Program: GN-2008B-Q-31

Title:Titan's methane weather: Seasonal change and surface geology
PI:Henry Roe
Co-I(s): Emily Schaller, Michael Brown, Chadwick Trujillo

Abstract

Previously in this program we discovered Titan's mid-latitude clouds (Roe et al.\ 2005a), observed a massive storm engulfing the south pole (Schaller et al.\ 2006a), and found a near-disappearance of south polar cloud activity as the season moved further into southern summer (Schaller et al.\ 2006B). More recently we found that the mid-latitude clouds are controlled by surface processes, possibly including cryovolcanoes, geysering, and/or the opening of surface cracks, near 40$^{\circ}$S, 350$^{\circ}$W (Roe et al.\ 2005b). Observing Titan's clouds requires only a small amount (20-25 min) of large (8-10 meter) adaptive optics telescope time and queued Gemini observations are uniquely suited to this observing program. Continued observations are required to monitor the advance of the planetary scale monsoon, driving new clouds in the northern and southern polar regions, and identify and monitor regions of active surface geology.

Publications using this program's data