A New Laboratory for Investigating High-Temperature Planetary Processes at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research

High-temperature evaporation under high-vacuum conditions has been a critical factor in shaping planetary bodies during their early evolution, as well as in impact events and volcanic degassing on airless worlds such as Jupiter’s moon Io, Earth’s Moon, and Mercury. These processes have a major impact on the distribution and depletion of volatile and moderately volatile elements, yet the exact mechanisms and environmental parameters remain insufficiently understood. Observations from NASA’s MESSENGER mission to Mercury, for example, revealed surface features called hollows—irregularly shaped depressions up to 80 meters deep and several kilometers wide. The bright halos around these hollows and their morphology suggest an ongoing formation process driven by volatile loss. MESSENGER also identified bright regions (faculae) interpreted as pyroclastic deposits, analogous to dark mantle deposits on the Moon, indicating gas-driven volcanic eruptions whose volatile components remain largely unknown. Gaining a better understanding of the volatile species and mechanisms responsible for both hollow formation and explosive volcanism is crucial for constraining Mercury’s volatile history. To investigate these phenomena, we have developed a new laboratory facility designed for in-situ detection of volatiles under high-vacuum conditions at temperatures up to 2000 °C. In this contribution, we introduce the new experimental setup and share preliminary findings.