[extropy-chat] 10th Planet Discovered

[Amara Graps]

Eugene:
>  The closest one is Luna. And it has volatiles, to boot.

I'm not sure water is there, but you are aware about the
following results, I suppose.

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/ice/ice_moon.html

We know that the Moon's surface can't hold an atmosphere (do you know
the  calculation? It takes five minutes; ask and I can show it). Even
though the Moon's surface seems bone-dry, there are gases trapped
in lunar surface material, which provide the main evidence from
which the isotopic composition of H, He, and Ne in the protosolar
cloud is derived.

Neon is present for sure, the source for that being the solar wind.

 From "Isotopic Composition of H, He and Ne in the Protosolar Cloud"
by Johannes Geiss and George Gloeckler Space Science Reviews 106,
3-18, 2003.

"The solar wind is by far the best source of information for
determining the neon isotopic composition in the protosolar cloud.
Very precise results on 20Ne/22Ne in the solar wind were obtained
during the 1969-72 period with the Apollo SWC experiments. The SW
was sampled at five different locations on the Moon for differing
aspect angles. 20Ne/22Ne data were also obtained by the MTOF
detector of the SOHO/CELIAS experiment.

The neon contained in lunar surface material consists of three
major components: (1) Trapped solar wind neon, (2) neon produced by
spallation, and (3) "SEP" neon. The acronym "SEP" was originally
chosen because it was though that this component consisted of solar
energetic particles. An alternative explanation is that the "SEP"
component consists of solar wind particles that are isotopically
mass fractionated by diffusion or other processes."


Neon Isotopic Abundances in Solar System Material
--------------------------------------------------

Present-day In-ecliptic solar wind          20/22/Ne   21Ne/22Ne

Apollo SWC                              13.7 +/- 0.3    0.033 +/- 0.0003
SOHO/CELIAS  (Kallenbach)               13.8 +/- 0.7    0.031 +/- 0.008
Protosolar Cloud                        13.7 +/- 0.3    0.0328 +/- 
0.0005 (Benk)

Solar Wind in Lunar Soil (Benkert)         13.8 +/0 0.1    0.0328 +/- 0.0005
"SEP" in Lunar Soil (Benkert)              11.2 +/- 0.2    0.0295 +/- 0.0005


Benkert, J.-P, Baur, H., signer, P., and Wieler, R.: 1993,
'He, Ne, and Ar from the Solar Wind and Solar Energentic Particles
in Lunar Ilmenites and Pyroxenes', J. Geophys. Res. 98, 13147-13162.

Kallenbach, R., et al., 1997, 'isotopic Composition of Solar
Wind Neon Measured by CELIAS/MTOF on Board SOHO', J. Geophys. Res.
102, 26895-26904.
-- 

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Amara Graps, PhD          email: amara at amara.com
Computational Physics     vita:  ftp://ftp.amara.com/pub/resume.txt
Multiplex Answers         URL:   http://www.amara.com/
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"Oh you damned observers, you always find extra things."
    -- Fred Hoyle [quoted by Richard Ellis at IAU Symposium 183]