Physics – Optics
Scientific paper
Dec 2005
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005icar..179..459s&link_type=abstract
Icarus, Volume 179, Issue 2, p. 459-484.
Physics
Optics
14
Scientific paper
Near-infrared adaptive optics imaging of Uranus by the Keck 2 telescope during 2003 and 2004 has revealed numerous discrete cloud features, 70 of which were used to extend the zonal wind profile of Uranus up to 60° N. We confirmed the presence of a north south asymmetry in the circulation [Karkoschka, E., 1998. Science 280, 570 572], and improved its characterization. We found no clear indication of long term change in wind speed between 1986 and 2004, although results of Hammel et al. [Hammel, H.B., Rages, K., Lockwood, G.W., Karkoschka, E., de Pater, I., 2001. Icarus 153, 229 235] based on 2001 HST and Keck observations average ˜10 m/s less westward than earlier and later results, and 2003 observations by Hammel et al. [Hammel, H.B., de Pater, I., Gibbard, S., Lockwood, G.W., Rages, K., 2005. Icarus 175, 534 545] show increased wind speeds near 45° N, which we do not see in our 2003 2004 observations. We observed a wide range of lifetimes for discrete cloud features: some features evolve within ˜1 h, many have persisted at least one month, and one feature near 34° S (termed S34) seems to have persisted for nearly two decades, a conclusion derived with the help of Voyager 2 and HST observations. S34 oscillates in latitude between 32° S and 36.5° S, with a period of ˜1000 days, which may be a result of a non-barotropic Rossby wave. It also varied its longitudinal drift rate between -20°/day and -31°/day in approximate accord with the latitudinal gradient in the zonal wind profile, exhibiting behavior similar to that of the DS2 feature observed on Neptune [Sromovsky, L.A., Limaye, S.S., Fry, P.M., 1993. Icarus 105, 110 141]. S34 also exhibits a superimposed rapid oscillation with an amplitude of 0.57° in latitude and period of 0.7 days, which is approximately consistent with an inertial oscillation.
Fry Patrick M.
Sromovsky Lawrence A.
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