1. Overview of
Saturn's Family: Rings and Satellites
- Saturn's Satellites (minus Titan)
II. Photometric Basics
- Viewing Geometry
- Angles of Incidence, Emission, and Phase
- Scattering Angle
- Albedo
- Geometric Albedo (Physical Albedo) - Ratio of a satellite's brightness
at zero degrees phase angle to the brightness of a perfectly diffusing
disk with the same position and apparent size as the satellite.
(i=e=a=0)
- Bond Albedo (Spherical Albedo) - Fraction of the total incident light
reflected in all directions by a spherical body.
III. Scattering Properties of the Moon
Only satellite which we can observe at (nearly) all phase angles.
Before the Apollo missions, the goal was to determine what the landing surface
was going to be like. How large would the particles be? Like Gravel? Sand?
Would it be porous? Would the LEM sink?
Lunar Photometric Properties revealed in Apollo Photos
- Backscattering
- Fine Lunar Soil
- Opposition Effect
- Around the LEM
shadow
- Around the astronaut's
shadow (also note the darker soil in the background where the astronauts have walked)
IV. Scattering Properties of Icy Satellites
