Preliminary JIRAM results from Juno polar observations: 3. Evidence of diffuse methane presence in the Jupiter auroral regions

Journal
Date Issued
2017
Author(s)
Moriconi, M. L.
•
•
Dinelli, B. M.
•
Fabiano, F.
•
•
•
•
•
Gérard, J. C.
•
•
•
Sindoni, G.
•
•
•
•
Bolton, S. J.
•
Connerney, J. E. P.
•
Atreya, S. K.
•
Bagenal, F.
•
Gladstone, G. R.
•
Hansen, C.
•
Kurth, W. S.
•
Levin, S. M.
•
Mauk, B. H.
•
McComas, D. J.
•
•
•
Olivieri, A.
•
Amoroso, M.
DOI
Abstract
Throughout the first orbit of the NASA Juno mission around Jupiter, the Jupiter InfraRed Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) targeted the northern and southern polar regions several times. The analyses of the acquired images and spectra confirmed a significant presence of methane (CH4) near both poles through its 3.3 μm emission overlapping the H3+ auroral feature at 3.31 μm. Neither acetylene (C2H2) nor ethane (C2H6) have been observed so far. The analysis method, developed for the retrieval of H3+ temperature and abundances and applied to the JIRAM-measured spectra, has enabled an estimate of the effective temperature for methane peak emission and the distribution of its spectral contribution in the polar regions. The enhanced methane inside the auroral oval regions in the two hemispheres at different longitude suggests an excitation mechanism driven by energized particle precipitation from the magnetosphere.
Volume
44
Issue
10
Start page
4641
Uri
Url
Issn Identifier
0094-8276
Ads BibCode
2017GeoRL..44.4641M
Rights
open.access
File(s)
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name

37_Moriconi_etal_2017.pdf

Description
Pdf editoriale
Size

2.47 MB

Format

Adobe PDF

Checksum (MD5)

4887fcdf70c5912188a5da7f611d4293