CASSINI VISUAL AND INFRARED MAPPING SPECTROMETER OBSERVATIONS OF IAPETUS: DETECTION OF CO_2

摘要

The Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) instrument aboard the Cassini spacecraft obtained its first spectral map of the satellite Iapetus in which new absorption bands are seen in the spectra of both the low-albedo hemisphere and the H_2O ice-rich hemisphere. Carbon dioxide is identified in the low-albedo material, probably as a photochemically produced molecule that is trapped in H_2O ice or in some mineral or complex organic solid. Other absorption bands are unidentified. The spectrum of the low-albedo hemisphere is satisfactorily modeled with a combination of organic tholin, poly-HCN, and small amounts of H_2O ice and Fe_2O_3. The high-albedo hemisphere is modeled with H_2O ice slightly darkened with tholin. The detection of CO_2 in the low-albedo material on the leading hemisphere supports the contention that it is carbon-bearing material from an external source that has been swept up by the satellite's orbital motion.