Europlanet Science Congress 2022
Palacio de Congresos de Granada, Spain
18 – 23 September 2022
Europlanet Science Congress 2022
Palacio de Congresos de Granada, Spain
18 September – 23 September 2022

Session programme

OPS

OPS – Outer Planet Systems

Programme group coordinators: Frank Postberg, Federico Tosi

OPS1

This session will cover all aspects of ice giant (IG) systems including (but not limited to) the atmospheric structure and composition, magnetospheres, interiors, satellites, and rings of the IGs. Interdisciplinary, crosscutting themes of ice giant planet exploration, such as the relationship to exoplanetary science and connections to heliophysics will also be considered in the session. The session will comprise a combination of solicited and contributed oral and poster presentations on new, continuing, and future studies of the ice giant systems and the importance of the ice giants to models of the formation and evolution of the giant planets and solar systems. We welcome abstracts that
• Address the current understanding of ice giant systems, including atmospheres, interiors, magnetospheres, rings, and satellites including Triton.
• Advance our understanding of the ice giant systems in preparation for future exploration, both by remote sensing and in situ.
• Discuss what the ice giants can tell us about solar system formation and evolution leading to a better understanding of the current structure of the solar system and its habitable zone as well as extrasolar systems.
• Address outstanding science questions requiring future investigations including from spacecraft, remote sensing, theoretical, and laboratory work necessary to improve our knowledge of the ice giants and their relationship to the gas giants and the solar system.
• Present concepts of missions, instruments and investigations relevant to future exploration of the ice giant planetary systems.

Co-organized by MITM
Convener: Thibault Cavalié | Co-conveners: David H. Atkinson, Olivier Mousis, Alena Probst, Sushil K. Atreya, Mark Hofstadter, Leigh Fletcher, Nadine Nettelmann
Orals
| Mon, 19 Sep, 10:00–11:30 (CEST), 15:30–17:00 (CEST)|Room Andalucia 2
Posters
| Attendance Mon, 19 Sep, 18:45–20:15 (CEST) | Display Mon, 19 Sep, 08:30–Wed, 21 Sep, 11:00|Poster area Level 1
OPS2

Saturn's moon Titan, despite its satellite status, has nothing to envy to planets: it has planetary dimensions, a substantial and dynamic atmosphere, a carbon cycle, a variety of geological features (dunes, lakes, rivers, mountains and more), seasons, and a hidden ocean. It even now has its own mission: Dragonfly, selected by NASA in the frame of the New Frontiers program.
In this session, scientific presentations are solicited to cover all aspects of current research on Titan: from its interior to its upper atmosphere, using data collected from the Cassini-Huygens mission (2004-2017) and/or from ground-based telescopes (e.g., ALMA) and/or based on modelling and experimental efforts to support the interpretation of past and future observations of this unique world.

Co-organized by MITM
Conveners: Alice Le Gall, Anezina Solomonidou | Co-conveners: Ralph Lorenz, Conor Nixon, Marco Mastroguiseppe, Sandrine Vinatier
Orals
| Wed, 21 Sep, 10:00–13:15 (CEST)|Room Andalucia 2
Posters
| Attendance Mon, 19 Sep, 18:45–20:15 (CEST) | Display Mon, 19 Sep, 08:30–Wed, 21 Sep, 11:00|Poster area Level 1
OPS3

The exploration of the outer solar system by Galileo at Jupiter, Cassini-Huygens at Saturn, New Horizons at Pluto-Charon and Dawn at Ceres, has revealed that several icy worlds harbor subsurface salty liquid reservoirs underneath their cold surface. Such discoveries provide incentive for future exploration of the icy Galilean satellites with Europa Clipper and JUICE, and Titan with Dragonfly, and motivate several other mission projects already under consideration by space agencies. While we are entering in a new era in icy world exploration, understanding these promising worlds and preparing for their characterization requires input from a variety of scientific disciplines: planetary geology and geophysics (including active processes, e.g. plumes), atmospheric physics, life sciences, space weathering, as well as supporting laboratory studies, numerical simulations, preparatory studies for future missions and technology developments in instrumentation and engineering. We welcome abstracts that cover this full breadth of disciplines required for the characterization and future exploration of icy world systems.

