Call for Observation Time on Optical Telescopes Now Open
The Europlanet Telescope Network is cooperating with the OPTICON Alliance to support access to optical facilities. Observers from the planetary community are encouraged to apply.
Optical call for proposals 2026A
We are pleased to announce that the OPTICON 2026A call for proposals is now open, with observing time available on the participating facilities.
As the number of participating facilities in this call is limited, applicants are also encouraged to check the relevant telescope or observatory website in case any facility requires specific additional information. Applicants may request observing time on multiple facilities through a single proposal. Late applications will not be considered. Please note that, for this call, applications are invited from the international community excluding USA-based observers. It is expected that future calls will broaden eligibility to include USA-based observers. Applicants submitting a proposal will be expected to provide feedback on at least one anonymised proposal as part of the review process.
Note: TBL and Aristarchos facilities will be available for future calls, but are currently in the process of being upgraded. Please also consider the BHTOM network of telescopes for time-domain observations.
The call for proposals will close on April 17th 2026 at UT 23:59.
Tiny Enceladus Exercises Giant Electromagnetic Influence at Saturn
Europlanet Press Release – For Immediate Release
Enceladus, a tiny moon of Saturn, trails a wake of electromagnetic ripples that extends over half a million kilometres.
A major study by an international team of researchers using data from the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini spacecraft has revealed a lattice-like structure of crisscrossing reflected waves that flow downstream behind the moon in Saturn’s equatorial plane, but also reach up to very high northern and southern latitudes. The analysis of data from four instruments aboard Cassini, collected over the mission’s 13-year duration, demonstrates the crucial role that Enceladus plays in circulating energy and momentum around Saturn’s space environment.
Plumes of water vapour and dust stream through cracks in the icy surface of the southern hemisphere of Enceladus. The water molecules and particles from these geysers become ionised when exposed to radiation, creating an electrically-charged plasma that interacts with Saturn’s magnetic field as it sweeps past Enceladus.
“Enceladus, Saturn’s small icy moon, is famous for its water geysers, but its actual impact and interaction with the giant planet has remained partly unknown. This result from Cassini transforms our vision of the moon’s role in the Saturnian system,” said Lina Hadid of the Laboratoire de Physique de Plasmas (LPP) in France, who led the study.
The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, shows how wave structures, known as ‘Alfvén wings’, travel like vibrations on a string along magnetic field lines connecting Enceladus to Saturn’s pole. The initial ‘main’ Alfvén wing is reflected back-and-forth both by Saturn’s ionosphere and the plasma torus that encircles Enceladus’s orbit, resulting complex and structured system. By using a multi-instrumental approach, researchers were able to show that the influence of Enceladus extends over a record distance of over 504,000 km – more than 2,000 times the moon’s radius.
“This is the first time such an extensive electromagnetic reach by Enceladus has been observed, proving that this small moon acts as a giant planetary-scale Alfvén wave generator,” said Thomas Chust of LPP, co-author of the study. “This work sets the stage for future studies of other systems, such as the icy moons of Jupiter or exoplanets, by showing that a small moon with an electrically-conducting atmosphere can influence its host over vast distances on the scale of the giant planet itself.”
The researchers examined archive data from the suite of instruments carried by Cassini to study electromagnetic wave and particle interactions, looking for flyby and non-flyby paths near Enceladus that showed evidence of magnetic connections between the moon and Saturn. On 36 occasions, they found signatures related to Alfvén waves, including at much further distances than they originally anticipated.
As well as the large-scale structures, the team found evidence that turbulence teases out the waves into filaments within the main Alfvén wing. This fine-scale structure helps the waves bounce off Enceladus’s plasma torus and reach the high-latitudes in Saturn’s ionosphere where auroral features associated with the moon form.
“These results highlight the importance for future missions to Enceladus, such as the planned ESA orbiter and lander in the 2040s, to carry instrumentation that can study these electromagnetic interactions in even more detail,” said Hadid.
The study was led by LPP in collaboration with researchers from French laboratories including IRAP, ISAE-SUPAERO, LATMOS, LAM, and LIRA/Observatoire de Paris. International institutions participating in the study included ESA, IRFU in Sweden, MPS in Germany, CAS in the Czech Republic, Johns Hopkins APL, UCLA, the Universities of Michigan, Boston, and Iowa in the United States, DIAS in Ireland, MSSL/UCL, and Imperial College London in the United Kingdom. The CDPP/AMDA tool used in the study was supported through the Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure project with funding from the European Commission.
Publication
Hadid, L. Z., Chust, T., Wahlund, J.‐E., Morooka, M. W., Roussos, E., Witasse, O., et al. (2026). Evidence of an extended Alfvén wing system at Enceladus: Cassini’s multi‐instrument observations. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 131, e2025JA034657. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JA034657
Images and Animation
Animation Caption: Animation of the electrodynamic interaction between Enceladus and Saturn. The primary Alfvén wing is shown in blue, and the reflected Alfvén wings in magenta. The arrow indicates the corotation direction of the Enceladus plasma torus. Relative sizes of Saturn and Enceladus are not to scale. Design & Animation: Fabrice Etifier – École Polytechnique.
Image Caption: Illustration of the electrodynamic interaction between Enceladus and Saturn. The primary Alfvén wing is shown in blue, and the reflected Alfvén wings in magenta. The arrow indicates the corotation direction of the Enceladus plasma torus. Relative sizes of Saturn and Enceladus are not to scale. Design & Animation: Fabrice Etifier – École Polytechnique.
Image Caption: Plumes of water vapour and dust stream through cracks in the icy surface of the southern hemisphere of Enceladus. The water molecules and particles from these geysers become ionised when exposed to radiation, creating an electrically-charged plasma that interacts with Saturn’s magnetic field as it sweeps past Enceladus. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.
Europlanet (europlanet.org) is a non-profit association and membership organisation that provides the planetary science community with access to research infrastructure, services and training. The Europlanet Association Sans But Lucratif (AISBL), established in 2023, builds on the heritage of a series of projects funded by the European Commission between 2005 and 2024 (Grant Numbers 871149, 654208, 228319 and RICA-CT-2004-001637) to support the planetary science community in Europe and around the world.
Europlanet Transnational Access Call 2026 – Free Access to Facilities
Europlanet has launched a new call for Transnational Access (TA), which enables researchers who are members of Europlanet (individual members or staff working for organisational members) to visit participating facilities that offer simulation and analysis capabilities relevant to planetary science.
The Europlanet TA Programme 2026 offers access to 25 facilities in ten internationally renowned research centres in Europe and South Korea. The facilities are tailored for the simulation or characterisation of planetary conditions and materials. The programme supports all travel and local accommodation costs for researchers during their visit to participating facilities.
If you are interested in submitting an application to the Europlanet TA Call 2026, check out the call page to find more information about the call and how to submit your application. Please note that you must contact the facility to discuss the feasibility of your proposal before submitting your application. The call will close on 16 March 2026.
You should plan for your visits to take place between the end of April and December 2026. Please note that some facilities are only available in certain months, or have pre-requirements for applications. See the individual facility pages for details.
