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Science 29 January 1982:
Vol. 215. no. 4532, pp. 544 - 548
DOI: 10.1126/science.215.4532.544
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Articles

Infrared Observations of the Saturnian System from Voyager 2

R. HANEL 1, B. CONRATH 1, F. M. FLASAR 1, V. KUNDE 1, W. MAGUIRE 1, J. PEARL 1, J. PIRRAGLIA 1, R. SAMUELSON 1, D. CRUIKSHANK 2, D. GAUTIER 3, P. GIERASCH 4, L. HORN 5, and C. PONNAMPERUMA 6

1 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771
2 University of Hawaii, Honolulu 96822
3 Paris Observatory, Meudon, France
4 Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853
5 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California 91109
6 University of Maryland, College Park 20742

During the passage of Voyager 2 through the Saturn system, infrared spectral and radiometric data were obtained for Saturn, Titan, Enceladus, Tethys, Iapetus, and the rings. Combined Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 observations of temperatures in the upper troposphere of Saturn indicate a seasonal asymmetry between the northern and southern hemispheres, with superposed small-scale meridional gradients. Comparison of high spatial resolution data from the two hemispheres poleward of 60° latitude suggests an approximate symmetry in the small-scale structure, consistent with the extension of a symmetric system of zonal jets into the polar regions. Longitudinal variations of 1 to 2 K are observed. Disk- averaged infrared spectra of Titan show little change over the 9-month interval between Voyager encounters. By combining Voyager 2 temperature measurements with ground-based geometric albedo determinations, phase integrals of 0.91 ± 0.13 and 0.89 ± 0.09 were derived for Tethys and Enceladus, respectively. The subsolar point temperature of dark material on Iapetus must exceed 110 K. Temperatures (and infrared optical depths) for the A and C rings and for the Cassini division are 69 ± 1 K (0.40 ± 0.05), 85 ± 1 K (0.10 ± 0.03), and 85 ± 2 K (0.07 ± 0.04), respectively.

Submitted on November 10, 1981


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