Triton's Surface Roughness Is Not Unusual

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Scientific paper

Previous estimates of Triton's macroscopic roughness have been hampered by the presence of atmospheric aerosols in Triton's atmosphere: only a loose constraint on the macroscopic roughness (<20 deg) could be obtained. This study determines the locations of the clouds on Triton and then examines those areas found to be relatively devoid of cloud cover to yield tighter constraints on the surface macroscopic roughness. The most prominent cloud feature is seen near 50 degS, 160 degW with smaller features appearing near 60 degS, 270 degW and 15 degS, 280 degW. The fact that the cloud cover is not largest toward the south pole argues against a sublimation origin for the clouds, though the results are not conclusive. The surface roughness ranges from ~11 deg to ~18 deg for Triton's various terrains. These are near the upper limit previously determined and, while relatively smooth, are not atypical of icy satellites. Roughness values near zero which would have been suggestive of an unusual surface texture and processes are clearly excluded. These results suggest that Triton's surface structure and the processes which govern its evolution are similar to those present on other icy satellites.

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