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PlutoOcculta*onwithSOFIAon29June2015inSupportofNewHorizonsFlyBy:Occulta*on
EvidenceforHazeEricBecklinforAmandaBoshetalincluding:MikePerson(MITteam),TedDunham(LowellObsteam),JuergenWolf(DSIteam),RyanHamilton,BillVacca,Maureen
Savage,IanMcLean,SarahLogsdon,(FliteCamteam)andtheen*reSOFIAteam
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Outline
• Background
• The29June2015data.
• WhatitmeansforPlutoanditsatmosphere
• Someproblemsthatneededtobesolved
• Summary
• Aspecialthanks
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Background
• When a Star goes behind a Planet (Occultation), we can learn about the Atmosphere of the planet by measuring how the radiation disappears and reappears.
• On SOFIA the FLITECAM camera, HIPO occultation camera and the Focal Plane Camera (FPI+) can operate simultaneously by use of dichroic beam splitters.
• Made Simultaneous observations at 4 wavelengths of Pluto Occultation of 29 June 2015 from New Zealand
• Highest Priority request from the New Horizons team was 2 micron observations including a central flash
• I was lucky enough to be on the flight.
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Occultations can best be done from a Flying Observatory
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Pluto Occultation on 29 June 2015
• Occultation of 12-mag star by Pluto on 2015 June 29 in support of New Horizons.
• Goal was to be within 25 km of center of Pluto shadow of 2400 km. (1 milli-arcsec and 100 milli-arcsec)
• Ground shadow moves 90,000 Km/hr. Plane 900 Km/hr.
• Final ground-based shadow updates required course adjustments of 200 km (8 milli-arcsec) – Updates to shadow path kept
coming even after the plane took off.
– Mobility of SOFIA was key to getting the observation
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PlutoandOcc.Starat1.8microns5hrsbeforetheOcculta*on
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FliteCamteamduringOcculta*on
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Ted,Mike&RyanduringPlutoFlight
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• Detection of strong “central flash” confirms accuracy of course corrections (within ~20 Km of Pluto center)
• Light curves show effect of mostly refraction in a thin atmosphere.
• Stability of Pluto’s atmosphere over last 25 years determined.
• Comparison of multi-wavelength observations allows detailed analysis of atmospheric profiles and aerosol or haze content.
Science Highlight: Pluto Occultation
Li]leornochangeinlast25yearsofPlutoAtmosphere
• PlutoismovingawayfromtheSun
• Somepeoplesuggestedachangemightoccur(ieatmospherewoulddecay)
• Li]leevidencefromOcculta*ondataforanychangeover~15years.Somechangeearlier,densitywas~2*meshigher.
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Comparisonwithearlierresults
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CentralFlashandDepthSuggestPar*cleHazeisPresent
• Noatmospherewouldproduceasquareocculta*on
• AClearatmospherewouldproducelargecentralflashandextraemissionatthebo]omofthelightcurve.
• Therefrac*onstartsat10to20Kmabovethesurfaceoutsidethesurfaceoftheplanet.
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HIPO-blueClearatmwithdT/dz
HazeplusdT/dz
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TheBluetoInfraredcurvesshowthepresentsofdustorhaze
• Bluecurveshowssmallestexcessemissionatthebo]om(cloudyornotclear)
• Infraredshowsthehighestexcessemission(clearestatmospherebecauseIRseesthroughthedust)
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Lightcurveminimumflux
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Summaryofcolordata
• 1.8microndatashowtheleasteffectofdustinthelightcurves(rela*velylowcentralflashisduetolongintegra*on*me)
• Similartrendwasshownin2002fromHawaiiMKOdata(Elliotetal2002)
• AmountofdustneededissimilartohazeseenbyNH• Amodelwithoutdust,usingtemperatureandpressuregradients,resultsinaPlutoradiussmallerthanthatmeasuredbyNHby50km.Alsodoesnotexplainthe1.8microndata.
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SomeProblemsthatneededtobesolved
• Posi*onupdateofPlutoandtheocculta*onstar.
• Theaircrafdamagethedayoftheocculta*on.
• Theweatherandwheretoland.• TwoproblemswithFliteCam(Electronicsandextrabackgroundfromengineemission)
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ThePosi*onUpdates
• Posi*onupdateskeptcomingevenaferwetookoff.
