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[en] Cassini's final orbits in 2016 and 2017 provided unprecedented spatial resolution of Saturn's polar regions from near-polar spacecraft viewing geometries. Long-wavelength channels of Cassini's Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph instrument detected Saturn's UV-dark north polar hexagon near 180 nm at planetocentric latitudes near 75°N. The dark polar hexagon is surrounded by a larger, less UV-dark collar poleward of planetocentric latitude 65°N associated with the dark north polar region seen in ground-based images. The hexagon is closely surrounded by the main arc of Saturn's UV aurora. The UV-dark material was locally darkest on one occasion (23 January 2017) at the boundary of the hexagon; in most Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph images the dark material more uniformly fills the hexagon. The observed UV-dark stratospheric material may be a hydrocarbon haze produced by auroral ion-neutral chemistry at submicrobar pressure levels. Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph polar observations are sensitive to UV-absorbing haze particles at pressures lower than about 10-20 mbar.
Research Center/Unit :
STAR - Space sciences, Technologies and Astrophysics Research - ULiège
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Pryor, W. R.; Department of Science, Central Arizona College, Coolidge, AZ USA
Esposito, L. W.; Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO USA
Jouchoux, A.; Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO USA
West, R. A.; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA USA
Grodent, Denis ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Labo de physique atmosphérique et planétaire (LPAP)
Gérard, Jean-Claude ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO)
Radioti, Aikaterini ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Labo de physique atmosphérique et planétaire (LPAP)
Lamy, L.; LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, PSL, CNRS, UPMC, Université Paris Diderot, Meudon, France
Koskinen, T.; Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ USA)
Language :
English
Title :
Cassini UVIS Detection of Saturn's North Polar Hexagon in the Grand Finale Orbits
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