Valeria Mangano

• PhD
• Researcher at National Institute of Astrophysics

Plain Language Summary The BepiColombo spacecraft is on its way through the inner solar system in a composite configuration consisting of two satellites and a propulsion unit with two large solar arrays. This configuration will only be separated after orbit insertion in December 2025. During the cruise phase and planetary flybys in the years 2021–2...

This paper presents the project Comprehensive spAce wEather Studies for the ASPIS prototype Realization (CAESAR), which aims to tackle the relevant aspects of Space Weather (SWE) science and develop a prototype of the scientific data centre for Space Weather of the Italian Space Remote Sens. 2023, 15, 346. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15020346 https:/...

The second Venus flyby of the BepiColombo mission offer a unique opportunity to make a complete tour of one of the few gas-dynamics dominated interaction regions between the supersonic solar wind and a Solar System object. The spacecraft pass through the full Venusian magnetosheath following the plasma streamlines, and cross the subsolar stagnation...

In this study we present the observation of Mercury’s inner southern magnetosphere and surrounding regions, never previously explored, as detected by the two ion sensors of the instrument package: ‘Search for Exospheric Refilling and Emitted Natural Abundances’ (SERENA), named ‘Planetary Ion CAMera’ (PICAM) and ‘Miniaturized Ion Precipitation Analy...

The ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission will provide simultaneous measurements from two spacecraft, offering an unprecedented opportunity to investigate magnetospheric and exospheric dynamics at Mercury as well as their interactions with the solar wind, radiation, and interplanetary dust. Many scientific instruments onboard the two spacecraft will be comp...

Sodium and, in a lesser way, potassium atomic components of surface-bounded exospheres are among the brightest elements that can be observed from the Earth in our Solar System. Both species have been intensively observed around Mercury, the Moon and the Galilean Moons. During the last decade, new observations have been obtained thanks to space miss...

We present the first investigation and quantification of the photoionization loss process to Mercury's sodium exosphere from spacecraft and ground-based observations. We analyze plasma and neutral sodium measurements from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft and the THEMIS telescope. We find that the sodium ion (Na+) content and therefore the significance o...

The interaction between the interplanetary medium and planetary environments gives rise to different phenomena on several temporal and spatial scales. Here, we propose for the first time, the application of the Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT) to characterize both the local and global properties of Mercury's environment as seen during two Mercury Surf...

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-021-00809-8

The dual spacecraft mission BepiColombo is the first joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to explore the planet Mercury. BepiColombo was launched from Kourou (French Guiana) on October 20th, 2018, in its packed configuration including two spacecraft, a transfer module, and a suns...

The ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission to Mercury will provide simultaneous measurements from two spacecraft, offering an unprecedented opportunity to investigate magnetospheric and exospheric particle dynamics at Mercury as well as their interactions with solar wind, solar radiation, and interplanetary dust. The particle instrument suite SERENA (Search...

The Na exosphere of Mercury is characterized by the variability of the emission lines intensity and of its distribution in time scales from less than one hour to seasonal variations. While the faster variations, accounting for about 10–20% of fluctuations are probably linked to the planetary response to solar wind and Interplanetary Magnetic Field...

The ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission will provide simultaneous measurements from two spacecraft, offering an unprecedented opportunity to investigate magnetospheric and exospheric dynamics at Mercury as well as their interactions with the solar wind, radiation, and interplanetary dust. Many scientific instruments onboard the two spacecraft will be comp...

The emergence of Artificial Intelligence's Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) as a method for analysis of spatial and temporal data gives us a new avenue for research of the processes inherent to planetary exospheres and their interaction with the planetary environment. Hereby, it will be presented a particular study on how in-situ observations of the ele...

The ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission to Mercury has been launched with success on 20 October 2018 from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou. After completing the launch and early orbit phase on 22 October, an extensive series of in-orbit commissioning activities started. During this Near Earth Commissioning Phase (NECP), which was concluded on 16 December, the...

Planetary exospheres are the expressions of many processes and interactions within a planetary environment. Their atomic and molecular compositions and dynamics may be an indication of how the planet reacts to external factors like the solar wind and the dust environment around it, what is the connection between different processes and the dynamics...

We report the 2020 coordinated Venus observation plan of four instruments on board two spacecraft: MERTIS and PHEBUS of BepiColombo, during its Venus flyby, and LIR and UVI of Akatsuki, which is orbiting the planet. These coordinated observations will make better understanding on physical properties and chemical compositions of the Venusian atmosph...

