Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Sep 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008dps....40.5007s&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #40, #50.07; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 40, p.488
Mathematics
Logic
1
Scientific paper
Near-equinox observations of Uranus by the Keck II telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope on 15 days from 7 June 2007 through 9 September 2007 were used to identify and track cloud features, determine atmospheric motions, characterize cloud morphology and dynamics, and define changes in band structure. Atmospheric motions were obtained by tracking clouds up to 73 N, but we did not find any discrete features between 42 S and 90 S, a lack that has existed since Voyager found a dark UV feature in 1986. For 28 cloud features we obtained extremely high wind speed accuracy through extended tracking times, confirming a small N-S asymmetry in the wind profile. The close agreement with 1986 Voyager observations suggests that the asymmetry may be permanent, although some 2003 observations (Hammel et al., Icarus 175, 534-535, 2005) conflict with this suggestion. In 2007 we found two prominent groups of discrete cloud features with very long lifetimes. The one near 30 S departed from its previous oscillatory motion and in 2005 started a significant northward drift, accompanied by substantial morphological changes. The complex of features near 30 N remained at a nearly fixed latitude, while exhibiting some characteristics of a dark spot accompanied by bright companion features. As noted by Rages et al. (BAAS 39, 425, 2007), a bright band has begun to develop at 45-48 N, while the bright band at 45-48 S has begun to decline, both events in agreement with the idea that the asymmetric band structure of Uranus is a long-delayed (by a large fraction of a season) response to solar forcing. We acknowledge support from the Space Telescope Science Institute, the W. M. Keck Observatory and Foundation, and NASA Planetary Atmospheres and Planetary Astronomy Programs.
Ahue W. M.
de Pater Imke
Fry Patrick M.
Hammel Heidi Beth
Rages Kathy Ann
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