Solar System Research 

About: Solar System Research is an academic journal published by Russian Academy of Sciences. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Asteroid & Planet. It has an ISSN identifier of 0038-0946. Over the lifetime, 1555 publications have been published receiving 10192 citations.

High-Precision Ephemerides of Planets—EPM and Determination of Some Astronomical Constants

Abstract: The latest version of the planetary part of the numerical ephemerides EPM (Ephemerides of Planets and the Moon) developed at the Institute of Applied Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences is presented. The ephemerides of planets and the Moon were constructed by numerical integration in the post-Newtonian metric over a 140-year interval (from 1880 to 2020). The dynamical model of EPM2004 ephemerides includes the mutual perturbations from major planets and the Moon computed in terms of General Relativity with allowance for effects due to lunar physical libration, perturbations from 301 big asteroids, and dynamic perturbations due to the solar oblateness and the massive asteroid ring with uniform mass distribution in the plane of the ecliptic. The EPM2004 ephemerides resulted from a least-squares adjustment to more than 317000 position observations (1913–2003) of various types, including radiometric measurements of planets and spacecraft, CCD astrometric observations of the outer planets and their satellites, and meridian and photographic observations. The high-precision ephemerides constructed made it possible to determine, from modern radiometric measurements, a wide range of astrometric constants, including the astronomical unit AU = (149597870.6960 ± 0.0001) km, parameters of the rotation of Mars, the masses of the biggest asteroids, the solar quadrupole moment J 2 = (1.9 ± 0.3) × 10−7, and the parameters of the PPN formalism β and γ. Also given is a brief summary of the available state-of-the-art ephemerides with the same precision: various versions of EPM and DE ephemerides from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) (USA) and the recent versions of these ephemerides—EPM2004 and DE410—are compared. EPM2004 ephemerides are available via FTP at ftp://qua-sar.ipa.nw.ru/incoming/EPM2004.

Numerical Modeling of the Largest Terrestrial Meteorite Craters

Abstract: Multi-ring impact basins have been found on the surfaces of almost all planetary bodies in the Solar system with solid crusts. The details of their formation mechanism are still unclear. We present results of our numerical modeling of the formation of the largest known terrestrial impact craters. The geological and geophysical data on these structures accumulated over many decades are used to place constraints on the parameters of available numerical models with a dual purpose: (i) to choose parameters in available mechanical models for the crustal response of planetary bodies to a large impact and (ii) to use numerical modeling to refine the possible range of original diameters and the morphology of partially eroded terrestrial craters. We present numerical modeling results for the Vredefort, Sudbury, Chicxulub, and Popigai impact craters and compare these results with available geological and geophysical information.

ESA ExoMars program: The next step in exploring Mars

Abstract: The ExoMars program is an ESA–Roscosmos cooperation with some NASA contributions. ExoMars consists of two missions, one in 2016 and one in 2018. The 2016 mission includes an orbiting satellite dedicated to the study of atmospheric trace gases to acquire information on possible on-going geological or biological processes, and a European entry, descent, and landing demonstrator module (EDM) to achieve a successful soft landing on Mars. The orbiter can also provide data communication services for all surface missions landing on Mars until the end of 2022. The 2018 mission is planned to deliver a 300-kg-class rover and an instrumented landing platform to the Martian surface using a landing system developed by Roscosmos. The 2018 mission is to pursue one of the most outstanding questions of our time by attempting to establish whether life ever existed, or is still present, on Mars today. The article gives an overview of the ExoMars program.

Phase diagram of H 2 O: Thermodynamic functions of the phase transitions of high-pressure ices

Abstract: The analysis of the internal structure of the ice satellites of the Solar System’s giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn, and the estimation of the composition of other water-containing cosmic bodies require thermodynamic information on the phase transformations in the water-ice system. This work presents experimental and theoretical data on the studies of the phase diagram of water (H2O) and the thermodynamic properties of water ices that were generalized, analyzed, and systematized. A brief description of the equations of state for different modifications of high-pressure ices that are most frequently used in thermodynamic calculations is presented. Based on the mathematical treatment of available experimental data for phase equilibria in the water-ice system, the boundaries of the phase transitions between crystal ices I, II, III, V, VI, VII, VIII, and X and liquid water are constructed; in addition, the thermal dependences of the thermodynamic functions (changes in enthalpy, entropy, and volume) of most water-ice phase transitions are obtained.

Updated IAA RAS planetary ephemerides-EPM2011 and their use in scientific research

Abstract: The EPM (Ephemerides of Planets and the Moon) numerical ephemerides were first created in the 1970s in support of Russian space flight missions and since then have been constantly improved at IAA RAS. In the following work, the latest version of the planetary part of the EPM2011 numerical ephemerides is presented. The EPM2011 ephemerides are computed using an updated dynamical model, new values of the parameters, and an extended observation database that contains about 680000 positional measurements of various types obtained from 1913 to 2011. The dynamical model takes into account mutual perturbations of the major planets, the Sun, the Moon, 301 massive asteroids, and 21 of the largest trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), as well as perturbations from the other main-belt asteroids and other TNOs. The EPM ephemerides are computed by numerical integration of the equations of motion of celestial bodies in the parameterized post-Newtonian n-body metric in the BCRS coordinate system for the TDB time scale over a 400-year interval. The ephemerides were oriented to the ICRF system using 213 VLBI observations (taken from 1989 to 2010) of spacecraft near planets with background quasars, the coordinates of which are given in the ICRF system. The accuracy of the constructed ephemerides was verified by comparison with observations and the JPL independent ephemerides DE424. The EPM ephemerides are used in astronavigation (they form the basis of the Astronomical Yearbook and are planned to be utilized in GLONASS and LUNA-RESURS programs) and various research, including the estimation of the solar oblateness, the parameters of the rotation of Mars, and the total mass of the asteroid main belt and TNOs, as well as the verification of general relativity, the secular variations of the Sun’s mass and the gravitational constant, and the limits on the dark matter density in the Solar System. The EPM ephemerides, together with the corresponding time differences TT — TDB and the coordinates of seven additional objects (Ceres, Pallas, Vesta, Eris, Haumea, Makemake, and Sedna), are available at ftp://quasar.ipa.nw.ru/incoming/EPM .