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1.
A 1-D collisional Monte Carlo model of Europa's atmosphere is described in which the sublimation and sputtering sources of H2O molecules and their molecular fragments are accounted for as well as the radiolytically produced O2. Dissociation and ionization of H2O and O2 by magnetospheric electron, solar UV-photon and photo-electron impact, and collisional ejection from the atmosphere by the low-energy plasma are taken into account. Reactions with the surface are discussed, but only adsorption and atomic oxygen recombination are included in this model. The size of the surface-bounded oxygen atmosphere of Europa is primarily determined by a balance between atmospheric sources from irradiation of the satellite's icy surface by the high-energy magnetospheric charged particles and atmospheric losses from collisional ejection by the low-energy plasma, photo- and electron-impact dissociation, and ionization and pick-up from the surface-bounded atmosphere. A range of sources rates for O2 to H2O are used with a larger oxygen-to-water ratio than suggested by laboratory measurements in order to account for differences in adsorption onto grains in the regolith. These calculations show that the atmospheric composition is determined by both the water and oxygen photochemistry in the near-surface region, escape of suprathermal oxygen and water into the jovian system, and the exchange of radiolytic water products with the porous regolith. For the electron impact ionization rates used, pick-up ionization is the dominant oxygen loss process, whereas photo-dissociation and atmospheric sputtering are the dominant sources of neutral oxygen for Europa's neutral torus. Including desorption and loss of water enhances the supply of oxygen species to the neutral torus, but hydrogen produced by radiolysis is the dominant source of neutrals for Europa's torus in these models.  相似文献   

2.
Observations of the Europa environment using the Cassini UltraViolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) show the presence of an extended atomic oxygen atmosphere in addition to the bound molecular oxygen atmosphere first detected by Hubble Space Telescope in 1994 [D.T. Hall, D.F. Strobel, P.D. Feldman, M.A. McGrath, H.A. Weaver, 1995, Detection of an oxygen atmosphere on Jupiter's moon Europa, Nature 373, 677-679]. The atomic oxygen measurement provides a direct constraint on the sputtering and loss of Europa's water ice surface and the interaction of Europa's atmosphere with Jupiter's magnetosphere. We derive a loss rate for O2 based on the emission rate of the OI 1356 Å multiplet. UVIS detected substantial variability in the oxygen emission from Europa's oxygen atmosphere that we attribute to the viewing geometry. B.H. Mauk, D.G. Mitchell, S.M. Krimigis, E.C. Roelof, C.P. Paranicas [2003, Energetic neutral atoms from a trans-Europa gas torus at Jupiter, Nature 421, 920-922] inferred the presence of a torus of neutral gas at Europa's orbit based on Cassini's energetic neutral atom (ENA) image of the Jupiter system acquired with the Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI), with the most likely torus constituents being hydrogen and oxygen species sputtered from Europa. Cassini UVIS data rule out O and O2 as the possible torus species reported by Mauk et al. however, unless the torus density is so low that it is undetectable by UVIS (less than 8 atoms / cm3). The UVIS observations indicate the presence of atomic hydrogen and possibly other species, but a full analysis is deferred to a following paper. The hydrogen in the present observations shows a local-time asymmetry and complex spatial distribution.  相似文献   

3.
A two-dimensional kinetic model calculation for the water group species (H2O, H2, O2, OH, O, H) in Europa's atmosphere is undertaken to determine its basic compositional structure, gas escape rates, and velocity distribution information to initialize neutral cloud model calculations for the most important gas tori. The dominant atmospheric species is O2 at low altitudes and H2 at higher altitudes with average day-night column densities of 4.5×1014 and 7.7×1013 cm−2, respectively. H2 forms the most important gas torus with an escape rate of ∼2×1027 s−1 followed by O with an escape rate of ∼5×1026 s−1, created primarily as exothermic O products from O2 dissociation by magnetospheric electrons. The circumplanetary distributions of H2 and O are highly peaked about the satellite location and asymmetrically distributed near Europa's orbit about Jupiter, have substantial forward clouds extending radially inward to Io's orbit, and have spatially integrated cloud populations of 4.2×1033 molecules for H2 and 4.0×1032 atoms for O that are larger than their corresponding populations in Europa's local atmosphere by a factor of ∼200 and ∼1000, respectively. The cloud population for H2 is a factor of ∼3 times larger than that for the combined cloud population of Io's O and S neutral clouds and provides the dominant neutral population beyond the so-called ramp region at 7.4-7.8 RJ in the plasma torus. The calculated brightness of Europa's O cloud on the sky plane is very dim at the sub-Rayleigh level. The H2 and O tori provide a new source of europagenic molecular and atomic pickup ions for the thermal plasma and introduce a neutral barrier in which new plasma sinks are created for the cooler iogenic plasma as it is transported radially outward and in which new sinks are created to alter the population and pitch angle distribution of the energetic plasma as it is transported radially inward. The europagenic instantaneous pickup ion rates are peaked at Europa's orbit, dominate the iogenic pickup ion rates beyond the ramp region, and introduce new secondary plasma source peaks in the solution of the plasma transport problem. The H2 torus is identified as the unknown Europa gas torus that creates both the observed loss of energetic H+ ions at Europa's orbit and the corresponding measured ENA production rate for H.  相似文献   

