Ground-based Observations of Io In Support of The New Horizons Flyby

Details Ground-based Observations of Io In Support of The New Horizons Flyby Ground-based Observations of Io In Support of The New Horizons Flyby

Oct 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007dps....39.1509r&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #39, #15.09; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.438

Other

Scientific paper

Io is the most volcanically active body in the solar system and has been observed from ground-based telescopes for more than two decades. The frequency of observations increases dramatically when spacecraft are observing Io in order to complement the data returned by the spacecraft. The New Horizons spacecraft flew by Jupiter on February 28th, 2007 and observed Io with visible (0.4-1.0 microns) and near-infrared (1.2-2.5 microns) instruments. We observed Io from the Infrared Telescope Facility in Hawaii in order to complement the data being taken by New Horizons. Our observations were at longer wavelengths than New Horizons with some overlap (2.2, 3.5, and 4.8 microns). We were also able to observe Io over a longer period of time (August 2006 through June 2007) to put the New Horizons data into a broader temporal context.
During nine partial nights we observed Io in eclipse (to avoid reflected sunlight) and during Jupiter occultations (to isolate individual volcanoes). From these observations, we were able to observe active volcanoes on the Jupiter facing hemisphere and measure the brightness of the largest volcano, Loki. We found that Loki was very faint during this entire period, though temporal variations were seen at other volcanoes. During seven partial nights, we observed Io's sunlit disk at 3.5 microns at a variety of longitudes for good coverage of volcanic activity at all longitudes. We took a series of short exposures and added together those with the best seeing in order to improve the spatial resolution. During five of the observations, starting on January 18th 2007, the volcano Tvashtar was visible, showing that the major eruption detected by New Horizons was active for over a month before the flyby. We will deconvolve these images in order to determine the brightness of Tvashtar (at 3.5 microns) between mid-January and early March.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Ground-based Observations of Io In Support of The New Horizons Flyby does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Ground-based Observations of Io In Support of The New Horizons Flyby, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Ground-based Observations of Io In Support of The New Horizons Flyby will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1065243