• Measurementswerebeingmadefromaroundtheworld(Chile,Arizona)andanalyzedatMIT
• Changedtheflightpathby200km(MostlyduetoPlutobrightspot)
• Workedouthowtodothenaviga*onontheprac*ceflightthenightbefore.
• Correc*onshandoffhadacoordinateissuewhichgotsolved.
• Hitthetargetwithin20Km(0.001arcsecand~3secof*me)
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DamagetotheAircraf
• Ontheafernoonofthedayoftheocculta*ontheAircrafwasdamagedbythebo]ombarofthebackflapofthecryogentruck.
• Windgustknockedoutawindowandputa~2inchdentintheskin.
• TheSOFIAmaintenanceteamwiththehelpofAirNewZealandmadetherepairandclearedcer*fica*onbeforetakeoff.
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Weatherandwheretoland
• Thiswasanissueastheposi*ongotupdated.• Themostcri*calwastheprac*ceflightthenightbefore.
• LandinganywhereotherthanChristchurchwouldnotallowacryogenfill.
• Anearlytakeoffandlandingwithashortflight(~4hr)gaveusthebestchancetoavoidfog,whichisquitecommoninChristchurch(~5-10%)
• Wedidnotcarewherewelandedontheocculta*onflight
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IssueswithFliteCam(electronics)
• FliteCamwasshippeddowntoNewZealandwithknownintermi]entissueswiththearraydriveelectronics.
• WhenFliteCamwaspoweredupthearraydriveelectronicsdidnotwork.
• Luckily,theIRTFhadsentustheredriveelectronicsasaback-up.
• 3daysbeforetheOcculta*ontheFliteCamteam(ChrisJohnson,UCLA)transferredtheIRTFspearandgotitworking
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IssueswithFliteCam(ExtrabackgroundfromEngineemission)
• Ontheprac*ceflightweno*cedextrabackgroundat2.1micronsthatwasvariableastheplane*ppedanddependedontelescopeeleva*on.
• Reducethesignaltonoisebygreaterthanfactorof3.• Thiseffecthadbeenno*cedinthecommissioning,butwasnotfully
characterized.• IcalledBillVacca,andhesuggestedusingtheH(wide)blocker
whichhadacentralwavelengthof1.8microns.• Observa*onsonthePlutofieldwiththisfilterweremadeatthe
beginningoftheOcculta*onflight.RyanHamiltonquicklyreducedthedataanditshowedthesamenoiseasK,butover2*mesbe]ersignalontheOcc.star.
• FromPlutoatmosphericmodelswealsoknewthatthePlutosignaltonoisewasprobablyevenafurther30%larger.
• ThePIMikePersondecidedwewouldusethe1.8micronfilter.
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IssueswithFliteCam(backgroundandstar*ngtosolve
whereiswascomingfrom)• The200kmposi*onchangewasnorthwhichmadethe
eleva*onhigherandreducedtheextrabackground,butitwass*llthere.
• RyanHamiltonsuggestedweputthepupilviewingmodeinaferweobtainedthedata.Weallagreed.
• ResultsareshownonthenextslidewithacomparisontoanearlierstudybyBreault(BRO).
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ComparisonofBreault(BRO)Calcula*onsandPupilPlaneimages
• EmissiononthetopofPrimaryPredicted
CourtesyofP.Waddell
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FliteCamBackground
• At40degeleva*ontheextrabackgroundwascomingfromtheafspider
• WorkbyPatrickWaddellandBillVacca,showedthatitwasprobablyhot(T~600to700K)emissioncomingfromtheafoutboardengine(#1)onthelefsidereflectedofftheunfinishedbo]omofthespidervain.
• Bafflesarenowbeingpreparedtoeliminatethereflec*on.
• PatrickWaddellmayspeakaboutthisonalaterteletalk.
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Summary
• SOFIAhasprovideddataonPlutothroughanOcculta*ontwoweeksbeforeTheNewHorizonflybythatcanbeusedtohelpmonitorPluto’satmosphereforyearstocome.
• SOFIAcandogreatscienceandcarryoutuniqueexperiments
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SpecialThankYou
• SOFIAwouldnothavebeenpossiblewithoutyearsof*relessworkandgeniusofHans-PeterRoeser(DSIStu]gart)andNansKunz(NASAAmes)
• BothstartedworkingonSOFIAinthe1980’s
• Bothpassedwaywithinthelastyear27
Backup
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Results AtmosphericchangeAtmospherichaze
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