Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published January 3, 2009 | Submitted + Published
Journal Article Open

Discovery of lake-effect clouds on Titan

Abstract

Images from instruments on Cassini as well as from telescopes on the ground reveal the presence of sporadic small-scale cloud activity in the cold late-winter north polar region of Saturn's large moon Titan. These clouds lie underneath the previously discovered uniform polar cloud attributed to a quiescent ethane cloud at similar to 40 km and appear confined to the same latitudes as those of the largest known hydrocarbon lakes at the north pole of Titan. The physical properties of these clouds suggest that they are due to methane convection and condensation. Such convection could be caused by a process in some ways analogous to terrestrial lake-effect clouds. The lakes on Titan could be a key connection between the surface and the meteorological cycle.

Additional Information

© 2009 by the American Geophysical Union. Received 9 September 2008; revised 13 November 2008; accepted 25 November 2008; published 3 January 2009. We would like to thank two anonymous referees for insightful comments that improved this paper. This research is supported by a NSF Planetary Astronomy grant to MEB and a NASA Planetary Astronomy grant to HGR.

Attached Files

Published - BROgrl09.pdf

Submitted - 0809.1841.pdf

Files

BROgrl09.pdf
Files (1.3 MB)
Name Size Download all
md5:cfc607c043294debd0fb88d452688876
535.4 kB Preview Download
md5:cb016db5f1dc7c77152dc06eec18d0b0
779.5 kB Preview Download

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 17, 2023