Conveners
Sole e Sistema Solare
- Roberto Della Ceca (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF))
Sole e Sistema Solare
- Roberto Della Ceca (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF))
At INAF the research in the field of “Sun and Solar System” is included in the scientific national grouping 3 (Raggruppamento Scientifico Nazionale 3, RSN3). As in other fields of science, the research activities are divided into three main areas: observations, models/theory, and laboratory.
Like the other groupings, observations in the area of RSN3 are carried out with ground-based and...
I piccoli corpi del sistema solare, quali asteroidi, comete e oggetti transnettuniani, rappresentano una finestra unica sulla storia del sistema solare. Lo studio delle loro proprietà fisiche e orbitali consente infatti di ottenere indizi fondamentali sui processi di formazione ed evoluzione del nostro sistema planetario.
La prossima decade si preannuncia come un periodo rivoluzionario per...
Wind is the dominant agent of landscape modification on Mars, playing this role throughout much of the planet’s history. Therefore, accurately characterizing the interaction between the atmosphere and the surface could provide insights into present and past Martian climates. Aeolian (wind-related) dunes and ripples (bedforms) are commonly used to infer current and paleo winds on Mars. This is...
The Moon is covered by a layer of regolith which consists of fractured rock and unconsolidated debris, mainly resulting from micrometeorite bombardment. With no magnetosphere and almost no atmosphere, the regolith is directly exposed to solar wind and the full solar spectrum. As a result, it acquires a charge, and its finest part, the so-called lunar dust, may exhibit unusual behavior,...
Ceres is a dwarf planet in the main asteroid belt. In 2007, NASA launched the Dawn mission, which entered Ceres' orbit in 2015. The mission collected a vast amount of data by using Visible and Infrared Spectrometer (VIR). This data has made Ceres an intriguing target for astrobiological investigation, revealing carbon, minerals, salts and aliphatic organics. We can identify aliphatic organic...
The JUICE mission is the first large-class mission under the ESA Cosmic Vision Programme. The spacecraft was successfully launched on April 14 2023 and the insertion into Jupiter’s orbit is foreseen in July 2031 after several fly-bys, including Earth, Moon, and Venus. JUICE will provide a comprehensive survey of the Jupiter system, with particular emphasis on the three ocean worlds Ganymede,...
Space Weather represents a "science with applications" that inherently requires the integration of various areas of study and expertise for a detailed description of the physical parameters characterizing interplanetary space and its interaction with the planetary environment. The scientific component of this discipline, heliophysics, is currently seeking new data to improve short and...
RSN3
The launch of the Solar Orbiter mission in February 2020 heralded a new era in the field of solar physics. The spacecraft is equipped with both remote sensing and in-situ instruments, enabling true multi-messenger observations of the Sun and the solar wind. Integrated on the same spacecraft are all the necessary instruments for a comprehensive sampling of the inner heliosphere, from in situ...
In the framework of the “Earth Moon Mars” (EMM) project of the PNRR, the INAF – OACN Space Planetology Laboratories are upgrading their Martian facility to develop a unique, ground-breaking facility that will permit a comprehensive simulation of the Martian environment. The facility is made of a vacuum chamber, that allows the reproduction of Martian atmosphere in terms of pressure and...
