Seeing double at Neptune’s south pole |
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| Authors: | SH Luszcz-Cook I de Pater HB Hammel |
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| Institution: | a Astronomy Department, University of California, 601 Campbell Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, USA
b Space Science Institute, 4750 Walnut Street, Boulder, CO 80301-2532, USA |
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| Abstract: | Keck near-infrared images of Neptune from UT 26 July 2007 show that the cloud feature typically observed within a few degrees of Neptune’s south pole had split into a pair of bright spots. A careful determination of disk center places the cloud centers at −89.07 ± 0.06° and −87.84 ± 0.06° planetocentric latitude. If modeled as optically thick, perfectly reflecting layers, we find the pair of features to be constrained to the troposphere, at pressures greater than 0.4 bar. By UT 28 July 2007, images with comparable resolution reveal only a single feature near the south pole. The changing morphology of these circumpolar clouds suggests they may form in a region of strong convection surrounding a neptunian south polar vortex. |
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| Keywords: | Neptune Atmosphere Infrared observations Adaptive optics |
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