Related papers: Titan brighter at twilight than in daylight
Multi-band phase variations in principle allow us to infer the longitudinal temperature distributions of planets as a function of height in their atmospheres. For example, 3.6 micron emission originates from deeper layers of the atmosphere…
Hot Jupiters have been predicted to have a strong day/night temperature contrast and a hot spot shifted eastward of the substellar point. This was confirmed by numerous phase curve observations probing the longitudinal brightness variation…
Theory predicts that a plane wave scattered by a thin slab of gas yields, in the forward direction and under specific circumstances, a larger irradiance than would be observed in the absence of the gas. This enhanced Rayleigh scattering…
The formation and evolution of haze layers in planetary atmospheres play a critical role in shaping their chemical composition, radiative balance, and optical properties. In the outer solar system, the atmospheres of Titan and the giant…
As an exoplanet orbits its host star it reflects and emits light, forming a distinctive phase curve. By observing this light, we can study the atmosphere and surface of distant planets. The planets in our Solar System show a wide range of…
We apply previously introduced measures of chemical disequilibrium to Cassini mass spectroscopy data on the atmosphere of Titan. In the analysis presented here, we use an improved description, avoiding the meanfield approximation in…
Recent transmission spectroscopy has revealed that clouds and hazes are common in the atmospheres of close-in exoplanets. In this study, using the photochemical, microphysical, and transmission spectrum models for close-in warm ($\lesssim$…
We present results of an investigation into the formation of nitrogen-bearing molecules in the atmosphere of Titan. We extend a previous model (Li et al. 2015, 2016) to cover the region below the tropopause, so the new model treats the…
Spectroscopic observations of a transit event of an extrasolar planet offer the opportunity to study the composition of the planetary atmosphere. We observed a transit of the inflated Hot Jupiter HAT-P-32b with MODS at the LBT to…
We present a visible-light full orbital phase curve of the transiting planet WASP-18b measured by the TESS Mission. The phase curve includes the transit, secondary eclipse, and sinusoidal modulations across the orbital phase shaped by the…
Scattering processes in the atmospheres of planets cause characteristic features that can be particularly well observed in polarisation. For planet Earth, both molecular and scattering by small particles imprint specific signatures in its…
We present sub-millimeter spectra of HCN isotopologues on Titan, derived from publicly available ALMA flux calibration observations of Titan taken in early 2014. We report the detection of a new HCN isotopologue on Titan, H$^{13}$C$^{15}$,…
Two independent investigations of the atmosphere of the hot Jupiter HAT-P-12b by two different groups resulted in discrepant solutions. Using broad-band photometry from the ground, one study found a flat and featureless transmission…
We present an analysis of data about Saturn's atmosphere from Cassini's Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS), focusing on the meteorology of the features seen in the 5-micron spectral window. We present VIMS mosaics and discuss…
Image photometry reveals that the F ring is approximately twice as bright during the Cassini tour as it was during the Voyager flybys of 1980 and 1981. It is also three times as wide and has a higher integrated optical depth. We have…
Thanks to the Cassini-Huygens mission, Titan, the pale orange dot of Pioneer and Voyager encounters has been revealed to be a dynamic, hydrologically-shaped, organic-rich ocean world offering unparalleled opportunities to explore prebiotic…
The rapid increase in satellite launches in recent years, and the pressure of launches planned into the next decade, demands an improvement in the efficiency of space domain awareness facilities. Optical facilities form an important…
We present corrections for the change in the apparent scalelengths, central surface brightnesses and axis ratios due to the presence of dust in pure disk galaxies, as a function of inclination, central face-on opacity in the B-band…
Saturn's ionosphere is produced when the otherwise neutral atmosphere is exposed to a flow of energetic charged particles or solar radiation. At low latitudes the latter should result in a weak planet-wide glow in infrared (IR),…
Prior to the arrival of Cassini-Huygens, aerosol production in Titan's atmosphere was believed to begin in the stratosphere where chemical processes are predominantly initiated by FUV radiation. However, measurements taken by Cassini UVIS…