Inorganic interpretation of luminescent materials encountered by the Perseverance rover on Mars

Eva L. Scheller*, Tanja Bosak, Francis M. McCubbin, Kenneth Williford, Sandra Siljeström, Ryan S. Jakubek, Scott A. Eckley, Richard V. Morris, Sergei V. Bykov, Tanya Kizovski, Sanford Asher, Eve Berger, Dina M. Bower, Emily L. Cardarelli, Bethany L. Ehlmann, Teresa Fornaro, Allison Fox, Nikole Haney, Kevin Hand, Ryan RoppelSunanda Sharma, Andrew Steele, Kyle Uckert, Anastasia G. Yanchilina, Olivier Beyssac, Kenneth A. Farley, Jesper Henneke, Chris Heirwegh, David A.K. Pedersen, Yang Liu, Mariek E. Schmidt, Mark Sephton, David Shuster, Benjamin P. Weiss

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

19 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

A major objective of the Mars 2020 mission is to sample rocks in Jezero crater that may preserve organic matter for later return to Earth. Using an ultraviolet Raman and luminescence spectrometer, the Perseverance rover detected luminescence signals with maximal intensities at 330 to 350 nanometers and 270 to 290 nanometers that were initially reported as consistent with organics. Here, we test the alternative hypothesis that the 330-to 350-nanometer and 270-to 290-nanometer luminescence signals trace Ce3+ in phosphate and silicate defects, respectively. By comparing the distributions of luminescence signals with the rover detections of x-ray fluorescence from P2O5 and Si-bearing materials, we show that, while an organic origin is not excluded, the observed luminescence can be explained by purely inorganic materials. These findings highlight the importance of eventual laboratory analyses to detect and characterize organic compounds in the returned samples.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbereadm8241
JournalScience Advances
Volume10
Issue number39
Number of pages19
ISSN2375-2548
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Inorganic interpretation of luminescent materials encountered by the Perseverance rover on Mars'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this