Sub-Micrometer Particles Remote Detection in Enceladus Plume Based on Cassini’s UV Spectrograph Data
Enceladus is the Saturnian satellite known to have water vapor erupting from its south pole region called Tiger Stripes.
Data collected by Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph during Enceladus transiting Saturn allow us to estimate water plume absorption from 1115.35 – 1912.50 Angstrom and compare it to the Mie solutions of Maxwell equations for particles with a diameter in the range from 10 nm up to 2 um.
The best fit performed using Gradient Descent method indicates a presence of submicrometer particles of diameters: 120-180 nm and 240-320 nm consistent with Thermofilum sp., Thermoproteus sp., and Pyrobaculum sp. cell sizes present in hydrothermal vents on Earth.
Best estimation of the scattering mixture components. Black points – exact values representing the amount of scattering particles from 10 nm to 2 µm in diameter. Red line – the same data processed by the Savitzky-Golay filter. The result indicates the presence of particles with a diameter of 120–180 nm, 240–320 nm — astro-ph.EP
Jan Kotlarz, Katarzyna Kubiak, Natalia Zalewska
Comments: 3 figures
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP); Numerical Analysis (math.NA)
Cite as: arXiv:2403.15727 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:2403.15727v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
Submission history
From: Jan Kotlarz
[v1] Sat, 23 Mar 2024 05:29:00 UTC (354 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.15727
Astrobiology, Astrochemistry,