Building on the European Commission-funded TA programme from 2009-2024, Europlanet now offers a sustainable programme of annual TA calls funded through membership subscriptions.
For the 2026 Call, we are delight to welcome new institutions and/or new facilities that will be offered for Transnational Access through Europlanet for the first time. These include:
New Year’s Day 2026 is Europlanet’s 21st birthday. To celebrate, we highlight 21 things that Europlanet has achieved since its foundation on 1 January 2005.
The Europlanet Science Congress
Opening ceremony of EPSC-DPS2025. Credit: Europlanet.
First held in Berlin in 2006, the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) is the largest annual meeting on planetary science in Europe and regularly attracts over 1200 participants. Its interdisciplinary, interactive and adaptive format makes EPSC an ideal place for the global planetary community to share ideas and build new connections. Joint meetings with the American Astronomical Society’s Division of Planetary Sciences (DPS) and the European Astrobiology Network Association (EANA) have brought together even bigger international and cross-disciplinary audiences, with the recent EPSC-DPS2025 in Helskinki becoming the largest planetary meeting to date in Europe with 1800 participants.
Research and Technology Infrastructure
The Laboratory of Electron Induced Fluorescence at Comenius University. Credit: Comenius University.
Europlanet provides access to state-of-the-art research and technology infrastructure (RTI) to support planetary science and space exploration. The distributed RTI includes facilities for the simulation of planetary environments, analysis of planetary samples, testing and development of space technologies, and support of interdisciplinary studies. Our Transnational Access (TA) programme is designed to allow researchers from anywhere in the world, and at all career stages, to have access to facilities to support scientific and technological excellence in planetary/space research and to foster international collaborations. To date, Europlanet has funded over 600 research visits, amounting to in excess of 5,500 days of access (15 years), involving over 800 individual researchers accessing 23 laboratories (with over 80 individual facilities), 12 planetary analogue field sites and 17 telescopes.
Europlanet is a grass-roots organisation, supported by individual members since 2018 and organisational members since 2025. Membership benefits include discounted fees for EPSC, access to facilities, expert exchanges, webinars, training, workshops, funding schemes and much more. Join now to help us continue our mission to support the planetary community around the world.
Participants at EPEC Annual Week 2025. Credit: EPEC.
The Europlanet Early Career (EPEC) network is organised by early-career researchers for early-career researchers, and includes volunteers from across the Europlanet international community. The EPEC network is open to all students, doctoral candidates and early-career planetary scientists and space professionals whose last degree (e.g. MSc or PhD) was obtained a maximum of 7 years ago (excluding parental leave, serious illness and similar delays).
EPEC’s activities, including Annual Week and EPEC@EPSC, aim to form a strong network between young professionals by organising early-career-relevant events and by engaging in different projects amongst different focus areas (outreach, diversity, early career support). As early careers comprise over half Europlanet’s individual members and attendees at EPSC, EPEC ensures that the (scientifically) young members of our community have a clear voice within Europlanet to shape the future of planetary and space sciences and engineering.
The launch of the Europlanet Colombia Regional Hub in November 2025. Credit: Europlanet Colombia.
Europlanet’s Regional Hubs support the development of planetary science at a national and regional level, particularly in countries and areas that are currently under-represented within the community. Our Hub Committees organise networking events and workshops to support the research community, as well as to build links with amateur astronomers, industrial partners, policymakers, educators, the media and the wider public. In addition to 10 European Regional Hubs, a Colombian Regional Hub was established in 2025 to support the community in Colombia and Latin America.
Projects
The launch of the European Planetology Network (EuroPlaNet) in 2005. Credit: Europlanet.
Europlanet was founded as a Coordination Action funded by the European Commission (EC) in 2005-2008 to promote networking, support the sharing of resources and overcome fragmentation in the European planetary science community. Through a series of further EC grants awarded between 2009 and 2024, Europlanet has subsequently developed into a global distributed research infrastructure that offers coordinated access to services and facilities spread over 5 continents, supporting a community of thousands of users in academia, industry and in the wider community. In total, the EC has invested €28 million in Europlanet to support the planetary community.
Europlanet has received funding from the European Commission under Grant Numbers 871149, 654208, 228319 and RICA-CT-2004-001637.
VESPA
Superimposed olivine map from OMEGA / Mars-Express in N Syrtis Major area (Jezero crater is at the bottom), displayed in the Aladin service and accessed through VESPA. Credit: Aladin.
VESPA (Virtual European Solar and Planetary Access) is a web-based search interface to identify and access planetary science and heliophysics data provided by the science community. Developed through EC-funded Europlanet projects, and hosted and maintained by the Observatory of Paris, VESPA is freely available to researchers and the general public. The VESPA portal supports user-friendly searching on metadata associated with generic observation conditions (such as target, instrument, time/space/spectral coverages, illumination conditions, etc) and metadata specific to each dataset (such as instrumental parameters) via the EPN-TAP protocol, which is now a standard of the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA) for Solar system data. Nearly 250 EPN-TAP data services of various size are declared in the IVOA registry, of which 94 are currently validated and accessible via the portal – including ESA’s Planetary Science Archive (PSA). VESPA also offers an easy solution for small teams to share newly-derived data from a publication or a research project.
SPIDER
Europlanet’s SPIDER Planetary Space Weather Services provide contextual information on predictions and alerts for planetary space weather analysis and payload or spacecraft operations. SPIDER enables researchers to take advantage of data from a suite of missions at different points in the Solar System. Applications of SPIDER’s tools have led to several high-impact publications, and have been used to support planning of the BepiColombo and Juice missions. Opportunities identified through SPIDER for synergistic observations by BepiColombo during its cruise phase with the Solar Orbiter and Solar Parker Probe missions have also been implemented by ESA and JAXA.
GMAP and Winter School
GMAP Winter School Banner 2026.
The Geological Mapping (GMAP) activity provides a complete infrastructure for the geological mapping of planetary bodies. As well as everything needed to create planetary maps, GMAP provides guidelines and insights on how to produce effective mapping products for scientific exploitation, as well as information on how to display and archive results in a structured way.
GMAP supports researchers who are interested in learning how to build their own mapping products, as well as mappers who want to learn how to incorporate other types of data analysis into their products.
One of GMAP’s major successes has been the establishment of the annual Geology & Planetary Mapping Winter School. Now in its fifth iteration, the Winter School provides training for anyone interested in planetary mapping to build knowledge and skills in planetary mapping. Participants can follow synchronously or asynchronously to accommodate different time zones. The 2026 edition will run from 26-30 January 2026.
Amateur astronomer, Florence Libotte (centre) with astronomers Erika Pakštienė (left) and Gražina Tautvaišienė (right) at the Moletai Observatory, Lithuania.
