Eclipse Measurements of Saturn's Moons from Cassini CIRS

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

Because of Saturn's high obliquity, eclipses of its satellites by the planet are clustered around the equinoxes. This "eclipse season” has now been underway for some time. The Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) experiment has made several eclipse observations of the five inner large icy satellites. Measuring the cooling and heating of these objects in and after eclipse is of interest because surface temperatures respond to material to a shallower depth in the regolith than do surface temperatures associated with the satellites’ rotational periods. Thus, deriving thermal inertias from the two types of measurements can provide information on the vertical structure (basically, the thermal conductivity) of the regolith on mm to cm scales, respectively. We analyze here the initial cooling phase of an eclipse of Dione that occurred on 28 March, 2008. We also describe additional unique eclipse opportunities that will occur in the ongoing Cassini Equinox Mission, which ends July 7, 2010.

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