Computer Science
Scientific paper
Oct 1984
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1984nascp2330..481t&link_type=abstract
In JPL Uranus and Neptune p 481-493 (SEE N85-11927 02-91)
Computer Science
Annual Variations, Planetary Temperature, Polar Caps, Satellite Atmospheres, Seasons, Solstices, Triton, Condensation, Equinoxes, Gas Cooling, Phase Transformations, Planetary Surfaces, Solar Position
Scientific paper
Condensed phases of gases which make up the bulk of Triton's atmosphere are likely to exist on Triton's surface in the form of solid or liquid polar caps which extend as far as 55 deg from the poles. The mass of Triton's atmosphere is governed by the energy balance between the sunlight these caps absorb and the heat they radiate to space. The polar cap temperatures should be approximately equal and uniform over their surfaces. Because of the rapid precession of Triton's orbit about Neptune's pole, the insolation and, therefore, the temperature of the polar caps must vary in a complex fashion. The variations in the temperature of the polar caps will also cause seasonal variations in the mixing ratio of the volatile atmospheric gases owing to the different behaviors of their saturation vapor pressures with temperature. Triton's visible hemisphere is approaching a major southern summer with solstices. If the polar caps are not too thin a dramatic increase in the CH4 column abundance would occur.
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