The Europlanet Telescope Network brings together medium and small telescopes to facilitate and coordinate observations related to planetary science. Founded in 2020, the telescope network has awarded 256.5 observing nights and supported 44 projects on planetary topics from near Earth objects to exoplanets, as well as astrophysical subjects including black holes and binary star systems. As well as supporting the professional scientific community, the Europlanet telescope Network has provided access and training for amateur astronomers to enable them to contribute to planetary research. Since the end of the EC-funded project, the Europlanet Telescope Network has maintained a list of telescopes willing to offer observing time to the community. The Europlanet Telescope Network currently unites 21 observatories with 32 telescopes in 16 countries.
Europlanet holds monthly webinars on a range of topics from science to policy, diversity and outreach. Quarterly webinars are also co-organised with the Science Team of the ESA Juice mission.
Europlanet webinars provide quarterly updates on the JUICE mission on its long journey to reach and explore Jupiter and its icy moons. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab/NASA/JPL/J Nichols/U Leicester/U Arizona/DLR.
Group photo of in-person participants at ERIM 2023 in Bratislava, Slovakia. Credit: Europlanet/J-D Bodénan.
In addition to EPSC and EPEC Annual Week, Europlanet organises a range of meetings, summer schools, workshops and training sessions to support the community. Our interactive online Teams Days, held 2-3 times per year, are an opportunity for the community to provide input and feedback into Europlanet’s strategy and operations. The Europlanet Research Infrastructure Meeting (ERIM) in 2023 comprised a series of interactive workshops with the aim of promoting collaboration across the Europlanet community. More recently, policy workshops organised in partnership with other research infrastructures have helped share information on upcoming opportunities and best practice for distributed RIs.
In total, over the past two decades, Europlanet has provided training for over 7,500 members of the planetary community, with a particular focus on early career researchers.
Join hundreds of other Europlanet members on our Discord server to keep up with news, events, job opportunities and to connect with colleagues around the world. The server is designed with a variety of channels to facilitate discussions and interactions, including text channels, discussion forums and voice channels. We also hold regular informal catch ups and science discussion ‘hangouts’.
Europlanet is committed to building a diverse, inclusive planetary science and ensuring that individuals within that community experience equal opportunity, regardless of gender, disability, ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, marital status, age, nationality or socioeconomic background. The Europlanet Diversity Committee acts as a strategic task force to advise, coordinate and champion activities across Europlanet that further the association’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusivity. As well as activities around EPSC, the Diversity Committee organises events to raise awareness of diversity, inclusivity and accessibility in the planetary community, such as through the Planetary Science Wiki Edit-a-thon.
Outreach
Outreach and education have been a core part of Europlanet initiatives since its foundation the early 2000s. Our objective is to support the planetary science community at a grass roots level to do more public engagement and educational activities, and to share best practice, training and resources to increase the impact of those efforts. Over 20 public engagement and education projects have been supported with more than 135,000€ of seed funding by Europlanet.
The Outreach Working Group coordinates activities, such as EPSC Goes Live for Schools, funding programmes, sharing of best practice and the annual prize for Public Engagement.
Policy and Industry
Europlanet exhibition in the European Parliament. Credit: Europlanet.
Europlanet engagement with policy makers and industry aim to build collaborations and create synergies between cutting-edge science and the technological challenges of planetary science and exploration.
Europlanet has organised and participated in briefings, events, conference sessions (e.g. at EPSC) and other opportunities to engage policy makers in the European Parliament and the European Commission with planetary science, as well as engage with high-level representatives of ESA, NASA and other national and international space agencies. Organising events within the European Parliament has proved an effective platform to develop relationships with MEPs and other stakeholders, enabling the community to feed into discussions on future funding and policies relevant to planetary science.
Industry engagement activities have included organising technology foresight workshops, collaborations with space industry trade associations, developing contacts and networks within industry, participating in industry conferences and events, and convening industry and policy sessions at EPSC.
Europlanet’s distributed infrastructure offers industrial partners access to simulation and testing facilities for a range of environments that planetary and space missions may encounter through launch to their destination in orbit or on a planetary surface. By accessing Europlanet facilities, companies and SMEs can increase the value of their technology by increasing the Technology Readiness Level (TRL), understanding how instrumentation operates under realistic planetary conditions, or by identifying potential issues. Several of our RTI facilities are operated by commercial organisations.
Collaborations
Collaborations stimulated through Europlanet, and involving its beneficiaries, have led to several successful proposals for new projects funded through the European Commission and national agencies. From the development of Machine Learning tools to mobilising researchers in Africa, these external projects act as multipliers for the impact of Europlanet in many different communities.
Expert Exchanges
Expert exchange to observing the DART impact in Kenya. Credit: The Travelling Telescope.
Europlanet’s Expert Exchange Programme aims to support the mobilisation of the planetary community to share expertise and best practice and to prepare new facilities and services for integration into Europlanet’s research infrastructure. The programme provides funding for short visits (up to one week) and over the last two decades, more than 200 expert exchanges have been supported.
Topics for visits have included training on the use of instrumentation, short scientific projects, improvements to facilities and the development of outreach collaborations. Evaluation of the visits show that bringing individuals together to exchange expertise often leading to synergies that would not happen otherwise, particularly for researchers from under-represented countries. The programme has also supported the professional development of early career scientists, helping them to prepare for careers outside academia.
Tactile Mars exhibit from the Planets in Your Hand exhibition funded by Europlanet in 2017. Credit: Kosmas Gazeas.
Europlanet offers funding and bursaries to support the community in various ways. Each year, we provide over 100 bursaries for early career and researchers from under-represented countries to attend EPSC. The Committee Funding Scheme offers grants of up to 5000 € to support the scientific, community-building and outreach activities of our members.
Europlanet recognises the contributions of the planetary science community through a range of medals, prizes and other awards. The Europlanet Medals, launched in 2025, honour outstanding contributions from individuals of three different scientific career-stages to the subjects covered by the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC). The Europlanet Prize for Public Engagement with Planetary Science is also awarded to individuals or groups who have developed innovative and socially impactful practices in planetary science communication and education. The EPSC Outstanding Poster Competition recognises the work of early career researchers at EPSC.
Impact
Fernando Gomez from Argentina participated in a Transnational Access visit to facilities at the Korean Basic Science Institute (KBSI). Credit: F Gomez.
Europlanet activities are evaluated against a framework of core indicators for assessing scientific, technological, education and training, economic, and social and societal impacts. Evaluation shows that the impact of activities to date have been particularly strong in the scientific, technological, education and training areas.
The 197 Transnational Access projects supported through the most-recent Europlanet 2024 RI project are expected to lead to over 300 publications and 400 conference presentations. Interviews and follow-up surveys show that over 90% of visitors are planning future collaborations with their host facility. In particular, early career researchers and students report that the TA programme provides them with opportunities – including collaboration and network-building – that would not otherwise have been available to them, thus accelerating their career development.
Upgrades to facilities have provided increasing support for local infrastructure and associated employment, and there has been at least one SME company that was developed as a result of the TA programme.
The new Europlanet Evaluation Unit now offers evaluation support and consultancy for external organisations that would like to develop an evaluation framework or implement an impact evaluation of their activities.
