A search for ethane on Pluto and Triton - Université Paris Cité Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Icarus Année : 2010

A search for ethane on Pluto and Triton

Résumé

We present here a search for solid ethane, C 2H 6, on the surfaces of Pluto and Triton, based on near-infrared spectral observations in the H and K bands (1.4-2.45 mum) using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT). We model each surface using a radiative transfer model based on Hapke theory (Hapke, B. [1993]. Theory of Reflectance and Emittance Spectroscopy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK) with three basic models: without ethane, with pure ethane, and with ethane diluted in nitrogen. On Pluto we detect weak features near 2.27, 2.405, 2.457, and 2.461 mum that match the strongest features of pure ethane. An additional feature seen at 2.317 mum is shifted to longer wavelengths than ethane by at least 0.002 mum. The strength of the features seen in the models suggests that pure ethane is limited to no more than a few percent of the surface of Pluto. On Triton, features in the H band could potentially be explained by ethane diluted in N, however, the lack of corresponding features in the K band makes this unlikely (also noted by Quirico et al. (Quirico, E., Doute, S., Schmitt, B., de Bergh, C., Cruikshank, D.P., Owen, T.C., Geballe, T.R., Roush, T.L. [1999]. Icarus 139, 159-178)). While Cruikshank et al. (Cruikshank, D.P., Mason, R.E., Dalle Ore, C.M., Bernstein, M.P., Quirico, E., Mastrapa, R.M., Emery, J.P., Owen, T.C. [2006]. Bull. Am. Astron. Soc. 38, 518) find that the 2.406-mum feature on Triton could not be completely due to 13CO, our models show that it could not be accounted for entirely by ethane either. The multiple origin of this feature complicates constraints on the contribution of ethane for both bodies.

Dates et versions

hal-03785703 , version 1 (23-09-2022)

Identifiants

Citer

Francesca E. Demeo, Christophe Dumas, Catherine de Bergh, Silvia Protopapa, Dale P. Cruikshank, et al.. A search for ethane on Pluto and Triton. Icarus, 2010, 208, pp.412-424. ⟨10.1016/j.icarus.2010.01.014⟩. ⟨hal-03785703⟩
5 Consultations
0 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More