Despite the numerous modeling efforts of the past, our knowledge on the radiation-induced physical and chemical processes in Europa’s tenuous atmosphere and on the exchange of material between the moon’s surface and Jupiter’s magnetosphere remains limited. In lack of an adequate number of in situ observations, the existence of a wide variety of mod...

The first evidence at Mercury of direct relation between ICME transit and Na exosphere dynamics is presented, suggesting that Na emission, observed from ground, could be a proxy of planetary space weather at Mercury. The link existing between the dayside exosphere Na patterns and the solar wind-magnetosphere-surface interactions is investigated. Th...

The lunar surface is directly exposed either to direct solar wind, or to Earth's magnetospheric plasma due to the Moon's lack of a magnetosphere or a dense atmosphere. This exposure could create inhospitable conditions for a possible human presence on the Moon, so it is crucial to investigate the close-to-surface environment for establishing the be...

The MESSENGER observations of the seasonal variability of Mercury's Ca-exosphere are consistent with the general idea that the Ca-atoms originate from the bombardment of the surface by particles from comet 2P/Encke. The generating mechanism is believed to be a combination of different processes including the release of atomic and molecular surface...

We report the analysis of short-term ground-based observations of the exospheric Na emission (D1 and D2 lines) from Mercury, which was characterized by two high-latitude peaks confined near the magnetospheric cusp footprints. During a series of scheduled observations from the Télescope Héliographique pour l'Etude du Magnétisme et des Instabilités S...

In this paper, we review the scientific aspects of planetary space weather at different regions of our Solar System, performing a comparative planetology analysis that includes a direct reference to the circum-terrestrial case. Through an interdisciplinary analysis of existing results based both on observational data and theoretical models, we revi...

The origin of the exosphere of Europa is its water ice surface. The existing exosphere models, assuming either a collisionless environment (simple Monte Carlo techniques) or a kinetic approach (Direct Monte Carlo Method) both predict that the major constituent of the exosphere is molecular oxygen. Specifically, O2 is generated at the surface throug...

The Na exosphere of Mercury is being studied since its discovery in mid ’80s from Earth-based telescopes, and it has revealed a high dynamics and variability. Although the processes and their relationships characterising the Hermean exosphere generation and dynamics are still not exhaustively understood, there are no doubts on a tight interconnecti...

A simulation of the H 2 O and O 2 exospheres of Jupiter' moon Ganymede, through the application of a 3D Monte Carlo modeling technique, is presented. Our model takes into consideration the combined effect on the exosphere generation of the main surface release processes (i.e. sputtering , sublimation and radiolysis) and the surface precipitation of...

The H2O and O2 exospheres of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede are simulated through the application of a 3D Monte Carlo modeling technique that takes into consideration the combined effect on the exosphere generation of the main surface release processes (i.e. sputtering, sublimation and radiolysis) and the surface precipitation of the energetic ions of Jup...

Influence of the meteoroid bombardment on properties of the lunar exosphere has been confirmed. Quick increase in the zenith column density of Na atoms above the lunar north pole on August 13, 2009 at 0–1 UT is detected and explained by numerous collisions of relatively small Perseid meteoroids (<1 kg) with the Moon during maximum of the Perseid me...

Mercury, due to its close location to the Sun, is surrounded by an environment whose conditions may be considered as "extreme" in the entire Solar System. Both solar wind and radiation are stronger with respect to other Solar System bodies, so that their interactions with the planet cause high emission of material from its surface. Moreover, the me...

[1] We report ground-based spectroscopic observations of the Io sodium cloud before and after eclipse by Jupiter, in a search for possible effects of sunlight on the total atomic sodium content in Io's exosphere. These observations test the importance of the sun in maintaining the supply of atoms from the thicker atmosphere, which lies close to the...

The detection of Energetic Neutral Particles (ENP) above 10 eV can unequivocally relate a surface-bound exosphere to surface features and can monitor instantaneously the effect of plasma precipitation onto the surface. In the framework of a mission to Jupiter's moons, 2D imaging of plasma precipitation will provide important information on the plas...

Mercury’s sodium exosphere has been observed only few times with high spectral resolution from ground based observatories enabling the analysis of the emission spectra. These observations highlighted the energetic state of the sodium exospheric atoms relative to the surface temperature. More recently, the Doppler shift of the exospheric Na atoms wa...

