Deducing the Composition of Venus Cloud Particles with the Autofluorescence Nephelometer (AFN)
The composition, sizes and shapes of particles in the clouds of Venus have previously been studied with a variety of in situ and remote sensor measurements. A number of major questions remain unresolved, however, motivating the development of an exploratory mission that will drop a small probe, inst...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Aerospace |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/9/9/492 |
| _version_ | 1827664655006302208 |
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| author | Darrel Baumgardner Ted Fisher Roy Newton Chris Roden Pat Zmarzly Sara Seager Janusz J. Petkowski Christopher E. Carr Jan Špaček Steven A. Benner Margaret A. Tolbert Kevin Jansen David H. Grinspoon Christophe Mandy |
| author_facet | Darrel Baumgardner Ted Fisher Roy Newton Chris Roden Pat Zmarzly Sara Seager Janusz J. Petkowski Christopher E. Carr Jan Špaček Steven A. Benner Margaret A. Tolbert Kevin Jansen David H. Grinspoon Christophe Mandy |
| author_sort | Darrel Baumgardner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The composition, sizes and shapes of particles in the clouds of Venus have previously been studied with a variety of in situ and remote sensor measurements. A number of major questions remain unresolved, however, motivating the development of an exploratory mission that will drop a small probe, instrumented with a single-particle autofluorescence nephelometer (AFN), into Venus’s atmosphere. The AFN is specifically designed to address uncertainties associated with the asphericity and complex refractive indices of cloud particles. The AFN projects a collimated, focused, linearly polarized, 440 nm wavelength laser beam through a window of the capsule into the airstream and measures the polarized components of some of the light that is scattered by individual particles that pass through the laser beam. The AFN also measures fluorescence from those particles that contain material that fluoresce when excited at a wavelength of 440 nm and emit at 470–520 nm. Fluorescence is expected from some organic molecules if present in the particles. AFN measurements during probe passage through the Venus clouds are intended to provide constraints on particle number concentration, size, shape, and composition. Hypothesized organics, if present in Venus aerosols, may be detected by the AFN as a precursor to precise identification via future missions. The AFN has been chosen as the primary science instrument for the upcoming Rocket Lab mission to Venus, to search for organic molecules in the cloud particles and constrain the particle composition. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:03:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f1716196e9e948aa980d509bb368d1ab |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2226-4310 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:03:59Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Aerospace |
| spelling | doaj.art-f1716196e9e948aa980d509bb368d1ab2023-11-23T14:30:50ZengMDPI AGAerospace2226-43102022-09-019949210.3390/aerospace9090492Deducing the Composition of Venus Cloud Particles with the Autofluorescence Nephelometer (AFN)Darrel Baumgardner0Ted Fisher1Roy Newton2Chris Roden3Pat Zmarzly4Sara Seager5Janusz J. Petkowski6Christopher E. Carr7Jan Špaček8Steven A. Benner9Margaret A. Tolbert10Kevin Jansen11David H. Grinspoon12Christophe Mandy13Droplet Measurement Technologies, LLC, 2400 Trade Centre Ave, Longmont, CO 80503, USACloud Measurement Solutions, LLC, 415 Kit Carson Rd, Unit 7, Taos, NM 87571, USACloud Measurement Solutions, LLC, 415 Kit Carson Rd, Unit 7, Taos, NM 87571, USACloud Measurement Solutions, LLC, 415 Kit Carson Rd, Unit 7, Taos, NM 87571, USACloud Measurement Solutions, LLC, 415 Kit Carson Rd, Unit 7, Taos, NM 87571, USADepartment of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USADepartment of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USASchool of Aerospace Engineering and School of Earth and Atmospheric Science, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30312, USAFirebird Biomolecular Sciences, LLC, 13709 Progress Blvd N134, Alachua, FL 32615, USAFirebird Biomolecular Sciences, LLC, 13709 Progress Blvd N134, Alachua, FL 32615, USADepartment of Chemistry and CIRES, University of Colorado-Boulder, 216 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309, USADepartment of Chemistry and CIRES, University of Colorado-Boulder, 216 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309, USAPlanetary Science Institute, 1700 East Fort Lowell, Suite 106, Tucson, AZ 85719, USARocket Lab, 3881 McGowen Street, Long Beach, CA 90808, USAThe composition, sizes and shapes of particles in the clouds of Venus have previously been studied with a variety of in situ and remote sensor measurements. A number of major questions remain unresolved, however, motivating the development of an exploratory mission that will drop a small probe, instrumented with a single-particle autofluorescence nephelometer (AFN), into Venus’s atmosphere. The AFN is specifically designed to address uncertainties associated with the asphericity and complex refractive indices of cloud particles. The AFN projects a collimated, focused, linearly polarized, 440 nm wavelength laser beam through a window of the capsule into the airstream and measures the polarized components of some of the light that is scattered by individual particles that pass through the laser beam. The AFN also measures fluorescence from those particles that contain material that fluoresce when excited at a wavelength of 440 nm and emit at 470–520 nm. Fluorescence is expected from some organic molecules if present in the particles. AFN measurements during probe passage through the Venus clouds are intended to provide constraints on particle number concentration, size, shape, and composition. Hypothesized organics, if present in Venus aerosols, may be detected by the AFN as a precursor to precise identification via future missions. The AFN has been chosen as the primary science instrument for the upcoming Rocket Lab mission to Venus, to search for organic molecules in the cloud particles and constrain the particle composition.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/9/9/492Venus cloud dropletslight scattering and fluorescencepolarizationcomplex refractive indexRocket Labautofluorescence nephelometer |
| spellingShingle | Darrel Baumgardner Ted Fisher Roy Newton Chris Roden Pat Zmarzly Sara Seager Janusz J. Petkowski Christopher E. Carr Jan Špaček Steven A. Benner Margaret A. Tolbert Kevin Jansen David H. Grinspoon Christophe Mandy Deducing the Composition of Venus Cloud Particles with the Autofluorescence Nephelometer (AFN) Aerospace Venus cloud droplets light scattering and fluorescence polarization complex refractive index Rocket Lab autofluorescence nephelometer |
| title | Deducing the Composition of Venus Cloud Particles with the Autofluorescence Nephelometer (AFN) |
| title_full | Deducing the Composition of Venus Cloud Particles with the Autofluorescence Nephelometer (AFN) |
| title_fullStr | Deducing the Composition of Venus Cloud Particles with the Autofluorescence Nephelometer (AFN) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Deducing the Composition of Venus Cloud Particles with the Autofluorescence Nephelometer (AFN) |
| title_short | Deducing the Composition of Venus Cloud Particles with the Autofluorescence Nephelometer (AFN) |
| title_sort | deducing the composition of venus cloud particles with the autofluorescence nephelometer afn |
| topic | Venus cloud droplets light scattering and fluorescence polarization complex refractive index Rocket Lab autofluorescence nephelometer |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/9/9/492 |
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