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Science 19 October 1990:
Vol. 250. no. 4979, pp. 419 - 421
DOI: 10.1126/science.250.4979.419
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Articles

Voyager Disk-Integrated Photometry of Triton

J. Hillier 1, P. Helfenstein 1, A. Verbiscer 1, J. Veverka 1, R. H. Brown 2, J. Goguen 2, and T. V. Johnson 2

1 Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
2 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109

Hapke's photometric model has been combined with a plane-parallel thin atmospheric haze model to describe Voyager whole-disk observations of Triton, in the violet (0.41 µm), blue (0.48 µm), and green (0.56 µm) wavelength bands, in order to obtain estimates of Triton's geometric albedo, phase integral, and Bond albedo. Phase angle coverage in these filters ranging from sim12° to 159° was obtained by combining narrow- and wide-angle camera images. An upturn in the data at the highest phase angles observed can be explained by including scattering in a thin atmospheric haze layer with optical depths systematically decreasing with wavelength from sim0.06 in the violet to 0.03 for the green filter data. The geometric albedo, phase integral, and spherical albedo of Triton in each filter corresponding to our best fit Hapke parameters yield an estimated Bond albedo of 0.82 ± 0.05. If the 14-µbar N2 atmosphere detected by Voyager is in vapor equilibrium with the surface (therefore implying a surface temperature of 37.5 K), our Bond albedo implies a surface emissivity of 0.59 ± 0.16.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
New Horizons Mapping of Europa and Ganymede.
W. M. Grundy, B. J. Buratti, A. F. Cheng, J. P. Emery, A. Lunsford, W. B. McKinnon, J. M. Moore, S. F. Newman, C. B. Olkin, D. C. Reuter, et al. (2007)
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The Effect of Surface Roughness on Triton's Volatile Distribution.
R. V. Yelle and R. V. YELLE (1992)
Science 255, 1553-1555
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Triton's Global Heat Budget.
R. H. Brown, R. H. BROWN, T. V. JOHNSON, J. D. GOGUEN, G. SCHUBERT, and M. N. ROSS (1991)
Science 251, 1465-1467
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Energy Sources for Triton's Geyser-Like Plumes.
R. H. Brown, R. H. Brown, R. L. Kirk, T. V. Johnson, and L. A. Soderblom (1990)
Science 250, 431-435
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Scatterers in Triton's Atmosphere: Implications for the Seasonal Volatile Cycle.
J. B. Pollack, J. B. Pollack, J. M. Schwartz, and K. Rages (1990)
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