LIMITS ON THE RADIUS AND A POSSIBLE ATMOSPHERE OF CHARON FROM ITS 1980 STELLAR OCCULTATION

被引：24

作者：

ELLIOT, JL ^{[1
]}

YOUNG, LA ^{[1
]}

机构：

[1] MIT,DEPT PHYS,CAMBRIDGE,MA 02139

来源：

ICARUS | 1991年 / 89卷 / 02期

基金：

美国国家航空航天局; 美国国家科学基金会;

关键词：

D O I：

10.1016/0019-1035(91)90176-T

中图分类号：

P1 [天文学];

学科分类号：

0704 ;

摘要：

Stellar occultation data for Charon obtained by Walker (1980, Mon. Not. R. Aston. Soc. 192, 47p-50p) have been fit by a model that includes possible differential refraction by an atmosphere, followed by an abrupt occultation by Charon's limb. We find a lower limit (3 σ, where σ = 0.8 km) on Charon's radius of 601.5 km, which can be used as a constraint for modeling the mutual event data. Although our model fits favor the possibility of a Charonian atmosphere (composition undetermined), the time resolution of the data is insufficient to be certain that an atmosphere has been detected. The data could also be interpreted as being indicative of (i) a slight extinction near Charon or (ii) an as yet unidentified effect, not associated with Charon. For the latter possibilities, we find an upper limit on a Charonian atmosphere of 1 to 57 cm-am, the exact amount depending on the gas assumed to be the major constituent. © 1991.

引用

页码：244 / 254

页数：11

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