Multilayer hazes over Saturn's hexagon from Cassini ISS limb images.

ABSTRACT: In June 2015, Cassini high-resolution images of Saturn's limb southwards of the planet's hexagonal wave revealed a system of at least six stacked haze layers above the upper cloud deck. Here, we characterize those haze layers and discuss their nature. Vertical thickness of layers ranged from 7 to 18 km, and they extended in altitude ∼130 km, from pressure level 0.5 bar to 0.01 bar. Above them, a thin but extended aerosol layer reached altitude ∼340 km (0.4 mbar). Radiative transfer modeling of spectral reflectivity shows that haze properties are consistent with particles of diameter 0.07-1.4 μm and number density 100-500 cm^-3. The nature of the hazes is compatible with their formation by condensation of hydrocarbon ices, including acetylene and benzene at higher altitudes. Their

SUBMITTER: Sanchez-Lavega A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7210256 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature