Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Aug 1999
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999raav.confe...2b&link_type=abstract
Research Amateur Astronomy in the VLT Era, Solar Eclipse August 1999 Symposium held at ESO, Garching, Germany, August 7-13, 1999
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Stellar occultations by planets and their satellites are an important and productive technique to gain information about the shape as well as about the structure of a possible atmosphere of the occulting body. Important events of the past have been the occultation of 28 SGR by Titan and of TR176, a 12m6 star, by Triton. In our report we present the technology of a mobile measuring station including the computerized IOTA Occultation Camera (IOC). The camera is a thermoelectrically cooled slow-scan computerized CCD camera with a full frame transfer CCD chip (TC 245 by Texas Instruments). Depending of the image size, up to 18 images per second can be recorded. As applications we present data of the recent TR176 event observed from 3 stations in Australia and from some Jupiter occultations as well. The TR176 data show a slightly higher temperature than expected from the Voyager fly-by. In combination with data from other stations (Brownsville, Texas) a precise astrometry could be obtained, which is the basis for precise altitude determinations. The occultation technique will be used in the next 30 years to monitor the freezing of Pluto's atmosphere due to the increasing distance from the sun and the resulting decreasing energy budget at Pluto. The advantage of the occultation method compared to other earth-bound infrared and spectrographic techniques will be discussed.
Anderson Philip
Ball Lewis
Beisker Wolfgang
Bode H.-J.
Buechner R.
No associations
LandOfFree
The Investigation of Planetary Atmospheres by Stellar Occultations 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 The Investigation of Planetary Atmospheres by Stellar Occultations, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Investigation of Planetary Atmospheres by Stellar Occultations will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1017391