Robert A. West
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View article: Internal Heat Flux and Energy Imbalance of Uranus
Internal Heat Flux and Energy Imbalance of Uranus Open
With its extreme axial tilt, Uranus' radiant energy budget (REB) and internal heat flux remain among the most intriguing mysteries in our solar system. By combining observations with modeling, we present the global REB over a complete orbi…
View article: Titan haze and mist layers observed by Nirpsec/JWST and comparison with inversions from VIMS/Cassini and Planetary Climate Model of Titan.
Titan haze and mist layers observed by Nirpsec/JWST and comparison with inversions from VIMS/Cassini and Planetary Climate Model of Titan. Open
 The photochemical haze layer in the stratosphere above about 80 km and the condensation haze (hereafter, mist) in the lower stratosphere and troposphere completely cover Titan and play a dominant role in its climate. These hazes dete…
View article: Titan's elusive clouds seen in polarization
Titan's elusive clouds seen in polarization Open
Titan, the enigmatic large moon of Saturn, is the unique satellite of the solar system surrounded by a dense atmosphere which has a significant effect on radiation polarization. The Cassini exploration of the kronian system has also reveal…
View article: Long term variability of Jupiter's northern auroral 8-micron CH4 emissions
Long term variability of Jupiter's northern auroral 8-micron CH4 emissions Open
We present a study of the long term variability of Jupiter's mid-infrared auroral CH4 emissions. 7.7 - 7.9 micron images of Jupiter recorded by Earth-based telescopes over the last three decades were collated in order to quantify the magni…
View article: The Enigmatic Abundance of Atomic Hydrogen in Saturn’s Upper Atmosphere
The Enigmatic Abundance of Atomic Hydrogen in Saturn’s Upper Atmosphere Open
A planet’s Ly α emission is sensitive to its thermospheric structure. Here we report joint Hubble Space Telescope and Cassini cross-calibration observations of the Saturn Ly α emission made 2 weeks before the Cassini grand finale. To inves…
View article: Spectropolarimetry as a Means to Address Cloud Composition and Habitability for a Cloudy Exoplanetary Atmosphere in the Habitable Zone
Spectropolarimetry as a Means to Address Cloud Composition and Habitability for a Cloudy Exoplanetary Atmosphere in the Habitable Zone Open
In our solar system, the densely cloud-covered atmosphere of Venus stands out as an example of how polarimetry can be used to gain information on cloud composition and particle mean radius. With current interest running high on discovering…
View article: Spectropolarimetry as a Means to Address Cloud Composition and Habitability for a Cloudy Exoplanetary Atmosphere in the Habitable Zone
Spectropolarimetry as a Means to Address Cloud Composition and Habitability for a Cloudy Exoplanetary Atmosphere in the Habitable Zone Open
In our solar system, the densely cloud-covered atmosphere of Venus stands out as an example of how polarimetry can be used to gain information on cloud composition and particle mean radius. With current interest running high on discovering…
View article: The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO): prototype performance and prospects for transient science
The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO): prototype performance and prospects for transient science Open
The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) is an array of wide-field optical telescopes, designed to exploit new discoveries from the next generation of gravitational wave detectors (LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA), study rapidly evo…
View article: Titan's Global Radiant Energy Budget During the Cassini Epoch (2004–2017)
Titan's Global Radiant Energy Budget During the Cassini Epoch (2004–2017) Open
Radiant energies of planets and moons are of wide interest in the fields of geoscience and planetary science. Based on long‐term multiinstrument observations from the Cassini spacecraft, we provide here the first observational study of Tit…
View article: Detection of Aerosols at Microbar Pressures in an Exoplanet Atmosphere
Detection of Aerosols at Microbar Pressures in an Exoplanet Atmosphere Open
The formation of hazes at microbar pressures has been explored by theoretical models of exoplanet atmospheres to explain Rayleigh scattering and/or featureless transmission spectra; however observational evidence of aerosols in the low-pre…
View article: Compression algorithms for high-data-volume instruments on planetary missions: a case study for the Cassini mission
Compression algorithms for high-data-volume instruments on planetary missions: a case study for the Cassini mission Open
International audience
View article: Radiant Energy Budgets and Internal Heat of Planets and Moons
Radiant Energy Budgets and Internal Heat of Planets and Moons Open
