Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007agufm.p22c..04s&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, abstract #P22C-04
Other
5410 Composition (1060, 3672), 5422 Ices, 5470 Surface Materials And Properties, 6280 Saturnian Satellites
Scientific paper
During the flyby of Iapetus on September 10th 2007, The Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) on the Cassini Saturn orbiter spacecraft will provide high-resolution maps of thermal emission from the dark leading hemisphere at night, and from the bright terrain and the bright/dark transitional region on the trailing hemisphere during the day. These data, combined with daytime observations of the dark hemisphere from January 2005, will provide a much improved picture of diurnal temperature variations on Enceladus, allowing comparison of the thermal inertias of the dark and bright terrains. The temperature data will also yield improved constraints on the stability of H2O ice and other ices on the different terrains on Iapetus, perhaps shedding light on the peculiar distribution of bright and dark terrain on this satellite. The bright terrain on Iapetus is concentrated on the trailing hemisphere but extends over the poles onto the leading hemisphere, while the dark terrain, centered on the leading hemisphere, extends around the equator onto the trailing side. Our 2005 model (Spencer et al. 2005, Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting, Cambridge, abstract #39.08) explains the shape of this boundary in terms of modification of a simple exogenic leading/trailing asymmetry by ice migration. Ice is proposed to sublime from the warm, dark leading hemisphere and collect in the polar regions, which become brighter, while bright low-latitude regions on the trailing hemisphere may experience sufficient ice sublimation to darken by formation of a surface lag deposit. CIRS observations of the daytime temperatures of the bright terrain at low latitudes will determine whether this terrain is indeed warm enough for significant ice sublimation, thus providing a test of the sublimation model.
Cassini Team
Pearl John C.
Segura M.
Spencer John Robert
No associations
LandOfFree
Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) Observations of Iapetus' Thermal Emission, and Implications for the Hemispheric Asymmetry does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) Observations of Iapetus' Thermal Emission, and Implications for the Hemispheric Asymmetry, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) Observations of Iapetus' Thermal Emission, and Implications for the Hemispheric Asymmetry will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1405611