Laboratory studies of thermal space weathering on airless bodies

Abstract

Deriving the surface composition of Mercury from remote sensing hyper spectral data is a challenging task. Mercury’s surface has a low iron abundance, which complicates the application of “traditional” space weathering approach. In addition the high temperatures on Mercury lead to previously unseen changes in the spectral characteristics, which we call “thermal space weathering”. The Planetary Emissivity Laboratory (PEL) at DLR in Berlin was setup specifically to study the effects of high temperatures on the spectral characteristics of planetary analog materials. It allows characterizing “thermal space weathering” and adds temperature as another important factor for the creation of spectral libraries. Thermal space weathering can produce reversible as well as irreversible changes in the spectral characteristics of materials. In comparison to “traditional space weathering” it acts on much shorter timescales. We are going to present a number of examples for thermal space weathering effects in the visible as well as infrared spectral range.