Planetary atmosphere observation analysis

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Mid-Infrared Observations of Neptune and Uranus: Recent Discoveries and Future Opportunities

Copernicus Publications (2022)

Authors:

Michael T Roman, Leigh N Fletcher, Glenn S Orton, Thomas K Greathouse, Julianne Moses, Naomi Rowe-Gurney, Patrick GJ Irwin, Yasumasa Kasaba, Takuya Fujiyoshi, Heidi B Hammel, Imke de Pater, James Sinclair, Arrate Antuñano
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Temporal variations in spectral reflectivity and vertical cloud structure of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and its surroundings

Copernicus Publications (2022)

Authors:

Asier Anguiano-Arteaga, Santiago Pérez-Hoyos, Agustín Sánchez-Lavega, Patrick Irwin
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Exploring the Clouds of Venus: Science Driven Aerobot Missions to our Sister Planet

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 00 (2022) 1-20

Authors:

James Cutts, Kevin Baines, Leonard Dorsky, William Frazier, Jacob Izraelevitz, Siddharth Krishnamoorthy, Michael Pauken, Mark S Wallace, Paul Byrne, Sara Seager, Colin Wilson, Joseph O'Rourke
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NASA's Lunar Trailblazer Mission: A Pioneering Small Satellite for Lunar Water and Lunar Geology

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 00 (2022) 1-14

Authors:

Bethany L Ehlmann, Rachel L Klima, Calina C Seybold, Andrew T Klesh, Mitchell H Au, Holly A Bender, C Lee Bennett, Diana L Blaney, Neil Bowles, Simon Calcutt, Djuna Copley-Woods, James L Dickson, Karim Djotni, Kerri Donaldson Hanna, Christopher S Edwards, Rory Evans, Emily Felder, Robert Fogg, Robert O Green, Gary Hawkins, Martha House, Samuel Islas, Gregory Lantoine, Sue Linch, Thomas McCaa, Ian McKinley, Trevor F Merkley, Jasper K Miura, Carle M Pieters, Wil Santiago, Elena Scire, Richard Sherwood, Katherine Shirley, Chris Smith, Michael Sondheim, Peter Sullivan, Jon Temples, David R Thompson, Kristian I Waldorff, Walton R Williamson, Tristam J Warren, Joshua L Wood, Shannon Zareh
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New Constraints on Titan’s Stratospheric n-Butane Abundance

The Planetary Science Journal American Astronomical Society 3:3 (2022) 59-59

Authors:

Brendan L Steffens, Conor A Nixon, Keeyoon Sung, Patrick GJ Irwin, Nicholas A Lombardo, Eric Pereira

Abstract:

Abstract Curiously, n-butane has yet to be detected at Titan, though it is predicted to be present in a wide range of abundances that span over 2.5 orders of magnitude. We have searched infrared spectroscopic observations of Titan for signals from n-butane (n-C4H10) in Titan’s stratosphere. Three sets of Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer Focal Plane 4 (1050–1500 cm−1) observations were selected for modeling, having been collected from different flybys and pointing latitudes. We modeled the observations with the Nonlinear Optimal Estimator for MultivariatE Spectral AnalySIS radiative transfer tool. Temperature profiles were retrieved for each of the data sets by modeling the ν 4 emission from methane near 1305 cm−1. Then, incorporating the temperature profiles, we retrieved abundances of all of Titan’s known trace gases that are active in this spectral region, reliably reproducing the observations. We then systematically tested a set of models with varying abundances of n-butane, investigating how the addition of this gas affected the fits. We did this for several different photochemically predicted abundance profiles from the literature, as well as for a constant-with-altitude profile. Ultimately, though we did not produce any firm detection of n-butane, we derived new upper limits on its abundance specific to the use of each profile and to multiple different ranges of stratospheric altitudes. These results will tightly constrain the C4 chemistry of future photochemical modeling of Titan’s atmosphere and also motivate the continued search for n-butane and its isomer, isobutane.
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