Ultraviolet observations of Phoebe from the Cassini UVIS

Abstract

Observations of Saturn's distant moon Phoebe were made at far-ultraviolet (FUV) (1100–1900 Å) and extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) (600–1100 Å) wavelengths by the Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) during the Cassini spacecraft flyby on June 11, 2004. These are the first UV spectra of Phoebe and the first detection of water ice on a Solar System surface using FUV wavelengths. The characteristics of water ice in the FUV are presented, and Hapke models are used to interpret the spectra in terms of composition and grain size; the use of both areal and intimate mixing models is explored. Non-ice species used in these models include carbon, ice tholin, Triton tholin, poly-HCN and kerogen. Satisfactory disk-integrated fits are obtained for intimate mixtures of ∼ 10 % H 2O plus a non-ice species. Spatially resolved regions of higher ( ∼ 20 % ) and lower ( ∼ 5 % ) H 2O ice concentrations are also detected. Phoebe does not display any evidence of volatile activity. Upper limits on atomic oxygen and carbon are 5 × 10 11 and 2 × 10 12 atoms / cm 2 , respectively, for solar photon scattering. The UVIS detection of water ice on Phoebe, and the ice amounts detected, are consistent with IR measurements and contribute to the evidence for a Phoebe origin in the outer Solar System rather than in the main asteroid belt.