MAY 2021 Issue 3

The MERCURY NEWSLETTER by the Mercury Exploration Assessment Group (MExAG)

TABLE OF CONTENTS MERCURY SCIENCE and EXPLORATION NEWS

MERCURY SCIENCE and ● Bridging the gap between MESSENGER and EXPLORATION NEWS BepiColombo, Carl Schmidt, Ron Vervack, and Jeff

Morgenthaler along with colleagues Tom Bida and

Rosemary Killen observed Mercury’s exosphere RECENT MERCURY-RELATED during the May elongation at the Lowell, Apache PUBLICATIONS Point, and IoIO Observatories.

● BepiColombo is in cruise phase on its way to Mercury! UPCOMING MEETINGS with The first Mercury flyby is planned for Oct 2021, with a MERCURY-RELATED CONTENT closest approach of 200 km. Follow along: https://bepicolombo.esac.esa.int/itl-viewer/where/ ● MExAG Final Findings from our 2021 Annual Meeting STAY IN THE LOOP are online: https://www.lpi.usra.edu/mexag/documents/ Following community discussions, the SC is working https://www.lpi.usra.edu/mexag/ on drafting the first initial MExAG Goals Document. @ExploreMercury ● MExAG will be reporting to the Planetary Advisory MExAG list-serv: Committee (PAC) on 14 June. Meeting agenda and https://www.lpi.usra.edu/mexag/iofi/ virtual connection information can be found at https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/nac/science-a Community forum: dvisory-committees/pac. mercury-planet[email protected] ● NASA announced that “the new AO release date KEEP US IN THE LOOP places the fifth New Frontiers mission firmly in the Please send Mercury community time period being deliberated upon by the ongoing announcements and calendar items for planetary science decadal survey. NASA SMD intends inclusion in our next quarterly newsletter to use the results of this decadal survey, expected in to [email protected]. early 2022, to guide the New Frontiers 5 AO."

● NASA released its latest Discovery Data Analysis Mercury was easily visible with the naked Program (DDAP) call, which now includes research eye in May, starting the month with a magnitude of -1.1! Did you catch a glimpse? based on the BepiColombo mission. Mandatory Share your pictures with us via email or Notices of Intent are now due September 28, 2021 and Twitter to be featured on @ExploreMercury! Proposals are due November 23, 2021. This call is part of the Dual Anonymous Peer Review Program. The MERCURY NEWSLETTER Page 1 MAY 2021 Issue 3 RECENT MERCURY-RELATED PUBLICATIONS

2021 Aizawa, S., Griton, L. S., Fatemi, S., Exner, W., Deca, J., Pantellini, F., Yagi, M., Heyner, D., Génot, V., André, N., Amaya, J., Murakami, G., Beigbeder, L., Gangloff, M., Bouchemit, M., Budnik, E., Usui H. (2021), Cross-comparison of global simulation models applied to Mercury’s dayside magnetosphere, Planetary and Space Science 198, 105176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2021.105176. Bauch, K. E., Hiesinger, H., Greenhagen, B. T., Helbert, J., (2021), Estimation of surface temperatures on Mercury in preparation of the MERTIS experiment onboard BepiColombo, Icarus 354, 114083. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2020.114083. Bertone, S., Mazarico, E., Barker, M. K., Goossens, S., Sabaka, T. J., Neumann, G. A., Smith, D. E., (2021), Deriving Mercury geodetic parameters with altimetric crossovers from the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA), Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 126, e2020JE006683. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JE006683. Deutsch, A.N., Head, J.W., Parman, S.W., Neumann, G.A., Lowden, F., (2021), Degassing of volcanic extrusives on Mercury: Potential contributions to transient atmospheres and buried polar deposits, Earth and Planetary Science Letters 564, 116907. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2021.116907. Hyodo, R., Genda, H., Brasser, R., (2021), Modification of the composition and density of Mercury from late accretion, Icarus 354, 114064. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2020.114064. Katsura, T., Shimizu, H., Momoki, N., Toh H., (2021), Electromagnetic induction revealed by MESSENGER's vector magnetic data: The size of Mercury's core, Icarus 354, 114112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2020.114112. Knibbe, J. S., Rivoldini, A., Luginbuhl, S. M., Namur, O., Charlier, B., Mezouar, M., Sifre, D., Berndt, J., Kono, Y., Neuville, D.R., Westrenen, W. van, Hoolst, T.V., (2021), Mercury’s Interior Structure Constrained by Density and P-Wave Velocity Measurements of Liquid Fe-Si-C Alloys, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 126, e2020JE006651. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JE006651. Morlok, A., Renggli, C., Charlier, B., Reitze, M. P., Klemme, S., Namur, O., Sohn, M., Martin, D., Weber, I., Stojic, A. N., Hiesinger, H., Joy, K. H., Wogelius, R., Tollan, P., Carli, C., Bauch, K. E., Helbert, J., (2021), Mid-infrared reflectance spectroscopy of synthetic glass analogs for Mercury surface studies, Icarus 361, 114363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114363. Pajola, M., Lucchetti, A., Semenzato, A., Poggiali, G., Munaretto, G., Galluzzi, V., Marzo, G. A., Cremonese, G., Brucato, J. R., Palumbo, P., Massironi, M., (2021), Lermontov crater on Mercury: Geology, morphology and spectral properties of the coexisting hollows and pyroclastic deposits, Planetary and Space Science 195, 105136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2020.105136. Pegg, D. L., Rothery, D. A., Conway, S. J., Balme, M. R., (2021), A fault surface exposed on Mercury, Planetary and Space Science 201, 105223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2021.105223.