Co-organized by MITM
Convener: Alice Lucchetti | Co-conveners: Gabriel Tobie, Carly Howett, Frank Postberg, Federico Tosi
Orals
| Mon, 19 Sep, 17:30–18:30 (CEST)|Room Andalucia 2, Tue, 20 Sep, 10:00–13:30 (CEST), 15:30–17:00 (CEST)|Room Andalucia 2, Wed, 21 Sep, 15:30–18:30 (CEST)|Room Andalucia 2
Posters
| Attendance Mon, 19 Sep, 18:45–20:15 (CEST) | Display Mon, 19 Sep, 08:30–Wed, 21 Sep, 11:00|Poster area Level 1
OPS4

The Juno mission is providing crucial new data sets addressing Jupiter's origin, interior, atmosphere, satellites, rings and magnetosphere that challenge current theories of formation, evolution and dynamics of both Jupiter and giant planets in general. The Juno results when combined with data sets from previous missions and ground based observations is providing a new opportunity for the study of comparative planetology. Juno’s results on Jupiter also provide key insights important for our understanding of exoplanet systems. This session welcomes contributions on a wide variety of topics regarding Jupiter and other giant planets in general: gravity and magnetic field analysis and interpretation, giant planet magnetospheres, aurorae, radiation environments, atmospheric dynamics, planet interiors and the Galilean satellites. The session also welcomes remote observations acquired in support of Juno, and discussions of formation scenarios and evolutionary pathways of planetary bodies in our Solar System and beyond.

Convener: Scott Bolton | Co-conveners: Yamila Miguel, Yasmina M Martos, Corentin Louis, Stavros Kotsiaros, Kimberly Moore
Orals
| Thu, 22 Sep, 12:00–13:30 (CEST), 15:30–18:30 (CEST)|Room Andalucia 2, Fri, 23 Sep, 10:00–11:30 (CEST)|Room Andalucia 3
Posters
| Attendance Thu, 22 Sep, 18:45–20:15 (CEST) | Display Wed, 21 Sep, 14:00–Fri, 23 Sep, 16:00|Poster area Level 1
OPS5

The aim of this session is to discuss our current understanding on the environments of the outer planet moons and their interactions with the surrounding electromagnetic fields and particles and to discuss the pathway for upcoming and future explorations. This session covers contributions on all the outer planet moons from a variety of topics including (but not limited to) the magnetic field generation, subsurface ocean detection from fields and particles, active processes (e.g., volcanoes and plumes) and their interactions with the surrounding environments and detections, neutral atmosphere, ionosphere, aurora, plasma and dust environment, moon-ring systems, and moon-magnetosphere interaction. Contributions based on observations (both from space and from the ground), modelling, theoretical interpretation and supporting laboratory experiments and concepts for future spacecraft missions are welcome.

Co-organized by MITM
Convener: Shahab Fatemi | Co-conveners: Audrey Vorburger, Lorenz Roth, Elias Roussos, Krishan Khurana
Orals
| Fri, 23 Sep, 12:00–13:25 (CEST), 15:30–16:45 (CEST)|Room Andalucia 3
Posters
| Attendance Thu, 22 Sep, 18:45–20:15 (CEST) | Display Wed, 21 Sep, 14:00–Fri, 23 Sep, 16:00|Poster area Level 1
OPS6

Atmospheric aerosols and cloud particles are found in every atmosphere of the solar system, as well as, in exoplanets. Depending on their size, shape, chemical composition, latent heat, and distribution, their effect on the radiation budget varies drastically and is difficult to predict. When organic, aerosols also carry a strong prebiotic interest reinforced by the presence of heavy atoms such as nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur.

The aim of the session is to gather presentations on these complex objects for both terrestrial and giant planet atmospheres, including the special cases of Titan’s, Pluto's and Triton's hazy atmospheres. All research aspects from their production and evolution processes, their observation/detection, to their fate and atmospheric impact are welcomed, including laboratory investigations and modeling.

Co-organized by TP/EXOA
Convener: Panayotis Lavvas | Co-conveners: Nathalie Carrasco, Anni Määttänen
Orals
| Thu, 22 Sep, 10:00–11:30 (CEST)|Room Andalucia 2
Posters
| Attendance Thu, 22 Sep, 18:45–20:15 (CEST) | Display Wed, 21 Sep, 14:00–Fri, 23 Sep, 16:00|Poster area Level 1
TP14

Impact processes shaped the Solar System, and modify planetary surfaces and small bodies until today. Impacts also have a technical application for Planetary Defence, exemplified by the joint ESA/NASA Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA) collaboration and the scheduled impact of NASA's DART spacecraft onto Dimorphos in September this year.

This session aims at understanding impact processes at all scales in terms of shock metamorphism, dynamical aspects, geochemical consequences, environmental effects and biotic response, and cratering chronology. Naturally, advancing our understanding of impact phenomena requires a multidisciplinary approach, which includes (but it is not limited to) observations of craters, strewn field or airbursts, numerical modelling, laboratory experiments, geologic and structural mapping, remote sensing, as well as petrographic and geochemical analysis of impact products.

We welcome presentations across this broad range of studies about natural or artificial impact collision phenomena on planetary and small bodies. In particular, we encourage work that bridges the gap between the investigative methods employed in studying planetary impact processes at all scales.

