Physics
Scientific paper
Jul 1994
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994hst..prop.5437p&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #5437
Physics
Hst Proposal Id #5437 Solar System Giant Planets
Scientific paper
After about three years of exciting new results with HST, especially in the UV wavelength range, none, but one, concerns UV diagnostic of Saturn's atmosphere. The atmospheric dynamics at the cloud level is well documented from ground based observations in the visible and IR. UV wavelengths are diagnostic of regions higher in the atmosphere and our knowledge is primarily due to IUE and Voyager, plus some IR observations. This program addresses several outstanding issues concerning the stratosphere of Saturn above ~100 mbar by means of UV single bandpass imaging with the FOC, and spectroscopy of particular regions with the FOS. The wavelength range of interest is 1400 A - 2200 A, a range already studied with IUE, and the issues cover thermochemical equilibrium and dynamics of the atmosphere through the abundance and latitudinal distribution of the species (hydrocarbons, phosphine). We will particularly focus on the detection of water absorption features. The presence of exogenous water in the atmosphere of Saturn is suggested by a large body of independent observations, ranging from the presence of CO and of large H abundance, to decreases in the ionospheric density and latitudinally organized 'anomalous' features. Its direct detection (or non detection) would be an essential test of electro- magnetic theories of ring erosion and of the age of the rings. In anycase, the proposed observations will provide the first UV image at any level of detail of the disc of Saturn, and the first spatially resolved UV spectra.
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