The Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer: First Results
Weider, S.Z. and Kellett, B.J. and Swinyard, B.M. and Crawford, Ian and Joy, K.H. and Grande, M. and Howe, C.J. and Huovelin, J. and Narendranath, S. and Alha, L. and Anand, M. and Athiray, P.S. and Bhandari, N. and Carter, J.A. and Cook, A.C. and d'Uston, L.C. and Fernandes, V.A. and Gasnault, O. and Goswami, J.N. and Gow, J.P.D. and Holland, A.D. and Koschny, D. and Lawrence, D.J. and Maddison, B.J. and Maurice, S. and McKay, D.J. and Okada, T. and Pieters, C. and Rothery, D.A. and Russell, S.S. and Shrivastava, A. and Smith, D.R. and Wieczorek, M. (2012) The Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer: First Results. Planetary and Space Science 60 (1), pp. 217-228. ISSN 0032-0633.
Abstract
We present X-ray fluorescence observations of the lunar surface, made by the Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer during two solar flare events early in the mission (12th December 2008 and 10th January 2009). Modelling of the X-ray spectra with an abundance algorithm allows quantitative estimates of the MgO/SiO2 and Al2O3/SiO2 ratios to be made for the two regions, which are in mainly basaltic areas of the lunar nearside. One of these ground tracks includes the Apollo 14 landing site on the Fra Mauro Formation. Within the 1 σ errors provided, the results are inside the range of basaltic samples from the Apollo and Luna collections. The Apollo 14 soil composition is in agreement with the results from the January flare at the 1 σ uncertainty level. Discrepancies are observed between our results and compositions derived for the same areas by the Lunar Prospector gamma-ray spectrometer; some possible reasons for this are discussed.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Keyword(s) / Subject(s): | Lunar X-ray spectroscopy, lunar regolith, lunar chemistry, lunar crust, gamma-ray spectroscopy |
School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Natural Sciences |
Depositing User: | Administrator |
Date Deposited: | 12 Sep 2011 08:50 |
Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 16:56 |
URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/4108 |
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