Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Oct 1997
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997icar..129..466h&link_type=abstract
Icarus, Volume 129, Issue 2, pp. 466-481.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
25
Scientific paper
Hubble Space Telescope imaging of Neptune in 1994, 1995, and 1996 reveals changes in atmospheric features. Dark spots at 467 nm near latitude +31 deg were present in both 1994 and 1995, but absent from images in March 1996. However, a larger data set in August 1996 (Sromovsky et al., Bull. Am. Astron. Soc. 28, 1077, 1996) revealed a dark spot. The features resemble the Great Dark Spot present during the Voyager encounter in 1989 in size, shape, and contrast. Dark spots occur near the single brightest 619- and 889-nm features visible on the planet at that time. Methane-band clouds in the northern hemisphere were a factor of 6 brighter than the surrounding atmosphere in 1994, but only a factor of 2 brighter in 1995 and 1996. The pattern of zonal bands on Neptune was stable from 1994 to 1996, but differed from that seen by Voyager in 1989 when a prominent dark band from planetographic latitudes -40 deg to -68 deg dominated at blue wavelengths. In 1994-1996, this band was weaker and extended only from -55 deg to -70 deg, perhaps explaining the 0.06-mag brightening of Neptune between 1989 and 1994. Bright methane clouds generally appear at specific latitudes, but the active latitudes change from -25 deg in 1989 to -30 deg and -46 deg in 1994. The region near +30 deg was active in both 1989 and 1994-1996. We confirm the general shape and stability of the zonal wind profile measured by Voyager, revising previous measurements with more accurate values and filling in latitudes +38 deg, -30 deg, and -31 deg where no clouds had previously been seen.
Hammel Heidi Beth
Lockwood Wesley G.
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