Physics
Scientific paper
Jul 1992
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1992hst..prop.3511c&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #3511
Physics
Hst Proposal Id #3511
Scientific paper
One of the outstanding scientific questions about the outer planets following the Voyager tour is why the upper atmospheres have bright FUV airglow emissions and very high exospheric temperatures of 400 - 1200 K on the 4 planets. IUE observations of Jupiter's H Ly alpha emission line profile have shown that the equatorial lines are broad, and can be fit by the inclusion of a velocity distribution in addition to thermal motions (although the physical process leading to this additional component has not been identified). It is clear that if the bright H Ly alpha emissions from the outer planets are due mainly to resonant scattering of solar and interplanetary emissions, as observed on Jupiter and Saturn from long term correlations with the solar Ly alpha flux, then the lines from all 4 planets must be broad to explain the observed high albedos. The H Ly alpha lineshapes certainly provide a discriminant between processes of resonant scattering and charged particle excitation. We propose to obtain good signal H Ly alpha line profile measurements at the center and limb of Jupiter, and single sub-solar point measurements from Saturn and Uranus, to resolve the questions about the excitation processes and to explore the possibility that the upper atmospheric line broadening process is also the source of the observed thermospheric heating.
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