Nitrogen on Triton and Pluto

Details Nitrogen on Triton and Pluto Nitrogen on Triton and Pluto

Jan 1995

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1995phdt.........7t&link_type=abstract

Thesis (PH.D.)--CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, 1995.Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-06, Section: B

Computer Science

Thermal Flux, Infrared Spectroscopy

Scientific paper

Nitrogen has been detected on the surfaces of two objects in the solar system, Triton and Pluto. To better understand the surfaces of these two bodies I have made measurements of the spectrum of solid nitrogen at temperatures applicable to Triton and Pluto, over a wavelength region which encompasses both the fundamental vibrational transition of N_2, at 4.294 mum, and its first overtone, at 2.148 mum. These measurements show that the appearance of the N_2 bands is a function of temperature. I have used this temperature dependence, in conjunction with observational data and spectral modeling techniques, to determine the temperature of N_2 on Triton and Pluto. The temperature I derive for Triton, 38 +/- 1 K, is in agreement with measurements made by the Voyager 2 spacecraft. The temperature determined for Pluto is 40 +/- 2 K, slightly warmer than for Triton. Observations of Pluto's thermal flux have not been able to constrain Pluto's temperature well; estimates in the literature run from 30 to 60 K. To determine if the spectroscopically derived temperature for nitrogen on Pluto is consistent with the published thermal fluxes of Pluto I have modeled the expected thermal flux assuming that the N_2 is contained in symmetric polar caps and that the equatorial region is bare of nitrogen. With these assumptions I find that the modeled flux of Pluto fits all the published thermal flux measurements if the polar caps extend to +/-20^circ latitude, and if the equatorial region has a bolometric albedo <=0.2.

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