Search Publications
On the Hydrosphere Stability of TESS Targets: Applications to 700 d, 256 b, and 203 b
Kennefick, Julia; Bonney, Paul
A main determinant of the habitability of exoplanets is the presence of stable liquid surface water. In an era of abundant possible targets, the potential to find a habitable world remains a driving force in prioritization. We present here a data-forward method to investigate the likelihood of a stable hydrosphere on the timescales of the formatio…
Seasonal Variations of Chemical Species and Haze in Titan's Upper Atmosphere
Fan, Siteng; Zhao, Daniel; Li, Cheng +3 more
Seasonal variation is significant in Titan's atmosphere owing to the large change of solar insolation resulting from Titan's 26.7° axial tilt relative to the plane of Saturn's orbit. Here we present an investigation of hydrocarbon and nitrile species in Titan's upper atmosphere at 400-1200 km, which includes the mesosphere and the lower thermosphe…
Dione's Thermal Inertia and Bolometric Bond Albedo Derived from Cassini/CIRS Observations of Solar Eclipse Ingress
Spencer, John R.; Howett, Carly J. A.
On 2010 May 18 Cassini's Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) observed Dione's leading hemisphere as its surface went into solar eclipse. Surface temperatures derived from each of CIRS' focal plane 3 (FP3, 600-1100 cm-1) show a rapid decrease in Dione's surface temperature upon eclipse ingress. This change was compared to the model su…