We present stellar parameters and abundances of 11 elements (Li, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr, Fe, Ni and Zn) of 13 F6-K2 main-sequence stars in the young groups AB Doradus, Carina Near and Ursa Major. The exoplanet-host star ι Horologii is also analysed.The three young associations have lithium abundance consistent with their age. All other elements show solar abundances. The three groups are characterized by a small scatter in all abundances, with mean [Fe/H] values of 0.10 (σ = 0.03), 0.08 (σ = 0.05) and 0.01 (σ = 0.03) dex for AB Doradus, Carina Near and Ursa Major, respectively. The distribution of elemental abundances appears congruent with the chemical pattern of the Galactic thin disc in the solar vicinity, as found for other young groups. This means that the metallicity distribution of nearby young stars, targets of direct-imaging planet-search surveys, is different from that of old, field solar-type stars, i.e. the typical targets of radial velocity surveys.The young planet-host star ι Horologii shows a lithium abundance lower than that found for the young association members. It is found to have a slightly super-solar iron abundance ([Fe/H] = 0.16 ± 0.09), while all [X/Fe] ratios are similar to the solar values. Its elemental abundances are close to those of the Hyades cluster derived from the literature, which seems to reinforce the idea of a possible common origin with the primordial cluster.

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The SIMBIO-SYS (Spectrometer and Imaging for MPO BepiColombo Integrated Observatory SYStem) is a complex instrument suite part of the scientific payload of the Mercury Planetary Orbiter for the BepiColombo mission, the last of the cornerstone missions of the European Space Agency (ESA) Horizon + science program. The SIMBIO-SYS instrument will provide all the science imaging capability of the Bepi-Colombo MPO spacecraft. It consists of three channels: the STereo imaging Channel (STC), with a broad spectral band in the 400-950 nm range and medium spatial resolution (at best 58 m/px), that will provide Digital Terrain Model of the entire surface of the planet with an accuracy better than 80 m; the High Resolution Imaging Channel (HRIC), with broad spectral bands in the 400-900 nm range and high spatial resolution (at best 6 m/px), that will pro-The BepiColombo mission to Mercury Edited by Johannes Benkhoff, Go Murakami and Ayako Matsuoka B G. Cremonese

We present the results of FLAMES/UVES and FLAMES/GIRAFFE spectroscopic observations of 23 low-mass stars in the L1615/L1616 cometary cloud, complemented with FORS2 and VIMOS spectroscopy of 31 additional stars in the same cloud. L1615/L1616 is a cometary cloud in which the star formation was triggered by the impact of massive stars in the Orion OB association. From the measurements of the lithium abundance and radial velocity, we confirm the membership of our sample to the cloud. We use the equivalent widths of the Hα, Hβ, and the He i λ5876, λ6678, λ7065 Å emission lines to calculate the accretion luminosities, L acc , and the mass accretion rates,Ṁ acc . We find in L1615/L1616 a fraction of accreting objects (∼30%), which is consistent with the typical fraction of accretors in T associations of similar age (∼3 Myr). The mass accretion rate for these stars shows a trend with the mass of the central object similar to that found for other star-forming regions, with a spread at a given mass that depends on the evolutionary model used to derive the stellar mass. Moreover, the behavior of the 2MASS/WISE colors withṀ acc indicates that strong accretors with logṀ acc > ∼ −8.5 dex show large excesses in the JHKs bands, as in previous studies. We also conclude that the accretion properties of the L1615/L1616 members are similar to those of young stellar objects in T associations, like Lupus.

