Seminars

Melina Zaharias

Title: Simulating the flow through Enceladus Tiger Stripe Conduit using DSMC

Abstract: Molecular Hydrogen was detected during Cassini's final 'E21' flyby of Enceladus, providing strong evidence of potential habitability at an icy ocean world. Along with water vapor, molecular hydrogen (and other constituents) are being ejected from a series of fractures (conduits) that reach a deep underground reservoir from the surface of the moon. We use a Direct Simulation Monte Carlo method to model the flow of the gas mixture from below ground to just before it reaches the near-vacuum atmosphere of Enceladus, examining the flow's sensitivity to various parameters.

Aanu Adeloye

Title: DSMC Modeling of Io’s Tvashtar Eruption: Effects of Radiation Confinement on Plume Structure

Abstract: While on its journey to Pluto, the New Horizons spacecraft did a flyby of the Jovian system in 2007, during which it observed an active plume at Tvashtar near Io’s north pole. During this mission, it recorded a remarkable, irregular order of magnitude increase in the brightness of Tvashtar's plume canopy over the course of four days. In an effort to comprehend this unexpected phenomenon, we turn to our DSMC code, known as PLANET, which excels in unraveling the complex interplay of various processes within the plume. We find that accounting for grain radiation, gas opacity and two-way collisional coupling is crucial to understanding the effects of simulation parameter space on plume structure.