Search Publications
Radial profiles of the Phoebe ring: A vast debris disk around Saturn
Hamilton, Douglas P.; Hedman, Matthew M.; Burns, Joseph A. +2 more
We present observations at optical wavelengths with the Cassini Spacecraft's Imaging Science System of the Phoebe ring, a vast debris disk around Saturn that seems to be collisionally generated by its irregular satellites. The analysis reveals a radial profile from 80-260 Saturn radii (RS) that changes behavior interior to ≈110RS
Rayed craters on Dione: Implication for the dominant surface alteration process
Hirata, Naoyuki; Miyamoto, Hideaki
From recently-acquired, high-resolution images obtained by the Cassini spacecraft, we examine the patterns and spatial distributions of rayed craters on Dione. We identify 29 rayed craters with diameters larger than 2 km on Dione's surface. The density of rayed craters and theoretical cratering rates indicate that the retention time for rays on Di…
A dispersive wave pattern on Jupiter's fastest retrograde jet at 20°S
Fletcher, L. N.; Orton, G. S.; Rogers, J. H. +3 more
A compact wave pattern has been identified on Jupiter's fastest retrograding jet at 20°S (the SEBs) on the southern edge of the South Equatorial Belt. The wave has been identified in both reflected sunlight from amateur observations between 2010 and 2015, thermal infrared imaging from the Very Large Telescope and near infrared imaging from the Inf…
Saturn's aurora observed by the Cassini camera at visible wavelengths
Dyudina, Ulyana A.; Ingersoll, Andrew P.; Ewald, Shawn P. +1 more
The first observations of Saturn's visible-wavelength aurora were made by the Cassini camera. The aurora was observed between 2006 and 2013 in the northern and southern hemispheres. The color of the aurora changes from pink at a few hundred km above the horizon to purple at 1000-1500 km above the horizon. The spectrum observed in 9 filters spannin…
Seasonal variation of Titan's haze at low and high altitudes from HST-STIS spectroscopy
Karkoschka, Erich
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph accumulated image cubes of Titan in five years between 1997 and 2004 that we calibrated and analyzed. The observations probe Titan's early northern fall to early winter. Methane bands between 543 and 990 nm wavelength are well resolved spectrally, and Titan's latitudinal and center-to-limb reflectivity vari…
The DISR imaging mosaic of Titan's surface and its dependence on emission angle
Karkoschka, Erich; Schröder, Stefan E.
The DISR (Descent Image/Spectral Radiometer) imagers took about 300 images during the descent of the Huygens probe in Titan's atmosphere. We combined them into a photometrically calibrated mosaic of Titan's surface within 100 km of the Huygens landing site with a resolution ranging from 1 km at 100 km distance from the landing site to 50 cm near t…
Clouds and hazes vertical structure of a Saturn's giant vortex from Cassini/VIMS-V data analysis
Oliva, F.; D'Aversa, E.; Moriconi, M. L. +3 more
We studied the evolution of a giant tropospheric vortex formed in the wake of the storm that encircled Saturn from December 2010 to July 2011 (Fletcher et al. [2011a] Science, 332, 1413-1417; Fletcher et al. [2012] Icarus, 221, 560-586; Sánchez-Lavega et al. [2011] Nature, 475, 71-74; Sánchez-Lavega et al. [2012] Icarus, 220, 561-576; Sayanagi et …
Incomplete cooling down of Saturn's A ring at solar equinox: Implication for seasonal thermal inertia and internal structure of ring particles
Spilker, Linda; Deau, Estelle; Morishima, Ryuji +2 more
At the solar equinox in August 2009, the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) onboard Cassini showed the lowest Saturn's ring temperatures ever observed. Detailed radiative transfer models show that the observed equinox temperatures of Saturn's A ring are much higher than model predictions as long as only the flux from Saturn is taken into accou…
Near-infrared spectra of liquid/solid acetylene under Titan relevant conditions and implications for Cassini/VIMS detections
Le Mouélic, S.; Cornet, T.; McCord, T. B. +6 more
Acetylene is thought to be abundant on Titan according to most photochemical models. While detected in the atmosphere, its likely presence at the surface still lacks physical evidence. It is thought that solid acetylene could be a major component of Titan's lakes shorelines and dry lakebed, detected as the 5 µm-bright deposits with the Cassi…
Ground-based observation of the cyclic nature and temporal variability of planetary-scale UV features at the Venus cloud top level
Watanabe, Makoto; Imai, Masataka; Takahashi, Yukihiro +4 more
A planetary-scale bright and dark UV feature, known as the ;Y-feature,; rotates around Venus with a period of 4-5 days and has been long-time interpreted as planetary waves. When assuming this, its rotation period and spatial structure might help to understand the propagation of the planetary-scale waves and find out their role in the acceleration…