Observations of Iapetus Near True Opposition

Details Observations of Iapetus Near True Opposition Observations of Iapetus Near True Opposition

Oct 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010dps....42.0106f&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #42, #1.06; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.942

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

On 13 January 2005, Saturn and its satellites reached true opposition, providing an opportunity to view them at the minimum solar phase angle ( 0.01). At true opposition, a planetary body aligns with the Earth and Sun such that a transit across the solar disk is visible from the body. The Bonn University Simultaneous Camera (BUSCA) [1] operating at the 2.2 meter telescope at Calar Alto Observatory simultaneously imaged Iapetus in four filters ( Strömgren v, b, y, and Cousins I) 12-14 January, measuring the reflectance of Iapetus' anti-Saturn-facing hemisphere at phase angles between 0.01° and 0.1°. BUSCA's wide (12x12 arcmin) field of view enables the use of on-chip standards to measure the relative change in Iapetus' reflectance and thus its opposition surge at four different wavelengths. Processes such as the redeposition of frost which has sublimated from the moon's leading hemisphere [2] could produce a surface with sufficient microtexture to enhance the reflectance of Iapetus dramatically at true opposition. Support for this work was provided in part by NASA's Planetary Astronomy Program.
References
[1]Reif, K. et al. 1999. SPIE 3649, 109
[2]Spencer, J. and Denk, T. 2010. Science 327, 432

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