Europlanet Science Congress 2021
Virtual meeting
13 – 24 September 2021
Europlanet Science Congress 2021
Virtual meeting
13 September – 24 September 2021
ODAA5
Professional-Amateur collaborations in small bodies, terrestrial and giant planets, exoplanets, and ground-based support of space missions

ODAA5

Professional-Amateur collaborations in small bodies, terrestrial and giant planets, exoplanets, and ground-based support of space missions
Convener: Marc Delcroix | Co-conveners: Wolfgang Beisker, Ulyana Dyudina, Ricardo Hueso, John Rogers, Helen Usher, Stijn Calders
Fri, 24 Sep, 15:10–15:55 (CEST)

Session assets

Discussion on Slack

Oral and Poster presentations and abstracts

Chairpersons: Marc Delcroix, John Rogers, Ricardo Hueso
A. Exoplanets
EPSC2021-650
|
ECP
|
solicited
Anastasia Kokori

ExoClock (exoclock.space) is a project aiming to monitor transiting exoplanets through regular observations using small and medium scale telescopes. The project is part of the ephemerides working group of ESA's Ariel space mission and the main scope is to maximise the mission efficiency. This effort was launched in EPSC2019 and we are actively collaborating with both professional and amateur astronomers coming from various countries across the world. In this talk, the current status of the project and the results of the first two publications will be presented. Our research includes a collective analysis of 1600 light-curves out of which 65% were obtained by amateur astronomers. This data was used to update the ephemerides of 180 planets. The ExoClock network currently consists of 270 participants out of whom 220 are amateur astronomers, a number that highlights the significant contribution of amateurs in our project. 

How to cite: Kokori, A.: ExoClock project: a pro-am collaboration to monitor the exoplanet ephemerides for the Ariel space mission, Europlanet Science Congress 2021, online, 13–24 Sep 2021, EPSC2021-650, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2021-650, 2021.

EPSC2021-107
Harri Haukka, Veli-Pekka Hentunen, Markku Nissinen, Tuomo Salmi, Hannu Aartolahti, Jari Juutilainen, Esa Heikkinen, and Harri Vilokki

Taurus Hill Observatory (THO) [1], observatory code A95, is an amateur observatory located in Varkaus, Finland. The observatory is maintained by the local astronomical association Warkauden Kassiopeia. THO research team has observed and measured various stellar objects and phenomena. Observatory has mainly focused on exoplanet light curve measurements (over 170 measurements so far) [4], observing the gamma rays burst, supernova discoveries and monitoring [2]. We also do long term monitoring projects [3].

The results and publications that pro-am based observatories, like THO, have contributed, clearly demonstrates that pro-amateurs are a significant resource for the professional astronomers now and even more in the future.

HAT-P-38 and HAT-P-38b (Horna and Hiisi)

The object is located in RA 2h 21min 32s and DE + 32 ° 14 ’46”. From Finland, the object is high in the southern sky only in autumn. In addition, the transit time of the object is such that transit occur quite rarely at night. Considering the uncertain autumn weather in Finland, the probability of detecting a complete transit is quite uncertain in Finland.

Taurus Hill Observatory detected the HAT-P-38b  first time on 18 September 2020 and for the second time on 8 November 2020. Based on our observations, the timing of the transit deviated from the forecast by almost an hour. The transit took place clearly ahead of schedule. It is an indication that the rotation time of the exoplanet is possibly slightly shorter than recorded in the original catalog values. In this case, the transit catalog times are no longer valid. Observations made by other observers also confirm this. It is therefore worth monitoring the object to see if such an observed change is indeed regular.

In the first observation the dimming was 13.6 mmag and in the second it was clearly less, only 6.8 mmag. The length of the transit also varied slightly, from 178 minutes on the first occasion to 185 minutes on the second occasion.

Figure 1: HAT-P-38b transit observed at THO.

Secondary eclipse caused by the HAT-P-32b exoplanet

Last winter, for the first time in Taurus Hill Observatory, a rather challenging exoplanet was observed to transit behind its own parent star. Such an observation was made in Taurus Hill Observatory on February 17, 2021 from the exoplanet HAT-P-32b. Normal transit of a similar object had been observed in Taurus Hill Observatory a few times before. After an observation tip from the Pulkova Observatory, an attempt was made to observe this secondary eclipse in Taurus Hill Observatory. According to forecasts, the subject would have to dim about 3-4 mmag and the duration of the eclipse would be about 120 minutes. The fading according to the forecasts was barely visible in the measurements of the Taurus Hill Observatory Observatory. Although the detection of a “behind transit” of a star would require better accuracy, at least the measurement results obtained from the light curve, the timing, and the intensity of the dimming were fully consistent with the predictions. Thus, there is strong evidence that the first observation of secondary eclipse in Taurus Hill Observatory was real.

Figure 2: Secondary eclipse caused by the HAT-P-32b observed at THO.

TESS candidates have joined as new targets

The Taurus Hill Observatory began observing TESS candidates, or TOI objects, in the autumn of 2020. In total, these objects have now been observed 21 times in Taurus Hill Observatory. There have been seven different TESS candidates on the list. These selected targets have been fairly easy to detect, with a change in brightness caused by transits in between 7 and 20 mmag. The findings have been uploaded to the TRESCA ETD database. Although transits have been clearly observable in all observations, the timing of transits or the magnitude of dimming in most of them have been somewhat different from the catalog values, according to measurements by the Taurus Hill Observatory. This is probably mainly due to the huge number of observations of new uncertain objects and the rather modest resolution equipment of the TESS satellite itself. It is very possible that not nearly all of the observed TESS candidates will be confirmed as new exoplanets.

Figure 3: TOI1516.01b transit observed at THO.

Acknowledgements

The Taurus Hill Observatory will acknowledge the cooperation partners, Pulkova Observatory, Finnish Meteorological Institute and all financial supporters of the observatory.

References

[1] Taurus Hill Observatory website (http://www.taurushill.net)

[2] A low-energy core-collapse supernova without a hydrogen envelope; S. Valenti, A. Pastorello, E. Cappellaro, S. Benetti, P. A. Mazzali, J. Manteca, S. Taubenberger, N. Elias-Rosa, R. Ferrando, A. Harutyunyan, V.-P. Hentunen, M. Nissinen, E. Pian, M. Turatto, L. Zampieri and S. J. Smartt; Nature 459, 674-677 (4 June 2009); Nature Publishing Group; 2009.

[3] A massive binary black-hole system in OJ 287 and a test of general relativity; M. J. Valtonen, H. J. Lehto, K. Nilsson, J. Heidt, L. O. Takalo, A. Sillanpää, C. Villforth, M. Kidger, G. Poyner, T. Pursimo, S. Zola, J.-H. Wu, X. Zhou, K. Sadakane, M. Drozdz, D. Koziel, D. Marchev, W. Ogloza, C. Porowski, M. Siwak, G. Stachowski, M. Winiarski, V.-P. Hentunen, M. Nissinen, A. Liakos & S. Dogru; Nature - Volume 452 Number 7189 pp781-912; Nature Publishing Group; 2008

[4] Transit timing analysis of the exoplanet TrES-5 b. Possible existence of the exoplanet TrES-5 c; Eugene N Sokov,  Iraida A Sokova, Vladimir V Dyachenko, Denis A Rastegaev, Artem Burdanov, Sergey A Rusov, Paul Benni, Stan Shadick, Veli-Pekka Hentunen, Mark Salisbury, Nicolas Esseiva, Joe Garlitz, Marc Bretton, Yenal Ogmen, Yuri Karavaev,Anthony Ayiomamitis, Oleg Mazurenko, David Alonso, Sergey F Velichko; Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 480, Issue 1, October 2018, Pages 291–301, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/ sty1615

How to cite: Haukka, H., Hentunen, V.-P., Nissinen, M., Salmi, T., Aartolahti, H., Juutilainen, J., Heikkinen, E., and Vilokki, H.: Taurus Hill Observatory season 2020/2021 exoplanet review. HAT-P-38b (Hiisi) and secondary eclipse of the HAT-P-32b exoplanet., Europlanet Science Congress 2021, online, 13–24 Sep 2021, EPSC2021-107, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2021-107, 2021.