We report ground-based spectroscopic observations of Io's sodium cloud before and after eclipse by Jupiter shadow, in a search for possible effects of the eclipse on the total sodium content in the atmosphere. These observations aim to test the importance of sunlight in maintaining the supply of atoms from the thicker atmosphere, which lies close t...

The exosphere, the tenuous collisionless cloud of gas surrounding Mercury is still a poorly known object because it is the result of many various interactions between the surface, the interplanetary medium (Solar wind, photons and meteoroids), the planetary and the interplanetary magnetic fields. Many ground-based observations have allowed the dete...

Quick variability of brightness of Na lines in the lunar exosphere during maximum of Perseid 2009 meteor shower is detected and explained by impacts of Perseid meteoroids at the level of 10-16 g cm-2 s-1. Non-detection of lines of atoms of Ca, Al, and Si is explained by formation of metal oxides and condensation of dust particles.

The exosphere of Mercury is a complex system. The analysis of the sodium component since its discovery in 1985 evidenced a strong variability of the exosphere with time, both in the global emission intensity and in the appearance and disappearance of localized peaks, that may appear at mid latitude in both hemispheres. A correlation with the IMF ha...

Ganymede, the largest moon of Jupiter is characterized by a tiny magnetosphere produced by an intrinsic magnetic moment; it is linked to the Jovian magnetosphere and embedded in its energetic plasma environment. In addition, since the plasma co-rotating with Jupiter impinges on Ganymede trailing side at subsonic speed, there is no bow-shock formati...

Here we study the short-time and yearly variations of the sodium exosphere of Mercury. Exospheric sodium comes from release processes occurring at the planetary surface, such as thermal- or photonstimulated desorption. The amount of surface sodium which is available for release, however, is limited. Such loss processes deplete the surface concentra...

Le télescope THEMIS aux Canaries a permis d'observer l'exosphère de Mercure de manière intensive et répété depuis 2007. Nous avons réalisé plus de 360 images de l'exosphère de sodium au cours des 6 dernières années et 127 jours d'observation. Cette grande quantité de données couplée aux qualités de ce télescope et à son équipe nous a permis de mett...

Observation of the lunar exosphere is a tool for remote sensing of the surface properties. The sources of this exosphere are related to the interactions of the lunar surface with the solar radiation, with the solar wind or Earth’s magnetospheric plasma, and with the interplanetary dust and meteorites. In fact, the exospheric particles are continuou...

The contribution to the exosphere of Mercury and the Moon due to meteoritic impacts is still a matter of debate. In particular, in the night side, where the ion sputtering process is negligible, meteoritic impact vaporization is considered to be the major exospheric source process for refractory species. Cloud density calculations and detection pro...

Atmospheric sputtering is well-known process acting on planetary atmospheres in a similar way in which ion-sputtering acts on surfaces of airless bodies: energetic ions impact on the upper regions of planetary atmospheres and may cause significant escape directly or after a series of bouncing, or they may lose velocity and form an atmospheric coron...

As a recent trend, the continuous increase of new technologies for space observations of new missions to Mars, Venus, and Titan, has stimulated vigorous experimental and theoretical studies on the collision process induced by interactions between plasma and planetary atmosphere. In order to facilitate the comprehension of these processes, this brie...

Contemporaneous observations of the exospheres of Io and Europa allow a comparative study of their driving escape processes. Optical observations of sodium emission at 589nm provide the highest S/N information on these two tenuous atmospheres. We report on extensive observations obtained in 2007 and 2009 with the SARG echelle spectrograph on the Te...

The proximity of Mercury to the Sun makes this planet a particularly interesting subject for extreme environmental conditions. In particular, the Mercury's exosphere, its interaction with the solar wind and its origin linked to the surface of the planet, can provide important clues about planetary evolution. In fact, the Hermean exosphere is contin...

The exosphere of Mercury is a complex system whose composition and dynamics are the effect of coupling between surface and the external environment, under the influence of the planet's magnetic field (see for a review [1]). Hence, solar wind particles and photons, meteoritic impacts and interplanetary magnetic field have an influence on the morphol...

First measurements from Messenger (NASA) shed new light into the basically unknown magnetic field of Mercury, confirming the existence of an Earth-like magnetosphere, which can be roughly modelled by a southward planetary moment of 230 to 290 nT R M 3 , tilted between 5° and 12° from the rotation axis [1]. The weak magnetic field of the planet and...

ADvanced Astronomy for HELIophysics (ADAHELI) is a Small Mission to study the structure and fast dynamics of the low solar atmosphere, performing Visible-NIR monochromatic and broad-band observations. The mission will achieve millimeter full disk observations as well. The ADAHELI Team has succesfully completed, in December 2008, the Phase A study a...

