Search Publications
The haze and methane distributions on Neptune from HST-STIS spectroscopy
Karkoschka, Erich; Tomasko, Martin G.
We analyzed a data cube of Neptune acquired with the Hubble STIS spectrograph on August 3, 2003. The data covered the full afternoon hemisphere at 0.1 arcsec spatial resolution between 300 and 1000 nm wavelength at 1 nm resolution. Navigation was accurate to 0.004 arcsec and 0.05 nm. We constrained the vertical aerosol structure with radiative tra…
Methane on Uranus: The case for a compact CH 4 cloud layer at low latitudes and a severe CH 4 depletion at high-latitudes based on re-analysis of Voyager occultation measurements and STIS spectroscopy
Sromovsky, L. A.; Fry, P. M.; Kim, J. H.
Lindal et al. (Lindal, G.F., Lyons, J.R., Sweetnam, D.N., Eshleman, V.R., Hinson, D.P. [1987]. J. Geophys. Res. 92 (11), 14987-15001) presented a range of temperature and methane profiles for Uranus that were consistent with 1986 Voyager radio occultation measurements of refractivity versus altitude. A localized refractivity slope variation near 1…
Saturn's zonal wind profile in 2004-2009 from Cassini ISS images and its long-term variability
Hueso, R.; Sánchez-Lavega, A.; García-Melendo, E. +1 more
Five years of Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem images, from 2004 to 2009, are analyzed in this work to retrieve global zonal wind profiles of Saturn's northern and southern hemispheres in the methane absorbing bands at 890 and 727 nm and in their respective adjacent continuum wavelengths of 939 and 752 nm. A complete view of Saturn's global circu…
Five new and three improved mutual orbits of transneptunian binaries
Buie, M. W.; Roe, H. G.; Nimmo, F. +7 more
We present three improved and five new mutual orbits of transneptunian binary systems (58534) Logos-Zoe, (66652) Borasisi-Pabu, (88611) Teharonhiawako-Sawiskera, (123509) 2000 WK 183, (149780) Altjira, 2001 QY 297, 2003 QW 111, and 2003 QY 90 based on Hubble Space Telescope and Keck II laser guide star a…
Stardust-NExT, Deep Impact, and the accelerating spin of 9P/Tempel 1
Licandro, Javier; Vincent, J. -B.; Bhatt, B. C. +68 more
The evolution of the spin rate of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 through two perihelion passages (in 2000 and 2005) is determined from 1922 Earth-based observations taken over a period of 13 year as part of a World-Wide observing campaign and from 2888 observations taken over a period of 50 days from the Deep Impact spacecraft. We determine the following sider…
Vertical structure of Jupiter's Oval BA before and after it reddened: What changed?
de Pater, Imke; Wong, Michael H.; Marcus, Philip S. +2 more
To constrain the properties of Oval BA before and after it reddened, we use Hubble methane band images from 1994 to 2009 to find that the distribution of upper tropospheric haze atop the oval and its progenitors remained unchanged, with reflectivity variations of less than 10% over this time span. We quantify measurement uncertainties and short-te…
Changes in Jupiter’s zonal velocity between 1979 and 2008
de Pater, Imke; Wong, Michael H.; Marcus, Philip S. +1 more
We show that the peak velocity of Jupiter's visible-cloud-level zonal winds near 24°N (planetographic) increased from 2000 to 2008. This increase was the only change in the zonal velocity from 2000 to 2008 for latitudes between ±70° that was statistically significant and not obviously associated with visible weather. We present the first automated…
Neptune's rotational period suggested by the extraordinary stability of two features
Karkoschka, Erich
The interior rotation and motions in giant planets have generally been probed only at radio wavelengths from spacecraft near the planet, except for Jupiter's radio emission detectable from Earth. Here I suggest that Neptune's interior can be indirectly probed at visible wavelength by tracking 10 features that are connected with a stationary latitu…
Optical and infrared colors of transneptunian objects observed with HST
Grundy, W. M.; Noll, K. S.; Benecchi, S. D. +2 more
We present optical colors of 72 transneptunian objects (TNOs), and infrared colors of 80 TNOs obtained with the WFPC2 and NICMOS instruments, respectively, on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Both optical and infrared colors are available for 32 objects that overlap between the datasets. This dataset adds an especially uniform, consistent and lar…
Photometry of Triton 1992-2004: Surface volatile transport and discovery of a remarkable opposition surge
Buratti, B. J.; Hillier, J. K.; Hicks, M. D. +9 more
Triton, the large satellite of Neptune, was imaged by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1989 with dark plumes originating in its volatile-rich south polar region. Southern summer solstice, a time when seasonal volatile transport should be at a maximum, occurred in 2001. Ground-based observations of Triton's rotational light curve obtained from Table Mou…