Aleksei A. Berezhnoi

I was born in the pleasant Russian town of Voronezh (April 15, 1972). At 18, I graduated from a special Moscow physico-mathematical school for advanced students in 1989. Then I began studying at Moscow State University. In 1995 I graduated from the Physical Chemistry Department. The subject of my diploma work were the physico-chemical processes of the collision between comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Jupiter. My PhD thesis, which I defended on February 4, 1999, was on the physico-chemical aspects of collisions between comets and planetary bodies of the Solar System. My scientific interest is the chemical evolution of the celestial bodies in Solar System.

Publications

Radio Emission of the Moon before and after the Lunar Prospector impact, Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Exploration and Utilisation of the Moon.

Berezhnoi A.A., Gusev S.G., Khavroshkin O.B., Poperechenko B.A., Shevchenko V.V., Tzyplakov V.A.

Photochemical Model of Impact-Produced Lunar Atmosphere, Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Exploration and Utilisation of the Moon.

IDENTIFICATION OF LUNAR ROCK TYPES.

A. A. Berezhnoy1,2, N. Hasebe1, M. Kobayashi1, G. Michael3 and N. Yamashita1 1Advanced Research Institute for Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan 2Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow, Russia 3German Aerospace Center, Institute for planetary research, Berlin, Germany

HIGH PURITY GE GAMMA-RAY SPECTROMETER ON JAPANESE LUNAR POLAR ORBITER SELENE.

N. Hasebe1, M.-N. Kobayashi1, T. Miyachi1, O. Okudaira1, Y. Yamashita1, E. Shibamura2, T. Takashima3, A.A.Brezhnoy1, 1Advanced Research Institute for Science and Engineering, Waseda University (Tokyo 169-8555, Japan), 2Saitama Prefectural University (Koshigaya, Saitama 343-8540, Japan), 3Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, JAXA (Sagamihara, Kanagawa 229-8510, Japan), 4Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow State Univ.

GAMMA RAYS FROM MAJOR ELEMENTS BY THERMAL NEUTRON CAPTURE REACTIONS:
EXPERIMENT AND SIMULATION FOR PLANETARY GAMMA-RAY SPECTROSCOPY.

N. Yamashita1, N. Hasebe1, M. -N. Kobayashi1, T. Miyachi1, O. Okudaira1, E. Shibamura2, A. A. Berezhnoy1,3, 1Advanced Research Institute for Science and Engineering, Waseda Univ., 3-4-1, Okubo, Shinjuku, Tokyo 169-8555 Japan (nao.yamashita@toki.waseda.jp), 2Saitama Prefectural University, 3Sternberg Astronomical Institute.

Petrologic mapping of the Moon using Fe, Mg, and Al abundances

A.A. Berezhnoy a,*, N. Hasebe a, M. Kobayashi a, G. Michael b, N. Yamashita a
a Advanced Research Institute for Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, 169-8555 Tokyo, Japan
b German Aerospace Centre, Institute for Planetary Research, Rutherfordstr. 2, 12489 Berlin-Adlershof, Germany
Received 16 August 2004; received in revised form 27 January 2005; accepted 1 March 2005

A comparison between the abundances of major elements on the Moon determined by Lunar Prospector gamma ray spectrometer and those in returned lunar samples is performed. Lunar Prospector shows higher Mg and Al content and lower Si content in western maria in comparison with the lunar sample collection. Lunar Prospector overestimated the Mg content by about 20%. There are no elemental anomalies at the lunar poles: this is additional evidence for the presence of polar lunar hydrogen. Using Mg, Fe, and Al abundances, petrologic maps containing information about the abundances of ferroan anorthosites, mare basalts, and Mgrich rocks are derived. This approach is useful for searching for cryptomaria and Mg-rich rocks deposits on the lunar surface. A search is implemented for rare rock types (dunites and pyroclastic deposits). Ca-rich, Al-low small-area anomalies are detected in the far side highlands.

Optical spectroscopy of comet C/2000 WM1 (LINEAR) at the Guillermo Harro Astrophysical Observatory in Mexico

Klim I.Churyumov1, Igor V.Luk’yanyk1, Alexei A.Berezhnoi2,3, Vahram H.Chavushyan2, Leo Sandoval4 and Alejandro A.Palma2,4

1Astronomical Observatory, Kyiv National Shevchenko University, Kyiv, Ukraine;
2Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica, Tonantzintla, Puebla, Mexico;
3Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow, Russia;
4Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico
March 24, 2002

Preliminary analysis of middle resolution optical spectra of comet C/2000 WM1 (LINEAR) obtained on November 22, 2001 is given. The emission lines of the molecules C2, C3, CN, NH2, H2O+ and presumably CO (Asundi and triplet bands), C−2 were identified in these spectra. By analyzing the brightness distributions of the C2, C3, CN emission lines along the spectrograph slit we determined some physical parameters of these neutral molecules – the velocity of expansion of molecules within the coma and their lifetimes. The Franck–Condon factors for the CO Asundi bands and C−2 bands were calculated by using a Morse potential model.