B. Planets
EPSC2021-80
Ricardo Hueso, Leigh Fletcher, Glenn Orton, Agustín Sánchez-Lavega, Candice Hansen, John Rogers, Olivier Mousis, Marc Delcroix, and Manuel Scherf

Amateur astronomy of the Solar System is living a golden age with major contributions to modern planetary science. These contributions cover a wide spectrum of topics that range from the discovery of impacts in Jupiter [1-2], to the observation of stellar occultations by minor bodies [3-4], the characterization of unexpected high-atmospheric events in Mars [5], or the characterization of giant storms on Jupiter [6] and Saturn [7-8]. Besides these examples of high-profile publications, there is an increasing number of amateur contributions to dozens of studies of planetary atmospheres and countless contributions to the study of minor bodies. While we focus here in the role of amateur astronomy observations of planetary atmospheres, we also recognize the varied and healthy professional and amateur collaborations in other areas of solar system astronomy.

The reasons behind this golden age lie in the two sides of the collaboration: On the side of amateur astronomers, many of them use very efficient detectors and advanced software tools, and they are highly connected at an international level. Thus, they provide high-quality observations on a regular basis to professional astronomers, or have strong analysis teams like the JUPOS team as an example (http://jupos.privat.t-online.de/index.htm). These frequent amateur observations provide essential monitoring of the temporal evolution of planetary atmospheres. On the other side, professional astronomers are aware of the potential of these observations and actively seek the collaboration of amateur astronomers and citizen scientists. A key case in this regard is NASA’s Juno mission to the giant planet Jupiter, and its large-scale collaboration around the JunoCam instrument on the mission Juno website: https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/. The mission has been recently extended until 2025 and details of the contribution of amateur observers to this new mission scenario are presented by Orton et al. in session ODAA5 in this meeting. Other examples of professionals seeking a global collaboration with amateurs are the various professional and amateur astronomy services and workshops organized by research projects like the Europlanet 2020 Research Infrastructure (2016-2019) and Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure (2020-2024).

We anticipate that the trend of amateur astronomy playing an important role in providing additional data sets to space missions will continue to grow and we advocate for the early establishment of such collaborations.  We review some of the elements that have made the collaboration of amateur astronomers with the Juno mission so fruitful for both parties and how this collaboration has grown beyond Jupiter into enhanced collaborations in other fields through networking amateur astronomers and providing a successful example to other fields.

We also discuss future ground-based high-resolution amateur observations of Solar System planets in support of future missions. These include the James Webb Space Telescope observations of planets (launch in October 2021), ESA’s Jupiter Icy moons Explorer (JUICE, launching in 2022) and NASA’s Europa Clipper missions to the Jupiter system in the early 2030s, the in situ exploration of Saturn’s moon Titan by the Dragonfly mission (NASA) in 2034, the Envision mission to Venus (if selected by ESA), and possible future missions to the Icy Giants Uranus and Neptune. Each of these ambitious missions will benefit from the strong partnership between amateur and professional planetary scientists. The first in this line is the JWST observations of Giant planets to be conducted in 2022 (see Fletcher et al. in session OPS3 in this conference).

Finally, we also show some professional and amateur networking elements developed under the umbrella of the Europlanet projects, including the recently launched Europlanet Telescope Network (https://bit.ly/2Br5LDt), and we present possible scenarios for future pro-am collaborations beyond the end of the Europlanet 2024 project.

 

Acknowledgements

Part of this research has been supported by Europlanet 2024 RI. Europlanet 2024 RI has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149.

References

[1] Sánchez-Lavega et al. The impact of a large object on Jupiter in 2009 July, ApJL, 715, 2, L150 (2010)

[2] Hueso et al. First Earth-based detection of a superbolide in Jupiter, ApJL, 721, 2, L129 (2010).

[3] Ortiz et al. The size, shape, density and ring of the dwarf planet Haumea from a stellar occultation, Nature, 520, 219-223 (2017)

[4] Marques-Oliveira et al. Structure and evolution of Triton’s atmosphere from the October 2017 stellar occultation, A&A (submitted).

[5] Sánchez-Lavega et al. An extremely high-altitude plume seen at Mars’ morning terminator, Nature, 518, 525-528 (2015).

[6] Sánchez-Lavega et al. Depth of a strong jovian jet from a planetary-scale disturbance driven by storms, Nature, 451, 437-440 (2008).

[7] Fletcher et al. Thermal Structure and Dynamics of Saturn’s Northern Springtime Disturbance, Science, 332, 1413 (2011).

[8] Sánchez-Lavega et al. Deep winds beneath Saturn’s upper clouds from a seasonal long-lived planetary-scale storm, Nature 475, 71-74 (2011).

 

How to cite: Hueso, R., Fletcher, L., Orton, G., Sánchez-Lavega, A., Hansen, C., Rogers, J., Mousis, O., Delcroix, M., and Scherf, M.: Amateur astronomy support to current and future space missions: From the 2010s to the 2030s, Europlanet Science Congress 2021, online, 13–24 Sep 2021, EPSC2021-80, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2021-80, 2021.

B.1 Mars
EPSC2021-93
Veikko Mäkelä and Paula-Christiina Wirtanen

Observations and measurements

We present some results of diminishing of Martian Southern Polar Cap (SPC) during the apparition 2020–2021 by Finnish amateur data. We had ca 150 images taken by the members of the Lunar and Planetary group of Ursa Astronomical Association. Observations are made with 0.10-m up to 0.40-m telescopes with planet imaging cameras. Image data cover period from May 2020 to April 2021 [1].

We have selected a sample of images and converted them into a polar projection using the WinJUPOS software [2]. We have measured the northernmost latitude of SPC from each image.

Results of SPC data

Figure 1 shows the evolution of SPC northernmost latitude from May to December 2020. The polynomial fitting of the diminishing rate is consistent with to the data from earlier apparitions, e.g. by British Astronomical Association and American Lunar and Planetary Observers [3, 4]. The asymmetry of the polar cap cause some deviation to the measurements.  Secondly, there are some variation in the image quality of the observations.

Due to poor weather conditions in midwinter 2020–2021 the disappearance of the SPC is unsolved. In January 2021, the SPC is not detectable in Finnish data, albeit there are some reports of its visibility in British Astronomical Association observations [5].

The SPC asymmetry is clearly visible. The center of SPC is misplaced from the Martian South Pole. The northern egde of the polar cap extends towards 0–60° latitudes. Asymmetry have been already noticed by Hyugens in 1672 and Maraldi noticed the misplacement from the pole in 1719 [6]. Later this is confirmed by Mars Missions data [7]. The phenomenon is explained by topographic and climatic features in Martian western hemisphere near the southern polar region [8, 9].

Novus Mons feature

Novus Mons, aka “Mountains of Mitchell” area was observable as a separated icy fragment near the edge of the SPC during the period 15–21 Aug 2020. The geographic location of this feature is 300–330° W and 75° S. O. M. Mitchell discovered it in 1845 [4]. The mountain region keeps shortly its ice cover when the SPC is melting and the edge is shrinking southwards.

Figure 2 is an example of observation with Novus Mons feature and figure 3 is the polar projected version of this image.

References

[1] Taivaanvahti database, Ursa Astronomical Association, https://www.taivaanvahti.fi/observations/browse/pics/3869010/observation_start_time.
[2] WinJUPOS project, http://winjupos.org.
[3] McKim R. (2021), British Astronomical Association, personal communication.
[4] Beish J. (2020). “The South Polar Region”, Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers, http://www.alpo-astronomy.org/jbeish/SPR.htm.
[5] McKim R., (2021). “BAA: The 2020 Mars Opposition blog, part 2”, https://britastro.org/node/24324.
[6] Schmude R. W. Jr. (2019). “The South Polar Region of Mars: A Review”. Georgia Journal of Science, Vol. 77 No. 2, https://digitalcommons.gaacademy.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1919&context=gjs.
[7] Schenk P. M. and Moore J. M. “Mars Polar Lander resources”. Lunar and Planetary Institute,  https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/msp/msp.html.
[8] Colaprete A., Barnes J. R., Haberle R. M., Hollingsworth J. L., Kieffer H. H. and Titus T. N. (2005). “Albedo of the south pole of Mars determined by topographic forcing of atmosphere dynamics”. Nature 435:184-188.
[9] M. Giuranna, D. Grassi, V. Formisano, L. Montabone, F. Forget & L. Zasova (2008). “PFS/MEX observations of the condensing CO2 south polar cap of Mars”. Icarus 197(2):386-402.

