Physics
Scientific paper
Jul 1992
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1992hst..prop.3862c&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #3862
Physics
Hst Proposal Id #3862
Scientific paper
We will observe Io at near and far UV wavelengths in a set of observa- tions designed to study the excitation of Io's atmosphere. The distin- guishing element of this program is the design of the observations to separate the following processes: resonant scattering of solar emission, charged particle excitation by magnetospheric plasma, and the decay in surface. Io will be observed with the FOS/HST in the near-UV over a period of time centered Io emerging from eclipse to separate the solar emissions (sunlit) from particle excited emissions (while in shadow) and the near UV SO2 aurora will be observed while Io is in shadow. Two far-UV multiplets of O and S will be observed with GHRS as Io goes into eclipse to determine the light curve by which these lines rapidly decrease in intensity when Io is in shadow, discovered in Cycle 1. The far UV lines of atomic sulfur and oxygen come from an extended atmosphere, and are produced by a combination of ionospheric currents and torus plasma impact relatively high in the atmosphere. The near-UV bands of SO reflect particle impact on SO2, the parent molecule believed to be driven by sublimation vapor pressure from the surface, and may be excited relatively closer to Io's surface (due to three times smaller scale height) by incident plasma and/or ionospheric processes.
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