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Comparison of the Deep Atmospheric Dynamics of Jupiter and Saturn in Light of the Juno and Cassini Gravity Measurements
Stevenson, David J.; Iess, Luciano; Showman, Adam P. +4 more
The nature and structure of the observed east-west flows on Jupiter and Saturn have been a long-standing mystery in planetary science. This mystery has been recently unraveled by the accurate gravity measurements provided by the Juno mission to Jupiter and the Grand Finale of the Cassini mission to Saturn. These two experiments, which coincidental…
A global geomorphologic map of Saturn's moon Titan
Williams, D. A.; Hayes, A. G.; Wall, S. D. +10 more
Titan has an active methane-based hydrologic cycle1 that has shaped a complex geologic landscape2, making its surface one of most geologically diverse in the Solar System. Despite the differences in materials, temperatures and gravity fields between Earth and Titan, many of their surface features are similar and can be interp…
The composition and structure of Enceladus' plume from the complete set of Cassini UVIS occultation observations
Hansen, C. J.; Hendrix, A. R.; West, R. A. +4 more
Observations acquired at ultraviolet wavelengths are uniquely well-suited to investigate the composition and structure of Enceladus' plume. This paper describes the observations, analysis techniques and results of all the Enceladus occultations observed by Cassini's Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) and other observations designed to study t…
The landscape of Saturn's internal magnetic field from the Cassini Grand Finale
Cao, Hao; Dougherty, Michele K.; Hunt, Gregory J. +5 more
The Cassini mission entered the Grand Finale phase in April 2017 and executed 22.5 highly inclined, close-in orbits around Saturn before diving into the planet on September 15th 2017. Here we present our analysis of the Cassini Grand Finale magnetometer (MAG) dataset, focusing on Saturn's internal magnetic field. These measurements demonstrate tha…
Returning Samples from Enceladus for Life Detection
MacKenzie, Shannon M.; Davila, Alfonso F.; Neveu, Marc +7 more
Evidence suggests that Saturn's icy moon Enceladus has a subsurface ocean that sources plumes of water vapor and ice vented to space from its south pole. In situ analyses of this material by the Cassini spacecraft have shown that the ocean contains key ingredients for life (elements H, C, N, O and possibly S; simple and complex organic compounds; …
The gravity field and interior structure of Dione
Tortora, Paolo; Zannoni, Marco; Hemingway, Douglas +1 more
During its mission in the Saturn system, Cassini performed five close flybys of Dione. During three of them, radio tracking data were collected during the closest approach, allowing estimation of the full degree-2 gravity field by precise spacecraft orbit determination.
The gravity field of Dione is dominated by J2 and C22Labyrinth terrain on Titan
Malaska, Michael J.; Lopes, Rosaly M. C.; Solomonidou, Anezina +14 more
The Cassini/Huygens mission revealed a terrain type on Saturn's moon Titan of dissected, elevated plateaux with a high density of valleys named labyrinth terrain. We define four subtypes of labyrinth terrains: valleyed, polygonal, finely-dissected, and the possible outlier Kronin Labyrinth. We mapped the locations of all labyrinths imaged by Cassi…
Analysis of Cassini radio tracking data for the construction of INPOP19a: A new estimate of the Kuiper belt mass
Laskar, J.; Fienga, A.; Iess, L. +3 more
Context. Recent discoveries of new trans-Neptunian objects have greatly increased the attention by the scientific community to this relatively unknown region of the solar system. The current level of precision achieved in the description of planet orbits has transformed modern ephemerides in the most updated tools for studying the gravitational in…
Seasonal changes in the middle atmosphere of Titan from Cassini/CIRS observations: Temperature and trace species abundance profiles from 2004 to 2017
Bézard, Bruno; Vinatier, Sandrine; Jennings, Donald E. +6 more
The Cassini/Composite InfraRed Spectrometer (CIRS) instrument has been observing the middle atmosphere of Titan over almost half a Saturnian year. We used the CIRS dataset processed through the up-to-date calibration pipeline to characterize seasonal changes of temperature and abundance profiles in the middle atmosphere of Titan, from mid-northern…
Temperature and chemical species distributions in the middle atmosphere observed during Titan's late northern spring to early summer
Seignovert, B.; Teanby, N. A.; Flasar, F. M. +12 more
We present a study of the seasonal evolution of Titan's thermal field and distributions of haze, C2H2, C2H4, C2H6, CH3C2H, C3H8, C4H2, C6H6, HCN, and HC3N from March 2015 (Ls