Other
Scientific paper
Jul 1995
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1995hst..prop.6218t&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #6218
Other
Hst Proposal Id #6218 Solar System
Scientific paper
The high spatial resolution of WFPC-2 will allow an extension of groundbased observations of interactions between Io and the Jovian plasma torus. While Voyager and Ulysses spacecraft have given us in situ snapshots of the state of the torus and identified atomic and molecular species not seen from the earth, groundbased observations over a period of years have provided most of our understanding of its origin and evolution. We will use narrow-band images to observe neutral and ionized species on spatial scales smaller than the diameter of Io, just beyond the reach of groundbased observatories, in order to understand the origin and evolution of the plasma torus. HST resolution offers the unique opportunity to observe and define the `missing link' between Io's surface activity {volcanism, resurfacing, and generation of a tenuous atmosphere} and the Jovian plasma torus {which exhibits spatial structure near Io which is unresolved from the ground and variations in density and brightness on time scales from weeks to years}. Cycle 4 WFPC2 images showed an irregular distribution of the far-UV airglow O and S emissions on Io's trailing hemisphere that we need to further characterize in terms of the geometry and other parameters of the interaction of the atmosphere and plasma torus. A new image of the O and S far-UV emissions will be obtained in series with one of the above visible images of the Na, S+, and S++ emissions from Io's immediate vicinity also dependent on the torus parameters. Near-UV WFPC2 images of Io's leading and trailing hemispheres will measure the surface distribution of SO2 frost and other components, and of atmospheric SO2. The leading hemisphere will be imaged for the first time in the near-UV, and the trailing hemisphere will be imaged again to look for temporal variations and to combine with GO near-UV spectra isolating two regions on this hemisphere.
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