Observatoire de Paris Institut national de recherche scientifique français Univerité Pierre et Marie Curie Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7

Surface-atmosphere interactions on Pluto - New Perspectives from New Horizons

vendredi 8 septembre 2017, par Leslie Young (Southwest Research Institute, Boulder Colorado, USA)

Lundi 25 septembre 2017 à 16h00 , Lieu : Salle de confĂ©rence du bâtiment 17

When the New Horizons spacecraft flew past Pluto in July 2014, it revealed a beautiful and complex world in stunning detail. Further analysis now has given us maps of not only the albedo and color, but also topography and composition. We can now see the locations, depths, and slopes of areas that do or do not contain the ices N2, CO, and CH4. These ices are volatile and make up Pluto’s atmosphere as well. I will talk about some of aspects of surface-atmosphere interactions, with a particular emphasis on the role of topography in maintaining pockets of N2 ice at the high northern latitudes that are currently in continuous sunlight.