Enhanced acetylene emission near the north pole of
We report observations of acetylene emission lines near 13.3 /xm on Jupiter recorded at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility in July 1984. A strong enhancement in the intensity of Rt0 line of the vs band was recorded within a well-localized region coincident with the southern extension of footprint...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1986
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1082.2779 http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Eatreya/Articles/1986_Enhanced_Acetylene.pdf |
| Summary: | We report observations of acetylene emission lines near 13.3 /xm on Jupiter recorded at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility in July 1984. A strong enhancement in the intensity of Rt0 line of the vs band was recorded within a well-localized region coincident with the southern extension of footprint of the Io magnetic lines and with previous observations of localized enhanced emission of CH4 lines. The line intensity was fairly constant outside this "bright spot." Moreover, weak lines of the hot bands 2v5 -us, and (v4 + vs) -v5 were observed within the bright spot. From the field of view and the precision of the pointing, the zone of activity of the bright spot is found to be: latitude = 59 -+ 10 ° and longitude = 178 -+ 10 ° (System III, 1965). The location of the spot was found to be constant over a 3-day period. Two interpretations are proposed to explain these observations: (1) a variation of the C~H~ abundance and (2) an alteration of the thermal profile in the bright spot. Either may result from precipitation of charged particles near and below the Jovian homopause. |
|---|