Figure 1. The northernmost latitude of the SPC edge by Finnish observational data. The dotted line shows a 2nd order polynomial fitting of the data points.

Figure 2. Image by J. Jantunen 19 Aug 2020 at 22:58–23:01 UT with 0.28-m SCT and QHY5III224 planet imaging camera. CM = 294°.

Figure 3. Polar projection of J. Jantunen’s 19 Aug 2020 image with planetocentric latitude scale by WinJUPOS software. Novus Mons feature is visible approximately on the location 305–335° W and 65–75° S.

How to cite: Mäkelä, V. and Wirtanen, P.-C.: Diminishing of Martian Southern Polar Cap in Apparition 2020–2021, Europlanet Science Congress 2021, online, 13–24 Sep 2021, EPSC2021-93, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2021-93, 2021.

EPSC2021-31
Marc Delcroix, Jean-Luc Dauvergne, Emmanuel Beaudouin, Jean Lilensten, and Mathieu Vincendon

Amateur astronomers image clouds on Mars surface regularly. While clouds on illuminated surface are usually well known, transient ones appearing on the night side at dawn or dusk, or above the limb, are of special interest and have been studied lately in [1] and [2]. Determining their altitude is a key element for studying their characteristics, but unfortunately cannot be derived simply on a 2D image. We describe here two methods used to estimate altitudes of such features, and scientific studies using those estimations.

 

Method

What can be measured on observations are (see figure 1):

  • the “apparent (i.e., projected) terminator altitude” of a feature above the terminator when it is on the night side (whether below or above the limb)
  • the “apparent limb altitude” of a feature above the limb
  • the apparent latitude and longitude of the feature when it is visible on the surface of the planet.

Fig. 1: Definition of apparent altitudes which are measured.

Those measurement have been implemented in WinJUPOS at MD’s suggestion (see [3] and fig. 2), the standard software used by amateur astronomers (and even some professionals) to measure positions of features on planets.

Fig. 2: WinJUPOS measurement window

From these measures, real altitudes can be calculated (see [1] and [2]) by making some hypothesis which could be confirmed.

In [1], altitudes of a features appearing above the day side terminator was determined by assuming that the position of this feature was the one for which the apparent terminator altitude was the higher over time. To confirm this hypothesis, profiles of apparent terminator altitude vs time (or limb longitude) for different real altitudes were simulated and compared to the observations. One good fit could be found for a specific simulated altitude for two different events.

In [2], as the observations seem to show apparition of features while rotating into view, assumption was made that they appeared when coming out of the shadow. Hence their real altitude at this time would be the altitude of Mars shadow at their apparent position. To confirm this hypothesis, we could recover visible clouds at the same latitude/longitude later in time when appearing on the day side of the planet.

 

Results and conclusion

In [1], bright features detected in March and April 2012 were identified as extremely high-altitude plumes above 200-250km, which could be CO2 or H2O ice clouds with very small particles needing unusual conditions, or a very unusual bright aurora.

Studying the large features observed in November 2020 (see [2]), we could determine that their altitude was around 90km, favoring an interpretation of high-altitude CO2 clouds which condensation could have been provoked by galactic cosmic rays ionizing dust particles.

Despite probes observing Mars atmosphere continuously, usually rather around local noon, amateurs’ observations of atmospheric features above the limb or the night side of the planet are useful for studying unusual high-altitude clouds hence enriching our knowledge of Mars’ atmosphere dynamics.

 

Acknowledgement

Thanks to Grischa Hahn for working on this topic and adapting his WinJUPOS software accordingly.

 

References

[1] Sanchez-Lavega A. et al., An extremely high-altitude plume seen at Mars’ morning terminator, Nature, doi: 10.1038/nature14162, (2015).

[2] Lilensten J. et al., A new type of cloud discovered from Earth in the upper Martian atmosphere, submitted to Icarus (2021)

[3] WinJupos software website: http://www.grischa-hahn.homepage.t-online.de/

How to cite: Delcroix, M., Dauvergne, J.-L., Beaudouin, E., Lilensten, J., and Vincendon, M.: Determination of Mars clouds’ altitude on amateur images and implication on new types of clouds, Europlanet Science Congress 2021, online, 13–24 Sep 2021, EPSC2021-31, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2021-31, 2021.

B.2 Jupiter
EPSC2021-58
Glenn Orton, Thomas Momary, Candice Hansen, and Scott Bolton

Introduction

NASA has approved an extension of the Juno mission, originally in 53-day elliptical polar orbits around Jupiter. The extended mission began 1 August 2021 and will continue through September 2025. The extended mission expands Juno’s science goals beyond those of the prime mission.

Expected Science in the Extended Juno Mission

  • Atmosphere studies: Investigate Jupiter’s northern latitudes, polar cyclones, ionospheric profile (electron and neutral temperature) using a series of occultations of high-gain radio signal, and variability of lightning on Jupiter’s night side
  • Interior structure: Investigate shearing at depth of a region of intensive inward magnetic field lines (“the Great Blue Spot”), characterize Jupiter’s shallow dynamo and unexpectedly dilute core, and the interior/atmosphere coupling
  • Magnetosphere studies: Explore the polar magnetopause and probe the polar cap auroral acceleration
  • Ring studies: Characterize the ring dust and its source bodies and the ring plasma environment
  • Ganymede: Investigate the 3-D structure and dynamics of its magnetosphere and ionosphere
  • Europa: Investigate the ice shell and characterize surface sputtering
  • Io: Constrain the global magma ocean and magnetospheric interaction

Physical Details of the Mission

The sequence of orbits and key investigations of the primary and extended missions are shown in Figure 1.  We note that on PJ34, the orbital period is reduced from 53 days to 43-44 days. It will further be reduced on PJ45 to 38 days and again on PJ57 to ~33 days.                                                      

Some characteristics of perijoves (close approaches) PJ35-PJ53 of the extended mission are shown in Table 1. We caution that while the day of year for the perijoves is reasonably fixed, the exact times may change by hours in either direction and the longitudes will change accordingly.  Timing for later orbits up to PJ76, may be affected by currently unmodeled anomalies in satellite masses that could change dates and times.

Role of Amateur Astronomers

We’ve noted in the past at previous EPSC meetings how amateurs can contribute to the Juno mission via the world-wide 24/7 coverage of Jupiter. Observations during the extended mission will provide both the Juno science team of changes in Jupiter’s atmosphere, such as the interaction between the Great Red Spot and smaller anticyclones, and the occurrence and evolution of outbursts such as “Clyde’s Spot”. Atmospheric maps will also provide context for Juno’s lightning searches. For these and for the continuity of atmospheric scrutiny, from which the mission has benefitted so far, we wish the community clear skies and fervently hope for your continued success.

Table 1. Current estimated parameters for Juno extended mission perijoves PJ34-PJ53. 

PJ

Date

Approx. Spacecraft Event Time

PJ lat. (centric)

Approx. PJ long. (Sys. III)

Solar Elongation

34

2021 Jun 8

     07:30

     28°

     290°

     105°

35

2021 Jul 21

     08:00

     29°

     300°

     147°

36

2021 Sep 2

     23:00

     30°

     100°

     165°

37

2021 Oct 16

     17:00

     31°

      40°

     119°

38

2021 Nov 29

     14:00

     32°

      80°

      78°

39

2022 Jan 12

     10:30

     32°

      90°

      41°

40

2022 Feb 25

     02:00

     33°

     280°

       7°

41

2022 Apr 9

     16:00

     34°

      60°

      26°

42

2022 May 23

     02:00

     35°

      70°

      60°

43

2022 Jul 5

     09:00

     36°

     310°

      95°

44

2022 Aug 17

     15:00

     37°

     150°

     135°

45

2022 Sep 29

     17:00

     37°

     230°

     177°

46

2022 Nov 6

     21:00

     38°

     350°

     136°

47

2022 Dec 15

     03:00

     39°

     160°

      97°

48

2023 Jan 22

     06:00

     40°

     200°

      63°

49

2023 Mar 1

     05:30

     41°

     170°

      15°

50

2023 Apr 8

     10:00

     42°

     270°

       0°

51

2023 May 16

     07:30

     43°

     150°

     11°

52

2023 Jun 23

     07:00

     44°

       80°

     21°

53

2023 Jul 31

     09:00

     45°

     120°

     26°

 

How to cite: Orton, G., Momary, T., Hansen, C., and Bolton, S.: Juno’s Extended Mission and the Contributing Role of Amateur Observers, Europlanet Science Congress 2021, online, 13–24 Sep 2021, EPSC2021-58, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2021-58, 2021.

