Coordinated HST and IRTF Observations of Neptune's Cloud Structure and Circulation in 1996

Details Coordinated HST and IRTF Observations of Neptune's Cloud Structure and Circulation in 1996 Coordinated HST and IRTF Observations of Neptune's Cloud Structure and Circulation in 1996

Jun 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996dps....28.0503s&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #28, #05.03; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 28, p.1077

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

2

Scientific paper

On 13 August 1996 we used the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) to image one rotation of Neptune with excellent longitudinal sampling to facilitate reacquisition of the new Great Dark Spot reported by Hammel et al. (Science, v. 268, p. 1740-2, 1995), and to provide time-lapse images useful for tracking cloud motions without the ambiguity produced by evolutionary changes. The vertical structure was probed using WFPC2 filters sampling UV to near IR wavelengths, including 619 nm and 890 nm methane bands. Augmented spectral and temporal coverage was obtained from coordinated groundbased observations at the NASA/IRTF during 13 and 14 August, when we used NSFCAM to image Neptune with J(1.26 microns), H(1.62 microns), H' (1.73 microns), K(2.21 microns) broadband filters, and at discrete wavelengths within the 2.1 micron hydrogen CIA band). Excellent seeing was obtained at the IRTF during several hours of overlap with the HST observations. Preliminary results show discrete bright cloud features at approximate planetographic latitudes of 27 N, 30 S, and 47 S, where both Voyager and previous HST observations have shown activity, although at markedly differing levels. For these features, contrast is greatest in the near IR and least in the UV. Zonally symmetric bands are also seen, including the narrow equatorial band (bright at 619 nm, dark at 673 nm) and the 55- 68 degree dark band at 467 nm, both familiar features in previous observations. So far we have seen no evidence of the sporadic activity often seen in the south polar region (68-72 S), and no obvious indication of a new Great Dark Spot or bright companion cloud. Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, operated by AURA under NASA contract NAS5-26555.

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