North‐South Symmetry of Hydrogen Geocorona

The hydrogen exosphere constitutes the uppermost atmospheric layer of the Earth, and its shape may reflect the last stage of the atmospheric escape process. The distribution of hydrogen in the outer exosphere remains unobserved because outer geocoronal emissions are difficult to observe from within the exosphere. In this study, we used the Lyman Alpha Imaging Camera (LAICA) onboard the Proximate Object Close Flyby with Optical Navigation (PROCYON) spacecraft, located outside the exosphere, to obtain the first image of the entire geocorona that extends to more than 38 Earth radii. The observed emission intensity distribution can be reproduced using our analytical model that has three parameters: exobase temperature, exobase density, and solar radiation pressure, which implies that hot hydrogen production in the magnetized plasmasphere is not the dominant process shaping the outer hydrogen exosphere. However, the role of the magnetic effect in determining the total escape flux cannot be ruled out

Overview of Akatsuki data products: definition of data levels, method and accuracy of geometric correction

We provide an overview of data products from observations by the Japanese Venus Climate Orbiter, Akatsuki, and describe the definition and content of each data-processing level. Levels 1 and 2 consist of non-calibrated and calibrated radiance (or brightness temperature), respectively, as well as geometry information (e.g., illumination angles). Level 3 data are global-grid data in the regular longitude–latitude coordinate system, produced from the contents of Level 2. Non-negligible errors in navigational data and instrumental alignment can result in serious errors in the geometry calculations. Such errors cause mismapping of the data and lead to inconsistencies between radiances and illumination angles, along with errors in cloud-motion vectors. Thus, we carefully correct the boresight pointing of each camera by fitting an ellipse to the observed Venusian limb to provide improved longitude–latitude maps for Level 3 products, if possible. The accuracy of the pointing correction is also estimated statistically by simulating observed limb distributions. The results show that our algorithm successfully corrects instrumental pointing and will enable a variety of studies on the Venusian atmosphere using Akatsuki data.

Quantitative Potassium Measurements with Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Using Low-Energy Lasers: Application to In Situ K–Ar Geochronology for Planetary Exploration:

In situ radiogenic isotope measurements to obtain the absolute age of geologic events on planets are of great scientific value. In particular, K–Ar isochrons are useful because of their relatively high technical readiness and high accuracy. Because this isochron method involves spot-by-spot K measurements using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and simultaneous Ar measurements with mass spectrometry, LIBS measurements are conducted under a high vacuum condition in which emission intensity decreases significantly. Furthermore, using a laser power used in previous planetary missions is preferable to examine the technical feasibility of this approach. However, there have been few LIBS measurements for K under such conditions. In this study, we measured K contents in rock samples using 30 mJ and 15 mJ energy lasers under a vacuum condition (10–3 Pa) to assess the feasibility of in situ K–Ar dating with lasers comparable to those used in NASA’s Curiosity and Mars 2020 missions. We obtained various calibration curves for K using internal normalization with the oxygen line at 777 nm and continuum emission from the laser-induced plasma. Experimental results indicate that when K2O < 1.1 wt%, a calibration curve using the intensity of the K emission line at 769 nm normalized with that of the oxygen line yields the best results for the 30 mJ laser energy, with a detection limit of 88 ppm and 20% of error at 2400 ppm of K2O. Futhermore, the calibration curve based on the K 769 nm line intensity normalized with continuum emission yielded the best result for the 15 mJ laser, giving a detection limit of 140 ppm and 20% error at 3400 ppm K2O. Error assessments using obtained calibration models indicate that a 4 Ga rock with 3000 ppm K2O would be measured with 8% (30 mJ) and 10% (15 mJ) of precision in age when combined with mass spectrometry of 40Ar with 10% of uncertainty. These results strongly suggest that high precision in situ isochron K–Ar dating is feasible with a laser used in previous and upcoming Mars rover missions.

Development of an extreme-ultraviolet imaging spectrometer for the Mercury mission

Extreme and far ultraviolet imaging spectrometers will be boarded on the low-altitude satellite of the upcoming mercury msision (the BepiColombo mission) conducted by ISAS and ESA. The UV instrument, consisting of the two spectrometers with common electronics, aims at measuring, (1) emission lines from molecules, atoms and ions present in the Mercurys tenuous atmosphere, and (2) the reflectance spectrum of Mercurys surface. The instrument pursues a complete coverage in UV spectroscopy. The extreme UV spectrometer covers the spectral range of 30-150 nm with the field of view of 5.0 degree, and the spectrum from 130 nm to 430 nm is obtained by the far UV spectrometer. The extreme UV spectrometer employs a Mo/Si multi-layer coating to enhance its sensitivity at particular emission lines. This technology enables us to identify small ionospheric signals such as He II (30.4nm) and Na II (37.2nm), which the previous mission could not identify.