Co-organized by OPS/SB
Convener: Robert Luther | Co-conveners: Elena Martellato, Isabel Herreros, Jens Ormö, Francisco Javier Rodriguez Tovar, Christopher Hamann, Chrysa Avdellidou
Orals
| Fri, 23 Sep, 15:30–18:30 (CEST)|Room Machado
Posters
| Attendance Thu, 22 Sep, 18:45–20:15 (CEST) | Display Wed, 21 Sep, 14:00–Fri, 23 Sep, 16:00|Poster area Level 1
TP18

Ionospheres are a fundamental part of planetary and cometary atmospheres that are formed by solar radiation and are affected by a myriad of different processes, such as space weather activity or neutral atmosphere variations. Moreover, ionospheres play an important role in controlling the dynamics of the system, as they are the link between the neutral atmosphere, exosphere and surrounding plasma environments (e.g. the solar wind for Mars, Venus, Pluto and comets, and the Kronian magnetosphere for Titan). Understanding how each unmagnetized body reacts to all these factors is a key in comparative aeronomy because although a priori all of them have a general similar behaviour, they also have scientifically important differences caused by their different natures.

This session focuses on the ionospheres of Mars, Venus, Pluto, Titan, and comets, and solicits abstracts concerning remote and in situ data analysis, modelling studies, instrumentation and mission concepts. Abstracts on planetary flybys, such as the BepiColombo and Solar Orbiter flybys to Venus, are also welcome. Topics may include, but are not limited to, day and night side ionospheric variability, sources and influences of ionization, ion-neutral coupling, current systems, comparative ionospheric studies, and solar wind-ionosphere interactions and responses of the ionized and neutral regimes to transient space weather events. Abstracts on general plasma and escape processes are also welcome.

Co-organized by OPS/SB
Convener: Beatriz Sanchez-Cano | Co-conveners: Christopher Fowler, Lina Hadid, Valeria Mangano, Niklas Edberg, Francisco González-Galindo
Orals
| Wed, 21 Sep, 12:00–13:30 (CEST), 15:30–18:30 (CEST)|Room Machado
Posters
| Attendance Thu, 22 Sep, 18:45–20:15 (CEST) | Display Wed, 21 Sep, 14:00–Fri, 23 Sep, 16:00|Poster area Level 1
TP13

Shape, gravity field, orbit, tidal deformation, and rotation state are fundamental geodetic parameters of any planetary object. Measurements of these parameters are prerequisites for e.g. spacecraft navigation and mapping from orbit, but also for modelling of the interior and evolution. This session welcomes contributions from all aspects of planetary geodesy, including the relevant theories, observations and models in application to planets, satellites, ring systems, asteroids, and comets.

Co-organized by OPS/SB
Convener: Alexander Stark | Co-conveners: Agnes Fienga, Hauke Hussmann
Orals
| Mon, 19 Sep, 10:00–11:30 (CEST)|Room Andalucia 1
Posters
| Attendance Mon, 19 Sep, 18:45–20:15 (CEST) | Display Mon, 19 Sep, 08:30–Wed, 21 Sep, 11:00|Poster area Level 1
TP15

Astrobiology is the study of whether present or past life exists elsewhere in the universe. To understand how life can begin in space, it is essential to know what organic compounds were likely available, and how they interacted with the planetary environment. This session seeks papers that offer existing/novel theoretical models or computational works that address the chemical and environmental conditions relevant to astrobiology on terrestrial planets/moons or ocean worlds, along with other theoretical, experimental, and observational works related to the emergence and development of Life in the Universe. This includes work related to prebiotic chemistry, the chemistry of early life, the biogeochemistry of life’s interaction with its environment, chemistry associated with biosignatures and their false positives, and chemistry pertinent to conditions that could possibly harbor life (e.g. Titan, Enceladus, Europa, TRAPPIST-1, habitable exoplanets, etc.). Understanding how the planetary environment has influenced the evolution of life and how biological processes have changed the environment is an essential part of any study of the origin and search for signs of life. Earth analogues experiments/instruments test and/or simulation campaigns and limits of life studies are included as well as one of the main topics of this session. Major Space Agencies identified planetary habitability and the search for evidence of life as a key component of their scientific missions in the next two decades. The development of instrumentation and technology to support the search for complex organic molecules/sings of life/biosignatures and the endurance of life in space environments is critical to define unambiguous approaches to life detection over a broad range of planetary environments.

Co-organized by OPS/SB/EXOA
Convener: Felipe Gómez | Co-conveners: Nuria Rodríguez-González, Sohan Jheeta, Frank Trixler, Rosanna del Gaudio
Orals
| Mon, 19 Sep, 10:00–11:30 (CEST), 15:30–18:30 (CEST)|Room Albéniz+Machuca
Posters
| Attendance Mon, 19 Sep, 18:45–20:15 (CEST) | Display Mon, 19 Sep, 08:30–Wed, 21 Sep, 11:00|Poster area Level 1