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A model of the SO 2 atmosphere and ionosphere of Io
Author(s) -
Kumar S.
Publication year - 1980
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/gl007i001p00009
Subject(s) - exosphere , atmosphere (unit) , ionosphere , ionization , absorption (acoustics) , electron density , atomic physics , electron , atmospheric sciences , physics , range (aeronautics) , materials science , computational physics , ion , astronomy , optics , meteorology , nuclear physics , quantum mechanics , composite material
The calculations of thermal structure for an SO 2 atmosphere of Io lead to exospheric temperatures in 800‐1200K range. The Pioneer 10 electron density profiles can be fit with an SO 2 surface density of 1.2 × 10 11 cm −3 at 5:30 pm local time and exosphere temperature of 1030°K. Low energy electrons provide the major ionization source but the solar UV absorption dominates the heating of the atmosphere due to the long wavelength absorption threshold of SO 2 and large absorption cross‐sections.