Cassini UVIS Results from Occultations of Stars by Saturn's Icy Moons

Details Cassini UVIS Results from Occultations of Stars by Saturn's Icy Moons Cassini UVIS Results from Occultations of Stars by Saturn's Icy Moons

Sep 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009dps....41.3805h&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #41, #38.05

Mathematics

Probability

Scientific paper

The Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) has observed occultations of stars by Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus. Stellar occultations are a sensitive probe for gases and have been extremely valuable for understanding the composition (predominantly water), flux and structure of Enceladus’ plume [1, 2]. More recently we have been looking for trace gases in the plume such as ethylene and methanol. A much-anticipated solar occultation will be observed next year to quantify the existence and amount of N2.
At Tethys and Iapetus upper limits are set for the column densities of local volatiles (water, O2, CO2, and CO), all of which have absorption features at far ultraviolet wavelengths. The Rhea occultation data, in addition to setting upper limits on surrounding gases, have been analyzed to look for the presence of the debris disk reported by Cassini's MIMI instrument [3]. No material was detected with 2 sigma certainty, however the low optical depth of the material suggests that the probability of its detection by UVIS is < 1 in 1000.
An occultation of epsilon Canis Majoris by Dione will take place in September 2009. Results of that occultation will be presented.
This work was partially supported by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
[1] Hansen, C. J. et al., Science 311:1422 (2006). [2] Hansen, C. J. et al., Nature 456 (2008). [3] Jones, G. H. et al., Science 319:1380 (2008).

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Cassini UVIS Results from Occultations of Stars by Saturn's Icy Moons 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 UVIS Results from Occultations of Stars by Saturn's Icy Moons, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Cassini UVIS Results from Occultations of Stars by Saturn's Icy Moons will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1333216