New Horizons at Pluto: Critical Context for Encounter Occultation Observations
Abstract
New Horizons will fly by Pluto in July 2015 and provide the best ever look at Pluto's atmosphere and surface. However, its primary atmospheric observations will sample Pluto's atmosphere in only two longitude regions, one centered on Pluto's dawn terminator and one on the dusk terminator. Pluto's heterogeneous surface may drive significant longitudinal variation in atmospheric CH4 abundance. Thus differences due to longitude will not be distinguished from time-of-day differences. The proposed observations will break this degeneracy and map Pluto's atmospheric CH4 as a function of longitude, as well as test for short term variability in Pluto's atmosphere.
- Publication:
-
Keck Observatory Archive NIRSPEC
- Pub Date:
- August 2015
- Bibcode:
- 2015koa..prop..422R