|
| | | | |
| | | |
| Stat |
Members: 3645
Articles: 2'504'928
Articles rated: 2609
26 April 2024 |
|
| | | | |
|
Article overview
| |
|
|
Neptune's Dynamic Atmosphere from Kepler K2 Observations: Implications for Brown Dwarf Light Curve Analyses | | Amy A. Simon
; Jason F. Rowe
; Patrick Gaulme
; Heidi B. Hammel
; Sarah L. Casewell
; Jonathan J. Fortney
; John E. Gizis
; Jack J. Lissauer
; Raul Morales-Juberias
; Glenn S. Orton
; Michael H. Wong
; Mark S. Marley
; | | Date: |
22 Dec 2015 | | Abstract: | Observations of Neptune with the Kepler Space Telescope yield a 49-day light
curve with 98% coverage at a 1-minute cadence. A significant signature in the
light curve comes from discrete cloud features. We compare results extracted
from the light curve data with contemporaneous disk-resolved imaging of Neptune
from the Keck 10-meter telescope at 1.65 microns and Hubble Space Telescope
visible imaging acquired 9 months later. This direct comparison validates the
feature latitudes assigned to the K2 light curve periods based on Neptune’s
zonal wind profile, and confirms observed cloud feature variability. Although
Neptune’s clouds vary in location and intensity on short and long time scales,
a single large discrete storm seen in Keck imaging dominates the K2 and Hubble
light curves; smaller or fainter clouds likely contribute to short-term
brightness variability. The K2 Neptune light curve, in conjunction with our
imaging data, provides context for the interpretation of current and future
brown dwarf and extrasolar planet variability measurements. In particular we
suggest that the balance between large, relatively stable, atmospheric features
and smaller, more transient, clouds controls the character of substellar
atmospheric variability. Atmospheres dominated by a few large spots may show
inherently greater light curve stability than those which exhibit a greater
number of smaller features. | | Source: | arXiv, 1512.7090 | | Services: | Forum | Review | PDF | Favorites | |
|
|
No review found.
Did you like this article?
Note: answers to reviews or questions about the article must be posted in the forum section.
Authors are not allowed to review their own article. They can use the forum section.
browser Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)
|
| |
|
|
|
|
News, job offers and information for researchers and scientists:
| |
REGISTER