A Search for Minor Constituents in the Near-Infrared Spectra of Titan, Uranus and Neptune.

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Scientific paper

Spectroscopic observations of the Giant Planets and Titan in the 4750 to 10900 (ANGSTROM) range at resolutions of 16 to 0.2 (ANGSTROM) are presented and analyzed. The planetary spectra are compared with new laboratory spectra of methane and possible candidate minor constituent gases including CH(,3)D, hydrocarbons of intermediate molecular weight, CH(,3)F, CH(,3)SH and H(,2)S. No evidence for absorption by a minor constituent other than methane is found in spectra of Titan, Uranus and Neptune. A quantity of 130 liters of CH(,3)D synthesized for this work is spectroscopically analyzed. Three new parallel type bands are reported at 8379(ANGSTROM), 9613(ANGSTROM) and 10650(ANGSTROM). Strengths for the most prominent bands are determined in the 7000 to 10500 (ANGSTROM) interval. The absorption strengths of light alkane and alkene hydrocarbons are measured and compared with methane. Observations of the Giant Planets and Titan at 0.2 to 4 (ANGSTROM) resolution using a Reticon silicon diode array are presented. New observations at 8(ANGSTROM) and 16(ANGSTROM) resolution are combined to give reflectivities for Saturn, Titan, Uranus and Neptune covering the range from 4750(ANGSTROM) to 10900(ANGSTROM). These observations are combined with the laboratory measurements of Giver (1978) to derive an empirical relation between the abundance of methane visible at a given location in the spectrum and the absorption cross-section. This relation cannot be reconciled with a simple reflecting layer model but indicates that the band shapes of Titan, Uranus and Neptune are consistent with absorption in thick scattering atmospheres. The spectra are evaluated for absorption by candidate minor constituent gases and upper limits are derived. The detection of two weak absorption bands, previously unseen, in spectra of Saturn are reported. These are the Hydrogen 3-0 pressure-induced band at 8260(ANGSTROM) and the 5520(ANGSTROM) ammonia band. Further, the weak 6825(ANGSTROM) methane band on Jupiter, at low resolution, is shown to be variable in central depth by more than a factor of two during the period of observation.

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