Surface Temperatures on Titan; Changes During the Cassini Mission
Surface brightness temperatures on Titan measured by the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) aboard Cassini span the period from late northern winter to early spring. The CIRS observations cover all latitudes and can be used to study meridional changes with season. CIRS previously reported surfac...
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ftnasantrs:oai:casi.ntrs.nasa.gov:20110005650 2023-05-15T18:22:48+02:00 Surface Temperatures on Titan; Changes During the Cassini Mission Jennings, Donald E. Nixon, Conor A. Cottini, Valeria Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available [2010] application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20110005650 unknown Document ID: 20110005650 http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20110005650 Copyright, Distribution as joint owner in the copyright CASI Astrophysics 2010 ftnasantrs 2018-06-09T22:57:34Z Surface brightness temperatures on Titan measured by the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) aboard Cassini span the period from late northern winter to early spring. The CIRS observations cover all latitudes and can be used to study meridional changes with season. CIRS previously reported surface temperatures from 2004-2008 which were 93.7 K at the equator with decreases of 2 K toward the south pole and 3 K toward the north pole'. From a comparison of the equinox period with the earlier data, CIRS can now detect a seasonal shift in the latitudinal distribution of temperatures. Around the time of the equinox the meridional distribution was more symmetric about the equator than had been found earlier in the mission. The equatorial surface temperatures remained close to 94 K, but in the south the temperatures had decreased by about 0.5 K and in the north had increased by about 0.5 K. The CIRS equinox results are similar to what was seen near the previous vernal equinox by Voyager IRIS Z. The observed surface temperatures can help constrain the type of surface material by comparison with predictions from general circulation models. Of the three cases treated by Tokano t , our measurements most closely match a porous-ice regolith. As Cassini continues through Titan's northern spring CIRS will extend its temporal and spatial coverage and will continue to search for seasonal variations in surface temperature. Other/Unknown Material South pole NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) North Pole South Pole |
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
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ftnasantrs |
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unknown |
topic |
Astrophysics |
spellingShingle |
Astrophysics Jennings, Donald E. Nixon, Conor A. Cottini, Valeria Surface Temperatures on Titan; Changes During the Cassini Mission |
topic_facet |
Astrophysics |
description |
Surface brightness temperatures on Titan measured by the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) aboard Cassini span the period from late northern winter to early spring. The CIRS observations cover all latitudes and can be used to study meridional changes with season. CIRS previously reported surface temperatures from 2004-2008 which were 93.7 K at the equator with decreases of 2 K toward the south pole and 3 K toward the north pole'. From a comparison of the equinox period with the earlier data, CIRS can now detect a seasonal shift in the latitudinal distribution of temperatures. Around the time of the equinox the meridional distribution was more symmetric about the equator than had been found earlier in the mission. The equatorial surface temperatures remained close to 94 K, but in the south the temperatures had decreased by about 0.5 K and in the north had increased by about 0.5 K. The CIRS equinox results are similar to what was seen near the previous vernal equinox by Voyager IRIS Z. The observed surface temperatures can help constrain the type of surface material by comparison with predictions from general circulation models. Of the three cases treated by Tokano t , our measurements most closely match a porous-ice regolith. As Cassini continues through Titan's northern spring CIRS will extend its temporal and spatial coverage and will continue to search for seasonal variations in surface temperature. |
author |
Jennings, Donald E. Nixon, Conor A. Cottini, Valeria |
author_facet |
Jennings, Donald E. Nixon, Conor A. Cottini, Valeria |
author_sort |
Jennings, Donald E. |
title |
Surface Temperatures on Titan; Changes During the Cassini Mission |
title_short |
Surface Temperatures on Titan; Changes During the Cassini Mission |
title_full |
Surface Temperatures on Titan; Changes During the Cassini Mission |
title_fullStr |
Surface Temperatures on Titan; Changes During the Cassini Mission |
title_full_unstemmed |
Surface Temperatures on Titan; Changes During the Cassini Mission |
title_sort |
surface temperatures on titan; changes during the cassini mission |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20110005650 |
op_coverage |
Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available |
geographic |
North Pole South Pole |
geographic_facet |
North Pole South Pole |
genre |
South pole |
genre_facet |
South pole |
op_source |
CASI |
op_relation |
Document ID: 20110005650 http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20110005650 |
op_rights |
Copyright, Distribution as joint owner in the copyright |
_version_ |
1766202217046474752 |