DIRECT DETECTION OF SEASONAL CHANGES ON TRITON WITH HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, MS 183-401, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States)
- University of Maryland, Department of Astronomy, College Park, MD 20742 (United States)
Triton is one of the few bodies in the solar system with observed cryo-volcanic activity, in the form of plumes at its south pole, which suggests large-scale surface volatile transport over time. Triton's large variations in obliquity have motivated prior predictions of changing atmospheric column densities of several orders of magnitude, driven by seasonal evaporation of surface volatiles. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, we directly imaged Triton's surface and have detected large-scale differences in increased and decreased reflectance when compared with Voyager data at UV, visual, and methane-band wavelengths. Our surface map shows regions of increased brightness at near-equatorial latitudes and near the Neptune-facing side, and darkened regions near longitudes of {+-}180{sup 0}, indicating the presence of ongoing seasonal volatile transport.
- OSTI ID:
- 21452715
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 723, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/723/1/L49; ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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