相关论文: Surface Compositions Across Pluto and Charon
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),…
This study explores the gravitational interaction between Pluto and its moon Charon, which has led to their synchronous orbit, where they consistently show the same face to each other. This process is known as tidal evolution, which…
The atmospheric pressure-temperature profiles for transiting giant planets cross a range of chemical transitions. Here we show that the particular shape of these irradiated profiles for warm giant planets below 1300 K lead to striking…
\ Nitrous oxide (N$_2$O) ice is likely to exist in trans-Neptunian objects such as Pluto and Triton, potentially formed through ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the Sun or cosmic ray irradiation of N$_2$ and CO ices. However, the…
Noble gases provide tracers of cosmic provenance that are accessible to a future Uranus Atmospheric Probe. Argon and krypton are expected to be well-mixed on Uranus with respect to H$_2$ and He, although condensation at the winter pole may…
Reflected sunlight observations from the Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) on the Juno spacecraft were used to study the distribution of acetylene (C$_2$H$_2$) at Jupiter's south pole. We find that the shape of the C$_2$H$_2$ absorption…
Comparatively little is known about atmospheric chemistry on Uranus and Neptune, because remote spectral observations of these cold, distant ``Ice Giants'' are challenging, and each planet has only been visited by a single spacecraft during…
The surface of the Martian moon Phobos exhibits two distinct geologic units, known as the red and blue units. The provenance of these regions is uncertain yet crucial to understanding the origin of the Martian moon and its interaction with…
We consider a scenario where the small satellites of Pluto and Charon grew within a disk of debris from an impact between Charon and a trans-Neptunian Object (TNO). After Charon's orbital motion boosts the debris into a disk-like structure,…
Ground-based and spacecraft telescopic observations, combined with an intensive modeling effort, have greatly enhanced our understanding of hot giant planets and brown dwarfs over the past ten years. Although these objects are all fluid,…
Condensation and sublimation of water vapors (and CO2, CH4, N2O vapors also) in the Earth atmosphere must be accompanied by emission of latent heats on characteristic frequencies marked in absorption spectra. Calculated wave lengths…
The weak orbital-phase dependent reflection signal of an exoplanet contains information on the planet surface, such as the distribution of continents and oceans on terrestrial planets. This light curve is usually studied in the time domain,…
The largest bodies - or dwarf planets - constitute a different class among Kuiper belt objects and are characterised by bright surfaces and volatile compositions remarkably different from that of smaller trans-Neptunian objects. These…
The Trojan asteroids orbit about the Lagrangian points of Jupiter and the residence times about their present location are very long for most of them. If these bodies originated in the outer Solar System, they should be mainly composed of…
Context. The crust composition of rocky exoplanets with a substantial atmosphere can not be observed directly. However, recent developments start to allow the observation and characterisation of their atmospheres. Aims. We aim to establish…
A carbon-to-oxygen ratio (C/O) of around unity is believed to act as a natural separator of water- and methane-dominated spectra when characterizing exoplanet atmospheres. In this paper we quantify the C/O ratios at which this separation…
We present spatially resolved ($0.1'' - 1.0''$) radio maps of Neptune taken from the Very Large Array and Atacama Large Submillimeter/Millimeter Array between $2015-2017$. Combined, these observations probe from just below the main methane…
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…
Future telescopes will characterize rocky exoplanets in reflected light, revealing their albedo, which depends on surface, cloud, and atmospheric properties. Identifying these features is crucial for assessing habitability. We present…
First generation optical coronagraphic telescopes will obtain images of cool gas and ice giant exoplanets around nearby stars. The albedo spectra of exoplanets at planet-star separations larger than about 1 AU are dominated by reflected…