2026-09-19T15:04:48Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/1598992025-07-08T03:06:52Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131023
Teague, Richard
Person, Michael J.
Colclasure, Abigail M.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
2025-07-07T17:37:38Z
2025-07-07T17:37:38Z
2025-05
2025-05-23T14:19:46.561Z
https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/159899
The most recently published lightcurves of the large Uranian satellites were published in 1989 and there have been no published lightcurves of the satellites’ northern hemispheres. In this work, I present the first visible-wavelength lightcurves of the northern hemispheres of Titania and Oberon. Observations of the Uranian satellites are inherently difficult given their proximity to Uranus. Contamination from stray Uranian light is a major challenge and the background near the satellites must be well characterized. I mitigated the effects of stray Uranian light using point spread function photometry. I modelled Uranus with a Lorentzian with the same full width at half max as the stellar point spread function. I also determined that Uranus’s profile is poorly modeled with a Gaussian or with the stellar empirical point spread function. After accounting for Uranian light in this way, there remains significant correlation between the photometric measurements of Titania and Oberon. I considered what may be causing this correlation and suggest several paths forward.
S.M.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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First Visible Wavelength Lightcurves for the Northern Hemispheres of Titania and Oberon
Thesis
application/pdf
Master
Master of Science in Earth and Planetary Sciences
Publication
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unknown
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<Abstract>The most recently published lightcurves of the large Uranian satellites were published in 1989 and there have been no published lightcurves of the satellites’ northern hemispheres. In this work, I present the first visible-wavelength lightcurves of the northern hemispheres of Titania and Oberon. Observations of the Uranian satellites are inherently difficult given their proximity to Uranus. Contamination from stray Uranian light is a major challenge and the background near the satellites must be well characterized. I mitigated the effects of stray Uranian light using point spread function photometry. I modelled Uranus with a Lorentzian with the same full width at half max as the stellar point spread function. I also determined that Uranus’s profile is poorly modeled with a Gaussian or with the stellar empirical point spread function. After accounting for Uranian light in this way, there remains significant correlation between the photometric measurements of Titania and Oberon. I considered what may be causing this correlation and suggest several paths forward.</Abstract>
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