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dc.contributor.author
Gil-hutton, Ricardo Alfredo
dc.date.available
2016-11-02T17:51:13Z
dc.date.issued
2015-09
dc.identifier.citation
Gil-hutton, Ricardo Alfredo; Pluto's Atmosphere from Stellar Occultations in 2012 and 2013; Iop Publishing; Astrophysical Journal; 811; 1; 9-2015; 1-20
dc.identifier.issn
0004-637X
dc.identifier.uri
http://hdl.handle.net/11336/7917
dc.description.abstract
We analyze two multi-chord stellar occultations by Pluto that were observed on 2012 July 18th and 2013 May 4th, and respectively monitored from five and six sites. They provide a total of fifteen light curves, 12 of which were used for a simultaneous fit that uses a unique temperature profile, assuming a clear (no haze) and pure N2 atmosphere, but allowing for a possible pressure variation between the two dates. We find a solution that satisfactorily fits (i.e., within the noise level) all of the 12 light curves, providing atmospheric constraints between ~1190 km (pressure ~11 μbar) and ~1450 km (pressure ~0.1 μbar) from Pluto's center. Our main results are: (1) the best-fitting temperature profile shows a stratosphere with a strong positive gradient between 1190 km (at 36 K, 11 μbar) and r = 1215 km (6.0 μbar), where a temperature maximum of 110 K is reached; above it is a mesosphere with a negative thermal gradient of −0.2 K km−1 up to ~1390 km (0.25 μbar), where the mesosphere connects itself to a more isothermal upper branch around 81 K; (2) the pressure shows a small (6%) but significant increase (6σ level) between the two dates; (3) without a troposphere, Pluto's radius is found to be ${R}_{{\rm{P}}}=1190\;\pm $ 5 km. Allowing for a troposphere, RP is constrained to lie between 1168 and 1195 km; and (4) the currently measured CO abundance is too small to explain the mesospheric negative thermal gradient. Cooling by HCN is possible, but only if this species is largely saturated. Alternative explanations like zonal winds or vertical compositional variations of the atmosphere are unable to explain the observed mesospheric negative thermal gradient.
dc.format
application/pdf
dc.language.iso
eng
dc.publisher
Iop Publishing
dc.rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.rights.uri
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
dc.subject
Methods: Data Analysis
dc.subject
Methods: Observational
dc.subject
Planets And Satellites: Atmospheres
dc.subject
Planets And Satellites: Physical Evolution
dc.subject.classification
Astronomía
dc.subject.classification
Ciencias Físicas
dc.subject.classification
CIENCIAS NATURALES Y EXACTAS
dc.title
Pluto's Atmosphere from Stellar Occultations in 2012 and 2013
dc.type
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
dc.type
info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo
dc.type
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
dc.date.updated
2016-03-21T18:32:04Z
dc.journal.volume
811
dc.journal.number
1
dc.journal.pagination
1-20
dc.journal.pais
Reino Unido
dc.journal.ciudad
Londres
dc.description.fil
Fil: Gil-hutton, Ricardo Alfredo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Juan. Complejo Astronómico "El Leoncito"; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Juan; Argentina
dc.journal.title
Astrophysical Journal
dc.relation.alternativeid
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/811/1/53/meta;jsessionid=82B22A24CD0FB4D0C154B5B74041F97C.c1.iopscience.cld.iop.org#
dc.relation.alternativeid
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/811/1/53
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