Since many years Mercury exosphere dynamics and morphology is a matter of discussion. Presently the new MESSENGER data from flybys are providing us with new precious information but Mercury exosphere remains still not completely understood. Enhancement of sodium emission in one hemisphere with respect to the other or close to the polar regions have...

The heavy energetic ions of the Jovian plasma can erode the Galilean icy moon surfaces via ion sputtering (IS), and also break the chemical bonds of the ejected species which can result in the formation of new molecules (e.g. oxygen), a process called radiolysis. UV Photons impinging the moon surfaces can also result in neutral atom release via pho...

Atmospheric sputtering is a well-known process acting on planetary atmospheres in a similar way in which ion-sputtering acts on surfaces of airless bodies: solar energetic ions impact on the upper regions of planetary atmospheres and may cause significant escape. In particular, a collision cascade below the exobase is expected, and the yield of the...

Mercury, due to its unique close location to the Sun, is surrounded by an environment whose conditions may be considered as ‘extreme' in the frame of our solar system. Actually, both solar wind and radiation are extremely strong, so that their interaction with the planet cause high emission of material from its surface. Moreover, the meteoritic pre...

‘Search for Exospheric Refilling and Emitted Natural Abundances’ (SERENA) is an instrument package that will fly on board the BepiColombo/Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO). It will investigate Mercury's complex particle environment that is composed of thermal and directional neutral atoms (exosphere) caused by surface release and charge-exchange proc...

Since many years Mercury exosphere dynamics and morphology is a matter of discussion. Presently the new MESSENGER data from flybys are providing us with new precious information, but Mercury exosphere remains still not completely understood. Enhancement of sodium emission in one hemisphere with respect to the other or close to the polar regions hav...

Since its discovery in 1985, sodium emission from the environment of Mercury is generally used as a tracer to monitor the brightness variations, morphology and anisotropies of the Hermean exosphere. The information derived from Na observations is very important for two main reasons: 1. to understand the exosphere source processes acting on the Herm...

: Atmospheric sputtering is a well-known process acting on planetary atmospheres in a similar way in which ion-sputtering acts on surfaces of airless bodies: solar energetic ions impact on the upper regions of planetary atmospheres and may cause significant escape. In particular, a collision cascade below the exobase is expected, and the yield of t...

A long term plan of observations of the sodium exosphere of Mercury began in 2002 by using the high resolution echelle spectrograph SARG and a devoted sodium filter at the 3.5 m Galileo National Telescope (TNG) located in La Palma, Canary Islands. This program is meant to investigate the variations of the sodium exosphere appearance under different...

SERENA (`Search for Exospheric Refilling and Emitted Natural Abundances') is an instrument package that will fly on board the BepiColombo Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) it will investigate the Mercury's complex particle environment that surrounds the planet. Such an environment is composed by thermal and directional neutral atoms (exosphere) origi...

Short time variations of Mercury's exosphere cannot be tracked easily from ground based observatories because of the difficulty of distinguishing them from Earth atmospheric effects. On July 13th 2008, using THEMIS solar telescope, we were able to simultaneously measure brightness, Doppler shift and width of the exospheric sodium D2 emission line d...

In this study we discuss Neutral Atom emission from Mercury Magnetosphere. We study those neutrals whose emission is directly related to the circulation of energetic ion of solar wind origin, via backscattering process. The environment of Mercury is characterized by a weak magnetic field; thus, cusp regions are extremely large if compared to the Ea...

The ion-sputtering (IS) process is active in many planetary environments in the solar system where plasma precipitates directly on the surface (for instance, Mercury, Moon and Europa). In particular, solar wind sputtering is one of the most important agents for the surface erosion of a near-Earth object (NEO), acting together with other surface rel...

The neutral sensor ELENA (Emitted Low-Energy Neutral Atoms) for the ESA cornerstone BepiColombo mission to Mercury (in the SERENA instrument package) is a new kind of low energetic neutral atoms instrument, mostly devoted to sputtering emission from planetary surfaces, from E ~20 eV up to E~5 keV, within 1-D (2x76 deg). ELENA is a Time-of-Flight (T...

The ion-sputtering (IS) process is active in many planetary environments in the Solar System where plasma precipitates directly on the surface (for instance, Mercury, Moon, Europa). In particular, solar-wind sputtering is one of the most important agents for the surface erosion of a Near-Earth Object (NEO), acting together with other surface releas...

