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