A ground-based observation of the LCROSS impact events using the Subaru Telescope

Abstract: The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission was an impact exploration searching for a volatile deposit in a permanently shadowed region (PSR) by excavating near-surface material. We conducted infrared spectral and imaging observations of the LCROSS impacts from 15min before the first collision through 2min after the second collision using the Subaru Telescope in order to measure ejecta dust and water. Such a ground-based observation is important because the viewing geometry and wavelength coverage are very different from the LCROSS spacecraft. We used the Echelle spectrograph with spectral resolution λ/Δλ ∼10,000 to observe the non-resonant H2O rotational emission lines near 2.9μm and the slit viewer with a K′ filter for imaging observation of ejecta plumes. Pre-impact calculations using a homogeneous projectile predicted that 2000kg of ejecta and 10kg of H2O were excavated and thrown into the analyzed area immediately above the slit within the field of view (FOV) of the K′ imager and the FOV of spectrometer slit, respectively. However, no unambiguous emission line of H2O or dust was detected. The estimated upper limits of the amount of dust and H2O from the main Centaur impact were 800kg and 40kg for the 3σ of noise in the analyzed area within the imager FOV and in the slit FOV, respectively. If we take 1σ as detection limit, the upper limits are 300kg and 14kg, respectively. Although the upper limit for water mass is comparable to a prediction by a standard theoretical prediction, that for dust mass is significantly smaller than that predicted by a standard impact theory. This discrepancy in ejecta dust mass between a theoretical prediction and our observation result suggests that the cratering process induced by the LCROSS impacts may have been substantially different from the standard cratering theory, possibly because of its hollow projectile structure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]