Teamwork
Europlanet’s existence and continued activities would not be possible without the support of many individuals and organisations. In particular, we would like to thank our Executive Board, Committees and Working Groups for their huge investment of time and energy in making Europlanet a thriving and vibrant community. We thank our individual and organisational members for supporting us and participating in our activities. We are also indebted to the European Commission for funding over the years, as well as our project officers at the EC for their support, guidance and advice.
Europlanet 2024 RI has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149.
Apply to join the Europlanet GMAP Winter School, which will take place from 26-30 January 2026. The Winter School, which allows both synchronous and asynchronous participation, is focused on the production of planetary geological maps of a range of Solar System bodies.
Building on past editions, the 2026 edition will cover introductory knowledge about planetary data, coordinate reference systems and software tools, the geology of key features on Mars, Earth and the Moon, and feasibility studies for future exploration.
The GMAP Winter School is organised by Europlanet, a non-profit association for the advancement of planetary science, and is open to Europlanet members (both individual members and staff of organisational members).
‘Impact, Industry Engagement, Research Security and Dual Use’ Workshop at Industriens Hus, Copenhagen
Around 30 representatives of a diverse range of research infrastructures gathered at Industriens Hus, Copenhagen, Denmark and online from 20 – 21 October 2025 for a hybrid workshop ahead of the Research and Technology Infrastructures (RTI) Summit 2025.
The meeting, which was co-organised by Aarhus University, the European Science Foundation and Europlanet, included a workshop on impact evaluation. Presentations and discussions covered industry engagement, research security and Dual Use, as well as upcoming opportunities within Horizon Europe and an update on a new journal focused on RIs.
The session also included an update on a White Paper on Distributed Research Infrastructures, which was discussed at the previous workshop in Krakow in June 2025. The title of the White Paper has been updated to: ‘Towards an Inclusive Framework for Europe’s Research Infrastructures: Embracing diversity in form, theme, and scale.’
In line with feedback from the Krakow meeting, additional adjustments have been made to reflect that issues in visibility in European RI policy for many RIs do not specifically originate from the size but more from the form and the prioritisation of the ESFRI Roadmap RIs and ERICs. The White Paper concludes that: ‘A resilient, adaptable, and dynamic research ecosystem requires strategic support for all RIs.’ The new version has been submitted to the European publication platform Open Research Europe (ORE) for final review.
Images
Presentations
Horizon Europe Updates – Nigel Mason (Europlanet / University of Kent)
Europlanet Impact Case Study #2: Atomki – A Facility’s Story
The Institute for Nuclear Research (Atomki) is Hungary’s national centre of accelerator-based nuclear and atomic physics.
At present, Atomki employs 200 persons. It is a non-profit institution funded from national and European sources with a track record of extensive international collaboration and hosting numerous (100’s) foreign visitors. The Atomki Accelerator Centre (AAC) incorporates five ion beam facilities with various particle, charge and intensity applied to diverse issues from cultural heritage to modelling the solar system.
Atomki’s association with Europlanet originated through a personal contact between Bela Sulik, head of Atomki’s Section of Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Europlanet’s coordinator, Nigel Mason, who worked together in the early 2000s on an EU-funded research infrastructure project for small accelerators and a COST action studying radiation on living things. Bela and Nigel maintained contact over the next 15 years or so, through discussions on atomic collisions.
When Atomki installed a new Tandetron accelerator in 2018, Nigel and other members of the Europlanet team visited Hungary. This visit resulted in a plan to build an astrophysics/astrochemistry beamline that could provide irradiation measurements on analogue Solar System ices for ion energy and ion species over the range of the solar wind and low energy tail of galactic cosmic rays.
The Ice Chamber for Astrophysics/Astrochemistry (ICA) at Atomki was installed in 2019, and was ready for the first Transnational Access (TA) visits in 2020 through the Europlanet 2024 RI project. Europlanet researchers (from senior members of staff to students) supported the Atomki team in preparing the facility for TA participation by sharing expertise and training. Due to the pandemic, several of the first visits were virtual, but physical visits resumed as travel restrictions lifted. It became the Europlanet 2024 RI project’s most over-subscribed TA facility.
A second chamber, supplied by from Queens University Belfast, was installed through a Europlanet 2024 RI Joint Research Activity in 2021.
The facilities are open to international users as part of the Atomki Solar Wind Simulator (SOWS) facility and through Europlanet’s ongoing TA Programme.
From 2025, the facilities have also been included in a major national grant from the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA). The new project, entitled ‘Laboratory Investigation of Astrophysically Relevant Ices and Other Materials’, will use the facilities to study physical and chemical changes induced by the ionising radiation in ices found in the interstellar medium and on planetary/lunar surfaces, as well as materials tested for potential use in lunar-based structures. The grant supports two postdoctoral positions and PhD students over the next four years.
“When I leave the field, I feel that in Atomki we have something which is on the European scale, an active laboratory. And we are going to become really a hub in this field of astrophysics/astrochemistry.”
Europlanet Evaluation Shows Networking and Collaboration Pave the Way to High Impact Science: Case Study Featured in Nature Astronomy
Evaluation of the impact of the most recent €10-million Europlanet project funded by the European Commission (EC) has been featured as a case study in the journal Nature Astronomy, published today.
The Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure (RI) project, which ran between 1 February 2020 and 31 July 2024, provided access to the world’s largest coordinated collection of planetary simulation and analysis facilities, virtual access to data services and tools, funding for upgrades to facilities and programmes, and a range of activities to support the community though networking, training, professional development and access to a telescope network. The project, which involved over 50 partners, was one of the most complex distributed research infrastructures ever funded by the EC.
From proposal stage, an Impact Evaluation Officer – the social scientist Jen DeWitt – was recruited and embedded in the project to delve into and document its results, outcomes and longer-term impacts.
Lonneke Roelofs from the Netherlands visited the Mars Chamber at the Open University, UK, through the Europlanet 2024 RI Transnational Access Programme. Credit: L Roelofs.
The comment piece in Nature Astronomy highlights how having robust evaluation built into a project from the beginning leads to high-impact science and an outwards looking ethos that benefits the whole planetary community. Key findings from the evaluation also show that the networking and personal contacts associated with participation in the project’s activities, particularly the Transnational Access visits to laboratories and field sites, lead to better science, new avenues of research and long-lasting collaborations that would not have otherwise occurred.
“It’s never a straightforward pipeline between funding going in and good science coming out. Many things happen in the middle, and it’s important to understand what those factors are and how they affect the quality and longer-term impacts of the science itself, as well as the researchers doing the work and the wider communities around them,” explained DeWitt. “For students and early-career researchers starting out, these impacts are particularly important as they provide opportunities that would otherwise not be available to them and accelerate their careers.”
The evaluation of Europlanet 2024 RI was structured around five impact areas defined in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reference framework for evaluating research infrastructures, including scientific, technological, training and education, economic and societal impacts. Together with the project management team and activity leads, DeWitt defined key performance indicators that were mapped onto strategic objectives within the impact areas, and these were regularly reviewed, refined and updated over the course of the project. As well as quantitative metrics, like numbers of users and publications, DeWitt also gathered qualitative feedback through open-ended questions in surveys and via interviews.
