Search Publications
Atmospheric structure and helium abundance on Saturn from Cassini/UVIS and CIRS observations
Guerlet, S.; Koskinen, T. T.
We combine measurements from stellar occultations observed by the Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) and limb scans observed by the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) to create empirical atmospheric structure models for Saturn corresponding to the locations probed by the occultations. The results cover multiple locations at low to…
Study of Titan's fall southern stratospheric polar cloud composition with Cassini/CIRS: Detection of benzene ice
de Kok, R.; Flasar, F. M.; Bézard, B. +5 more
We report the detection of a spectral signature observed at 682 cm-1 by the Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) in nadir and limb geometry observations of Titan's southern stratospheric polar region in the middle of southern fall, while stratospheric temperatures are the coldest since the beginning of the Cassini mission. In …
Bathymetry and composition of Titan's Ontario Lacus derived from Monte Carlo-based waveform inversion of Cassini RADAR altimetry data
Lorenz, R. D.; Lunine, J. I.; Hayes, A. G. +8 more
Recently, the Cassini RADAR was used to sound hydrocarbon lakes and seas on Saturn's moon Titan. Since the initial discovery of echoes from the seabed of Ligeia Mare, the second largest liquid body on Titan, a dedicated radar processing chain has been developed to retrieve liquid depth and microwave absorptivity information from RADAR altimetry of…
Solar Energetic Particles (SEP) and Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) as tracers of solar wind conditions near Saturn: Event lists and applications
Krupp, N.; Thomsen, M. F.; Jackman, C. M. +10 more
The lack of an upstream solar wind monitor poses a major challenge to any study that investigates the influence of the solar wind on the configuration and the dynamics of Saturn's magnetosphere. Here we show how Cassini MIMI/LEMMS observations of Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) and Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) transients, that are both linked to energ…
Icy Saturnian satellites: Disk-integrated UV-IR characteristics and links to exogenic processes
Hendrix, Amanda R.; Filacchione, Gianrico; Schenk, Paul +2 more
Combined Cassini observations obtained at similar observing geometries in the ultraviolet through infrared spectral range, along with additional ultraviolet (UV) data from Hubble Space Telescope where available, are used to study system-wide trends in spectral albedos of the inner icy Saturnian satellites (Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea). W…
Cloud morphology and dynamics in Saturn's northern polar region
del Río-Gaztelurrutia, Teresa; Sánchez-Lavega, Agustín; Antuñano, Arrate +1 more
We present a study of the cloud morphology and motions in the north polar region of Saturn, from latitude ∼ 70°N to the pole based on Cassini ISS images obtained between January 2009 and November 2014. This region shows a variety of dynamical structures: the permanent hexagon wave and its intense eastward jet, a large field of permanent ;puffy; cl…
Mapping polar atmospheric features on Titan with VIMS: From the dissipation of the northern cloud to the onset of a southern polar vortex
Le Mouélic, S.; Cornet, T.; Rodriguez, S. +11 more
We have analyzed the complete archive of the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) data in order to monitor and analyze the evolution of the clouds and haze coverage at both poles of Titan during the entire Cassini mission. Our objective is to give a cartographic synopsis from a VIMS perspective, to provide a global view of the seasonal …
Haze and cloud structure of Saturn's North Pole and Hexagon Wave from Cassini/ISS imaging
Sánchez-Lavega, A.; Antuñano, A.; Pérez-Hoyos, S. +2 more
In this paper we present a study of the vertical haze and cloud structure in the upper two bars of Saturn's Northern Polar atmosphere using the Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) instrument onboard the Cassini spacecraft. We focus on the characterization of latitudes from 53° to 90° N. The observations were taken during June 2013 with five different …
Spatial variations in Titan's atmospheric temperature: ALMA and Cassini comparisons from 2012 to 2015
Irwin, P. G. J.; Achterberg, R. K.; Nixon, C. A. +7 more
Submillimeter emission lines of carbon monoxide (CO) in Titan's atmosphere provide excellent probes of atmospheric temperature due to the molecule's long chemical lifetime and stable, well constrained volume mixing ratio. Here we present the analysis of 4 datasets obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) in 2012, 2013,…
Spatial variations in the dust-to-gas ratio of Enceladus' plume
Nicholson, P. D.; Hansen, C. J.; Hedman, M. M. +4 more
On day 138 of 2010, the plume of dust and gas emerging from Enceladus' South Polar Terrain passed between the Sun and the Cassini spacecraft. This solar occultation enabled Cassini's Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) and the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) to obtain simultaneous measurements of the plume's gas and dust compon…