Evidence for methane escape and strong seasonal and dynamical perturbations of Neptune's atmospheric temperatures
@article{Orton2007EvidenceFM, title={Evidence for methane escape and strong seasonal and dynamical perturbations of Neptune's atmospheric temperatures}, author={Glenn S. Orton and Thérèse Encrenaz and C{\'e}dric Leyrat and R. C. Puetter and A. James Friedson}, journal={Astronomy and Astrophysics}, year={2007}, volume={473} }
Aims. We studied the distribution of mid-infrared thermal emission from Neptune to determine the spatial variability of temperatures and the distribution of trace constituents, allowing us to determine the relative strengths of radiation and dynamics in its atmosphere. Methods. Mid-infrared images of the planet were taken at the Very Large Telescope on 1–2 September 2006. Results. These images reveal strong inhomogeneities in thermal emission. 17.6 and 18.7-µm images exhibit strong seasonally…
52 Citations
Recovery and characterization of Neptune's near-polar stratospheric hot spot
- Physics, Environmental Science
- 2012
A hexagon in Saturn’s northern stratosphere surrounding the emerging summertime polar vortex
- Environmental Science, PhysicsNature Communications
- 2018
The Cassini spacecraft has provided an unprecedented characterisation of seasonal changes on Saturn, and the authors describe the development of a warm polar vortex in Saturn’s northern summer and show that the hexagon extends hundreds of kilometres from the troposphere into the stratosphere.
Thermal imaging of Uranus: Upper-tropospheric temperatures one season after Voyager
- Environmental Science, Physics
- 2015
Seasonal Stratospheric Photochemistry on Uranus and Neptune.
- Environmental Science, PhysicsIcarus
- 2018
Neptune's Spatial Brightness Temperature Variations from the VLA and ALMA
- Physics, Geology
- 2021
We present spatially resolved (0.″1–1.″0) radio maps of Neptune taken from the Very Large Array and Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array between 2015 and 2017. Combined, these observations…
Convective storms and atmospheric vertical structure in Uranus and Neptune
- Physics, GeologyPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A
- 2020
A combination of orbital and in situ data will be required to understand convection and its role in atmospheric dynamics in the ice giants, and by extension, in hydrogen atmospheres including Jupiter, Saturn and giant exoplanets.
Neptune's atmospheric composition from AKARI infrared spectroscopy
- Physics, Environmental Science
- 2010
Aims. Disk-averaged infrared spectra of Neptune between 1.8 and 13 μm, obtained by the AKARI infrared camera (IRC) in May 2007, have been analysed to (a) determine the globally-averaged stratospheric…
Ice Giant Circulation Patterns: Implications for Atmospheric Probes
- Environmental Science, PhysicsSpace science reviews
- 2020
This review seeks to reconcile the various competing circulation patterns from an observational perspective, accounting for spatially-resolved measurements of: zonal albedo contrasts and banded appearances; cloud-tracked zonal winds; temperature and para-H 2 measurements above the condensate clouds; and equator-to-pole contrasts in condensable volatiles in the deeper troposphere.
The haze and methane distributions on Uranus from HST-STIS spectroscopy
- Physics, Environmental Science
- 2009
Neptune’s global circulation deduced from multi-wavelength observations
- Environmental Science, Physics
- 2014
References
SHOWING 1-10 OF 22 REFERENCES
Thermal spectroscopy of Neptune: the stratospheric temperature, hydrocarbon abundances, and isotopic ratios
- Physics
- 1992
Thermal Maps of Jupiter: Spatial Organization and Time Dependence of Stratospheric Temperatures, 1980 to 1990
- Physics, Environmental ScienceScience
- 1991
The spatial organization and time dependence of Jupiter's stratospheric temperatures have been measured by observing thermal emission from the 7.8-micrometer CH4 band. These temperatures, observed…
Distribution of Ethane and Methane Emission on Neptune
- Physics, Environmental Science
- 2006
We present the first published spatially resolved images of Neptune's thermal emission. Our 7.7 and 11.7 μm images, taken on 2005 July 4 and 5 at the Gemini North telescope, show enhanced methane and…
Clouds, hazes, and the stratospheric methane abundance in Neptune.
- Environmental Science, PhysicsIcarus
- 1994
Reanalysis of the Voyager PPS 7500-angstroms phase angle data utilizing the fCH4,s value derived here confirms the Pryor et al. result of a tropospheric CH4 haze opacity of a few tenths in the 22-30 degrees S latitude region, several times that of the Equatorial Region or of the globe.
Thermal Structure and Para Hydrogen Fraction on the Outer Planets from Voyager IRIS Measurements
- Environmental Science, Physics
- 1998
Abstract Voyager infrared spectra from Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are used to infer latitude-height cross sections of temperature and para hydrogen fraction. A new inversion algorithm is…
The quasiquadrennial oscillation of Jupiter's equatorial stratosphere
- Physics, Environmental ScienceNature
- 1991
A NEW 11-year record of Jupiter's stratospheric temperature1 shows an equatorial temperature oscillation with an apparent period of 4–5 years. Here we compare this oscillation to two long-period…
Winds of Neptune - Voyager observations of cloud motions
- Environmental Science, Physics
- 1991
High temporal and spatial resolution images acquired from Voyager cameras have been used to measure cloud motions to improve the meridional profile of the zonal mean circulation on Neptune. A wide…
Dynamics of Neptune's Major Cloud Features
- Physics, Environmental Science
- 1993
Abstract We used Voyager 2 images of Neptune to investigate the dynamics of the Great Dark Spot (GDS), the Scooter, the Second Dark Spot (DS2), and the South Polar Features (SPF). Relative to…
Hydrocarbons in Neptune's stratosphere from Voyager infrared observations
- Environmental Science, Physics
- 1991
Emission from the acetylene and ethane bands at 729 and 822 cm-1detected in the Voyager infrared spectra of Neptune has been analyzed. A large selection of low-spatial resolution spectra was used to…