Europlanet 2024 RI networking workshop. Credit: A Fratti.
Nigel Mason, the Coordinator of Europlanet 2024 RI and its predecessor RI project said: “This project was the last in a series that have received €28 million funding over 20 years from the EC. Although we had collected the metrics required by the EC for all past projects, this time, we wanted a more in-depth understanding of the results and outcomes, in both the short and longer term. To do that, we needed to bring in someone with the right expertise to work with us right from the start.
“Having a dedicated evaluator who had the time and expertise to gather more in-depth feedback meant that we could see how interactions with users developed over time and how the different strands of the project came together and functioned as a whole to support the community.”
The evaluation – and the management of the project itself – was complicated by the world events of 2020-24, including the pandemic, wars in Ukraine and Ethiopia, and the associated financial and societal challenges. Many activities required temporary or permanent adaptations in response to lockdowns, travel restrictions, health issues and personnel changes. Some barriers to impact remained, particularly with respect to widening participation from parts of the community that are under-represented in planetary science, where face-to-face participation and hosting events locally have been shown to be particularly important.
Nonetheless, the evaluation showed impact in all areas monitored, particularly with respect to scientific and training. The project has resulted in over 250 publications and conference presentations to date, and the mentoring, expert exchanges, training programmes and summer schools were all highlighted as being particularly important for early careers and researchers from under-represented countries during the pandemic. Over 90% of Transnational Access visits have resulted in ongoing research collaborations, and two thirds of participants reported that they followed up new avenues of research as a result of their visit.
Understanding what did and did not work for users and how both users and project partners benefited over time were key to delivering a successful project and defining what should come next.
“This evaluation is not just important in explaining to the European Commission – and the public taxpayers – about how their money has been spent and why the results have been beneficial to science and society. It has also had a vital practical use in helping us to identify where we should prioritise limited resources going forwards,” said Europlanet Vice-President, Anita Heward. “Europlanet is now a self-sustaining non-profit association and, if we are to continue to support the planetary community, we need to know where Europlanet’s activities have the biggest impact and best value for money. The evaluation has helped us do this in a robust, evidence-driven way.”
The importance of collaboration and networking in delivering high-impact planetary science was a key finding, with the evaluation helping to identify exactly how and why they are important.
“These results show that the popular stereotypes of scientists as lone geniuses working in isolation are diametrically opposite to how good science happens in practice. Success in research comes through building networks, talking, listening, learning and collaborating with colleagues – especially when it happens at an international and cross-border level. When we are talking to the next generation about careers in science, or to policy makers, the strength and importance of community is something that we should highlight and be really proud of,” said DeWitt.
DeWitt, J., Heward, A. & Mason, N.J. Insights into evaluating a research project through an impact case study of a pan-European research infrastructure. Nat Astron9, 1415–1417 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02684-7
Europlanet 2024 RI has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149.
We are devastated by the news that Riccardo Pozzobon was involved in a tragic accident while on a research trip to the Mendenhall Glacier, Alaska, on 2 September 2025.
Riccardo graduated in Geology and Technical Geology in Padua in 2010 and, after obtaining his PhD, specialised in the field of planetary geology.
A talented and inspirational researcher, Riccardo participated in numerous international missions, published significant studies (including discoveries on lunar lava tubes) and was a lecturer in the Digital Geological Mapping at the University of Padova. He was also an instructor in the PANGEA training course for astronauts at the European Space Agency.
For Europlanet, he was a key driver of the Geological Mapping (GMAP) activity and, in particular, the Geological Mapping Winter School. The online Winter School, established during Covid in 2021, has grown to attract over 750 participants in 2025 and is a reflection of Riccardo’s commitment to curiosity, collaboration and community building.
He will be very much missed.
Our thoughts are with Riccardo’s family, particularly his wife and young son. To support them in this unimaginably difficult time, efforts are underway by friends and colleagues at the University of Padova to set up a donation fund.
There will be book of condolence at the main Europlanet stand at EPSC-DPS2025 from 08-12 September, which we invite Riccardo’s friends and colleagues to sign. Alternatively, please share memories of him or pictures via the form below, which we will collate and send with the book to the family.
We will add here details of pages with further information about Riccardo and ways to support his family as they become available.
Riccardo Pozzobon. Credit: ESA.Riccardo Pozzobon creating a 3D model of samples collected by Luca Parmitano one hour previously on the ISS. Credit: AP Rossi.Riccardo Pozzobon (left) during an ESA PANGEA training course. Credit: AP Rossi.Riccardo Pozzobon during a field trip. Credit: University of Padova.Riccardo Pozzobon (right) during an ESA PANGEA-X training course in 2017. Credit: AP Rossi.
These positions represent unique opportunities for Europlanet’s members to shape our growing community and make an impact on the field of planetary science. We encourage all our members to consider an involvement through these roles.
How it works
Applications are open to all Europlanet members (and if you are not yet a member, consider joining as an individual or see if your organisation is already a member). After the deadline, the members of the relevant committees will elect their new chairs from the candidates. Their decisions will be endorsed by the Europlanet Executive Board and announced by early October.
‘Roadmapping Distributed Research Infrastructures in Europe’ Workshop at SOLARIS, Krakow
Around 30 representatives of a diverse range of research infrastructures gathered at SOLARIS in Krakow, Poland, from 9 – 10 June 2025 for a workshop ahead of the 92nd European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) and the 3rd ESFRI Stakeholder Forum Meetup.
The meeting, which was co-organised by the European Science Foundation, SOLARIS and Europlanet, covered a broad spectrum of aspects on the role of distributed RIs within the European research landscape, as well as challenges and opportunities for laboratories and facilities in those parts of Europe where currently there are fewer RIs.
A key part of the discussion was a draft White Paper on ‘The role and importance of small to medium-sized Distributed Research Infrastructures (DRI) in sustaining European research competitiveness‘. The comments shared during the workshop and beforehand will help guide a light revision of the white paper, retaining the main argument, but sharpening the focus and to better define the boundaries of the commentary. The current version is already available on the European publication platform Open Research Europe (ORE). The new version will be uploaded before the end of June, with the aim of finalising and publishing the updated paper before the end of the year.
We need to make sure we haven’t dropped the ball on anything Europlanet-commuity related for EPSC (e.g. stand, posters, splinters etc)
Presentations also covered upcoming opportunities within Horizon Europe, evaluation of the impact of RIs, perspectives on widening participation, and a new journal focused on RIs. Participants were given a tour of the SOLARIS facility.
Many thanks to Marcin Sikora, Michal Mlynarczyk, Michał Tyrpuła and Joanna Kowalik for their kind welcome to SOLARIS.
Europlanet Transnational Access Pilot Call 2025 – Free Access to Facilities
Europlanet has launched a new call for Transnational Access (TA), which enables researchers who are members of Europlanet to visit participating facilities that offer simulation and analysis capabilities relevant to planetary science.
The Europlanet TA Pilot Programme 2025 offers access to eight facilities in five internationally renowned research centres in Europe, as well as six facilities in South Korea, for the simulation or characterisation of planetary conditions and materials. The programme supports all travel and local accommodation costs for researchers during their visit to participating facilities.
