Presented by: Prof. Katherine de Kleer
Affiliation: Caltech
Location: 3853 Slichter Hall
Abstract: The heat flow of a planetary body plays a major role in defining its evolution and current composition, driving processes from internal differentiation during its formation through geological activity at the current time. In this talk, I will describe how the ALMA (sub-)millimeter observatory and the James Webb Space Telescope are shedding light on the heat flow histories of satellites and small bodies. Thermal emission observations of asteroids provide information on the abundance and form of metals (ALMA) and minerals (JWST) on their surfaces. I will present ongoing asteroid programs aimed at providing a more complete compositional picture of asteroid surfaces, with implications for the early heating and differentiation of planetesimals. ALMA can also measure the isotopes of the volatile-forming elements, a key tool for studying the formation and evolution of objects in the Solar System. I will discuss sulfur and chlorine isotopes in the volcanic gasses of Jupiter’s moon Io in particular, and how they place constraints on the tidal heating and volcanism that Io experienced over the age of the Solar System.