Aims. With the purpose of performing a homogeneous determination of elemental abundances for members of the Lupus T association, we analyzed three chemical elements: lithium, iron, and barium. The aims were: 1) to derive the lithium abundance for the almost complete sample (∼90%) of known class II stars in the Lupus I, II, III, and IV clouds; 2) to perform chemical tagging of a region where few iron abundance measurements have been obtained in the past, and no determination of the barium content has been done up to now. We also investigated possible barium enhancement at the very young age of the region, as this element has become increasingly interesting in the last few years following the evidence of barium over-abundance in young clusters, the origin of which is still unknown. Methods. Using the X-shooter spectrograph mounted on the Unit 2 (UT2) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT), we analyzed the spectra of 89 cluster members, both class II (82) and class III (7) stars. We measured the strength of the lithium line at λ6707.8 Å and derived the abundance of this element through equivalent width measurements and curves of growth. For six class II stars we also derived the iron and barium abundances using the spectral synthesis method and the code MOOG. The veiling contribution was taken into account in the abundance analysis for all three elements. Results. We find a dispersion in the strength of the lithium line at low effective temperatures and identify three targets with severe Li depletion. The nuclear age inferred for these highly lithium-depleted stars is around 15 Myr, which exceeds by an order of magnitude the isochronal one. We derive a nearly solar metallicity for the members whose spectra could be analyzed. We find that Ba is over-abundant by ∼0.7 dex with respect to the Sun. Since current theoretical models cannot reproduce this abundance pattern, we investigated whether this unusually large Ba content might be related to effects due to stellar parameters, stellar activity, and accretion. Conclusions. We are unable to firmly assess whether the dispersion in the lithium content we observe is a consequence of an age spread. As in other star-forming regions, no metal-rich members are found in Lupus, giving support to a recent hypothesis that the iron abundance distribution of most of the nearby young regions could be the result of a common and widespread star formation episode involving the Galactic thin disk. Among the possible causes or sources for Ba enhancement examined here, none is sufficient to account for the over-abundance of this element at a ∼0.7 dex level.

At a global scale, Mercury is dominated by contractional features manifested as lobate\ud scarps, wrinkle ridges and high-relief ridges. Here, we show that some of these features are associated\ud with strike-slip kinematic indicators, which we identified using flyby and orbital Mercury Dual\ud Imaging System (MDIS) data and digital terrain models. We recognize oblique-shear kinematics\ud along lobate scarps and high-relief ridges by means of (1) map geometries of fault patterns\ud (frontal thrusts bordered by lateral ramps, strike-slip duplexes, restraining bends); (2) structural\ud morphologies indicating lateral shearing (en echelon folding, pop-ups, pull-aparts); and (3) estimates\ud of offsets based on displaced crater rims and differences in elevation between pop-up structures\ud and pull-apart basins and their surroundings. Transpressional faults, documented across a\ud wide range of latitudes, are found associated with reactivated rims of ancient buried basins and,\ud in most cases, linked to frontal thrusts as lateral ramps hundreds of kilometres long. This latter\ud observation suggests stable directions of tectonic transport over wide regions of Mercury’s\ud surface. In contrast, global cooling would imply an overall isotropic contraction with limited processes\ud of lateral shearing induced by pre-existent lithospheric heterogeneities. Mantle convection\ud therefore may have played an important role during the tectonic evolution of Mercury

JANUS (Jovis, Amorum ac Natorum Undique Scrutator) is the visible camera selected for the ESA JUICE mission to the Jupiter system. Resources constraints, S/C characteristics, mission design, environment and the great variability of observing conditions for several targets put stringent constraints on instrument architecture. In addition to the usual requirements for a planetary mission, the problem of mass and power consumption is particularly stringent due to the long-lasting cruising and operations at large distance from the Sun.JANUS design shall cope with a wide range of targets, from Jupiter atmosphere, to solid satellite surfaces, exosphere, rings, and lightning, all to be observed in several color and narrow-band filters. All targets shall be tracked during the mission and in some specific cases the DTM will be derived from stereo imaging. Mission design allows a quite long time range for observations in Jupiter system, with orbits around Jupiter and multiple fly-bys of satellites for 2.5 years, followed by about 6 months in orbit around Ganymede, at surface distances variable from 10 4 to few hundreds km.Our concept was based on a single optical channel, which was fine-tuned to cover all scientific objectives based on low to high-resolution imaging. A catoptric telescope with excellent optical quality is coupled with a rectangular detector, avoiding any scanning mechanism.In this paper the present JANUS design and its foreseen scientific capabilities are discussed.