The H+3 latitudinal profile of Saturn

Tom Stallard; Steve Miller; Gilda E. Ballester; Daniel Rego; Robert D. Joseph; Laurence M. Trafton

doi:10.1086/312189

The H⁺₃ latitudinal profile of Saturn

Tom Stallard, Steve Miller, Gilda E. Ballester, Daniel Rego, Robert D. Joseph, Laurence M. Trafton

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40 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present an H⁺₃ latitudinal profile of Saturn, obtained in 1998 October using the CSHELL spectrometer on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. The profile, measured at 3.953 μm, shows that the majority of the emission is concentrated in the auroral ovals, making Saturn similar to Jupiter and different from Uranus. The spatial resolution is sufficient to resolve the southern auroral oval, currently fully displayed around the south pole, into two peaks separated by 1″.2. At the time of the observations reported here, the emission flux in the H⁺₃ line is 8.3 (± 1.7) × 10^-18 W m^-2 for the intensity integrated over a 1″.0 swath along the southern aurora and 5.8 (± 1.3) × 10^-18 W m^-2 for the northern aurora. There may also be some mid-to low-latitude emission, similar to that on Jupiter. We suggest that planetwide H⁺₃ emission from Saturn is between 1.2 and 3.6 × 10¹¹ W.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	L149-L152
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	521
Issue number	2 PART 2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1086/312189
State	Published - Aug 20 1999
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Atmospheric effects
Infrared: solar system
Planets and satellites: individual (Saturn)

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

Access to Document

10.1086/312189

Cite this

@article{bd103df22fc840b88ad949cb37b499be,

title = "The H+3 latitudinal profile of Saturn",

abstract = "We present an H+3 latitudinal profile of Saturn, obtained in 1998 October using the CSHELL spectrometer on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. The profile, measured at 3.953 μm, shows that the majority of the emission is concentrated in the auroral ovals, making Saturn similar to Jupiter and different from Uranus. The spatial resolution is sufficient to resolve the southern auroral oval, currently fully displayed around the south pole, into two peaks separated by 1″.2. At the time of the observations reported here, the emission flux in the H+3 line is 8.3 (± 1.7) × 10-18 W m-2 for the intensity integrated over a 1″.0 swath along the southern aurora and 5.8 (± 1.3) × 10-18 W m-2 for the northern aurora. There may also be some mid-to low-latitude emission, similar to that on Jupiter. We suggest that planetwide H+3 emission from Saturn is between 1.2 and 3.6 × 1011 W.",

keywords = "Atmospheric effects, Infrared: solar system, Planets and satellites: individual (Saturn)",

author = "Tom Stallard and Steve Miller and Ballester, {Gilda E.} and Daniel Rego and Joseph, {Robert D.} and Trafton, {Laurence M.}",

note = "Funding Information: It is a pleasure to acknowledge the expert assistance of the staff of the NASA IRTF, especially Charlie Kaminsky, whose last run as telescope operator produced this data. Jack Con-nerney, Tom Geballe and Takeshi Oka are thanked for helpful discussions. This work was supported by the UK Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council via grant GR/K97837.",

year = "1999",

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doi = "10.1086/312189",

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AU - Stallard, Tom

AU - Miller, Steve

AU - Ballester, Gilda E.

AU - Rego, Daniel

AU - Joseph, Robert D.

AU - Trafton, Laurence M.

N1 - Funding Information: It is a pleasure to acknowledge the expert assistance of the staff of the NASA IRTF, especially Charlie Kaminsky, whose last run as telescope operator produced this data. Jack Con-nerney, Tom Geballe and Takeshi Oka are thanked for helpful discussions. This work was supported by the UK Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council via grant GR/K97837.

PY - 1999/8/20

Y1 - 1999/8/20

N2 - We present an H+3 latitudinal profile of Saturn, obtained in 1998 October using the CSHELL spectrometer on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. The profile, measured at 3.953 μm, shows that the majority of the emission is concentrated in the auroral ovals, making Saturn similar to Jupiter and different from Uranus. The spatial resolution is sufficient to resolve the southern auroral oval, currently fully displayed around the south pole, into two peaks separated by 1″.2. At the time of the observations reported here, the emission flux in the H+3 line is 8.3 (± 1.7) × 10-18 W m-2 for the intensity integrated over a 1″.0 swath along the southern aurora and 5.8 (± 1.3) × 10-18 W m-2 for the northern aurora. There may also be some mid-to low-latitude emission, similar to that on Jupiter. We suggest that planetwide H+3 emission from Saturn is between 1.2 and 3.6 × 1011 W.

AB - We present an H+3 latitudinal profile of Saturn, obtained in 1998 October using the CSHELL spectrometer on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. The profile, measured at 3.953 μm, shows that the majority of the emission is concentrated in the auroral ovals, making Saturn similar to Jupiter and different from Uranus. The spatial resolution is sufficient to resolve the southern auroral oval, currently fully displayed around the south pole, into two peaks separated by 1″.2. At the time of the observations reported here, the emission flux in the H+3 line is 8.3 (± 1.7) × 10-18 W m-2 for the intensity integrated over a 1″.0 swath along the southern aurora and 5.8 (± 1.3) × 10-18 W m-2 for the northern aurora. There may also be some mid-to low-latitude emission, similar to that on Jupiter. We suggest that planetwide H+3 emission from Saturn is between 1.2 and 3.6 × 1011 W.

KW - Atmospheric effects

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KW - Planets and satellites: individual (Saturn)

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