{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/159899"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/159899","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"First Visible Wavelength Lightcurves for the Northern Hemispheres of Titania and Oberon","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_html":"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_has_math":false,"creators":["Colclasure, Abigail M."],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":"Master","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 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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."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["S.M."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["First Visible Wavelength Lightcurves for the Northern Hemispheres of Titania and Oberon"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Teague, Richard","Person, Michael J."],"dc:contributor.department":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences"],"dc:creator":["Colclasure, Abigail M."],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-07-07T17:37:38Z"],"dc:date.available":["2025-07-07T17:37:38Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2025-05"],"dc:description.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."],"dc:description.degree":["S.M."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/159899"],"dc:publisher":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright retained by author(s)"],"dc:rights.uri":["https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"],"dc:title":["First Visible Wavelength Lightcurves for the Northern Hemispheres of Titania and Oberon"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master","Master of Science in Earth and Planetary Sciences"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:22:01Z"}