We present the first combined intensity and temperature maps of sodium in Mercury's exosphere, made possible by the use of the THEMIS solar telescope on Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The intensity maps clearly show high-latitude peaks, and temperatures inferred from spectral line widths suggest that these regions are either slightly hotter than t...

In the framework of possible future mission Laplace, selected for the ESA's Cosmic Vision Programme, the Europa Orbiter will perform a detailed investigation in order to look for life evidenced by the presence of liquid water in a subsurface ocean and the chemical and dynamical characteristics of the surface itself. Solid surfaces of such atmospher...

We review the current state of studies in planet–meteoroid interactions, a relatively new discipline in planetary science. Recent observations of phenomena such as meteor trails in the atmosphere of Mars and impact flashes on the Moon have prompted new theoretical work in the field. However, our ability to test these new models and advance our unde...

The exosphere of Mercury has been the object of many investigations and speculations regarding its composition, formation, depletion and dynamics. While vapourization of Mercurian surface materials by meteorite impacts has been often considered to be a less important contributor to the exosphere than other potential processes, larger objects coming...

Recent observations of the Na exosphere of Mercury [Barbieri et al., EGU 2006] taken with the SARG high resolution spectrograph at TNG (Canaries) in June-July 2005 are used to investigate (in visible light) the spatial configuration of the effective processes of exospheric refilling at the planet, against the background of ongoing solar events. In...

Research on the planetary surface erosion and planetary evolution could be enriched with the detection of the escaping material, in terms of energy and direction, caused by ions sputtering. A complete study of emitted neutral distribution from which infers the processes occurring on the impacted surface requires dedicated instrumentation, tailored...

Based on predictions of impact magnitude and cloud ejecta dynamics, we organized a SMART-1 ground-based observation campaign to perform coordinated measurements of the impact. Results from the coordinated multi-site campaign will be discussed.

An Italian long term campaign of observation of the sodium exosphere of Mercury has begun in 2002 by using the high resolution spectroscopic facility (SARG) at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) located on La Palma, Canary Islands. This effort is now part of an international campaign involving several observers and institutions in the world. Th...

In view of the planned exospheric and remote geochemical surface studies of various sensors of the SERENA instrument on board of ESA s BepiColombo planetary orbiter MPO a better understanding of the particle release processes from Mercury s surface is desirable We present a brief survey of potential surface analogues on laboratory studied Lunar sur...

A better understanding of the particle release processes from Mercury s surface is considered as a prerequisite for the planned exospheric and remote geochemical surface studies of the SERENA instrument package on board of ESA s BepiColombo planetary orbiter MPO The lunar environment represents a close test-bed in many respects and hence is include...

Many efforts are currently in progress to depict a realistic model of the Hermean magnetosphere, also in the frame of the researches that will be performed by the next space missions Messenger and BepiColombo. Although the magnetosphere of this planet can be roughly approximated by scaling the Earth’s one (about 1: 6.9), several differences are exp...

Meteoroid impact has been shown to be a source of sodium, and most likely of other elements, on the Moon. The same process could be also relevant for Mercury. In this work we calculate the vapor and neutral Na production rates on Mercury due to the impacts of meteoroids in the radius range of 10−8–10−1 m. We limit our calculations to this size rang...

Mercury is a poorly known planet, since the only space-based information comes from the three fly-bys performed in 1974 by the Mariner 10 spacecraft. Ground-based observations also provided some interesting results, but they are particularly difficult to obtain due to the planet’s proximity to the Sun. Nevertheless, the fact that the planet’s orbit...

In the study of the Hermean exosphere, the process of gas production called 'Meteoritic Impact Vaporization' (MIV) has been historically considered less important than the others (thermal desorption, photon stimulated desorption and ion sputtering). Only in the last years it has become evident that, in the nightside, MIVs contribution to the exosph...

Meteoroid impact has been shown to be a source of sodium, and most likely of other elements, at the Moon. The same process is also relevant for Mercury. In this work, we made use of a new estimate of the meteoroid flux at Mercury (valid for bodies greater then 1mm). Then, we modelled the physics of the impact and we computed the contribution of thi...

The Mercury's exosphere is more dependent on the micrometeoroid impacts than the lunar exosphere and we have applied an order-to-magnitude calculation on the physical conditions of the sodium atoms during these events. This calculation shows the different ionization degree of sodium atoms depending on the meteoroid impact velocity and the related e...