Search Publications
Impact of aerosols present in Titan's atmosphere on the CASSINI radar experiment
Rodriguez, S.; Encrenaz, P.; Dobrijevic, M. +4 more
Simulations of Titan's atmospheric transmission and surface reflectivity have been developed in order to estimate how Titan's atmosphere and surface properties could affect performances of the Cassini radar experiment. In this paper we present a selection of models for Titan's haze, vertical rain distribution, and surface composition implemented i…
A study of the propagation of electromagnetic waves in Titan's atmosphere with the TLM numerical method
Morente, Juan A.; Portí, Jorge A.; Besser, Bruno P. +2 more
A numerical modeling of the electromagnetic characteristics of Titan's atmosphere is carried out by means of the TLM numerical method, with the aim of calculating the Schumann resonant frequencies of Saturn's satellite. The detection and measurement of these resonances by the Huygens probe, which will enter Titan's atmosphere at the beginning of 2…
The nature of Neptune's increasing brightness: evidence for a seasonal response *
Baines, K. H.; Sromovsky, L. A.; Fry, P. M. +1 more
Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations in August 2002 show that Neptune's disk-averaged reflectivity increased significantly since 1996, by 3.2 ± 0.3% at 467 nm, 5.6 ± 0.6% at 673 nm, and 40 ± 4% in the 850-1000 nm band, which mainly results from dramatic brightness increases in restricted latitude bands. When 467-nm HST observations from 1994 …
Vesta's UV lightcurve: hemispheric variation in brightness and spectral reversal
Vilas, Faith; Hendrix, Amanda R.; Festou, Michel C.
Spectra of asteroid 4 Vesta obtained in October 1990 with the International Ultraviolet Explorer are reanalyzed and reinterpreted. A large portion of the eastern hemisphere (based on the prime meridian definition of Thomas et al., 1997a) is darker at UV wavelengths than much of the western hemisphere. The UV lightcurve is in contrast with the visi…
Strong interplanetary field enhancements at Ulysses—evidence of dust trails' interaction with the solar wind?
Balogh, André; Jones, Geraint H.; MacDowall, Robert J. +1 more
Interplanetary field enhancements were first discovered in the vicinity of Venus. These events are characterised by an increase in the magnitude of the heliospheric magnetic field with a near-symmetrical, sometimes thorn-shaped profile, and last from minutes to hours. Surveys of the events near Venus and Earth indicated clustering of the events in…
Mars atmospheric water vapor abundance: 1996-1997
Doose, L. R.; Hunten, D. M.; Sprague, A. L. +1 more
Measurements of martian atmospheric water vapor made throughout Ls = 18.0°-146.4° (October 3, 1996-July 12, 1997) show changes in Mars humidity on hourly, daily, and seasonal time scales. Because our observing program during the 1996-1997 Mars apparition did not include concomitant measurement of nearby CO 2 bands, high north…
Voyager color photometry of Saturn's main rings: a correction
Showalter, Mark R.; Cuzzi, Jeffrey N.; Estrada, Paul R.
We correct a calibration error in our earlier analysis of Voyager color observations of Saturn's main rings at 14° phase angle (Estrada and Cuzzi, 1996, Icarus 122, 251) and present thoroughly revised and reanalyzed radial profiles of the brightness of the main rings in the Voyager green, violet, and ultraviolet filters and the ratios of these bri…
H 2O- and OH-bearing minerals in the martian regolith: . analysis of 1997 observations from HST/NICMOS
Gordon, K. D.; Wolff, M. J.; Noe Dobrea, E. Z. +1 more
We have analyzed observations of the Acidalia hemisphere of Mars taken by the Hubble Space Telescope's Near-Infrared Camera Multi-Object Spectrograph (HST/NICMOS) during July of 1997 ( Ls=152°, northern martian summer). The data consist of images at ∼60 km/pixel resolution, using both narrow- and medium-band filters specifically selecte…
SOHO/LASCO observation of an outburst of Comet 2P/Encke at its 2000 perihelion passage
Lamy, P.; Groussin, O.; Biesecker, D. A.
Comet 2P/Encke was observed with the SOHO/LASCO C2 and C3 coronagraphs over a time interval of 11 days, starting 4 days before its September 2000 perihelion passage and through several broadband visible filters. The lightcurve reveals an outburst which started 4.9 days after perihelion, with the brightness of the coma increasing by 1.5 mag in just…
Cassini-VIMS at Jupiter: solar occultation measurements using Io
Sotin, C.; Brown, R. H.; Baines, K. H. +24 more
We report unusual and somewhat unexpected observations of the jovian satellite Io, showing strong methane absorption bands. These observations were made by the Cassini VIMS experiment during the Jupiter flyby of December/January 2000/2001. The explanation is straightforward: Entering or exiting from Jupiter's shadow during an eclipse, Io is illumi…