The Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer: First results

S. Z. Weider, B. J. Kellett, B. M. Swinyard, I. A. Crawford, K. H. Joy, M. Grande, C. J. Howe, J. Huovelin, S. Narendranath, L. Alha, M. Anand, P. S. Athiray, N. Bhandari, J. A. Carter, A. C. Cook, L. C. Duston, V. A. Fernandes, O. Gasnault, J. N. Goswami, J. P D GowA. D. Holland, D. Koschny, D. J. Lawrence, B. J. Maddison, S. Maurice, D. J. McKay, T. Okada, C. Pieters, D. A. Rothery, S. S. Russell, A. Shrivastava, D. R. Smith, M. Wieczorek

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    We present X-ray fluorescence observations of the lunar surface, made by the Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer during two solar flare events early in the mission (12th December 2008 and 10th January 2009). Modelling of the X-ray spectra with an abundance algorithm allows quantitative estimates of the MgO/SiO 2 and Al 2O 3/SiO 2 ratios to be made for the two regions, which are in mainly basaltic areas of the lunar nearside. One of these ground tracks includes the Apollo 14 landing site on the Fra Mauro Formation. Within the 1σ errors provided, the results are inside the range of basaltic samples from the Apollo and Luna collections. The Apollo 14 soil composition is in agreement with the results from the January flare at the 1σ uncertainty level. Discrepancies are observed between our results and compositions derived for the same areas by the Lunar Prospector gamma-ray spectrometer; some possible reasons for this are discussed. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)217-228
    Number of pages11
    JournalPlanetary and Space Science
    Volume60
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Jan 2012

    Keywords

    • Gamma-ray spectroscopy
    • Lunar chemistry
    • Lunar crust
    • Lunar regolith
    • Lunar X-ray spectroscopy

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