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Radiative Balance and Dynamics in the Stratosphere of Jupiter: Results from a Latitude-Dependent Aerosol Heating Model
Moreno, Fernando; Sedano, José
An updated dynamical model for the circulation in the jovian stratosphere has been developed. For computation of the heating and cooling rates in the stratosphere, required to obtain the radiative flux convergence, the model makes use of exponential-sum derived coefficients from laboratory and correlated-kdistributions from line listing data for t…
Simulation of the Morphology of the Jovian UV North Aurora Observed with the Hubble Space Telescope
Waite, J. H.; Grodent, D.; Gladstone, G. R. +2 more
A model simulating Earth views of UV auroral arcs and diffuse emissions in the Jovian north polar region is described. It assumes a Chapman profile of vertical brightness distribution and various horizontal structures. Simple geometric cases are described to illustrate the dependence on the altitude, atmospheric scale height, and central meridian …
ISOCAM Observations of the Comet P/Kopff Dust Trail
Reach, William T.; Boulanger, Francois; Sykes, Mark V. +3 more
We present the results of two scans through the dust trail of Comet P/Kopff made with ISOCAM on 26 March 1996. Positions behind the comet at mean anomalies of 0.5° and 1° less than the nucleus were imaged using the LW10 (IRAS Band 1, 12 µm) filter. The trail is clearly detected and appears to have varied since it was observed with the IRAS s…
Impact Mechanics and Frequency of SL9-Type Events on Jupiter
Ahrens, Thomas J.; Roulston, Mark S.
A semianalytic model for the breakup of fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 upon entry into Jupiter's atmosphere is presented. The model assumes that the impacting fragments behave as bodies of viscous fluid and that the dominant process in their breakup is the growth of hydrodynamic instabilities. It is shown that the size of the smallest instabi…
Vertical Structure of Jupiter's Atmosphere at the Galileo Probe Entry Latitude
Beebe, R. F.; Chanover, N. J.; Kuehn, D. M.
The vertical structure of Jupiter's atmosphere is examined to better characterize the latitudinal region of the Galileo probe entry site: +5°-10° planetographic latitude. One-hundred Hubble Space Telescope images of Jupiter taken with the 893- and 953-nm filters on 13 and 17 February 1995, 5 October 1995, and 14 May 1996 are analyzed, and a two-cl…
NOTE: Saturn Ring-Plane Crossing, May 1995: Pole Precession and Ring Thickness
Bosh, Amanda S.; Rivkin, Andrew S.; Percival, Jeffrey W. +2 more
On 22 May 1995, as the Earth crossed through Saturn's ring-plane, we used the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on the Hubble Space Telescope to image Saturn and its rings for 10 hr centered near the predicted time of ring-plane crossing. By performing photometry on the rings, we find that the time of ring-plane crossing is later than the nominal pred…
Impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9—Size, Origin, and Plumes: Comparison of Numerical Analysis with Observations
Takata, Toshiko; Ahrens, Thomas J.
Numerical results of impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (SL9) on Jupiter are compared with observational phenomena to investigate the size and origin of SL9 and impact features. Plume evolution is simulated numerically for 0.4- and 2.0-km-diameter (D) impactors. Analytical estimates indicate that the maximum plume heights are proportional to (D/lnD)…
Water Vapor Saturation at Low Altitudes around Mars Aphelion: A Key to Mars Climate?
Clancy, R. T.; Wolff, M. J.; Grossman, A. W. +6 more
The combined analysis of microwave temperature and water profiling of the Mars atmosphere indicates that low- to mid-latitude water vapor saturation typically occurs at much lower altitudes (below 10 km) during northern spring/summer than observed during this Mars aphelion season in the dusty, warm period of Viking observations (above 25 km). Temp…
Titan's Surface, Revealed by HST Imaging
Lorenz, R. D.; Sromovsky, L. A.; Caldwell, J. J. +3 more
We present for the first time relative albedo maps of Titan's surface. The maps were made from images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope's planetary camera (295 km per pixel) through atmospheric windows at 940 and 1080 nm. Coverage at all longitudes and between 45°S and 60°N was obtained with 14 orbits from 4-18 October 1994. Each image is charac…
The Discovery and Orbit of 1993 (243)1 Dactyl
Petit, Jean-Marc; Mueller, Beatrice E. A.; Neukum, Gerhard +18 more
Dactyl was discovered in solid state imaging (SSI) data on February 17, 1994, during the long playback of approach images from the Galileo spacecraft's encounter with the asteroid 243 Ida. Forty-seven images of the Ida-Dactyl pair were obtained. A detailed search for other satellites was made. No confirmed detections were made, all other candidate…