Water and related chemistry in the solar system. A guaranteed time key programme for Herschel

P. Hartogh (1) , E. Lellouch (2) , J. Crovisier (2) , M. Banaszkiewicz (3) , F. Bensch , E. A. Bergin (4) , F. Billebaud (5, 6, 7) , N. Biver (2) , G. A. Blake (8) , M. I. Blecka (9) , J. Blommaert , D. Bockelée-Morvan (2) , T. Cavalié (5, 6, 7) , J. Cernicharo (10) , R. Courtin (11) , G. Davis (12) , L. Decin , P. Encrenaz (13) , T. Encrenaz (2) , A. González (14) , T. de Graauw , D. Hutsemékers , C. Jarchow , E. Jehin (15) , M. Kidger , M. Küppers (1) , A. de Lange , L.-M. Lara (16) , D. C. Lis (17) , R. Lorente , J. Manfroid , A. S. Medvedev , R. Moreno (2) , D. A. Naylor , G. Orton (18) , G. Portyankina , M. Rengel , H. Sagawa (19) , M. Sánchez-Portal , R. Schieder , S. Sidher , D. Stam (20) , B. Swinyard , S. Szutowicz , N Thomas (21) , G. Thornhill , B. Vandenbussche , E. Verdugo , C. Waelkens , H. Walker

1 MPS - Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung = Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
2 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique
3 CBK - Space Research Centre of Polish Academy of Sciences
4 CfA - Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
5 L3AB - Laboratoire d'astrodynamique, d'astrophysique et d'aéronomie de bordeaux
6 OASU - Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers
7 LAB - Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux [Pessac]
8 LOCIE - LabOratoire proCédés énergIe bâtimEnt
9 PAN - Polska Akademia Nauk = Polish Academy of Sciences = Académie polonaise des sciences
10 CSIC - Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas
11 OP - Observatoire de Paris - Site de Paris
12 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology [Princeton]
13 LERMA - Laboratoire d'Etude du Rayonnement et de la Matière en Astrophysique
14 Departamento de Biologia Celular, Facultad de Biologia
15 ESO - European Southern Observatory
16 Laboratorio de Ecologia Isotopica
17 CALTECH - California Institute of Technology
18 JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
19 Center for Mathematics and Physics
20 SRON - SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
21 UNIBE - Universität Bern / University of Bern

"Water and related chemistry in the Solar System" is a Herschel Space Observatory Guaranteed-Time Key Programme. This project, approved by the European Space Agency, aims at determining the distribution, the evolution and the origin of water in Mars, the outer planets, Titan, Enceladus and the comets. It addresses the broad topic of water and its isotopologues in planetary and cometary atmospheres. The nature of cometary activity and the thermodynamics of cometary comae will be investigated by studying water excitation in a sample of comets. The D/H ratio, the key parameter for constraining the origin and evolution of Solar System species, will be measured for the first time in a Jupiter-family comet. A comparison with existing and new measurements of D/H in Oort-cloud comets will constrain the composition of pre-solar cometary grains and possibly the dynamics of the protosolar nebula. New measurements of D/H in giant planets, similarly constraining the composition of proto-planetary ices, will be obtained. The D/H and other isotopic ratios, diagnostic of Mars' atmosphere evolution, will be accurately measured in H2O and CO. The role of water vapor in Mars' atmospheric chemistry will be studied by monitoring vertical profiles of H2O and HDO and by searching for several other species (and CO and H2O isotopes). A detailed study of the source of water in the upper atmosphere of the Giant Planets and Titan will be performed. By monitoring the water abundance, vertical profile, and input fluxes in the various objects, and when possible with the help of mapping observations, we will discriminate between the possible sources of water in the outer planets (interplanetary dust particles, cometary impacts, and local sources). In addition to these inter-connected objectives, serendipitous searches will enhance our knowledge of the composition of planetary and cometary atmospheres.

Mots clés: Herschel spaceobservatory Water Mars Giant planets Titan Comets

Domaines: Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]; Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]

P. Hartogh, E. Lellouch, J. Crovisier, M. Banaszkiewicz, F. Bensch, et al.. Water and related chemistry in the solar system. A guaranteed time key programme for Herschel. Planetary and Space Science, 2009, 57, pp.1596-1606. ⟨10.1016/J.PSS.2009.07.009⟩. ⟨hal-00439338⟩