相关论文: A 3D general circulation model for Pluto and Trito…

The vast, deep, volatile-ice-filled basin informally named Sputnik Planum is central to Pluto's geological activity[1,2]. Composed of molecular nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide ices[3], but dominated by N2-ice, this ice layer is…

A combined fluid/kinetic model is developed to calculate thermally driven escape of N2 from Pluto's atmosphere for two solar heating conditions: no heating above 1450 km and solar minimum heating conditions. In the combined model,…

A search for temporal changes on Pluto and Charon was motivated by (1) the discovery of young surfaces in the Pluto system that imply ongoing or recent geologic activity, (2) the detection of active plumes on Triton during the Voyager 2…

Context: Pluto possesses a thin atmosphere, primarily composed of nitrogen, in which the detection of methane has been reported. Aims: The goal is to constrain essential but so far unknown parameters of Pluto's atmosphere such as the…

At least two active plumes were observed on Neptune's moon Triton during the Voyager 2 flyby in 1989. Models for Triton's plumes have previously been grouped into five hypotheses, two of which are primarily atmospheric phenomena and are…

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…

Observations made during the New Horizons flyby provide a detailed snapshot of the current state of Pluto's atmosphere. While the lower atmosphere (at altitudes <200 km) is consistent with ground-based stellar occultations, the upper…

High-resolution spectra of Pluto in the 1.66 um region, recorded with the VLT/CRIRES instrument in 2008 (2 spectra) and 2012 (5 spectra), are analyzed to constrain the spatial and vertical distribution of methane in Pluto's atmosphere and…

Predicting the rate of escape and thermal structure of Pluto's upper atmosphere in preparation for the New Horizons Spacecraft encounter in 2015 is important for planning and interpreting the expected measurements. Having a moderate Jeans…

We use a general circulation model to study the three-dimensional (3-D) flow and temperature distributions of atmospheres on tidally synchronized extrasolar planets. In this work, we focus on the sensitivity of the evolution to the initial…

The surface winds of Jupiter and Saturn are primarily zonal. Each planet exhibits strong prograde equatorial flow flanked by multiple alternating zonal winds at higher latitudes. The depth to which these flows penetrate has long been…

Pluto's icy surface has changed colour and its atmosphere has swelled since its last closest approach to the Sun in 1989. The thin atmosphere is produced by evaporating ices, and so can also change rapidly, and in particular carbon monoxide…

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…

The atmospheric circulation in the upper atmosphere of hot Jupiter planets is strongly influenced by the incoming stellar radiation. In this work we explore the results from a 3D atmospheric model and revisit the main processes driving the…

Observations of the Pluto-Charon system, acquired with the ALMA interferometer on June 12-13, 2015, have yielded a detection of the CO(3-2) and HCN(4-3) rotational transitions from Pluto, providing a strong confirmation of the presence of…

Over the past two decades, a coherent picture has emerged of the atmospheric dynamics of hot Jupiters from a combination of three-dimensional general circulation models (GCMs) and astronomical observations. This paradigm consists of hot…

We present global, three-dimensional numerical simulations of the atmospheric circulation on HD 209458b and HD 189733b and calculate the infrared spectra and light curves predicted by these simulations, which we compare with available…

The goal is to determine the composition of Pluto's atmosphere and to constrain the nature of surface-atmosphere interactions. We perform high--resolution spectroscopic observations in the 2.33--2.36 $\mu$m range, using CRIRES at the VLT.…

The mean zonal flow observed on Jupiter consists of an intricate pattern of jets, or bands of zonal flow moving prograde or retrograde compared to the bulk planetary rotation. The strongest flow is a superrotating (prograde) jet near the…

Ocean worlds, or icy bodies in the outer solar system that have or once had subsurface liquid water oceans, are among the most compelling topics of astrobiology. Typically, confirming the existence of a subsurface ocean requires close…