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No Hexagonal Wave around Saturn's Southern Pole
Sánchez-Lavega, A.; Pérez-Hoyos, S.; French, R. G. +1 more
Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images (1997-2002) do not show a hexagonal wave in the south pole that is a counterpart of the northern one (D. A. Godfrey 1988, Icarus76, 335-356). However, a polar jet similar to that in which the north polar hexagonal wave is embedded has been discovered in the southern hemisphere. The HST images also reveal the exi…
A Prominent Apparition of Neptune's South Polar Feature
Lockwood, G. W.; Rages, Kathy; Hammel, Heidi B.
During the last week of June 2001, a bright apparition of Neptune's South Polar Feature (SPF) at 70°S was observed to develop and decay in less than 30 hours, displaying contrast of ∼2.5 at 619 nm. Assuming that the same SPF was observed on two consecutive rotations of Neptune, the feature moved eastward at 3.2±1.8° hr -1 (130±80 m s
Observations of Saturn's Ribbon Wave 14 Years after Its Discovery
Sanchez-Lavega, Agustín.
A singular feature in planetary atmospheres, the saturnian midnorthern latitude "ribbon" wave, was discovered in images obtained during the Voyager 1 and 2 encounters with the planet in 1980 and 1981. Here we present evidence of its first detection 14 years later (about half a Saturn year later) using archived Hubble Space Telescope images. The pr…
Comprehensive Photometry of the Rings and 16 Satellites of Uranus with the Hubble Space Telescope
Karkoschka, Erich
Photometric properties of 4 rings and 16 satellites of Uranus are presented, based on 41 Hubble Space Telescope images taken in 1997. Up to 25 filters per object covered the wavelength range 0.27-2 µm. The whole range of phase angles observable from Earth (0.03-3°) was probed. Reflectivities were calibrated on an absolute scale to typically …
A Study of the Stability of Jovian Zonal Winds from HST Images: 1995-2000
Sánchez-Lavega, A.; García-Melendo, E.
We present a five-year study of the temporal stability of Jupiter's zonal wind velocity profile at cloud level based on Hubble Space Telescope images obtained from 1995 to 2000. We used the correlation of east-west albedo scans in pairs of images separated by one jovian rotation to retrieve the zonal winds. The resolution in the HST images ranged …
Benzene on the Giant Planets
Drossart, Pierre; Bézard, Bruno; Encrenaz, Thérèse +1 more
We report the detection of benzene ( c-C 6H 6) in the upper atmospheres of Jupiter at midlatitudes and Saturn (disk average). Observations with the Short-Wavelength Spectrometer of the Infrared Space Observatory reveal emission from the Q-branch of benzene around 14.84 µm on these two planets but not on Uranus and Neptu…
Distribution and Evolution of CH4, N2, and CO Ices on Pluto's Surface: 1995 to 1998
Buie, M. W.; Grundy, W. M.
We present new near-infrared spectra of the planet Pluto obtained at Lowell Observatory on 83 nights during 1995-1998. The dense temporal sampling of our observations enables us to measure with unprecedented detail cyclical changes in the depths of methane, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen ice absorption bands, modulated by Pluto's diurnal rotation. …
Coordinated 1996 HST and IRTF Imaging of Neptune and Triton. III. Neptune's Atmospheric Circulation and Cloud Structure
Baines, K. H.; Sromovsky, L. A.; Fry, P. M. +2 more
The first coordinated multispectral imaging of Neptune and Triton, using both the Hubble Space Telescope and the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility in August 1996 (L. A. Sromovsky et al., 149, 416-434, 435-458), provides new insights into Neptune's atmospheric circulation and cloud structure. From our 1996 data we derived cloud-tracked winds for 18 …
ISOCAM Imaging of Comets 103P/Hartley 2 and 2P/Encke
Fulle, M.; Brucato, J. R.; Mennella, V. +7 more
We present the results of ISOCAM observations performed on Comets 2P/Encke and 103P/Hartley 2, on 31 October 1997 and 1 January 1998, respectively. Images were obtained in the broadband filters LW3 (centered at 15.00 µm) and LW10 (centered at 11.50 µm). Tail models have been applied to the images to analyze the evolution of the dust co…
NOTE: The Merger of Two Giant Anticyclones in the Atmosphere of Jupiter
Colas, F.; Orton, G. S.; Lecacheux, J. +10 more
Two giant ovals in Jupiter's southern atmosphere, vortices of counterclockwise-rotating winds, merged in a 3-week period, starting in March 2000. One of the ovals called FA was more than 60 years old; the other called BE was the product of two 60-year-old ovals (BC and DE) that merged in 1998 (A. Sanchez-Lavega et al. 1999, Icarus142, 116-124). Th…