Nuclear Planetology:Especially Concerning the Moon and Mars

To approach basic scientific questions on the origin and evolution of plan- etary bodies such as planets, their satellites and asteroids, one needs data on their chemical composition. The measurements of gamma-rays, X-rays and neutrons emit- ted from their surface materials provide information on abundances of major elements and naturally radioactive gamma-ray emitters. Neutron spectroscopy can provide sen- sitive maps of hydrogen- and carbon-containing compounds, even if buried, and can uniquely identify layers of carbon-dioxide frost. Nuclear spectroscopy, as a means of compositional analysis, has been applied via orbital and lander spacecraft to extrater- restrial planetary bodies： the Moon, Venus, Mars, Mercury and asteroids. The knowl- edge of their chemical abundances, especially concerning the Moon and Mars, has greatly increased in recent years. This paper describes the principle of nuclear spec- troscopy, nuclear planetary instruments carried on planetary missions so far, and the nature of observational results and findings of the Moon and Mars, recently obtained by nuclear spectroscopy.

Comment on “Evolution model of the earth's limited expanding” from comparative planetology

In the article 'Evolution Model of the Earth’s Limited Expanding' published in Volume 45 Number (4) of Chinese Science Bulletin[1], the author suggests that the earth expands according to a law R(t) = R0+A(1 -exp(β(t-ts))) (remark: this formula was mistakenly printed as R(t) = R0 + Aexp(β(t-ts)) in the and formula (12) of the text of ref. [1]). According to ref. [1], the earth was formed 4.6 billion years ago. After 0.3 billion years from its birth (ts), it started expansion from an initial radius R0 of 4651 km, and may reach a final maximum radius of R0+A = 6511 km. In the 4.6 billion years history, the radius of the earch has increased by 1720 km, or the density decreased from 14200 km/m3 (2.57 times the present density) to 5520 kg/m3 within the latest 4.3 billion years.

Impact Craters with Circular and Isolated Secondary Craters on the Continuous Secondaries Facies on the Moon

On airless bodies such as the Moon and Mercury, secondary craters on the continuous secondaries facies of fresh craters mostly occur in chains and clusters. They have very irregular shapes. Secondaries on the continuous secondaries facies of some Martian and Mercurian craters are more isolated from each other in distribution and are more circular in shape, probably due to the effect of target properties on the impact excavation process. This paper studies secondaries on the continuous secondaries facies of all fresh lunar complex craters using recently-obtained high resolution images. After a global search, we find that 3 impact craters and basins on the Moon have circular and isolated secondaries on the continuous secondaries facies similar to those on Mercury： the Orientale basin, the Antoniadi crater, and the Compton crater. The morphological differences between such special secondaries and typical lunar secondaries are quantitatively compared and analyzed. Our preliminary analyses suggest that the special secondaries were probably caused by high temperature gradients within the local targets when these craters and basins formed. The high-temperature of the targets could have affected the impact excavation process by causing higher ejection angles, giving rise to more scattered circular secondaries.