EPSC2021-121
Clyde Foster, Ricardo Hueso, Peio Iñurrigarro, Agustin Sanchez-Lavega, John Rogers, Glenn Orton, Candice Hansen, Tom Momery, Shinji Mizumoto, Kevin Baines, Shawn Brueshaber, Jonathan Yan, and Emma Dahl

 The latest developments of Jupiter’s STB May 2020 outbreak (“Clyde’s Spot”)

 

C.R. Foster1, R. Hueso2, P. Iñurrigarro2, A. Sanchez-Lavega2, J.H. Rogers3, G.S. Orton4, C.J. Hansen5, T. Momary4, S. Mizumoto6, K.H. Baines4, S. Brueshaber4, J. Yan7 , E. Dahl8

(1) Astronomical Society of Southern Africa, Centurion, South Africa  (2) Universidad del País Vasco, UPV/EHU, Bilbao,  Spain  (3) British Astronomical Association, London, UK  (4) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA  (5) Planetary Science Institute, Tuscon, AZ, USA  (6) Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers-Japan (7) Pasadena City College, Pasadena, CA (8) New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA

Email: clyde@icon.co.za

 

Introduction & Summary

The notable outbreak in the South Temperate Belt (STB) latitudes, bright in the methane absorption band, that was observed by the lead author on 2020 May 31, and which would become known as “Clyde’s Spot” in the Pro-Am planetary community, has been the subject of intense research over the last year [1,2]. NASA’s Juno spacecraft imaged the storm two days after its onset with the JunoCam instrument, obtaining very high-resolution observations which showed the storm as a bright plume within a cyclonic vortex, but which faded quickly in methane band images. The remnant of the outbreak evolved into a dark feature in visible wavelengths on a timescale of 5-7 days and remained visible throughout the rest of 2020, being designated as DS7 (Dark Spot 7) following the convention of previous features in the region. This long-lived feature was regularly monitored by the amateur community and was imaged in several sets of Hubble Space Telescope observations. On 15 April 2021, ten and a half months after the initial convective outbreak, the Juno ground track during its 33rd perijove fell over the remnant of the outbreak, revealing fascinating details of its transformation into a Folded Filamentary Region (FFR), auguring well for possible further future expansion.

Early developments and Pre-solar conjunction observations

The methane-bright eruption diminished within the first few days of detection, leaving a small, dynamic, complex feature which showed varying combinations of light and dark features over the following months. From July through to October observations at 5 microns from the NASA IRTF indicated a bright spot showing that the initial plume had been replaced by a clearing in the upper atmosphere. In ground-based observations obtained by many amateurs over the remainder of the year, the general perspective was that of a dark spot, leading to the designation of DS7. Towards the end of the year, as Jupiter approached solar conjunction, the quality of images reduced, although amateur observations were able to track DS7 through to early January, a few weeks before conjunction. The anticipated development of a substantial dark STB segment did not occur, and there was some thought that DS7 might dissipate during the period of conjunction.

Post-solar conjunction detection and confirmation

Solar conjunction occurred on 29 January 2021, and when regular amateur imaging recommenced in March, a poorly defined dark feature was noted at the anticipated longitude and latitude. Drift charts generated by S. Mizumoto (ALPO-Japan) and the planetary science group at University of Bilbao (R. Hueso et al) confirmed the feature was indeed DS7 and was accordingly tracked and imaged as comprehensively as possible. Anther STB cyclonic dark spot, DS6, which had been following DS7 prior to solar conjunction, was initially unable to be identified.   

NASA Juno Perijove 33 (PJ33)

It became clear well before the PJ33 flyby that the track would take the spacecraft over the DS7 region. Some reasonably high-resolution images were produced by the amateur community before during and after the flyby, showing some light and dark structure. 

Much interest was raised by the images of DS7, which showed that it had developed a Folded Filamentary Region (FFR) structure. This indicates that the initial outbreak was the onset of conversion of a small cyclonic vortex into a FFR. The uncertainty regarding the fate of DS6 was resolved, as the images showed a new, well-defined pale orange cyclonic oval on the north-east edge of Oval BA. Ongoing observations suggest that the oval may have been temporarily captured by Oval BA.

 

Conclusion

The only similar methane-bright outbreaks previously recorded in the cyclonic STB latitudes were in large, structured sectors at the end of their life: the so-called STB Remnant in 2010 and the STB Ghost in 2018 [3,4].  These generated rapidly expanding disturbances that converted these long cyclonic circulations into dark turbulent STB segments.  Initially at least, Clyde’s Spot, being in a very compact cyclonic vortex, had not shown signs of early expansion. However, the latest images from Juno PJ33, showing the development of the FFR structure, appear to indicate potential for longer term development of this feature, which could become a more substantial dark turbulent STB segment. In contrast to the 2010 and 2018 events, this would represent the growth of a new cyclonic feature rather than transformation of an older one.

 

Figures:

Left: ‘Clyde’s spot’ in 889 nm methane band. Right: IRTF observations, before and after Clyde’s Spot appeared. (lower panel DS6(L) and DS7 (R) on 2020 Sept 29 Bottom: “Clyde’s Spot” at PJ27 (top) and its developing remnant at PJ33(bottom)-credit NASA/Kevin.M Gill.

References: 

  • Foster, C. et al. A rare methane-bright outbreak in Jupiter's South Temperate domain, 14thEPSC 2020, id. EPSC2020-196
  • Hueso, R. et al. Long-term effects of short-lived convective storms in Jupiter's cyclones, DPS#52 2020, id. 100.04
  • J. Rogers (2019), ‘Jupiter’s South Temperate Domain, 2015-2018’.  https://britastro.org/node/17283.
  • P. Iñurrigarro et al. (2019-20). ‘Observations and numerical modelling of a convective disturbance in a large-scale cyclone in Jupiter’s South Temperate Belt.’   Icarus 336 (2020), paper 113475.

How to cite: Foster, C., Hueso, R., Iñurrigarro, P., Sanchez-Lavega, A., Rogers, J., Orton, G., Hansen, C., Momery, T., Mizumoto, S., Baines, K., Brueshaber, S., Yan, J., and Dahl, E.: The latest developments of Jupiter’s STB May 2020 outbreak (“Clyde’s Spot”), Europlanet Science Congress 2021, online, 13–24 Sep 2021, EPSC2021-121, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2021-121, 2021.

EPSC2021-95
John Rogers and Christopher Go

The visible clouds in Jupiter’s Equatorial Zone (EZ) travel in the great eastward equatorial current, with speeds ranging from ~100-120 m/s in the jets at the north and south edges, to ~70-80 m/s on the equator, relative to System III longitude (L3).  No cloud features have ever been reported in the EZ with drift rates close to L3.  Therefore, it was a great surprise to observe a system of waves in the EZ in 2020 that were almost fixed in L3.

From 2018 to 2021, the EZ has had a broad band of notable orange colour straddling the equator, this being the most intense and prolonged coloration episode since 1989-91.  Amateur images in the 889 nm methane absorption band in 2020 showed that this ochre band was notably bright (“methane-bright”), indicating that its aerosols were relatively dense at high altitude.  The stationary waves were observed on its southern boundary at ~3ºS.

These waves were meridional undulations with a wavelength of about 20º.  They were first noticed in May in a restricted sector, L3 ~ 160-240 (Figure 1).  They were most evident in the high-quality methane images by co-author C. Go, but also detectable in images by other observers. 

When plotted in System I, the wave-train as a whole, and the individual waves, were obviously moving very rapidly, whereas plotting in System III showed that they were essentially stationary: mean drift rate = +1 (±2) deg/month.  A similar wave-train was still present in the same L3 range in late July.  These waves were likewise near-stationary in System III, not System I (Figure 2), despite some variation in their appearance.

Similar waves could be seen in some methane images as far back as 2020 Feb.  This same boundary was present in methane images in summer 2019 but without such prominent wave structure.

