Journal article
Uranus's northern polar cap in 2014
- Abstract:
- In October and November 2014, spectra covering the 1.436 – 1.863-μm wavelength range from the SINFONI Integral Field Unit Spectrometer on the Very Large Telescope showed the presence of a vast bright North polar cap on Uranus, extending northward from about 40ºN and at all longitudes observed. The feature, first detected in August 2014 from Keck telescope images, has a morphology very similar to the southern polar cap that was seen to fade before the 2007 equinox. At strong methane-absorbing wavelengths (for which only the high troposphere or stratosphere is sampled) the feature is not visible, indicating that it is not a stratospheric phenomenon. We show that the observed northern bright polar cap results mainly from a decrease in the tropospheric methane mixing ratio, rather than from a possible latitudinal variation of the optical properties or abundance of aerosol, implying an increase in polar downwelling near the tropopause level.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Accepted manuscript, pdf, 2.0MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1029/2018GL077654
Authors
- Publisher:
- Wiley
- Journal:
- Geophysical Research Letters More from this journal
- Publication date:
- 2018-06-04
- Acceptance date:
- 2018-05-25
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1944-8007
- ISSN:
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0094-8276
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- American Geophysical Union
- Copyright date:
- 2018
- Notes:
- © 2018. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. This is the accepted manuscript version of the article. The final version is available online from Wiley at: https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL077654
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