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Methane on Triton - Physical state and distributionInfrared spectrophotometric measurements of Neptune's satellite Triton obtained between 1980 and 1982 in the spectral range 0.8-2.5 microns show six individual absorption bands attributable to methane. An additional band in the Triton data is not methane. The Triton spectral data conform more closely to a laboratory spectrum of frozen methane than to a synthetic spectrum of methane gas computed for conditions of low temperature expected at the satellite. Additionally, the strength of the bands vary with Triton's orbital position. The data thus suggest that methane in the ice phase is mostly responsible for the bands in Triton's spectrum, and that the ice is distributed nonuniformly around the satellite's surface.
Document ID
19840056328
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Cruikshank, D. P.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Apt, J.
(NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
May 1, 1984
Publication Information
Publication: Icarus
Volume: 58
ISSN: 0019-1035
Subject Category
Astronomy
Accession Number
84A39115
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS7-100
CONTRACT_GRANT: NGL-12-001-057
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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