Influence of Surface Topography on the Steady State Dust Ejecta Clouds around Atmosphereless Moons

Abstract

The surfaces of atmosphereless bodies in the solar system endure constant bombardment from hypervelocity interplanetary micrometeoroids, alongside exposure to various forms of solar and cosmic radiation. Lacking a protective atmosphere the surfaces of these bodies are vulnerable to the impacts of such high-speed cosmic projectiles. Ejecta Dust clouds thus develop around these bodies as a consequence of these impacts that have been detected around the Galilean moons and around Earth’s moon. These dust clouds of ejected material may play a role in re-shaping the surfaces of atmosphereless moons. However, the precise mechanisms governing the formation and evolution of these dust clouds remain subjects of active research. This work investigates how surface topography in principle affects the spatial distribution of steady-state dust ejecta-clouds around atmosphereless moons. Surface topography may include craters, geological formations or elevation variations in general. In this project, we adapt an existing model for dust clouds, implemented in Fortran and apply it to simple prototype topography. We also develop a MATLAB caller routine for the Fortran code, enabling parallel computation utilizing MATLAB as a caller routine and for visualization, while Fortran processes carry out the CPU intensive computations. This work offers insights into the broader processes shaping atmosphereless moons within the solar system and carries implications for our understanding of the mechanisms underlying dust cloud formation in these unique environments. Additionally, this research is also relevant for SUDA onboard the NASA mission Europa Clipper, which will directly sample such dust ejecta from the surface of the Jupiter’s moon Europa, allowing it to measure the compositional variation on Europa’s surface.