Building on the European Commission-funded TA programme from 2009-2024, this new call is a pilot for a sustainable TA programme that Europlanet will offer the community annually going forwards.
If you are interested in submitting an application to the Europlanet TA Pilot Call 2025, check out the call page to find more information about the call and how to submit your application. Please note that you must contact the TA facility to discuss the feasibility of your proposal before submitting your application. The call will close on 21 March 2025.
Your visits should take place between 1 May and 31 July 2025.
A report on the pilot programme will be presented at the joint meeting of the Europlanet Science Congress and the Division of Planetary Sciences (EPSC-DPS2025) in Helsinki from 7-12 September 2025.
Europlanet is now offering a new programme of Organisational Membership.
Organisations joining Europlanet have the opportunity to participate in cutting-edge science linked to current and upcoming planetary missions, share facilities and services with an international user community, provide strategic input to help shape policy relevant to planetary research and exploration, and develop collaborations with global partners. Organisational Members are also eligible to participate in funding bids coordinated through Europlanet.
Membership costs are tiered, with reduced rates available for organisations and researchers in Under-Represented States (URS)*.
Organisational Membership entitles organisations and their staff to participate in the following Europlanet Activities:
Mobility and Access
Transnational Access to laboratories and field sites relevant to planetary science
Access to the Europlanet Telescope Network (In-person and Virtual)
Expert Exchanges (Travel, Accommodation and Sustenance)
2024 has been a transformational year for Europlanet, with the completion of the Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure (RI) project and the full transition to become a sustainable non-profit association. Here are some of our highlights from the past 12 months.
December – Europlanet Enters a New Era
Over the past decade, work has been ongoing to create a sustainability plan that will enable Europlanet to continue its activities, independent of EC funding.
The first step was the launch of the Europlanet Society in 2018 to support the sustainability of networking programmes. Since 2023, the foundation of the Europlanet Association Sans But Lucratif (AISBL) has made Europlanet a sustainable legal entity. In December 2024, a new organisational membership programme was launched that will provide a solid foundation for a Europlanet research infrastructure in decades to come.
This new funding model will enable Europlanet to carry on core activities, including:
Mobility programmes, with access to facilities, telescopes and expert exchanges.
Training and mentoring of early career planetary scientists and the wider community, including the Planetary Mapping Winter School.
Support for the community at a grass-roots level through travel bursaries, prizes and small grants.
Sustaining and growing our community through EPSC, strategic partnerships and other activities in all regions of Europe and internationally.
Ensuring the voice of the planetary science community is heard in important strategic fora in Europe and internationally.
Europlanet hosts webinars on the last Tuesday of every month on topics ranging from careers to scientific techniques and services. In 2024, we started a collaboration with the European Space Agency’s Juice Mission team to host a new series of webinars (held on Fridays, once a quarter) with a special focus on Juice, its journey to the Jupiter system, and the science it will be doing during flybys and when it starts its main mission to study Jupiter’s icy moons.
The Planets In Your Hands Exhibition. Credit: Europlanet/T Roger.
September – Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) Returns to Berlin
Europlanet General Assembly at EPSC2024. Credit: Europlanet/T Roger.
The Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) returned to Berlin for a third time from 8-13 September 2024. Established in 2006, EPSC has grown into the largest annual meeting in Europe for planetary science and has been hosted in nine different countries. The hybrid 2024 edition, hosted by the Freie Universität Berlin and online, was attended 1200 participants from 43 countries.
The meeting received 1221 abstracts, with 1183 presentations scheduled over 98 Scientific Sessions, including 693 orals presentations, 22 dissertation oral talks and 500 posters presentations.
To foster interactions, connections and potential collaborations among diverse Europlanet communities — including academics, industry professionals, policymakers, and communicators at all career levels — E-SPIN was a new thematic event for EPSC2024. The event focused on ‘innovation’ in planetary sciences, serving as a common thread across all these communities.
Outreach programmes included a public event at the Zeiss Planetarium, and EPSC Goes Live for Schools, which supported conference attendants to engage with schools in the Berlin area and online. The conference was sponsored by Freie Universität Berlin, the Natural History Museum of Berlin and the Space: Science & Technology journal. Bursaries for 128 early careers, researchers from under-represented states amateurs and teachers were supported through Europlanet and the International Commission on Planetary Atmospheres and their Evolution (ICPAE).
August – Europlanet Magazine Special Issue
A special compilation of articles about Europlanet 2024 RI activities from the last seven issues of the Europlanet Magazine was published in the summer of 2024. The first feature is a summary of the main findings by the project’s impact evaluation officer, whose role has been to assess the effectiveness of the RI for its user community. The articles that follow give more in-depth overviews of the project’s main activities, including Transnational Access visits to laboratories and field sites, upgrades to facilities, Virtual Access services and Networking Activities.
The Europlanet Magazine, established in 2021, aims to highlight the range of activities by the Europlanet community academic and industrial partners, and the wider planetary community. The next issue will be published in spring 2025. Read Issue 7 here.
July – A Wrap for Europlanet 2024 RI
Infographic showing main results from the Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure (RI) project.
The 31 July 2024 marked the end of the Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure (RI) project. The €10 million programme was funded by the European Commission (EC) to provide infrastructure to address the major scientific and technological challenges facing modern planetary science and strengthen Europe’s position at the forefront of space exploration. With over 50 beneficiaries providing access to more than 40 facilities on 5 continents, as well as four virtual access services linking over 100 data services and catalogues, the project was one of the most complex and ambitious ever supported by the EC.
Professional evaluation of the project reveals that significant impact has emerged from the project in scientific, technological, training and education, economic, social and societal domains. Find out more.
June – A Month of Meetings
The Europlanet Early Careers (EPEC) network’s annual raining school took place in Padova, Italy, from 24-28 June 2024. Credit: EPEC/Europlanet.
June and July were busy months for Europlanet, with participation in multiple conferences and workshops. Europlanet had a stand at the European Astronomical Society (EAS) Annual Meeting in Padova, Italy and the British Planetary Science Congress (BPSC) in Leicester.
The Europlanet Early Career (EPEC) Annual Week was hosted at the Università degli Studi di Padova. Across four days, 23 in-person participants and 20 online attendees networked and took part in workshops, talks and social activities. EPEC Annual Week is a great opportunity for early careers to make new connections, create collaborations and get to know the wider Europlanet community. This year’s highlights included sessions on planetary science in Italy and a group walking tour of Padova’s historic city centre.
The Europlanet Central Europe Hub’s Tatra workshop, held on 19-20 June 2024 at the Astronomical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Tatranská Lomnica, Slovakia, brought together experts and early careers in planetary and space science from across Europe for two days of presentations and discussions.
Transnational Access (TA) is a cornerstone of all research infrastructure projects funded by the European Commission. By enabling researchers from one country to visit facilities in another, with all travel and service costs covered, the Commission aims to maximise the efficiency and quality of science produced, bridge the gap between highly developed and lesser-developed regions, support international collaboration and train the next generation of researchers.
