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Iue observations of Neptune for H Lyman‐ α emission
Author(s) -
Clarke John T.
Publication year - 1988
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/gl015i007p00701
Subject(s) - neptune , uranus , physics , astronomy , planet , nice model , brightness , jupiter (rocket family) , observatory , astrophysics , astrobiology , planetary system , planetary migration , spacecraft
Neptune has been observed on seven occasions with the International Ultraviolet Explorer Observatory (IUE, Boggess et al . 1978) in an attempt to detect planetary H Ly‐ α line emission. The observing technique is the same as previously employed in IUE observations of Uranus, described in detail by Clarke et al . (1986), and consists of spatial separation of the planetary emission from background geo‐coronal and interplanetary H Ly‐ α emissions within the spectrograph aperture. No emission has been detected from Neptune in any of the observations, with 1 σ upper limits to the planet‐averaged surface brightness as low as 180 Rayleighs. Despite poorer sensitivity in observing Neptune from Earth orbit compared to the other planets, the intrinsic brightness is significantly less than the 400‐1500 R that would be expected from scaling arguments. This upper limit does not rule out scattered solar H Ly‐ α emission from a Jupiter‐like atmosphere, and it does not rule out auroral emission from an active magnetosphere. The main significance is for the efficiency of the electroglow process on Neptune, and Neptune is significantly less efficient at producing bright aurora and/or electroglow than Uranus. This may further indicate that Neptune has a lower upper atmospheric temperature than Uranus.