Enhanced C 2 H 2 Absorption Within Jupiter's Southern Auroral Oval From Juno UVS Observations

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
• Main Authors: Giles, Rohini, Hue, Vincent, Greathouse, Thomas, Gladstone, G. Randall, Kammer, Joshua, Versteeg, Maarten, Bonfond, Bertrand, Grodent, Denis, Gérard, Jean‐claude, Sinclair, James, Bolton, Scott, Levin, Steven
• Other Authors: Southwest Research Institute San Antonio (SwRI), Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Physique Atmosphérique et Planétaire (LPAP), Université de Liège, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2023
• Subjects: [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]; South pole
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04505857; https://hal.science/hal-04505857/document; https://hal.science/hal-04505857/file/JGR%20Planets%20-%202023%20-%20Giles%20-%20Enhanced%20C2H2%20Absorption%20Within%20Jupiter%20s%20Southern%20Auroral%20Oval%20From%20Juno%20UVS%20Observations.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JE007610

International audience Abstract Reflected sunlight observations from the Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) on the Juno spacecraft were used to study the distribution of acetylene (C 2 H 2 ) at Jupiter's south pole. We find that the shape of the C 2 H 2 absorption feature varies significantly across the polar region, and this can be used to infer spatial variability in the C 2 H 2 abundance. There is a localized region of enhanced C 2 H 2 absorption which coincides with the location of Jupiter's southern polar aurora; the C 2 H 2 abundance poleward of the auroral oval is a factor of 3 higher than adjacent quiescent, non‐auroral longitudes. This builds on previous infrared studies, which found enhanced C 2 H 2 abundances within the northern auroral oval. This suggests that Jupiter's upper‐atmosphere chemistry is being strongly influenced by the influx of charged auroral particles and demonstrates the necessity of developing ion‐neutral photochemical models of Jupiter's polar regions.