Planetary Investigations at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory

Muhleman博士将使用许多不同的望远镜和观测技术，在厘米和毫米波长上观察水星、金星、火星、土星和土卫六。这些实验旨在测量和解释现有航天器或其他波长波段无法研究的过程。该计划包括利用一氧化碳的各种旋转转变作为示踪气体，对金星和火星上的中高层大气风系统进行调查。水星、火星、土星环、土卫六和金星将使用一种新技术进行研究，这种新技术使用甚大阵列望远镜作为合成孔径雷达接收器，接收来自这些物体的回波，这些回波由戈德斯通雷达发射机照射。这样的雷达图像为研究类地行星和土星环的地下结构提供了有力的工具。无线电波长技术为行星科学提供了独特的能力。它们可以用来探测主要行星大气中100巴的水平，而迄今为止没有任何航天器实验测量过超过2巴的水平，包括伽利略号木星任务。同样，没有任何航天器实验对任何深度超过1或2厘米的行星表面进行采样。基于地球的无线电技术的另一个独特作用是在几年的时间尺度上对行星进行综合研究。Muhleman博士使用最先进的地球射电天文学设施和技术来探测行星表面及其大气的物理特性。

Dr. Muhleman will make observations of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Titan at centimeter and millimeter wavelengths using a number of different telescopes and observing techniques. The experiments are designed to measure and interpret processes that can not be studied with existing spacecraft or in other wavelength bands. The program includes the investigation of the middle and upper atmospheric wind systems on Venus and Mars using the various rotational transitions of carbon monoxide as the tracer gas. Mercury, Mars, Saturn's rings, Titan, and Venus will be studied with the new technique of using the Very Large Array telescope as a synthetic aperture radar receiver of echoes from these objects that are illuminated by the Goldstone radar transmitter. Such radar images provide powerful tools for investigation of the subsurface structures of the terrestrial planets and the rings of Saturn. Radio wavelength techniques offer unique capabilities in planetary science. They can be employed to probe down to the 100-bar level in the atmospheres of the major planets, whereas no spacecraft experiment to date has measured anything deeper than 2 bars, and that includes the Galileo mission to Jupiter. Similarly, no spacecraft experiment has sampled any planetary surface deeper than 1 or 2 cm. An additional unique role for Earth-based radio techniques is for synodic studies of the planets over timescales of several years. Dr. Muhleman uses state of the art Earth-based radio astronomy facilities and techniques to probe the surfaces of planets and the physics of their atmospheres.