In some places the N edge of the methane-bright strip also had waves parallel to those on the S edge (although less distinct), so the whole strip was undulating. The waves were not visible in RGB images (Figure 1).  They lay along the interface between the ochre EB and the white EZ(S), which involved small-scale mixtures of streaks; blue-grey streaks sometimes coincided with the waves but sometimes not.

 

Discussion

Strong eastward jets separate these near-equatorial waves from all known stationary visible features, and there are no such features in neighbouring latitudes that seem likely to have been forcing these waves.  The SEB was all quiet along here; the GRS was on the opposite side of the planet; and the ovals in northern NEB were in the same longitude sector, but not aligned with the EZ waves.  The northern NEB is sometimes overlaid with methane-dark thermal waves [Refs.1 & 2], and such waves did appear in this sector in 2020, but only from mid-May to mid-June, and not adjacent to the EZ waves, so they appear to be unconnected.

System III is the reference frame of Jupiter’s magnetic field, and Juno discovered an anomalous ‘magnetic pole’ that maps to the southern EZ [Ref.3], but it is near L3=90, far away from our waves. 

It is conceivable that aerosols from the methane-bright EB extend to a very high altitude where the equatorial jets decay to almost zero wind speed. Concurrent professional infrared observations could test this hypothesis, while modelling, or further refinement of Juno magnetic maps, might give some clue as to the nature of these remarkable waves. At the time of writing in 2021 May, we see a similar near-stationary wave pattern linked to a slow-moving methane-bright feature that extends right across the EZ.

 

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all the amateur observers who contributed methane-band images during 2020; the relevant observations are in the BAA Jupiter Section reports no.4 & 5 at: https://britastro.org/node/20872.

References

  • Rogers JH, Akutsu T, & Orton GS (2004) J.Brit.Astron.Assoc. 114, 313-330. 
  • Fletcher LN et al.(2017) Geophys. Res. Lett. 44, 7140-7148.
  • Connerney JEP et al. (2018) Geophys.Res.Lett. 45, 2590-2596.

Figure 1.  Top:  A set of methane-band images showing the waves (marked by cyan dots).  Dark blue arrow indicates a bright patch on the equator that moves with System I.  Some long-lived ovals in temperate regions serve as reference points.  Bottom: Corresponding RGB images.  All images by C. Go.

Figure 2.  Charts of longitude (L3) vs time for the wave crests: (left) in 2020 May-June, (right) in July.  In May, four waves are numbered and lie close to lines of constant L3.  In July, two waves are indicated by lines connecting points. Vertical lines represent longer wave crests.  Purple crosses are methane-bright patches on the equator moving with System I, which provide an internal control for the measurements. Uncertainties are ~±3°. 

 

How to cite: Rogers, J. and Go, C.: Stationary waves in Jupiter’s Equatorial Zone in 2020, Europlanet Science Congress 2021, online, 13–24 Sep 2021, EPSC2021-95, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2021-95, 2021.

EPSC2021-260
Steven Hill

Abstract

Jupiter’s tropospheric ammonia abundance distribution is measured using a simple filter ratio technique that exploits the 645nm absorption band. The method provides disk-integrated photometric measurements, meridional profiles, and localized feature detection consistent with the literature. The equipment is affordable and could provide a means for routine monitoring of Jovian ammonia and its role in Jovian weather systems.

1. Introduction

Ammonia clouds are responsible for Jupiter’s cloud structure seen in visible light. As a condensable gas, the distribution of ammonia gas is non-uniform and is dependent on vertical and horizontal motions along with sources and sinks. In essence, it is a proxy for weather in the upper troposphere and its distribution is an active area of study [1, 2] (Fig. 1).

This work establishes the efficacy of an optical filter ratio technique by demonstrating: 1) Quantitative measurement of global ammonia [3], 2) Qualitative matching of meridional profiles including the Equatorial Zone (EZ) enhancement [1], and 3) Qualitative matching of smaller scale ammonia features [1, 2].

2. Observations

A 0.28m aperture telescope was used to observe Jupiter with a CMOS lucky-imaging camera for fine detail and a cooled CCD camera for quantitative analysis. A commercially available 647±5nm filter was procured to measure ammonia absorption.  Because the absorption signal is weak, the flux at the adjacent 656nm wavelength was measured as a continuum reference. A total of four nights of CMOS observations in July and six nights of CCD observations in September are considered here.

Context images in other spectral bands are important to disambiguate potential contaminating signals. Potential factors that could influence the detection of ammonia include variations in broadband reflectivity, color slope, cloud height (methane optical depth), and aerosol absorption (NUV absorption).

3.    Disk-Integrated Photometry

The Galilean moons provide photometric references without NH3 absorption that are used to estimate the continuum flux of Jupiter at 647 nm:

where the subscript m or J designates Jupiter or moons and 647 or 656 designates the filter center wavelength. The NH3 absorption is then:

Between two and four moons were available as references for each CCD observation. The average ammonia absorption found was aNH3 =0.032±0.010, where the uncertainty represents the 95% confidence interval. A correction was then applied for the differences between the Jovian and moons’ known color slopes [4, 5].  Also, Io was eliminated as a photometric reference because it has the most variable color slope with rotational phase. We then find aNH3=0.043±0.011 which is greater by about 10% than the absorption predicted by the curves in Fig. 2.  This is well within the confidence interval of ±25%.

4.    Meridional Profile

Ratio images (656/647) were mapped onto a cylindrical map projection within 45 degrees of the equator and central meridian. Averages were then computed for each latitude across all the maps. While not photometric, the form of latitude variation can be compared to the literature [1] (Fig. 3).

The computed profile represents the uncalibrated line of sight absorption and is scaled to roughly fit the range of the comparison data (mole fraction at a 500 mb) [1]. The computed profile lies mostly within the formal error bars from the 2014 IRTF-TEXES and 2000 Cassini CIRS retrievals. Differences between the filter ratio profile here and the TEXES and CIRS profiles are of similar magnitude as the differences between the TEXES and CIRS data.

5.    Discrete Features

An example of CMOS lucky imaging observations is shown in Fig. 4. The panels show relevant context images along with the NH3 distribution map as follows:

  • RGB: Color context.
  • Reflectivity: Relative brightness in the optical.
  • Continuum slope: Red/Green broadband channel ratios. Redder areas are brighter.
  • NH3: Ratio of 656/647 images as an index of NH3 Brighter represents more NH3.
  • 889nm: Methane channel maps correlate to cloud or aerosol height. Bright areas represent higher clouds.
  • 380nm: NUV aerosol absorption images. Brighter areas represent less absorption.

Fig. 4(d) shows patchy enhancement of NH3 in the northern EZ along the southern border of dark features and near bright plumes seen in the context images. The central latitudes of the NH3 enhancements are 4-5 deg north and the dark/blue features seen in panels a-c have centroids that are 6-8 deg north. The imperfect correlation between optical features and ammonia distribution is consistent with recent observations [2]. Longitudinally extended depletion at the northern edge of the NEB and enhancement at the SEB in two faint bands are also seen. The localized NH3 signal measured by the filter ratio technique appears to represent the actual distribution of ammonia, as it is uninfluenced by the notably strong Great Red Spot (GRS) signals seen in brightness, color slope, methane, and NUV maps.

6.    Summary and Conclusion

This paper confirms that ammonia distributions on Jupiter can be observed with a simple filter ratio approach. It demonstrates that:

  • Disk-integrated NH3 abundance measurements are consistent with predictions using reference spectra [3].
  • Meridional NH3 profiles show the major features seen in prior work [1].
  • High-resolution imaging shows patchy NH3 enhancement in the EZ consistent with observations in prior work [1, 2].

The technique uses affordable and readily available equipment. It opens the way to regular amateur observations of the ammonia distribution, which would further the understanding of Jupiter’s ammonia cycle.

7.    Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Dr. John Rogers for his insightful correspondence.

