The haze and methane distributions on Neptune from HST–STIS spectroscopy

Karkoschka, Erich; Tomasko, M. G.

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2010.08.013

Cited by 143 publications

(240 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Feature morphology changes so dramatically that we cannot with certainty identify the same features present on both nights, as has been noted in previous observations (e.g. Sromovsky et al 2001b;Karkoschka 2011b).…”

Section: Observations and Data Reductionmentioning

confidence: 55%

“…Features in this latitude region have been identified in previous observations as South Polar Features (SPFs; e.g. Hammel et al 1989b;Smith et al 1989;Limaye & Sromovsky 1991;Sromovsky et al 1993;Crisp et al 1994;Hammel & Lockwood 1997;Sromovsky et al 2001b,c;Rages et al 2002;Karkoschka 2011a;Martin et al 2012). We will discuss these SPFs in Section 4.4.…”

Section: Locations Of Cloud Featuresmentioning

confidence: 69%

“…There is no a priori reason to assume the feature at the south pole to mark Neptune's true rotation pole. In fact in previous observations a pair of south polar spots have been seen ∼1-2 • away from the south pole (Luszcz-Cook et al 2010;Karkoschka 2011a), and the former authors suggested that these clouds may form in a region of strong convection surrounding a south polar vortex.…”

Section: Locations Of Cloud Featuresmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…This feature has been observed since the Voyager era (e.g. Smith et al 1989;Limaye & Sromovsky 1991;Hammel et al 2007;Luszcz-Cook et al 2010;Karkoschka 2011a). As seen by Limaye & Sromovsky (1991), this feature persisted in the Voyager observations over many Neptune rotations, and the authors were tempted to suggest that it marked the planet's true rotation pole, as doing so would remove a mean meridional velocity bias which puzzled them.…”

Section: Locations Of Cloud Featuresmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…We expect these differences to be related to the limitations of our data (we only have broadband measurements, not spectra), differences in the sensitivity of our measurements to different altitudes (for example, Gibbard et al (2003) measures mostly in K'-band, which is not sensitive to altitudes as deep as those we probe in H-band), and the simplicity of our model -previous studies have favored models with a more complicated haze structure and which vary other model parameters (e.g. Baines & Smith 1990;Gibbard et al 2002;Irwin et al 2011;Karkoschka & Tomasko 2011;Luszcz-Cook 2012). Our finding that equatorial features are deepest, while the SPFs in the south are found above them (∼0.3 bar), is different from the results of Gibbard et al (2003), which suggest a trend of increasing altitude with latitude from south to north.…”

Section: Cloud Feature Pressures From Radiative Transfer Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dispersion in Neptune’s zonal wind velocities from NIR Keck AO observations in July 2009

Fitzpatrick

Pater

Luszcz‐Cook

et al. 2013

Astrophys Space Sci

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We report observations of Neptune made in H-(1.4-1.8 µm) and K'-(2.0-2.4 µm) bands on 14 and 16 July 2009 from the 10-m W.M. Keck II Telescope using the near-infrared camera NIRC2 coupled to the Adaptive Optics (AO) system. We track the positions of 54 bright atmospheric features over a few hours to derive their zonal and latitudinal velocities, and perform radiative transfer modeling to measure the cloud-top pressures of 50 features seen simultaneously in both bands.We observe one South Polar Feature (SPF) on 14 July and three SPFs on 16 July at ∼65 • S. The SPFs observed on both nights are different features, consistent with the high variability of Neptune's storms.There is significant dispersion in Neptune's zonal wind velocities about the smooth Voyager wind profile fit of Sromovsky et al., Icarus 105, 140 (1993), much greater than the upper limit we expect from vertical wind shear, with the largest dispersion seen at equatorial and southern mid-latitudes. Comparison of feature pressures vs. residuals in zonal velocity from the smooth Voyager wind profile also directly reveals the dominance of mechanisms over vertical wind shear in causing dispersion in the zonal winds.Vertical wind shear is not the primary cause of the difference in dispersion and deviation in zonal veloc-

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Section: Observations and Data Reductionmentioning

confidence: 55%

Section: Locations Of Cloud Featuresmentioning

confidence: 69%

Section: Locations Of Cloud Featuresmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Locations Of Cloud Featuresmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Cloud Feature Pressures From Radiative Transfer Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Dispersion in Neptune’s zonal wind velocities from NIR Keck AO observations in July 2009

Fitzpatrick

Pater

Luszcz‐Cook

et al. 2013

Astrophys Space Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Atmospheric Retrieval of Exoplanets

Madhusudhan

2018

Handbook of Exoplanets

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Atmospheric Retrieval of Exoplanets

Madhusudhan

2018

Handbook of Exoplanets

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Exoplanetary atmospheric retrieval refers to the inference of atmospheric properties of an exoplanet given an observed spectrum. The atmospheric properties include the chemical compositions, temperature profiles, clouds/hazes, and energy circulation. These properties, in turn, can provide key insights into the atmospheric physicochemical processes of exoplanets as well as their formation mechanisms. Major advancements in atmospheric retrieval have been made in the last decade, thanks to a combination of state-of-the-art spectroscopic observations and advanced atmospheric modeling and statistical inference methods. These developments have already resulted in key constraints on the atmospheric H 2 O abundances, temperature profiles, and other properties for several exoplanets. Upcoming facilities such as the JWST will further advance this area. The present chapter is a pedagogical review of this exciting frontier of exoplanetary science. The principles of atmospheric retrievals of exoplanets are discussed in detail, including parametric models and statistical inference methods, along with a review of key results in the field. Some of the main challenges in retrievals with current observations are discussed along with new directions and the future landscape.

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The haze and methane distributions on Neptune from HST–STIS spectroscopy

Cited by 143 publications

References 23 publications

Dispersion in Neptune’s zonal wind velocities from NIR Keck AO observations in July 2009

Dispersion in Neptune’s zonal wind velocities from NIR Keck AO observations in July 2009

Atmospheric Retrieval of Exoplanets

Atmospheric Retrieval of Exoplanets

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