Knowledge of the radiant energy budgets and internal heat of planets and moons is of wide interest in the planetary science community.Some progress has been achieved with recent studies, but there are still significant limitations in curre…
View article: On the Use of Planetary Science Data for Studying Extrasolar Planets
On the Use of Planetary Science Data for Studying Extrasolar Planets Open
There is an opportunity to advance both solar system and extrasolar planetary studies that does not require the construction of new telescopes or new missions but better use and access to inter-disciplinary data sets. This approach leverag…
View article: Cloudy Atmospheres on Directly Imaged Exoplanets: The Need for Accurate Particulate Representation in Photopolarimetric Simulations
Cloudy Atmospheres on Directly Imaged Exoplanets: The Need for Accurate Particulate Representation in Photopolarimetric Simulations Open
Missions like the upcoming Roman Space Telescope and its follow-on missions, Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) and the Large UV/Optical/IR Surveyor (LUVOIR), will provide direct imaging observations of stellar light reflected by exop…
View article: Saturn's Seasonal Atmosphere at Northern Summer Solstice
Saturn's Seasonal Atmosphere at Northern Summer Solstice Open
The incredible longevity of Cassini's orbital mission at Saturn has provided the most comprehensive exploration of a seasonal giant planet to date. This review explores Saturn's changing global temperatures, composition, and aerosol proper…
View article: The composition and structure of Enceladus' plume from the complete set of Cassini UVIS occultation observations
The composition and structure of Enceladus' plume from the complete set of Cassini UVIS occultation observations Open
Observations acquired at ultraviolet wavelengths are uniquely well-suited to investigate the composition and structure of Enceladus' plume. This paper describes the observations, analysis techniques and results of all the Enceladus occulta…
View article: Cassini UVIS Detection of Saturn's North Polar Hexagon in the Grand Finale Orbits
Cassini UVIS Detection of Saturn's North Polar Hexagon in the Grand Finale Orbits Open
Cassini's final orbits in 2016 and 2017 provided unprecedented spatial resolution of Saturn's polar regions from near‐polar spacecraft viewing geometries. Long‐wavelength channels of Cassini's Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph instrument de…
View article: Spectropolarimetric Characteristics of Brown Dwarfs. II. Uniform Clouds
Spectropolarimetric Characteristics of Brown Dwarfs. II. Uniform Clouds Open
Scattering processes in the atmosphere of a fast-rotating brown dwarf (BD) or self-luminous extrasolar giant planet (EGP) produce distinct polarimetric, in addition to spectrometric, signatures. An ability to unambiguously interpret these …
View article: "It's full of asteroids!": Solar system science with a large field of view
"It's full of asteroids!": Solar system science with a large field of view Open
Next-generation space telescopes will have larger apertures, larger fields of view, and more sensitive instrumentation than their predecessors. The prospects for solar system science with these facilities are substantial, particularly in t…
View article: The Super-Earth Opportunity - Search for Habitable Exoplanets in the 2020s
The Super-Earth Opportunity - Search for Habitable Exoplanets in the 2020s Open
The recent discovery of a staggering diversity of planets beyond the Solar System has brought with it a greatly expanded search space for habitable worlds. The Kepler exoplanet survey has revealed that most planets in our interstellar neig…
View article: Saturn’s Polar Atmosphere
Saturn’s Polar Atmosphere Open
This book chapter, Saturn's Polar Atmosphere, is to be published by Cambridge University Press as part of a multi-volume work edited by Kevin Baines, Michael Flasar, Norbert Krupp, and Thomas Stallard, entitled "Saturn in the 21st Century.…
View article: Titan's Meteorology Over the Cassini Mission: Evidence for Extensive Subsurface Methane Reservoirs
Titan's Meteorology Over the Cassini Mission: Evidence for Extensive Subsurface Methane Reservoirs Open
Cassini observations of Titan's weather patterns over >13 years, almost half a Saturnian year, provide insight into seasonal circulation patterns and the methane cycle. The Imaging Science Subsystem and the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spec…
View article: An Experimental Scattering Matrix for Lunar Regolith Simulant JSC-1A at Visible Wavelengths
An Experimental Scattering Matrix for Lunar Regolith Simulant JSC-1A at Visible Wavelengths Open
We present the experimental scattering matrix as a function of the scattering angle of the lunar soil simulant JSC-1A. The measurements were performed at 488, 520, and 647 nm, covering the range of scattering angles from to . The effect of…