Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 10 October 1997:
Vol. 278. no. 5336, pp. 271 - 275
DOI: 10.1126/science.278.5336.271
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Organics and Other Molecules in the Surfaces of Callisto and Ganymede

T. B. McCord, * R. W. Carlson, W. D. Smythe, G. B. Hansen, R. N. Clark, C. A. Hibbitts, F. P. Fanale, J. C. Granahan, M. Segura, D. L. Matson, T. V. Johnson, P. D. Martin

Five absorption features are reported at wavelengths of 3.4, 3.88, 4.05, 4.25, and 4.57 micrometers in the surface materials of the Galilean satellites Callisto and Ganymede from analysis of reflectance spectra returned by the Galileo mission near-infrared mapping spectrometer. Candidate materials include CO2, organic materials (such as tholins containing Cequiv N and C-H), SO2, and compounds containing an SH-functional group; CO2, SO2, and perhaps cyanogen [(CN)2] may be present within the surface material itself as collections of a few molecules each. The spectra indicate that the primary surface constituents are water ice and hydrated minerals.

T. B. McCord, G. B. Hansen, C. A. Hibbitts, F. P. Fanale, P. D. Martin, Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
R. W. Carlson, W. D. Smythe, M. Segura, D. L. Matson, T. V. Johnson, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
R. N. Clark, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO 80225-0046, USA.
J. C. Granahan, Science and Technology International, Incorporated, Honolulu, HI 56813, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: tom{at}kahana.pgd.hawaii.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Oxygen and Asteroids.
T. H. Burbine, A. S. Rivkin, S. K. Noble, T. Mothe-Diniz, W. F. Bottke, T. J. McCoy, M. D. Dyar, and C. A. Thomas (2008)
Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 68, 273-343
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Galilean Satellites.
A. P. Showman and a. R. Malhotra (1999)
Science 286, 77-84
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Hydrogen Peroxide on the Surface of Europa.
R. W. Carlson, M. S. Anderson, R. E. Johnson, W. D. Smythe, A. R. Hendrix, C. A. Barth, L. A. Soderblom, G. B. Hansen, T. B. McCord, J. B. Dalton, et al. (1999)
Science 283, 2062-2064
   Abstract »    Full Text »
A Tenuous Carbon Dioxide Atmosphere on Jupiter's Moon Callisto.
R. W. Carlson (1999)
Science 283, 820-821
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Salts on Europa's Surface Detected by Galileo's Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer.
T. B. McCord, G. B. Hansen, F. P. Fanale, R. W. Carlson, D. L. Matson, T. V. Johnson, W. D. Smythe, J. K. Crowley, P. D. Martin, A. Ocampo, et al. (1998)
Science 280, 1242-1245
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Carbonic Acid in the Gas Phase and Its Astrophysical Relevance.
W. Hage, K. R. Liedl, A. Hallbrucker, and E. Mayer (1998)
Science 279, 1332-1335
   Abstract »    Full Text »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)