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  1. OA@INAF
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  3. 1 CONTRIBUTI IN RIVISTE (Journal articles)
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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/23213
Title: Faint Luminescent Ring over Saturn’s Polar Hexagon
Authors: ADRIANI, Alberto 
Moriconi, Maria Luisa
D'AVERSA, EMILIANO 
Oliva, Fabrizio 
FILACCHIONE, GIANRICO 
Issue Date: 2015
Journal: THE ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS 
Number: 808
Issue: 1
First Page: L16
Abstract: Springtime insolation is presently advancing across Saturn's north polar region. Early solar radiation scattered through the gaseous giant's atmosphere gives a unique opportunity to sound the atmospheric structure at its upper troposphere/lower stratosphere at high latitudes. Here, we report the detection of a tenuous bright structure in Saturn's northern polar cap corresponding to the hexagon equatorward boundary, observed by Cassini Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer on 2013 June. The structure is spectrally characterized by an anomalously enhanced intensity in the 3610-3730 nm wavelength range and near 2500 nm, pertaining to relatively low opacity windows between strong methane absorption bands. Our first results suggest that a strong forward scattering by tropospheric clouds, higher in respect to the surrounding cloud deck, can be responsible for the enhanced intensity of the feature. This can be consistent with the atmospheric dynamics associated with the jet stream embedded in the polar hexagon. Further investigations at higher spectral resolution are needed to better assess the vertical distribution and microphysics of the clouds in this interesting region.
Acknowledgments: This work has been developed thanks to the financial support of the Italian Space Agency.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/23213
URL: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2041-8205/808/1/L16/
ISSN: 2041-8205
DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/808/1/L16
Bibcode ADS: 2015ApJ...808L..16A
Fulltext: open
Appears in Collections:1.01 Articoli in rivista

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