Pluto's Atmosphere from the 29 June 2015 Occultation: SOFIA Airborne Results
Abstract
After an extensive prediction effort, the 29 June 2015 occultation by Pluto was observed from both airborne (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy - SOFIA) and numerous ground-based telescopes (Bosh et al. 2015, in prep.). Real-time prediction updates allowed placement of the SOFIA telescope with its four detectors deep within the central-flash region of the atmospheric occultation. Fortuitously, the Mount John University Observatory (Lake Tekapo, New Zealand) was also within the central-flash region. This happenstance allowed for direct mutual calibration of the SOFIA data with the ground-based data in multiple central-flash detections in several colors from each facility resulting in a full maping of the central-flash evolute.Combining all of the data allows for a precise measurement of the SOFIA flight path through the shadow, and direct measurement of Pluto's atmospheric shadow size.We will examine and discuss the central-flash signatures from the deepest pass yet recorded through a Pluto central flash. The relative orientations and asymmetries in the various central flash data allow us to use them to tightly constrain the lower atmospheric ellipticity and orientation of likely winds with respect to Pluto's figure. The ratio of the two separate central flashes (airborne and ground-based) is also a strong constraint on the geometric solution for the full occultation data set, and the absolute height of the central flashes with respect to those expected for a clear isothermal atmosphere places constraints on haze densities and thermal gradients in Pluto's lower atmosphere. We can also compare the central-flash signatures in several colors to establish bounds on haze-particle sizes in the lower atmosphere.SOFIA is jointly operated by the Universities Space Research Association, Inc. (USRA), under NASA contract NAS2-97001, and the Deutsches SOFIA Institut (DSI) under DLR contract 50 OK 0901 to the University of Stuttgart. Support for this work was provided, in part, by NASA grants SSO NNX15AJ82G (Lowell Observatory), PA NNX10AB27G (MIT), and PA NNX12AJ29G (Williams College), as well as the National Research Foundation of South Africa, and the NASA SOFIA Cycle 3 grant NAS2-97001 issued by USRA.
- Publication:
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American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #227
- Pub Date:
- January 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016AAS...22732006P