Hydrocarbons in Jupiter as seen by ISO-SWS

Details Hydrocarbons in Jupiter as seen by ISO-SWS Hydrocarbons in Jupiter as seen by ISO-SWS

Sep 1999

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999dps....31.6906f&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #31, #69.06

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Observations of Jupiter with the Short Wavelength Spectrometer (SWS) on board the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) show, from 12 to 16 mu m, stratospheric emissions due to ethane (C_2H_6) at 12.5 mu m, acetylene (C_2H_2) at 13.7 mu m, and methylacetylene (C_3H_4) at 15.8 mu m. This is the first detection of C_3H_4 in Jupiter outside the polar regions (Kim et al., 1985). At the ISO-SWS spectral resolution (R=1500), C_2H_2 lines due to the nu_5 +nu_4 -nu_4 hot band and to the nu_5 band are clearly separated. These two bands probe the atmosphere respectively at 1 and 4 mbar, which allow us to determine the acetylene vertical distribution in this region. Some information can also be retrieved on the vertical distribution of ethane in the following way. Between C_2H_6 lines, the thermal flux mostly originates from the upper troposphere. However, this flux is screened by the wings of C_2H_6 lines in the lower stratosphere. Therefore, adjusting the observed flux level allows us to constrain the C_2H_6 vertical distribution in this region. On the contrary, since C_3H_4 lines are optically thin, no vertical information can be inferred for this constituent. We have performed the analysis of these emissions using the stratospheric temperature profile determined from ISO-SWS observations of the nu_2 and nu_4 methane bands at 6.5 and 7.7 mu m along with the S(1) H_2-quadrupolar line at 17.0 mu m. Our temperature profile is in good agreement with that measured by the Galileo Probe. We find a C_2H_2 mixing ratio increasing from 9.1x 10(-8) at 4 mbar to 2.4x 10(-7) at 1 mbar. For ethane, we find that its mixing ratio must decrease at least as p(-1) at pressures higher than 1 mbar. Finally, we determine a C_3H_4 column density of 1.8*E(15) molecules cm(-2) .

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