The 10 February 1977 lunar occultation of Uranus. Radius, limb darkening, and polar brightening at 6900 Å
Abstract
A photoelectric observation in the near infrared of the 10 February 1977 lunar occultation of Uranus is described and analyzed in terms of planetary radius, limb darkening, and polar brightening. Contact timings, corrected for lunar limb effects, indicate an equatorial radius of 25,700 ± 500km for the visible disk. A modified Minnaert function is used to model limb darkening and polar brightening. Least-squares fits to the observed light curve indicate that Uranus is slightly limb darkened in the passband of the observation (450 ÅA FWHM centered near 6900 ÅA) and that polar brightening is present.
- Publication:
-
Icarus
- Pub Date:
- October 1979
- DOI:
- 10.1016/0019-1035(79)90053-8
- Bibcode:
- 1979Icar...40...67R
- Keywords:
-
- Infrared Astronomy;
- Limb Darkening;
- Lunar Occultation;
- Uranus (Planet);
- Electrophotometry;
- Infrared Radiation;
- Light Curve;
- Lunar Limb