Calls issued through the Europlanet 2024 RI project attracted a total of 323 applications. The Covid-19 pandemic caused serious disruption to the programme, requiring the EC to grant a six-month extension to allow facilities to work through the backlog of TA visits. However, of the 211 TA projects approved for funding, 197 were actually carried out, involving 293 researchers and 2077 days of access. The diverse science supported by the TA programme has led to several high-impact publications and new collaborations.
A new TA call will be issued in early 2025 and you can read all the TA publishable reports since 2020 here.
April – Virtual Access Services Highighted
Schematic view of planetary material escaping through Venus magnetosheath flank. TCredit: Thibaut Roger/Europlanet 2024 RI/Hadid et al.
A fleeting visit of the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission to Venus revealed surprising insights into how gases are stripped away from the upper layers of the planet’s atmosphere. Detections in a previously unexplored region of Venus’s magnetic environment showed carbon and oxygen accelerated to speeds where they could escape the planet’s gravitational pull. Europlanet’s SPIDER space weather modelling tools enabled the researchers to track how the particles propagated through the Venusian magnetosheath. The results were published in Nature Astronomy on 12 April.
Meanwhile, the VESPA Virtual Observatory for Solar System data ran an implementation workshop in Warsaw from 22-26 April to make six new services accessible to the community through VESPA. These included:
A service to supports calibration, curation, archiving and dissemination of data from ground-based solar telescopes, provided by the Science Data Centre (SDC) of the Institute for Solarphysics in Germany.
Ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) fluctuation maps from the Space Radio Diagnostic Research Centre in Poland
Measurements of Earth’s magnetic field anomalies caused by meteorite impacts, provided by the University of Warsaw in Poland
British Astronomical Association Comet Image Archive
A Student Science Club CubeSat Mission by the Rzeszow University of Technology in Poland
Lunar Sample Spectroscopy Database (LSSD) from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India.
VESPA currently provides access to over 90 services in the VESPA Portal and over 290 in the IVOA registry.
Europlanet’s other Virtual Access (VA) services are also thriving, with a new Machine Learning Working Group on Discord and the GMAP Community GitHub.
Europlanet organised a first planetary science workshop in Bolivia from 6-9 January 2024. The workshop was over four days at the Institute for Geological and Environmental Research (Instituto de Investigaciones Geologicas y del Medio Ambiente UMSA) in La Paz, Bolivia. The purpose of the workshop was to provide tools for the processing and mapping of planetary surfaces, exploring different planets and analogous environments in Bolivia and Latin America.
The Bolivia workshop followed on from a Europlanet Latin America Planetary Science Workshop, ‘Connecting Earth with other Planets’, which was held in Buenos Aires from 31 October – 03 November 2023. Speakers were drawn from universities across Latin America and the Europlanet community, as well as the Argentinian national space agency (CONAE) and the European Space Agency (ESA). The workhsop stimulated many discussions and proved a very useful opportunity for networking and connecting local communities.
The Europlanet Workshop Series of events in Africa and South America was organised by the Global Collaboration and Integration Task of the Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure (RI) project. We look forward to further collaborations with colleagues around the world in 2025.
January – GMAP Geology and Planetary Mapping Winter School 2024
The annual Geology and Planetary Mapping Winter School aims to introduce scientists and amateur enthusiasts to geological mapping of other planetary bodies. The fourth edition of the school ran synchronously (with live sessions) in the week 22-26 January 2024, and asynchronously (allowing participants to work at their own pace) on the Streavent platform until the end of February 2024. The focus of the 2024 school was geologic mapping aspects of Venus, icy satellites and small bodies. The programme was largely hands-on, with the inclusion of seminars and time for asynchronous interaction and individual or project mapping work. The school attracted more than 590 registrations from 75 countries around the world.
Each planetary body was introduced, with participants guided through hands-on activities such as the individual completion of a small mapping area. At the end of each day, specific time slots were dedicated to seminars, which provided insights, perspectives, and additional knowledge on related topics. The event was co-funded by the Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure (RI) project’s GMAP teams at the University of Padova and Constructor University.
All materials and videos from the 2021-2024 editions of the Winter School are freely available, and registration for the 2025 edition is now open at: https://www.planetarymapping.eu
Registration Open for the 2025 Europlanet GMAP Winter School
The GMAP Winter School is focused on the production of planetary geological maps of a range of Solar System bodies. The Winter School, established in 2021, builds on earlier editions.
The 2025 edition will cover introductory knowledge about planetary data, coordinate reference systems and software tools, the geology and specific key features on the surface of Venus, Mercury, the Moon and Mars.
The school will run synchronously in the week 10-14 February 2025, and asynchronously on the Streavent platform for the following month (February/March 2025).
The school is free of charge;
The registration is open from 23 December 2024 until the end of February 2025;
Upon registration participants will be able to access materials either in real-time or at their pace;
Registered participants will have Q&A access via the dedicated Streavent platform until 28 February 2025;
Registered participants wll have the right, provided they complete and deliver their mapping tasks, to receive a certificate.
Expert Exchange: Collaboration between the Ichnology, Sedimentology, and Substrate Group (University of Buenos Aires) and the Astrobiological and Geomicrobiological Lab (University of Bologna)
Europlanet 2024 RI’s Expert Exchange Programme aims to support the planetary community to share expertise and best practice, and to prepare new facilities and services. The programme provides funding for short visits (up to one week).
Diana Elizabeth Fernandez of the Departamento de Ciencias Geologicas, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) – IDEAN (CONICET-UBA Institute) in Argentia visited Barbara Cavalazzi of the strobiological and Geomicrobiological Lab at the University of Bologna from 01-09 April 2024.
The primary objective was to establish collaborative efforts between the Ichnology, Sedimentology, and Substrate Group at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and the Astrobiological and Geomicrobiological team at the University of Bologna. The focus of this collaboration is the study of Microbially-Induced Sedimentary Structures (MISS) in Lower Cretaceous marginal-marine units from Patagonia, Argentina. These structures, which result from microbial activities, serve as valuable indirect evidence of microbial life throughout various geological time intervals. The collaboration aims to utilise Raman spectroscopy for a comprehensive characterisation of MISS samples, providing crucial information relevant to geobiological sciences and astrobiological significance, particularly regarding the potential detection of biosignatures. With this in mind, Dr. Diana Elizabeth Fernández (UBA), an expert in marine and marginal marine trace fossils, collaborated with Dr. Barbara Cavalazzi, an expert astrobiologist, at the Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali-BiGeA, University of Bologna.
During the visit, discussions centered on the availability and utilisation of samples, opportunities for co-advising students from both institutions, fieldwork options in Argentina, and potential further project applications. Preliminary assessments of sample analyses were conducted, utilising the WITec Alpha 300 Raman microscope under the guidance of expert astrobiologist Dr. Barbara Cavalazzi, for the detection and identification of organic molecules and minerals. Employing Raman spectroscopy will lead to an in-depth characterisation of these MISS and their associated biosignatures.
Additionally, Dr. Fernández delivered a seminar to students at the University of Bologna on the topic of Principles of Animal-Substrate Interactions.