8.    References

[1] Fletcher L. N et al.: Mid-infrared mapping of Jupiter's temperatures, aerosol opacity and chemical distributions with IRTF/TEXES, Icarus, 278, 128-161, 2016

[2] Fletcher L. N. et al.: Jupiter's Equatorial Plumes and Hot Spots: Spectral Mapping from Gemini/TEXES and Juno/MWR, Journal of Geophysical Research (Planets), 125, e06399, 2020

[3] Karkoschka, E.: Spectrophotometry of the jovian planets and Titan at 300- to 1000-nm wavelength: The methane spectrum, Icarus, 111, 174-192, 1994

[4] Ordonez-Etxeberria et al.: Spatial distribution of jovian clouds, hazes and colors from Cassini ISS multi-spectral images, Icarus, 267, 34-50, 2016

[5] Clark R. N. and T. B. McCord: The Galilean satellites - New near-infrared spectral reflectance measurements /0.65-2.5 microns/ and a 0.325-5 micron summary, Icarus, 41, 323-339, 1980

How to cite: Hill, S.: Experimental Observations of Jupiter in the Optical Ammonia Band at 645 nm, Europlanet Science Congress 2021, online, 13–24 Sep 2021, EPSC2021-260, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2021-260, 2021.

B.3 Asteroids/Meteors
EPSC2021-355
|
ECP
Dimitrios Athanasopoulos, Roberto Bonamico, Gerard Van Belle, Matthieu Conjat, Andrea Ferrero, Josef Hanuš, Josef Ďurech, Chrysa Avdellidiou, Kleomenis Tsiganis, Marco Delbo, and Kosmas Gazeas

Introduction

We invite observers to join an international observing campaign and obtain light curve of a selected number of the most ancient asteroids. Analysis of these data will be important to reconstruct the original state of the asteroid belt, which is a crucial problem of planetary science. This original state can be reconstructed through the identification of the oldest asteroid families. Traditional identification methods, like Hierarchical Clustering Methods (Zappala et al., 1990; HCM), have difficulties to recognise Gyr- and older asteroid families, whose members are very dispersed by the Yarkovsky effect. An innovative method, called V-shape search (Bolin et al., 2017), has been demonstrated effective (Deienno et al. 2021) to identify these aforementioned very old collisional families by searching for the signature of the size dependent dispersion of family members operated by the Yarkovsky effect.

The method has already successfully identified two primordial families which likely formed before the giant planet orbital instability (Tsiganis et al., 2005) and could be as old as the Solar System and an ancient one that is ~3 Gyr-old (Delbo et al., 2017; 2019). There is evidence from observations and theoretical evolution models that there are more old families to be detected (Delbo et al., 2017; Dermott et al., 2018). However, the reliability of these V-shape families should be independently verified.

A very important test of family membership is the anisotropic distribution of spin vectors of the asteroid family member, which is a fingerprint of the Yarkovsky effect evolution (Hanus et al. 2013). Namely, to test the working hypothesis that according to theories of asteroid orbital evolution under the Yarkovsky effect, members of the inward (outward) side of V-shape of a family have a statistical predominance of retrograde (prograde) objects (Fig. 1). This hypothesis has been tested (Hanus, et al., 2013) already for known families, and it is a reliable test for family membership.

 

The observing campaign: Ancient Asteroids

For this purpose, an international observing campaign called Ancient Asteroids has been put forward at different observatories worldwide: (University of Athens Observatory (UOAO), Greece, the BSA Observatory and Bigmuskie Observatory, Italy, the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur (OCA), France, the Lowell Observatory in Arizona, United States, the Astronomical Institute of the Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Thessaloniki, Greece. The main goal of the campaign is to establish an international network of professional and amateur astronomers (Pro-Am collaboration), in order to perform photometric observations of a very specific sample of the most ancient asteroids. A special website (http://users.uoa.gr/~kgaze/research_asteroids_en.html) was developed for the purpose of the campaign, that includes guidelines for the participation, the observations and the image data evaluation and collection.

In the frame of Ancient Asteroids campaign, a user-friendly web application was also developed for the target selection and observing plan preparation. The user can easily find the observable asteroids for the campaign based on the location, the time and the equipment limitations. The targets are displayed with a priority rate, in order to perform smart sampling. The user selects the favor target and an observing plan automatically is created.

 

The contribution

The obtained lightcurves from all the involved participants will be combined with data available in the literature, as well as with sparse data from space missions (Gaia, TESS, etc) and global sky surveys (PTF, LSST, ATLAS, etc). Thus, the spin state of the asteroids can be revealed. The results will be ingested to the Minor Planet Physical Properties Catalogue (MP3C) program (https://mp3c.oca.eu/catalogue/index.htm), the largest database of asteroid physical properties, which complies with the EU vision for open data.

The observing campaign Ancient Asteroids has started to collect photometric observations with the contribution of amateur astronomers from Italy, France and Greece are submitted. The observations will reveal the spin state of the members, which are crucial for the testing the hypothesis of the family membership. This research will potentially lead to a better understanding of the first stages of the evolution of the Solar System, the mechanism at the origin of the formation of the asteroids and the planet formation processes.

 

 

Acknowledgments

This work was also partially supported by the ANR ORIGINS (ANR-18-CE31-0014) and by the French National Program of Planetology (PNP). Here we make use of asteroid physical properties data from Minor Planet Physical Properties Catalog (https://mp3c.oca.eu/).

 

References

Bolin, B. T. et al. (2017). Icarus, 282, 290-312.

Deienno, R. et al. (2021). Icarus, 357, 114218.

Delbo, M. et al. (2019). Astronomy & Astrophysics, 624, A69.

Delbo, M. et al. (2017). Science, 357, 6355.

Dermott, S. F. et al. (2018). Nature Astronomy, 2, 7.

Hanus, J. et al. (2013). Astronomy & Astrophysics, 559.

Hanus, J. et al. (2013). Astronomy & Astrophysics, 551.

Tsiganis K. et al. (2005). Nature, 435, 7041.

Zappala, V. et al. (1990). Astrophysical Journal, 100, 2030-2046.

How to cite: Athanasopoulos, D., Bonamico, R., Van Belle, G., Conjat, M., Ferrero, A., Hanuš, J., Ďurech, J., Avdellidiou, C., Tsiganis, K., Delbo, M., and Gazeas, K.: Ancient Asteroids: An international observing campaign for the characterisation of the oldest asteroid collisional families, Europlanet Science Congress 2021, online, 13–24 Sep 2021, EPSC2021-355, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2021-355, 2021.

EPSC2021-616
Nick Sioulas

Photometric observations of the main-belt asteroid 665 Sabine and Minor Planet Bulletin

 

Nick Sioulas

NOAK Observatory, Stavraki (IAU code L02) Ioannina, Greece (nsioulas@hotmail.com)

Introduction

In this work, the photometric observations of the main-belt asteroid 665 Sabine were conducted from the NOAK Observatory, in Greece in order to determine its synodic rotation period. The results were submitted to Asteroid Lightcurve Photometry Database (ALCDEF) and Minor Planet Bulletin.

Abstract

The Minor Planet Bulletin is the official publication of the Minor Planets Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers (ALPO). All amateurs and professionals can publish their asteroid photometry results, including lightcurves, H-G parameters, color indexes, and shape/spin axis models. It is also the refereed journal by the SAO/NASA ADS. All MPB papers are indexed in the ADS.

 

The lightcurve of an asteroid can be used to determine the period, the shape and its size. We can also understand its composition (if it is a solid body or something else) and the orientation of the spin axes. Due to the high number of the asteroids the need of measuring them is important and all available telescopes are necessary to track them.

 

My amateur observatory participates in the effort to record all these objects in the Solar System. It also conducts observations of various objects and other phenomena such as exoplanet transits, contributing to the Ariel Space Mission with the Exoclock Project, asteroid occultations and comet photometry.

The observatory is registered in IAU as L02, «NOAK Observatory, Stavraki», in the town of Ioannina, Greece.

 

References

[1] Roger Dymock: Asteroids and Dwarf Planets

[2] Brian D. Warner: A Practical Guide to Lightcurve Photometry and Analysis

[3] http://alcdef.org/index.php

[4] http://www.minorplanet.info/MPB/

How to cite: Sioulas, N.: Photometric observations of the main-belt asteroid 665 Sabine and Minor Planet Bulletin, Europlanet Science Congress 2021, online, 13–24 Sep 2021, EPSC2021-616, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2021-616, 2021.

EPSC2021-208
Daniele Gardiol, Tiberio Cuppone, Giovanni Ascione, Dario Barghini, Albino Carbognani, Mario Di Martino, Matteo Di Carlo, Francesco Ianniello, Giovanni Pratesi, Walter Riva, Elia Rubino, Pasquale Russo, Giovanna Stirpe, Diego Valeri, and C.Antonio Volpicelli and the the PRISMA collaboration

PRISMA is the italian fireball network dedicated to observation of bright meteors and recovery of freshly fallen meteorites. Since the very beginning of the project, we experienced an increasing enthusiastic participation of non-professionals, starting from amateur astronomers and reaching an ever wider audience among citizens. Nowadays PRISMA has become an established italian stakeholder in the field of meteors and meteorites, being the reference for visual warnings, video recording of fireballs and report of suspect meteorite finds.

