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Saturn's moon Iapetus has an equatorial ridge system, which may be as high as 20 km, that may have formed by endogenic forces, such as tectonic and convective forces, or exogenic processes such as debris infall. We use high-resolution…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2016-03-22 Erika Lopez Garcia , Edgard G. Rivera-Valentin , Paul M. Schenk , Noah P. Hammond , Amy C. Barr

A multi-decade record of ground-based mid-infrared (7-25 $\mu$m) images of Saturn is used to explore seasonal and non-seasonal variability in thermal emission over more than a Saturnian year (1984-2022). Thermal emission measured by 3-m and…

Saturn's C ring contains multiple structures that appear to be density waves driven by time-variable anomalies in the planet's gravitational field. Semi-empirical extensions of density wave theory enable the observed wave properties to be…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2022-01-24 M. M. Hedman , P. D. Nicholson , M. El Moutamid , S. Smotherman

Titan's stratosphere has been observed in a superrotation state, where the atmosphere rotates many times faster than the surface does. Another characteristics of Titan's atmosphere is the presence of thick haze layer. In this paper, we…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2022-04-13 Motoki Sumi , Shin-ichi Takehiro , Wataru Ohfuchi , Hideko Nomura , Yuka Fujii

The zonal flow in Jupiter's upper troposphere is organized into alternating retrograde and prograde jets, with a prograde (superrotating) jet at the equator. Existing models posit as the driver of the flow either differential radiative…

Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-13 Tapio Schneider , Junjun Liu

Observations have shown that there exists downward propagation of alternating westward/eastward jets in Jupiter's equatorial stratosphere, with a quasi-period between four and six years. This phenomenon is generally called the…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2023-09-26 Yuchen Lian , Xianyu Tan , Yongyun Hu

Natural satellite systems present a large variety of orbital configurations in the solar system. While some are clearly the result of known processes, others still have largely unexplained eccentricity and inclination values. Iapetus has a…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2018-11-28 William Polycarpe , Melaine Saillenfest , Valéry Lainey , Alain Vienne , Benoît Noyelles , Nicolas Rambaux

The shape of the two gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn, is determined primarily by their rotation rate, and interior density distribution. It is also affected by their zonal winds, causing an anomaly of O(10 km) at low latitudes. However,…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2023-05-05 Eli Galanti , Yohai Kaspi , Tristan Guillot

The incredible longevity of Cassini's orbital mission at Saturn has provided the most comprehensive exploration of a seasonal giant planet to date. This review explores Saturn's changing global temperatures, composition, and aerosol…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2023-05-09 L. N. Fletcher , L. Sromovsky , V. Hue , J. I. Moses , S. Guerlet , R. A. West , T. Koskinen

Of the over 800 exoplanets detected to date, over half are on non-circular orbits, with eccentricities as high as 0.93. Such orbits lead to time-variable stellar heating, which has implications for the planet's atmospheric dynamical regime.…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-11 Tiffany Kataria , Adam P. Showman , Nikole K. Lewis , Jonathan J. Fortney , Mark S. Marley , Richard S. Freedman

The atmospheres of the four giant planets of our Solar System share a common and well-observed characteristic: they each display patterns of planetary banding, with regions of different temperatures, composition, aerosol properties and…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2020-01-07 Leigh N. Fletcher , Yohai Kaspi , Tristan Guillot , Adam P. Showman

Ultra-hot Jupiters, an extreme class of planets not found in our solar system, provide a unique window into atmospheric processes. The extreme temperature contrasts between their day- and night-sides pose a fundamental climate puzzle: how…

Jupiter's atmosphere comprises several dynamical regimes: the equatorial eastward flows and surrounding retrograde jets; the midlatitudes, with the eddy-driven, alternating jet-streams and meridional circulation cells; and the jet-free…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2023-12-19 Keren Duer , Eli Galanti , Yohai Kaspi

Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has an Earth-like volatile cycle, but with methane playing the role of water and surface liquid reservoirs geographically isolated at high latitudes. We recreate Titan's characteristic dry hydroclimate at the…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2022-07-14 Matthew McKinney , J. Mitchell , S. I. Thomson

The best constraints on the internal structures of giant planets have historically come from measurements of their gravity fields. These gravity data are inherently mostly sensitive to a planet's outer regions, providing only loose…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2021-05-05 Christopher Mankovich , Jim Fuller

The fluid dynamics in planet Saturn gives rise to alternating east-west jet streams, large cyclonic and anticyclonic vortices, and a dipole-dominant magnetic field which is highly axisymmetric about the planetary rotation axis. Modelling…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2022-12-22 Rakesh Kumar Yadav , Hao Cao , Jeremy Bloxham

The longevity of Cassini's exploration of Saturn's atmosphere (a third of a Saturnian year) means that we have been able to track the seasonal evolution of atmospheric temperatures, chemistry and cloud opacity over almost every season, from…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-10-21 Leigh N. Fletcher , Thomas K. Greathouse , Julianne I. Moses , Sandrine Guerlet , Robert A. West

Saturn formed beyond the snow line in the primordial solar nebula that made it possible for it to accrete a large mass. Disk instability and core accretion models have been proposed for Saturn's formation, but core accretion is favored on…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2016-10-05 Sushil K. Atreya , Aurelien Crida , Tristan Guillot , Jonathan I. Lunine , Nikku Madhusudhan , Olivier Mousis

Polar vortices are common in the atmospheres of rapidly rotating planets [1-4]. On Earth and Mars they are tied to the surface and their existence follows the seasonal insolation cycle [1-3]. Venus is a slowly rotating planet but it is also…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2024-02-01 I. Garate-Lopez , R. Hueso , A. Sánchez-Lavega , J. Peralta , G. Piccioni , P. Drossart

The $24^{\circ}$ N jet borders the North Tropical Belt and North Tropical Zone, and is the fastest prograde jet on Jupiter, reaching speeds above $170$ m/s. In this region, observations have shown several periodic convective plumes, likely…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2021-06-22 Ramanakumar Sankar , Chloe Klare , Csaba Palotai