Home

News / Upcoming Events
Request a Presenter        
List of Presenters        
FAQ        
Contact Information        

Julie Castillo

Research Scientist
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA 91109

• Laboratory work on ices with application to outer planet satellites
• Theoretical modeling of the geophysical and dynamical evolution of small outer planet satellites

Title 1: Enceladus in my (special) Freezer

Abstract 1:

Modeling the geophysical evolution of icy satellites, for example to predict the long-term preservation of a deep ocean inside Europa or Enceladus, requires a good understanding of ice physical properties.  These properties are difficult to obtain because they require to be measured in the very cold temperatures relevant to the frozen satellites.  An additional challenge for modeling the tidal response of icy satellites and thus the amount of tidal heating expected in these objects, is the absence of laboratory-based knowledge of ice attenuation properties at the right periods. The simulation of tidal stress on icy samples at tidal periods of several tens of hours (39 hours for Enceladus, 85 hours for Europa) require an apparatus extremely stable from a mechanical and thermal point of view.

I will present the first measurement of water ice attenuation properties at periods as low as 46 hours, obtained In the JPL Ices Physical Properties Laboratory.  I will report these results, compare them to the models usually applied for modeling tidal heating, and address the implications of these new data on Europa and Enceladus models.