In this contribution we will describe our experience on this topic and the methodologies we have developed to capitalize such potential, by actively training and involving citizens in activities focused on meteorite/meteorwrong identification and organized on-field search campaigns. We will show an application to the real case of the 15th march 2021 meteorite-dropping bolide in sourthern Italy, near the city of Isernia.

How to cite: Gardiol, D., Cuppone, T., Ascione, G., Barghini, D., Carbognani, A., Di Martino, M., Di Carlo, M., Ianniello, F., Pratesi, G., Riva, W., Rubino, E., Russo, P., Stirpe, G., Valeri, D., and Volpicelli, C. A. and the the PRISMA collaboration: A successful example of citizen science within the PRISMA network applied to the 15th March 2021 bolide over Italy, Europlanet Science Congress 2021, online, 13–24 Sep 2021, EPSC2021-208, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2021-208, 2021.

C. Observations
EPSC2021-549
Manuel Scherf, Colin Snodgrass, Grazina Tautvaisiene, Ricardo Hueso, Edyta Podlewska-Gaca, Francois Colas, Itziar Garate-Lopez, Krzysztof Langner, and Günter Kargl

Since February 2020, the Horizon 2020 research infrastructure project Europlanet 2024 (EPN 2024 RI; website: bit.ly/2Z1XA8u) is serving the planetary sciences community with diverse schemes and funding opportunities. As part of this project, the Europlanet Telescope Network (website: bit.ly/37SCiyj), a collaboration between small telescope facilities in Europe and beyond, kick-started in June of the same year with the goal to provide coordinated observations, support for space missions, and to better integrate amateur astronomers into planetary sciences. Since then, the network is providing access for professional and citizen scientists to 16 different observatories ranging from 40cm to 2m in size (see figure and list below). While the network plans to draw in additional facilities and to build new collaborations, scientists and amateurs can apply through a rolling Call for Observations (website: bit.ly/2Br5LDt) to visit those facilities that are already participating in the network and have their expenses reimbursed for the time needed to make their observations. This also comprises the possibility of remote observations since the network includes 14 robotic or remotely operated facilities. Any of the short applications to the call (2 to 3 pages in size) will be reviewed anonymously by the Science Advisory Panel on a bi-monthly basis which should assure a relatively fast reaction to potential observational alerts.

Even though the focus of the network is on planetary sciences and exoplanets, the project does also accept applications covering other scientific areas. The first proposals granted, therefore, cover a diverse scientific field, ranging from asteroids to exoplanets, and the observation of variable nebulae. This presentation will review the Europlanet Telescope Network and the facilities involved, how researchers and amateur astronomers can apply, and will also give examples on the first observations performed at the network.

Besides coordinated observations at the Europlanet Telescope Network, this project also supports the integration of amateur astronomers into planetary sciences through the organization of dedicated workshops and the provision of a newly developed web platform for the issuing of observational alerts and the organization of coordinated campaigns. While we will overview these activities in the second part of our presentation, we will also give an outlook onto the upcoming years and on the support that we are yet planning to provide for amateur astronomers and the planetary sciences community.

The telescopes in the network:

1.    Pic du Midi Observatory, France: 1.06-m telescope
2.    Moletai Astronomical Observatory, Lithuania: 1.65-m and 35/51-cm telescopes
3.    Kryoneri Observatory, Greece: 1.2-m telescope
4.    Skalnate Pleso Observatory, Slovakia: 1.3-m and 61-cm telescopes
5.    Faulkes Telescope Project: two 2-m, nine 1-m, and ten 40-cm robotic telescopes
6.    Tartu Observatory, Estonia: 1.5-m and 60-cm telescopes, and 30-cm robotic telescope
7.    Danish 1.54-m telescope at La Silla Observatory, Chile: 1.54-m telescope
8.    Beacon Observatory, UK: 42-cm telescope
9.    Observatorie del Teide, Spain: 82-cm and 45-cm telescopes
10.    Calar Alto Observatory, Spain: 1.23-m telescope
11.    Lisnyky Observation Station, Ukraine: 70-cm telescope
12.    Chuguev Observatory, Ukraine: 70-cm telescope
13.    Terskol Peak Observatory, Ukraine: 2-m and 60-cm telescopes
14.    Konkoly Observatory, Hungary: 1-m and 80-cm telescopes
15.    Ussuriysk Astrophysical Observatory, Russia: 25-cm and 50-cm telescopes
16.    Rozhen Observatory, Bulgaria: 2-m, 60-cm, and 50/70-cm telescopes

Further information on the different facilities can be found at bit.ly/2Br5LDt.

Acknowledgements. Europlanet 2024 RI has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149.

How to cite: Scherf, M., Snodgrass, C., Tautvaisiene, G., Hueso, R., Podlewska-Gaca, E., Colas, F., Garate-Lopez, I., Langner, K., and Kargl, G.: Supporting the planetary sciences community with the Europlanet Telescope Network, Europlanet Science Congress 2021, online, 13–24 Sep 2021, EPSC2021-549, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2021-549, 2021.

EPSC2021-304
|
ECP
Itziar Garate-Lopez, Joaquín Álvaro, Ricardo Hueso, Gabriella Gilli, Iñaki Ordóñez-Etxeberria, Ramón Navès Nogues, Mercè Correa, Montse Campàs, and Manuel Scherf

Europlanet 2024 RI is a Research Infrastructure funded by the European Commission from Feb. 2020 to Feb. 2024 to enhance collaborations among planetary scientists through Europe by providing networking activities, virtual services and access to research facilities. One of the activities of the RI is the Europlanet Telescope Network (ETN), a program to fund access and costs of use to a network of telescopes for observations of Solar System objects and exoplanets. One of the goals of the network is to widen the participation of amateur astronomers in professional and amateur (pro-am) collaborations accepting proposals from amateur astronomers that are evaluated by a scientific committee on the scientific merit only.

Many amateur astronomers have a long-standing experience in astronomical observations and data analysis, can extract very valuable observations from the telescopes of the network and are part of large pro-am projects. However amateur astronomers have little to no experience in the subtleties of writing proposals. To counteract this disadvantage the project decided to organize a workshop on proposals writing that could inspire amateur astronomers and result in future successful proposals. The first of such workshops was organized as a virtual meeting on May 15, 2021 (Saturday) [1], in collaboration with the Spanish-Portuguese hub of the Europlanet Society [2], the Pro-Am Commission of the Spanish Society of Astronomy [3], and the Federation of Amateur Astronomical Associations of Spain [4]. Although the workshop was conducted in Spanish there were participants from France and Portugal, and some participants from South America.

Here we will show how we structured the workshop, the first one developed to publicise the ETN among amateurs and facilitate access for them in a practical way. We will also detail the positive results so far and the lessons learnt from this experience.

The workshop was structured in three main sessions: (1) A morning session with full details of the ETN and examples of pro-am collaborations (2 hours long); (2) An afternoon session dedicated to the ETN call and the proposal writing (4 hours); (3) A night-time session dedicated to remote observation that started at 9 p.m. and was extended from 1 a.m. (official closing time of the workshop) to 6 a.m.

In the first session, the Europlanet project and the telescope network were described, with emphasis on the closest telescopes most likely to be used by the Spanish amateur community. Several Pro-Am projects in which they could collaborate with their observations were also detailed. Special emphasis was given to projects embedded in Europlanet2024RI such as Gaia-GOSA [5] or ExoClock [6], and VESPA [7] and associated databases (such as PVOL [8]). Finally, several activities undertaken by the Pro-Am Commission of the Spanish Society of Astronomy were presented.

In the second session, the process of accessing the network was explained with the conditions to be fulfilled and the steps to be followed. Public information on the proposals granted so far were analysed and examples of studies that amateurs can perform with the telescopes of the network were shown, emphasising the scientific contribution of these observations. The open call and funding application form were explained in detail in a writing workshop. The scientific approach to be given to the whole funding proposal was highlighted and examples were given in all sections.

