Opposition surge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

12/21/15, 13:17

Opposition surge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The opposition surge (sometimes known as the opposition effect,

opposition spike or Seeliger effect[1]) is the brightening of a rough
surface, or an object with many particles, when illuminated from
directly behind the observer. The term is most widely used in
astronomy, where generally it refers to the sudden noticeable
increase in the brightness of a celestial body such as a planet, moon,
or comet as its phase angle of observation approaches zero. It is so
named because the reflected light from the Moon and Mars appear
significantly brighter than predicted by simple Lambertian
reflectance when at astronomical opposition. Two physical
mechanisms have been proposed for this observational
phenomenon: shadow hiding and coherent backscatter.

Contents

The opposition effect brightens the area

around Buzz Aldrin's shadow due to the
retroreflective property of lunar soil.

1 Overview
2 Physical mechanisms
2.1 Shadow hiding
2.2 Coherent backscatter
3 Throughout the Solar System
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Overview
The phase angle is defined as the angle between the observer, the observed object and the source of light. In the
case of the solar system, the light source is the Sun, and the observer is situated on Earth. At zero phase angle,
the sun is directly behind the observer and the object is directly in front of him, fully illuminated.

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As the phase angle of an object lit by the sun decreases, the object's brightness rapidly increases. This is mainly
due to the increased area lit, but is also partly due to the intrinsic brightness of the part that is sunlit. This is
affected by such factors as the angle at which light reflected from the object is observed. For this reason, a full
moon is more than twice as bright as the moon at first or third quarter, even though the visible area illuminated
appears to be exactly twice as large.

Physical mechanisms
Shadow hiding
When the angle of reflection is close to the angle at which the light's rays hit the surface (that is, when the sun
and the object are close to opposition from the viewpoint of the observer), this intrinsic brightness is usually
close to its maximum. At a phase angle of zero degrees, all shadows disappear and the object is fully
illuminated. When phase angles approach zero, there is a sudden increase in apparent brightness, and this
sudden increase is referred to as the opposition surge.
The effect is particularly pronounced on regolith surfaces of airless bodies in the solar system. The usual major
cause of the effect is that a surface's small pores and pits that would otherwise be in shadow at other incidence
angles become lit up when the observer is almost in the same line as the source of illumination. The effect is
usually only visible for a very small range of phase angles near zero. For bodies whose reflectance properties
have been quantitatively studied, details of the opposition effect its strength and angular extent are
described by two of the Hapke parameters. In the case of planetary rings (such as Saturn's), an opposition surge
is due to the covering of shadows on the ring particles. This explanation was first proposed by Hugo von
Seeliger in 1887.[2]

Coherent backscatter
A theory for an additional effect that increases brightness during opposition is that of coherent backscatter.[3] In
the case of coherent backscatter, the reflected light is enhanced at narrow angles if the size of the scatterers in
the surface of the body is comparable to the wavelength of light and the distance between scattering particles is
greater than a wavelength. The increase in brightness is due to the reflected light combining coherently with the
emitted light.
Coherent backscatter phenomena have also been observed with radar. In particular, recent observations of Titan
at 2.2 cm with Cassini have shown that a strong coherent backscatter effect is required to explain the high
albedos at radar wavelengths.[4]

Throughout the Solar System

The existence of the opposition surge was described in 1956 by Tom Gehrels during his study of the reflected
light from an asteroid.[5] Gehrels' later studies showed that the same effect could be shown in the moon's
brightness.[6] He coined the term "opposition effect" for the phenomenon, but the more intuitive "opposition
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surge" is now more widely used.

Since Gehrels' early studies, an opposition surge has been noted for most airless solar system bodies. No such
surge has been reported for bodies with significant atmospheres.
In the case of the Moon, B. J. Buratti et al. have suggested that its brightness increases by some 40% between a
phase angle of 4 and one of 0, and that this increase is greater for the rougher-surfaced highland areas than for
the relatively smooth maria. As for the principal mechanism of the phenomenon, measurements indicate that the
opposition effect exhibits only a small wavelength dependence: the surge is 3-4% larger at 0.41 m than at 1.00
m. This result suggests that the principal cause of the lunar opposition surge is shadow-hiding rather than
coherent backscatter.[7]

See also
Albedo
Bidirectional reflectance function
Geometric albedo
Heiligenschein, an optical phenomenon which creates a bright spot around the shadow of the viewer's
head
Brocken spectre, the apparently enormous and magnified shadow of an observer cast upon the upper
surfaces of clouds opposite the sun

References
1. Hameen-Anttila, K.A.; Pyykko, S. (July 1972). "Photometric behaviour of Saturn's rings as a function of the
saturnocentric latitudes of the Earth and the Sun". Astronomy and Astrophysics 19 (2): 235247.
Bibcode:1972A&A....19..235H.
2. von Seeliger, H. (1887). "Zur Theorie der Beleuchtung der grossen Planeten insbesondere des Saturn". Abh. Bayer. Akad.
Wiss. Math. Naturwiss. Kl. 16: 405516.
3. Hapke, B. Coherent Backscatter: An Explanation for the Unusual Radar Properties of Outer Planet Satellites
(http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1990Icar...88..407H) Icarus 88: 407:417.
4. Janssen, M.A.; Le Gall, A.; Wye, L.C. (2011). "Anomalous radar backscatter from Titans surface?". Icarus 212 (1):
321328. Bibcode:2011Icar..212..321J. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2010.11.026. ISSN 0019-1035. Retrieved October 31, 2011.
5. Gehrels, T. (1956) "Photometric Studies of Asteroids. V: The Light-Curve and Phase Function of 20 Massalia
(http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1956ApJ...123..331G)". Astrophysical Journal 195: 331-338.
6. Gehrels, T.; Coffeen, T.; & Owings, D. (1964) "Wavelength dependence of polarization. III. The lunar surface
(http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1964AJ.....69..826G)". Astron. J. 69: 826-852.
7. Burrati, B. J.; Hillier, J. K.; & Wang, M. (1996) "The Lunar Opposition Surge: Observations by Clementine
(http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1996Icar..124..490B)". Icarus 124: 490-499.

External links
Hayabusa observes the opposition surge of Asteroid Itokawa (http://asia.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?
pid=18523)
opposition effect (http://www.atoptics.co.uk/atoptics/oppos1.htm), "Atmospheric optics" website.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_surge

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Includes a picture of the opposition surge on the moon

opposition effect mechanism (http://www.atoptics.co.uk/atoptics/oppos2.htm), "Atmospheric optics"
website. Diagrammatic representation of the opposition surge
"The-moon wikispaces" opposition surge page (http://themoon.wikispaces.com/page/view/Opposition+Surge/14051865)
Opposition surge on Saturn's B Ring (http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-details.cfm?
imageID=2238) as seen by CassiniHuygens
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Opposition_surge&oldid=666394421"
Categories: Astronomical events Lunar science Optical phenomena Observational astronomy
Radiometry Scattering, absorption and radiative transfer (optics)
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