Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 1994
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994phdt........12y&link_type=abstract
Thesis (PH.D.)--MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, 1994.Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-02, Secti
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
4
Scientific paper
We present three observational programs to investigate Pluto's atmospheric structure and the bulk properties of Pluto and Charon: (i) astrometry of the motions of Pluto and Charon around the system barycenter to determine their individual masses; (ii) analysis of a stellar occultation to find temperatures and pressures in Pluto's middle atmosphere; and (iii) spectroscopy of gaseous CH_4 to find its abundance in Pluto's atmosphere. The astrometric observations, taken from 1992 Feb. 26 to 1992 Mar. 2 at the University of Hawaii 2.2-m telescope on Mauna Kea, indicate Pluto and Charon masses of (12.38 +/- 0.12) times 10^ {24} g and (1.94 +/- 0.04) times 10^{24 } g respectively. We develop an analytic light curve model for a stellar-occultation by a small, spherically symmetric planetary atmosphere that includes thermal gradients and an extinction layer. We fit this model to the Kuiper Airborne Observatory data from the 1988 stellar occultation by Pluto. The light curve indicates a transition in the structure of Pluto's atmosphere at 1215 +/- 11 km from Pluto's center. For a predominately N_2 atmosphere, the temperature above this transition radius is 99.2 +/- 0.07 K, with a gradient of -0.049 +/- 0.066 K km^{-1} and a pressure at the transition radius of 2.268 +/- 0.217 mubar. Below this transition radius, the atmosphere has either a haze (optical depth >=q0.145) or a steep thermal gradient (>=q20 K km ^{-1}). High-resolution spectra (R = 13,300) of Pluto from 1661.8 to 1667.0 nm were obtained at NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility on Mauna Kea in May 1992. The spectral range included the R(0) and Q lines of the 2nu_3 band of CH _4, and indicate a CH_4 column height of 1.20_sp{-0.87} {+3.15} cm-A. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617 -253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.).
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