This session ended with a demonstration of remote use of one of the telescopes of the network: the 1.23m of the Calar Alto Observatory. The night session was organized around observations of objects previously proposed by the participants. These were the comets C2021A1 and C2017K2 (figure 1), the transiting exoplanet WASP-14b (figure 2), and we ended up with an observation of Saturn and 6 of its moons (figure 3).

The number of active participants was about 70 in all sessions and 15 of them stayed on until 6 a. m. They all said they like the initiative, the project, and being able to use these telescopes. For many amateurs the main drawback to prepare an application is the bureaucratic steps associated to the proposal. For others, a drawback is the perceived difficulties in using a large telescope and its instrument from the available documentation resulting in stiff learning curves. For most of them, the direct experience of using a 1-m class size telescope resulted in a very positive experience and some observers declared the workshop motivated them to prepare proposals to the network in the near future. We recommend to the rest of the Europlanet hubs to reproduce similar workshops in their regions which can boost not only the use of the ETN, but also the participation of amateur astronomers in varied pro-am projects.

Acknowledgements

Europlanet 2024 RI has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149. We are very grateful to the Calar Alto Observatory for their good disposal and technical support.

References

[1] https://www.europlanet-society.org/virtual-workshop-on-the-use-of-the-europlanet-telescope-network-for-amateur-astronomers/

[2] https://spainportugal-eps.org/index.php/en/

[3] https://www.sea-astronomia.es/colaboracion-pro-am

[4] https://federacionastronomica.es/

[5] http://www.gaiagosa.eu

[6] https://www.exoclock.space/

[7] http://www.europlanet-vespa.eu/

[8] http://pvol2.ehu.eus/pvol2/

Figure 1: Comets C/2017K2 (left) and C/2021A1 (right). Data analyzed by Ramón Navès. Images are stacks of 25 (left) and 21 (right) exposures of 2 minutes in both panels. Brightness isolines are represented in the insets in color.

Figure 2: Lightcurve of exoplanet WASP-14b based on 2 seconds exposures. Data analyzed by Mercè Correa with the Hops program of the ExoClock project.

Figure 3: Saturn and moons. Single shot of 0.01 s near dawn.

How to cite: Garate-Lopez, I., Álvaro, J., Hueso, R., Gilli, G., Ordóñez-Etxeberria, I., Navès Nogues, R., Correa, M., Campàs, M., and Scherf, M.: Virtual Workshop on the use of the Europlanet Telescope Networkfor amateur astronomers: An experience from the Spanish-Portuguese hub of the Europlanet Society, Europlanet Science Congress 2021, online, 13–24 Sep 2021, EPSC2021-304, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2021-304, 2021.

EPSC2021-30
|
ECP
Ivan Delvecchio, Stefano Capretti, Leone Di Mario, Amedeo Ferrante, Valeriano Antonini, Lorenzo Spina, Raffaela Ennas, Barbara Mantegazza, Italo Alfieri, Eleonora Piromalli, and Andrea Zanardi

Our team is part of the Italian non-profit association AstronomiAmo (https://www.astronomiamo.it/Home), which aims at disseminating astronomy and promoting respect for the environment. The All-Sky TRacking, ALerts and Environment (ASTRALE) project merges both purposes, providing a beautiful view of the night sky, an automatic detection of meteors and an evaluation of the air quality index.  

Specifically, ASTRALE (https://astrale.astronomiamo.it/) consists of several devices installed across Italy, which collect data in the form of images or numbers, make a first processing and send them to a central server for storage, analysis and reporting. Each peripheral device (see Figure 1) comes with two installation possibilities:

  • ASTRALE Meteor: for those who have a good sky and visibility in all directions: the system is equipped with a webcam for the sky and sensors for the air.
  • ASTRALE Air: for those who lack a good sky, due to light pollution and / or visibility, but wish to keep under control the quality of the air they breathe.

What makes ASTRALE unique?

  • Automatic detection system: An automatic analysis tool has been developed to identify each transient event. To date, nearly 2000 events have been visually inspected and classified by each volunteer citizen. This amount of data is feeding a machine-learning algorithm that will soon provide a real-time classification of each image. Citizen science is the driving engine to make this ambitious goal possible.
  • Low-cost: As a non-profit association, we are fully committed to keep the cost as low as possible, while ensuring a high-quality performance. The expected cost for ASTRALE Meteor is 350 € maximum, while for ASTRALE Air it is about 180 €. This cost simply matches the reimbursement for all hardware components purchased from the market. Each device is then assembled for free by our team experts. No earning is present, neither at personal nor at association level.
  • User-friendly: our system can be distributed across Europe and easily installed at home, with no need for maintenance. The only requirements are Internet connection, a socket and an outdoor space. Our team provides full-time assistance to the user. 
  • Interdisciplinary: this project has blossomed from the close interaction between amateur astronomers, professionals, outreach providers, who are all part of AstronomiAmo. The ASTRALE project encompasses complementary fields of expertise, such as astronomy, environmental science, software engineering, science communication and citizen science. For this reason, ASTRALE aims at engaging the widest possible audience, driven by a common passion for science and environmental awareness.

 

How does it work?

Images are captured with a Raspberry HQ Cam with a 12.3 Mpixel Sony IMX477 and a CS-mount with a 2.5mm fisheye lens. A dew heater is used to keep the lens and the dome free of moisture. The camera is coupled with a Raspberry PI4 2GB single board computer with a Debian based Linux distribution. The control software is developed in Python. Temperature, pressure and humidity are measured by an I2C BME680, while a PMS5003 is used to measure particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM10). The device is completed by the ozone MQ131 sensor and the MICS6814, a MEME sensor that can detect CO, NO2 and NH3. The air quality index (AQI) is then computed as the highest among the above concentration indices, where each can be measured on a daily or hour-moving average. 

Our popular participation platform Meteor Lens is inspired by the fantastic project of "Zooniverse", a worldwide platform for citizen science open to volunteers and enthusiasts. Figure 2 displays an all-sky snapshot taken from the webcam with a 20 sec integration exposure, reaching down to an apparent magnitude of 4.5. Our algorithm draws a rectangle around each transient object, sending an automatic alert with recording date, time and image coordinates.

Citizen science is crucial to help the ASTRALE system to better and better discriminate between celestial events related to meteors (Figure 2) and false positives related to clouds, reflections, lightning or passage of satellites and/or aircraft (Figure 3). To this end, a self-explanatory tutorial guides the user on how to recognize different classes of events. “Lens'' refers instead to the flagship tool we provide for meteor recognition: a digital lens to increase the size of possible meteors (Figure 4)

What can you do for ASTRALE?

Meteorites are the oldest rocks in our Solar System and they represent a physical record of the formation and evolution of planet Earth. Observing the trajectory and colour of these bodies from multiple cameras allows us to calculate their velocity, height, as well as their path. If a meteorite is recovered, it will give us key information about the origin of rocks and planets in the Solar System.

The improvement of the detection algorithm needs your participation! In order to achieve this goal, we have dedicated an area to anyone who wants to participate. The user will be given a list of images obtained from our cameras and will be asked to classify each of them.

If the sky conditions are not ideal for all-sky monitoring, the Astrale Air tool can be installed to measure the AQI (Figure 5). Those estimates provided by our device will expand the existing network supplied by the Regional Agency for Environmental Protection (ARPA) across the Italian territory, further tightening the monitoring of the air that we breathe.

Future prospects

At present three cameras are operating successfully, while about ten are expected to by the end of 2021, and even more air sensors are being installed across the Italian territory. Identification and removal of ISS or Earth satellites will be improved thanks to a real-time cross-match with our own catalogue of Earth satellite orbits built on the AstronomiAmo server. The ASTRALE team is willing to coordinate with similar projects spread across Europe and the world. This synergy will be mutually beneficial to increase the completeness of each network in detecting meteors, giving people a concrete chance to get involved with this highly multi-disciplinary project.

How to cite: Delvecchio, I., Capretti, S., Di Mario, L., Ferrante, A., Antonini, V., Spina, L., Ennas, R., Mantegazza, B., Alfieri, I., Piromalli, E., and Zanardi, A.: ASTRALE: a citizen-driven project for air quality and all-sky monitoring, Europlanet Science Congress 2021, online, 13–24 Sep 2021, EPSC2021-30, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2021-30, 2021.