Premium
Mapping of hydrocarbons and H 3 + emissions at Jupiter's north pole using Galileo/NIMS data
Author(s) -
Altieri F.,
Dinelli B. M.,
Migliorini A.,
Moriconi M. L.,
Sindoni G.,
Adriani A.,
Mura A.,
Fabiano F.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2016gl070787
Subject(s) - jupiter (rocket family) , jovian , infrared , longitude , latitude , spectrometer , galileo (satellite navigation) , atmosphere of jupiter , polar , physics , atmospheric sciences , atmosphere (unit) , astrophysics , remote sensing , astronomy , geology , meteorology , optics , space shuttle , planet , saturn
In this paper we report the mapping of H 3 + , C 2 H 2 , and CH 4 as derived by an unexploited Galileo/Near‐Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) data set. As previously observed, hydrocarbons emissions appear to be located in the internal part of the auroral main oval, where CH 4 3 µm vibrational band intensity ratios suggest that nonthermal excitation mechanisms, such as auroral particle precipitation and/or Joule heating, are responsible for the observed emissions. Temperature estimation are in good agreement for the CH 4 ‐emitting region on the hot spot, while the values obtained for H 3 + are lower in comparison with Cassini/visual and infrared mapping spectrometer and ground‐based data. C 2 H 2 emission overlaps the CH 4 one only at higher latitudes >75°N, indicating that different energetic particles are at work inside the main oval polar ward. CH 4 is also found on the northern section of the main oval (135°< longitude <190°, 60°< latitude <90°N). The present investigation results have implications on the Juno/Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper observation planning as well as on the codes that will be used to retrieve temperatures and densities of all the emitting species involved in the Jupiter auroral processes.