Report Summary: Microbial activity leaves fingerprints in the sedimentary record. Through its metabolism microbes catalyse reactions, thus recycling minerals, dissolved chemical species and gases. This produces changes in the isotopic and trace elements ratios and changes in crystal mineral fabrics, that can be preserved in the sedimentary record. This signals of biological activity, when differentiated from abiotically controlled processes, are known as biosignatures., and are a part of the toolbox of geobiological and astrobiological research. The main question here is how can textural and chemical biogenic signatures be clearly differentiated from abiotically mediated processes? The study of ancient deposits is problematic, in that primary signatures have likely been modified through changes in the chemical environment during diagenetic processes. In contrast, the investigation of modern analogues, where processes can be studied in situ and where secondary alteration is incipient to absent, can help to differentiate between biotically and abiotically controlled signatures in the sedimentary record.
In this study we explored the chemical isotope signature within microbially-related sedimentary carbonates, including: stromatolites, oncoids/pisoids and thrombolites. We focused on carbon isotopes in different microtextures to recognise isotope signatures at the micro-nano-scale with the aim of recognising chemically versus biologically precipitated minerals and organic components.
22-EPN3-015: Trace Element Partitioning Between (Mg,Ca)S and Highly Reduced Magmas – Implications for the Volatile Budget and Thermal Evolution of Mercury
Visit by Laurie Llado and Yishen Zhang of the University of Liege (Belgium) to TA2 Facility 21 – OU NanoSIMS 50L (UK). Dates of visit: 31 July – 18 August 2022
Report Summary: Mercury’s magma ocean is thought to have contained abundant dissolved sulfur, which would have formed sulfides once the magma ocean reached sulfide saturation. Due to the low concentrations of Fe2+ in the silicate portion of Mercury and S speciation at low fO2, it is likely that crystallisation of the magma ocean produced minerals of the MgS-CaS solid solution. In this study, we aim at calculating the U, Th, and K trace element partitioning between (Mg,Ca)S sulfides and their equilibrium silicate melt to better understand the thermal evolution of Mercury.
To this end, the U, Th, and K trace element compositions of ultra-small (Mg,Ca)S crystals (3-15 μm) produced in experiments performed under highly reduced conditions were measured using the Open University NanoSIMS (UK). Preliminary results shows that U and Th partition coefficients of MgCaS crystals are lower than U and Th partition coefficients in CaS and FeS. Further investigation is required to confirm these preliminary results and to determine more accurately the U, Th and K partition coefficients. Nevertheless, the acquired U/Mg and Th/Mg ratios and theirs related partition coefficients will be used to provide comprehensive knowledge about the thermal evolution of Mercury.
20-EPN2-114: Microbial Adaptation in the Hypersaline Environment of Sua Pan Evaporator Ponds in Botswana and Implications for Search for Life on Mars (Part 2 – Microbial Characterisation)
Report Summary: The search for life on other planets, first of all Mars, is necessary informed by terrestrial biology. Studies of microorganisms on Earth expanded the limits of life to such an extent that many environments on Earth, previously thought to be uninhabitable, were found to harbor life. Some of these environments overlap with extraterrestrial planetary environments in some physical and chemical conditions. Because they contain life on Earth, similar environments can sustain life elsewhere in the Universe.
On Earth, the distribution of hypersaline environment is largely reported and mainly in arid environments like deserts. Among them, the Makgadikgadi salt pans (which include the Nxai, Ntwetwe and Sua pans), located in north central Botswana are considered one of the largest in the world, where the salts concentration is up to 21% of NaCl. These conditions may be compared with those detected on Mars.
This Europlanet project will provide valuable information about the limit of life on Earth, identifying the habitable environment for microorganisms in Makgadikgadi Salt Pans similar to the evaporitic basins or playa described in different areas of the Martian surface, such as Arabia Terrae and Meridiani Planum. In addition, metagenomics results allow us to investigate the genomic traits involved in microbial adaptation to extreme conditions on Earth, which have implications for the prospect of life on other planets since it is possible that life as behaves as it happened in the Salt Pans on Earth. These data will expand our knowledge about the habitability of Mars and will support future robotic and Mars sample return missions.
22-EPN3-036: Investigating Titanium and Chromium Isotopes in Unusual Achondrite NWA 8564
Visit by Julia Cartwright of University of Alabama (USA) to TA2.14 ETH Zurich Geo- and Cosmochemistry Isotope Facility(Switzerland). Dates of visit: 10-22 July 2023
Report Summary: We pursued high-precision chromium (Cr) and titanium (Ti) isotopic analysis to better refine the parent body of little-studied unusual achondrite Northwest Africa (NWA) 8564. While originally classified as a cumulate eucrite, NWA 8564 displayed unusual lead (Pb) data, suggestive of contributions from an exotic component, thus calling into question its assumed parent body, asteroid 4-Vesta. In this work, we sampled, prepared, and dissolved materials from NWA 8564, eucrites Juvinas and Tirhert, alongside diogenite NWA 7831 and a terrestrial standard to determine the parentage of NWA 8564.
Samples were selected, sampled and sent to ETHZ to be crushed and taken through dissolution and column chemistry. As Cr and Ti isotope analysis require different schedules, the chemistry and analysis stages were staggered for efficiency (e.g., three Ti columns and the first stages of Cr column cleaning were performed prior to Ti arrival). During the visit, the Cr separation procedure was carried out and preliminary analyses were performed after the visit. Eluted Ti aliquots were assessed for content and subsequently diluted for MC-ICP-MS analysis in week 1. Following data assessment/reduction, further aliquots were prepared through week 2, resulting in ~4 sessions of Ti data. The preliminary results show Ti and Cr isotope values for NWA 8564 within the range of eucrites. This suggests that NWA 8564 originates from Vesta, and must have experienced a significant event on Vesta that affected the Pb isotope data. This may include remelting associated with a large impact, potentially linked to the large, ancient basins at Vesta’s south pole.
Report summary: The main goals of the 2023 visit were to study the electron impact emission cross sections, spectral features, and dissociation thresholds of formamide (CH3NO) vapour. The expected products of CH3NO – atomic hydrogen, CO, CN, CH, NH. The present experiments are part of a campaign to understand diagnostic electron-impact driven emission and ionisation of molecules present in astrophysical environments.
During the visit we first determined the experimental conditions especially the suitable range of molecular beam pressures low enough to ensure binary collisions with electrons but high enough to ensure reasonable signal-to-noise ratio. Then we performed spectral measurements at various wavelength regions and identified the basic spectral features. It was unusually difficult to determine suitable experimental conditions due to unstable formamide vapour pressure in the system. During the visit we had to slightly modify the gas inlet system of the apparatus. Therefore, further experimental measurements will be performed later in cooperation with the Comenius University group.
Europlanet 2024 RI has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149.
Europlanet AISBL (Association Internationale Sans But Lucratif – 0800.634.634) is hosted by the Department of Planetary Atmospheres of the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), Avenue Circulaire 3, B-1180 Brussels, Belgium.