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2021 cont. Pegg, D.L., Rothery, D.A., Balme, M.R., Conway, S.J., (2021), Explosive vent sites on Mercury: Commonplace multiple eruptions and their implications. Icarus 365, 114510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114510. Phillips, M. S., Moersch, J. E., Viviano, C. E., Emery, J. P., (2021), The lifecycle of hollows on Mercury: An evaluation of candidate volatile phases and a novel model of formation, Icarus 359, 114306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114306. Pokorný, P., Mazarico, E., Schorghofer N., (2021), Erosion of volatiles by micrometeoroid bombardment on Ceres and comparison to the Moon and Mercury, Planetary Science Journal 2, 85. https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/abef04. Reitze, M. P., Weber, I., Morlok, A., Hiesinger, H., Bauch, K. E., Stojic, A., N., Helbert, J., (2021), Mid-infrared spectroscopy of crystalline plagioclase feldspar samples with various Al,Si order and implications for remote sensing of Mercury and other terrestrial Solar System objects, Earth and Planetary Science Letters 554, 116697. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116697. Schmid, D., Narita, Y., Plaschke, F., Volwerk, M., Nakamura, R., Baumjohann, W., (2021), Pick-up ion cyclotron waves around Mercury, Geophysical Research Letters 48, e2021GL092606. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL092606. Stojic, A. N., Morlok, A., Tollan, P., Kohout, T., Hermann, J., Weber, I., Moreau, J.-G., Hiesinger, H., Sohn, M., Bauch, K. E., Reitze, M. P., Helbert, J., (2021), A shock recovery experiment and its implications for Mercury's surface: The effect of high pressure on porous olivine powder as a regolith analog, Icarus 357, 114162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2020.114162. Sun, L.-Z., Huang, C.-L., Yu, Y., Qi, Z.-X., Tang, Z.-H., Zhao, M., Yang, D.-H., Wu, T., (2021), A new telescope with three fields of view to measure the orientation parameters of the Moon and terrestrial planets, Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics 21, 040. https://doi.org/10.1088/1674-4527/21/2/40. Susorney, H.C.M., Ernst, C.M., Chabot, N.L., Deutsch, A.N., Barnouin, O.S., (2021), Morphometry and Temperature of Simple Craters in Mercury’s Northern Hemisphere: Implications for Stability of Water Ice, Planetary Science Journal 2, 97. https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/abf4ca. Tao, R., Fei, Y. (2021), High-pressure experimental constraints of partitioning behavior of Si and S at the Mercury's inner core boundary, Earth and Planetary Science Letters 562, 116849. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2021.116849. Watters, T. R., (2021), A case for limited global contraction of Mercury, Communications Earth and Environment 2, 9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-020-00076-5. Xiao, Z., Xu, Rui, Wang, Y., Chang, Y., Xu, Ru, Cui, J., (2021), Recent dark pyroclastic deposits on Mercury, Geophysical Research Letters 48, e2021GL092532. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL092532.

Mercury’s transit across the Sun from May 2016. [Credit: NASA] Follow us @ExploreMercury for more Mercury content.

The MERCURY NEWSLETTER Page 3 MAY 2021 Issue 3

2020 Amendments (Full list: https://www.lpi.usra.edu/mexag/publications/) James, M. K., Imber, S. M., Raines, J. M., Yeoman, T. K., Bunce, E. J. (2020), A machine learning approach to classifying MESSENGER FIPS proton spectra, Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics 125, e2019JA027352. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JA027352. Tenthoff, M., Wohlfarth, K., Wöhler, C. (2020), High resolution digital terrain models of Mercury, Remote Sensing 12, 3989. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12233989. Additional Mercury Publications? Let us know! Send a note to [email protected] for inclusion in our quarterly newsletter.

UPCOMING MEETINGS with MERCURY-RELATED CONTENT

Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey View Mercury-related white papers and meeting 2023-2032: Panel on Mercury and the Moon agendas online. https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/planetary- Open meeting dates: 4 June, 25 June, 16 July, science-and-astrobiology-decadal-survey-2023-2032 6 Aug 2021 (Virtual)

Arecibo Observatory Options Workshop Workshop dates: 2, 4, 10, 14, 16, 18, 28 June 2021 https://arecibo.hub.ki/ (Virtual)

2021 Annual Meeting of Planetary Geologic Mappers Meeting dates: 14–15 June 2021 (Virtual) https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/pgm2021/ Registration deadline: 10 June 2021

NASA Exploration Science Forum Meeting dates: 20-23 July 2021 (Virtual) https://lunarscience.arc.nasa.gov/nesfels2021/

84th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society Meeting dates: 14-21 Aug 2021 (Chicago, IL, USA) https://www.metsoc2021-chicago.com/ Abstract and travel award applications due: 3 June 2021

Europlanet Science Congress 2021 Meeting dates: 13–24 Sep 2021 (Virtual) https://www.epsc2021.eu/ Abstracts due: 26 May 2021 Consider applying to Mercury-related sessions: [TP14] MERCURY SCIENCE AND OBSERVATIONS

https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2021/session/41629

[TP8] PLANETARY SPACE WEATHER AND SPACE WEATHERING ON AIRLESS BODIES

https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2021/session/41621

American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting Meeting dates: 13–17 Dec 2021 (New Orleans, https://www.agu.org/fall-meeting LA, USA) Stay tuned for programmed Mercury-related sessions.

Mercury 2022: Current and future science of the Meeting dates: 7–10 June 2022 innermost planet https://mercury2020.ias.u-psud.fr/main_1st.php

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