Related papers: Titan brighter at twilight than in daylight
A significant difference in Titan's ionospheric electron density is observed between the T118 and T119 Cassini nightside flybys. These flybys had similar geometry, occurred at the same Saturn local time and while Titan was exposed to…
Titan is the only icy satellite in the solar system with a dense atmosphere. This atmosphere is composed primarily of nitrogen with a few percent methane, which supports an active, methane-based hydrological cycle on Titan. The presence of…
We have analyzed the complete Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) data archive of Titan. Our objective is to build global surface cartographic products, by combining all the data gathered during the 127 targeted flybys of Titan…
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…
The organic haze of aerosols that shrouds the Saturnian moon Titan has previously been studied by both observations and laboratory simulation experiments. Here we report the abiotic formation of amino acid precursors in complex organic…
The optical spectra of Titan reveal a rich set of absorption features, most of which are likely associated with methane (CH$_4$). Methane is a key molecule in planetary and exoplanetary atmospheres, yet a comprehensive high-resolution…
We present the results of an analysis of ultraviolet observations of T Tauri Stars (TTS). By analysing emission measures taken from the literature we derive rates of ionizing photons from the chromospheres of 5 classical TTS in the range…
We present evidence for condensed phase methane precipitation near Xanadu using nine nights of observations from the SINFONI integral-field spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope and imaging analysis with empirical surface subtraction.…
Thanks to the \textit{Cassini} spacecraft onboard instruments, it has been known that Titan's ionospheric chemistry is complex and the molecular growth is initiated through the photolysis of the most abundant species directly in the upper…
The hot Jupiter HD189733b is the most extensively observed exoplanet. Its atmosphere has been detected and characterised in transmission and eclipse spectroscopy, and its phase curve measured at several wavelengths. This paper brings…
Phase curve measurements provide a global view of the composition, thermal structure, and dynamics of exoplanet atmospheres. Although most of the dozens of phase curve measurements made to date are of large, massive hot Jupiters, there is…
We present the analysis of a full-orbit, spectroscopic phase curve of the ultra hot Jupiter WASP-18b, obtained with the Wide Field Camera 3 aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. We measure the planet's normalized day-night contrast as >0.96 in…
Context. Reflected light from a spatially unresolved planet yields unique insight into the overall optical properties of the planet cover. Glories are optical phenomena caused by light that is backscattered within spherical droplets…
Earthshine observations offer a unique opportunity to study Earth as an exoplanet seen from the Moon. As the Sun-Earth-Moon geometry changes, Earth can be observed as a spatially unresolved exoplanet at different phase angles, providing…
Atmospheric electrification is not a purely terrestrial phenomenon: all Solar System planetary atmospheres become slightly electrified by cosmic ray ionisation. There is evidence for lightning on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, and it…
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…
Specularly reflected light, or glint, from an ocean surface may provide a useful observational tool for studying extrasolar terrestrial planets. Detection of sea-surface glints would differentiate ocean-bearing terrestrial planets, i.e.…
The occurrence of a planet transiting in front of its host star offers the opportunity to observe the planet's atmosphere filtering starlight. The fraction of occulted stellar flux is roughly proportional to the optically thick area of the…
This work analyzes the X-ray, EUV and UV emission apparently coming from the Earth-facing (dark) side of Venus as observed with Hinode/XRT and SDO/AIA during a transit across the solar disk occurred in 2012. We have measured significant…
The presence of aerosols in an exoplanet atmosphere can veil the underlying material and can lead to a flat transmission spectrum during primary transit observations. In this work, we explore forward scattering effects from super-micron…