The 9300-Å Absorption Band in the Spectrum of Jupiter

Details The 9300-Å Absorption Band in the Spectrum of Jupiter The 9300-Å Absorption Band in the Spectrum of Jupiter

Jul 1999

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999icar..140..122c&link_type=abstract

Icarus, Volume 140, Issue Icarus, pp. 122-128.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

1

Scientific paper

Low-resolution spectrophotometry of Jupiter by Karkoschka (1994, Icarus 111, 174-192) revealed a weak apparent absorption feature in the spectrum of Jupiter at 920-940 nm. This is the wavelength of the strong 2nu_1+nu_3 band of H_2O, and Karkoschka tentatively identified the feature as jovian H_2O absorption. If this spectral feature is indeed due to H_2O absorption, it would offer the exciting possibility of monitoring the jovian H_2O with visible band spectroscopy. This feature has been seen in previous low-resolution spectroscopy of Jupiter such as that of Woodman et al. (1979, Icarus 37, 73-83), but was not identified as jovian in origin because of uncertainties in extinction corrections for the very strong telluric H_2O absorption. Cochran et al. (1995, Bull. Am. Astron. Soc. 27, 66) tentatively identified the feature as due to NH_3, an identification that was supported by further low-resolution spectrophotometry by Karkoschka (1998, Icarus 133, 134-146). Here we present high-resolution spectra (R=155,000) of Jupiter using the 2dcoudé spectrometer on the 2.7-m Harlan Smith Telescope at McDonald Observatory, in order to make a definitive identification of this absorption feature. Observations were obtained when Jupiter was near quadrature in order to Doppler shift potential jovian H_2O features away from the corresponding telluric lines. We demonstrate conclusively that the absorption band identified by Karkoschka is not, in fact, due to H_2O. We present further evidence that it is most likely to be an absorption band of NH_3. We searched our spectra carefully to attempt to identify absorption lines which are actually due to H_2O, without success.

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