Interpretation of the microwave non-thermal radiation of the Moon during impact events

V. Grimalsky1, A. Berezhnoy2, 3, A. Kotsarenko4, N. Makarets5, S. Koshevaya6, and R. P´erez Enr´ıquez4

1Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica (INAOE), Puebla, Mexico
2Advanced Research Institute for Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
3Now at: Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow University, Moscow, Russia
4Centro de Geociencias, Juriquilla, UNAM, Quer´etaro, Mexico
5Kyiv National Shevchenko University, Faculty of Physics, Kyiv, Ukraine
6Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Morelos (UAEM), CIICAp, Cuernavaca, Mexico
Received: 30 June 2004 – Revised: 23 November 2004 – Accepted: 24 November 2004 – Published: 30 November 2004

The results of recent observations of the nonthermal electromagnetic (EM) emission at wavelengths of 2.5 cm, 13 cm, and 21 cm are summarized. After strong impacts of meteorites or spacecrafts (Lunar Prospector) with the Moon’s surface, the radio emissions in various frequency ranges were recorded. The most distinctive phenomenon is the appearance of quasi-periodic oscillations with amplitudes of 3–10K during several hours. The mechanism concerning the EM emission from a propagating crack within a piezoactive dielectric medium is considered. The impact may cause the global acoustic oscillations of the Moon. These oscillations lead to the crackening of the Moon’s surface. The propagation of a crack within a piezoactive medium is accompanied by the excitation of an alternative current source. It is revealed that the source of the EM emission is the effective transient magnetization that appears in the case of a moving crack in piezoelectrics. The moving crack creates additional non-stationary local mechanical stresses around the apex of the crack, which generate the non-stationary electromagnetic field. For the cracks with a length of 0.1–1μm, the maximum of the EM emission may be in the 1–10GHz range.

A three end-member model for petrologic analysis of lunar prospector gamma-ray spectrometer data

A.A. Berezhnoya,1, N. Hasebea, M. Kobayashia, G.G. Michaelb,_, O. Okudairaa, N. Yamashitaa
aAdvanced Research Institute for Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, 169-8555 Tokyo, Japan
bGerman Aerospace Centre, Institute for Planetary Research, Rutherfordstr. 2, 12489 Berlin-Adlershof, Germany
Received 24 March 2004; received in revised form 10 February 2005; accepted 20 February 2005

We analyze preliminary Lunar Prospector gamma-ray spectrometer data. Al–Mg and Fe–Mg petrologic maps of the Moon show that Mg-rich rocks are located in Mare Frigoris, the South Pole Aitken basin, and in some cryptomaria. Analysis of distances of Lunar Prospector pixels from three end-member plane in Mg–Al–Fe space reveals existence of Ca-rich, Al-low small-area anomalies in the farside highlands. An Mg–Th–Fe petrologic technique can be used for estimation of abundances of ferroan anorthosites, mare basalts, KREEP basalts, and Mg-rich rocks.

Impacts as sources of the exosphere on Mercury

Alexey A. Berezhnoy a,b,∗, Boris A. Klumov c
a Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University, Universitetskij pr., 13, 119991 Moscow, Russia
b Rutgers University, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, 610 Taylor Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8087, USA
c Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, D-85740 Garching, Germany
Received 29 August 2007; revised 13 January 2008

Chemical processes associated with meteoroid bombardment of Mercury are considered. Meteoroid impacts lead to production of metal atoms as well as metal oxides and hydroxides in the planetary exosphere. By using quenching theory, the abundances of the main Na-, K-, Ca-, Fe-, Al-, Mg-, Si-, and Ti-containing species delivered to the exosphere during meteoroid impacts were estimated. Based on a correlation between the solar photo rates and the molecular constants of atmospheric diatomic molecules, photolysis lifetimes of metal oxides and SiO are estimated. Meteoroid impacts lead to the formation of hot metal atoms (0.2–0.4 eV) produced directly during impacts and of very hot metal atoms (1–2 eV) produced by the subsequent photolysis of oxides and hydroxides in the exosphere of Mercury. The concentrations of impact-produced atoms of the main elements in the exosphere are estimated relative to the observed concentrations of Ca, assumed to be produced mostly by ion sputtering. Condensation of dust grains can significantly reduce the concentrations of impact-produced atoms in the exosphere. Na, K, and Fe atoms are delivered to the exosphere directly by impacts while Ca, Al, Mg, Si, and Ti atoms are produced by the photolysis of their oxides and hydroxides. The chemistry of volatile elements such as H, S, C, and N during meteoroid bombardment is also considered. Our conclusions about the temperature and the concentrations of impact-produced atoms in the exosphere of Mercury may be checked by the Messenger spacecraft in the near future and by BepiColombo spacecraft some years later.

Possibility of the presence of S, SO2, and CO2 at the poles of the Moon

Alexey A. Berezhnoy*, Nobuyuki Hasebe, Takuji Hiramoto
Advanced Institute for Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku，Tokyo 169-0071
* Also at Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
Email (AB) iac02074@kurenai.waseda.jp and Boris A. Klumov Institute of Dynamics of Geospheres, Moscow, Russia
(Received 2003 March 4)

The presence of volatiles near lunar poles is studied. The chemical composition of a lunar atmosphere temporarily produced by comet impact is studied during day and night. C-rich and long-period comets are insufficient sources of water ice on the Moon. O-rich short-period comets deliver significant amounts of H2O, CO2, SO2, and S to the Moon. An observable amount of polar hydrogen can be delivered to the Moon by single impact of O-rich short-period comet with diameter of 5 km in the form of water ice. The areas where CO2 and SO2 ices are stable against the thermal sublimation are estimated as 300 and 1500 km2, respectively. If water ice exists in the 2 cm top regolith layer CO2 and SO2 ices can be stable in the coldest parts of permanently shaded craters. The delivery rate of elemental sulfur near the poles is estimated as 106 g/year. The sulfur content is estimated to be as high as 1 wt % in polar regions. The SELENE gamma-ray spectrometer can detect sulfur polar caps on the Moon if the sulfur content is higher than 1 wt %. This instrument can check the presence of hydrogen and minerals with unusual chemical composition at the lunar poles.

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Department of Lunar
and Planetary Research