# # Program information file # PROGRAM_ID 2022B007 PROGRAM_TITLE Investigating CO2 cycles on the Uranian moons: Radiolytic production and migration to low latitude cold traps? PROGRAM_INV1 Richard Cartwright PROGRAM_INV2 Tom Nordheim PROGRAM_INV3 Will Grundy PROGRAM_INV4 Bryan Holler PROGRAM_INV5 Michael Lucas PROGRAM_SCICAT major planets / satellites PROGRAM_ABSTRACT_BEG We propose to use the SpeX spectrograph on NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility to investigate whether the CO2 ice detected on the Uranian moons participates in a seasonal sublimation cycle, migrating from their poles to low latitude cold traps. We would collect new SpeX spectra at high sub-observer latitudes [current sub-obs. latitude 58 degrees N], measure CO2 bands in these data, and compare the resulting CO2 band measurements to those made using spectra collected at lower sub-obs. latitudes [< 45 degrees N]. We will also search for and measure a weak 2.13-micron band that might result from radiolytic production of CO2 molecules via charged particle bombardment of H2O ice and C-rich grains in the regoiliths of these moons. The SXD mode of SpeX [R ~750, 0.8'' slit] is ideal for the characterization of the three narrow CO2 bands between 1.9 and 2.1 microns [0.004 - 0.007 microns wide] and the 2.13-micron feature [0.014 microns wide], requiring a minimum R > 518 to detect all of these features. To improve the quality of collected SXD spectra, we will guide using MORIS [0.7'' dichroic], thereby mitigating slit losses. PROGRAM_ABSTRACT_END