The effect of surface roughness on Triton's volatile distribution

Details The effect of surface roughness on Triton's volatile distribution The effect of surface roughness on Triton's volatile distribution

Mar 1992

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1992sci...255.1553y&link_type=abstract

Science (ISSN 0036-8075), vol. 255, March 20, 1992, p. 1553-1555.

Physics

7

Condensation, Nitrogen, Satellite Surfaces, Surface Roughness Effects, Surface Temperature, Triton, Equatorial Regions, Frost, Southern Hemisphere, Voyager Project

Scientific paper

Calculations of radiative equilibrium temperatures on Triton's rough surface suggest that significant condensation of N2 may be occurring in the northern equatorial regions, despite their relatively dark appearance. The bright frost is not apparent in the Voyager images because it tends to be concentrated in relatively unilluminated facets of the surface. This patchwork of bright frost-covered regions and darker bare ground may be distributed on scales smaller than that of the Voyager resolution; as a result the northern equatorial regions may appear relatively dark. This hypothesis also accounts for the observed wind direction in the Southern Hemisphere because it implies that the equatorial regions are warmer than the south polar regions.

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