Related papers: Exploring the spatial, temporal, and vertical dist…
The New Horizons spacecraft mapped colors and infrared spectra across the encounter hemispheres of Pluto and Charon. The volatile ices CH$_4$, CO, and N$_2$, that dominate Pluto's surface, have complicated spatial distributions resulting…
The recent discovery of two large trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) 2003 UB313 and 2005 FY9, with surface properties similar to those of Pluto, provides an exciting new laboratory for the study of processes considered for Pluto and Triton:…
Several trace constituents can reach saturation vapor pressure in Pluto's present day atmosphere. As such, we describe a search for discrete could features in Pluto's atmosphere using New Horizons data obtained on 14-15 July 2015, during…
We present spectra of Eris from the MMT 6.5 meter telescope and Red Channel Spectrograph (5700-9800 angstroms; 5 angstroms per pix) on Mt. Hopkins, AZ, and of Pluto from the Steward Observatory 2.3 meter telescope and Boller and Chivens…
In this letter we explore the environment of Pluto and Charon in the far infrared with the main aim to identify the signs of any possible dust ring, should it exist in the system. Our study is based on observations performed at 70 um with…
Triton possesses a thin atmosphere, primarily composed of nitrogen, sustained by the sublimation of surface ices. The goal is to determine the composition of Triton's atmosphere and to constrain the nature of surface-atmosphere…
The New Horizons spacecraft will achieve a wide range of measurement objectives at the Pluto system, including color and panchromatic maps, 1.25-2.50 micron spectral images for studying surface compositions, and measurements of Pluto's…
Pluto's landscape is shaped by the cycles of the volatile ices covering its surface. In particular, the Sputnik Planitia (SP) ice sheet displays a large diversity of terrains, with bright and dark plains, pits, topographic depressions and…
Combining stellar occultation observations probing Pluto's atmosphere from 1988 to 2013 and models of energy balance between Pluto's surface and atmosphere, we conclude that Pluto's atmosphere does not collapse at any point in its 248-year…
We retrieve vertical and meridional variations of methane mole fraction in Titan's lower troposphere by re-analyzing near-infrared ground-based observations from 17 July 2014 UT (Adamkovics et al., 2016). We generate synthetic spectra using…
The methane-nitrogen phase diagram of Prokhvatilov and Yantsevich (1983) indicates that at temperatures relevant to the surfaces of icy dwarf planets like Pluto, two phases contribute to the methane absorptions: nitrogen saturated with…
Approach images taken by the LORRI imaging system during the New Horizons spacecraft encounter have been used to determine the mean radii and shapes of Pluto and Charon. The primary observations are limb locations derived using three…
Hydrocarbon species, and in particular CH$_4$, play a key role in the stratosphere--thermosphere boundary of Jupiter, which occurs around the $\mu$-bar pressure level. Previous analyses of solar occultation, He and Ly-$\alpha$ airglow, and…
The spatial distribution of the tropospheric methane on Titan was measured using near-infrared spectroscopy. Ground-based observations at 1.5$\mu{\rm m}$ (H-band) were performed during the same night using instruments with adaptive optics…
Titan's atmospheric composition and dynamical state have previously been studied over numerous epochs by both ground- and space-based facilities. However, stratospheric measurements remain sparse during Titan's northern summer and fall. The…
The New Horizons flyby of Pluto confirmed the existence of hazes in its atmosphere. Observations of a large high- to low- phase brightness ratio, combined with the blue color of the haze, suggest that the haze particles are fractal…
We use a statistical-thermodynamic model to investigate the formation and composition of noble-gas-rich clathrates on Pluto's surface. By considering an atmospheric composition close to that of today's Pluto and a broad range of surface…
We report observations of a stellar occultation by Pluto on 2019 July 17. A single-chord high-speed (time resolution $= 2\,$s) photometry dataset was obtained with a CMOS camera mounted on the Tohoku University 60 cm telescope (Haleakala,…
The Pluto system was recently explored by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, making closest approach on 14 July 2015. Pluto's surface displays diverse landforms, terrain ages, albedos, colors, and composition gradients. Evidence is found for a…
Using Chandra ACIS-S, we have obtained imaging Xray spectrophotometry of the Pluto system in support of the New Horizons flyby on 14 July 2015. 174 ksec of observations were obtained on 4 visits in Feb 2014 to Aug 2015. We measured a net…