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Pluto's Atmosphere from the 2015 June 29 Ground-Based Stellar Occultation at the Time of the New Horizons Flyby
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SYSNO ASEP 0470065 Document Type J - Journal Article R&D Document Type Journal Article Subsidiary J Článek ve WOS Title Pluto's Atmosphere from the 2015 June 29 Ground-Based Stellar Occultation at the Time of the New Horizons Flyby Author(s) Sicardy, B. (FR)
Talbot, J. (NZ)
Meza, E. (FR)
Camargo, J.I.B. (BR)
Desmars, J. (FR)
Gault, D. (AU)
Herald, D. (NZ)
Kerr, S. (NZ)
Pavlov, H. (US)
Braga-Ribas, F. (BR)
Jelínek, Martin (ASU-R) ORCIDNumber of authors 48 Source Title Astrophysical Journal Letters. - : Institute of Physics Publishing - ISSN 2041-8205
Roč. 819, č. 2 (2016), L38/1-L38/8Number of pages 8 s. Publication form Print - P Language eng - English Country US - United States Keywords Kuiper belt objects ; occultations ; planets and satellites Subject RIV BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics Institutional support ASU-R - RVO:67985815 UT WOS 000371788300022 EID SCOPUS 84961156068 DOI https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/819/2/L38 Annotation We present results from a multi-chord Pluto stellar occultation observed on 2015 June 29 from New Zealand and Australia. This occurred only two weeks before the NASA New Horizons flyby of the Pluto system and serves as a useful comparison between ground-based and space results. We find that Pluto's atmosphere is still expanding, with a significant pressure increase of 5 +/- 2% since 2013 and a factor of almost three since 1988. This trend rules out, as of today, an atmospheric collapse associated with Pluto's recession from the Sun. A central flash, a rare occurrence, was observed from several sites in New Zealand. The flash shape and amplitude are compatible with a spherical and transparent atmospheric layer of roughly 3 km in thickness whose base lies at about 4 km above Pluto's surface, and where an average thermal gradient of about 5 K km(-1) prevails. We discuss the possibility that small departures between the observed and modeled flash are caused by local topographic features (mountains) along Pluto's limb that block the stellar light. Finally, using two possible temperature profiles, and extrapolating our pressure profile from our deepest accessible level down to the surface, we obtain a possible range of 11.9-13.7 mu bar for the surface pressure. Workplace Astronomical Institute Contact Anežka Melichárková, bibl@asu.cas.cz, Tel.: 323 620 326 Year of Publishing 2017
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