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Title:
Spatial And Seasonal Variation In Uranus' Atmosphere, 2006-2007
Authors:
Norwood, James; Chanover, N.
Affiliation:
AA(New Mexico State Univ.), AB(New Mexico State Univ.)
Publication:
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #40, #50.06; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 40, p.488
Publication Date:
09/2008
Origin:
AAS
Bibliographic Code:
2008DPS....40.5006N

Abstract

We observed Uranus near its 2006 and 2007 oppositions at NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility using its medium-resolution near-infrared spectrograph SpeX. We oriented the spectrographic slit perpendicular to Uranus' central meridian to minimize the range of latitudes sampled in each spectrum, and stepped the slit across the disk to obtain near-infrared (0.8-2.4 micron) spectra from all visible latitudes. To investigate spatial and temporal variations in Uranus' atmosphere, we formed ratios involving averages of spectra taken from the same location and year.

The averaged pairs in each ratio were chosen from locations that sample similar amounts of limb darkening/brightening: those from mirror-image locations on the Uranian disk, and those from the same disk location acquired in different years. When comparing Uranus' southern hemisphere to its northern hemisphere, we found that the relative brightness of Uranus' near-infrared methane windows (i.e., the signal from its cloud layers) was significantly greater at southern latitudes in 2006. Comparisons among spectra from similar latitudes in 2006 and 2007 reveal that in a one-year time span, the cloud layers have become relatively dimmer in the south and brighter in the north, evidence of seasonal change near Uranian equinox.

This project was funded by the NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship.

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