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Post‐SL9 sulfur photochemistry on Jupiter
Author(s) -
Moses Julianne I.,
Allen Mark,
Gladstone G. Randall
Publication year - 1995
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 - 10.1029/95gl01200
Subject(s) - sulfur , abundance (ecology) , jupiter (rocket family) , astrobiology , stratosphere , kinetic energy , chemistry , photochemistry , atmospheric sciences , physics , astronomy , ecology , organic chemistry , biology , space shuttle , quantum mechanics
We have modeled the photochemical evolution of the sulfur‐containing species that were observed in Jupiter's stratosphere after the SL9 impacts. We find that most of the sulfur is converted to S 8 in the first few days. Other important sulfur reservoirs are CS, whose abundance increases markedly with time, and possibly H 2 CS, HNCS, and NS, whose abundances depend on kinetic reaction rates that are unknown at the present. We discuss the temporal variation of the major sulfur compounds, make abundance and compositional predictions useful for comparisons with observations, and discuss the possible condensation of sulfur‐containing species.