4.
We study the morphology of Io’s aurora by comparing simulation results of a three-dimensional (3D) two-fluid plasma model to observations by the high-resolution Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on-board the New Horizons spacecraft and by the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys (HST/ACS). In 2007, Io’s auroral emission in eclipse has been observed simultaneously by LORRI and ACS and the observations revealed detailed features of the aurora, such as a huge glowing plume at the Tvashtar paterae close to the North pole. The auroral radiation is generated in Io’s atmosphere by collisions between impinging magnetospheric electrons and various neutral gas components. We calculate the interaction of the magnetospheric plasma with Io’s atmosphere-ionosphere and simulate the auroral emission. Our aurora model takes into account not only the direct influence of the atmospheric distribution on the morphology and intensity of the emission, but also the indirect influence of the atmosphere on the plasma environment and thus on the exciting electrons. We find that the observed morphology in eclipse can be explained by a smooth (non-patchy) equatorial atmosphere with a vertical column density that corresponds to ∼10% of the column density of the sunlit atmosphere. The atmosphere is asymmetric with two times higher density and extension on the downstream hemisphere. The auroral emission from the Tvashtar volcano enables us to constrain the plume gas content for the first time. According to our model, the observed intensity of the Tvashtar plume implies a mean column density of ∼5 × 1015 cm−2 for the plume region.  相似文献   

5.
Ground based observations of sodium escaping from Europa suggest the presence of an extended cloud of neutrals orbiting Jupiter. Using a Monte Carlo model we show that the large scale morphology differs from the sodium cloud at Io. At Europa, the trailing cloud is brighter and more extended than the leading cloud. We then use our results to consider the morphology of Europa's oxygen cloud.  相似文献   

6.
M.L. Marconi 《Icarus》2007,190(1):155-174
A multispecies, 2-D axisymmetric, kinetic model that accounts for all kinetic regimes is applied to the neutral atmosphere of Ganymede. Using reasonable interpretations of the limited observations, it is found that Ganymede has a two-part atmosphere, with H2O being dominant between the subsolar point and a subsolar latitude of about 45 degrees, and O2 dominating elsewhere at the lower altitudes. H2 is dominant everywhere above a few hundred kilometers. Except for a small region near the subsolar point, the atmosphere is quasicollisional or collisionless. The resulting nonequilibrium is manifest in the atmospheric constituents having generally different temperatures and bulk velocities. Escape rates are similar to those of Europa, but a less visible torus is expected. The escape rates are also highly latitude and species dependent. The effect on the atmosphere by a fast ion plasma is investigated and found to primarily affect the O2 scale height above a few hundred kilometers. It is also found that Lyman α emission from collision of electrons with H2 may be significant near the surface.  相似文献   

7.
Mars Express observations give ozone abundances that are smaller than those from the ground-based infrared heterodyne and HST observations at low and middle latitudes. Both ground-based and Mars Express observations of the O2 dayglow at 1.27 μm, which originates from photolysis of ozone, are in mutual agreement after correction for the local time variability. Therefore a problem appears: whether the MEX ozone data are compatible with (1) the observed O2 dayglow intensities and (2) the photochemical model by Krasnopolsky [Krasnopolsky, V.A., 2006. Icarus 185, 153-170] within uncertainties of its reaction rate coefficients. That model involves heterogeneous loss of H2O2 on water ice and agrees with the observations of the O2 dayglow, H2O2, and the ground-based and HST ozone. The answers are ‘yes’ to both questions. A version of the model is given that fits the MEX ozone as well as the observed O2 dayglow and H2O2. Laboratory studies of two reaction rate coefficients could indicate a preferable version of the model and a preferable set of the ozone data (MEX versus the ground-based and HST). The predicted seasonal behavior of H2O2 is different from that in the model by Lefevre et al. [Lefevre, F., Bertaux, J.L., Clancy, R.T., Encrenaz, T., Fast, K., Forget, F., Lebonnois, S., Montmessin, F., Perrier, S., 2008. Nature 454, 971-975], and future observations may help to choose between the models.  相似文献   

8.
Lori M. Feaga  Melissa McGrath 《Icarus》2009,201(2):570-1189
An extensive set of HI Lyman-α images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) from 1997-2001 has been analyzed to provide information about the spatial and temporal character of Io's SO2 atmosphere. An atmospheric distribution map derived from the observations reveals that the sunlit SO2 atmosphere is temporally stable on a global scale, with only small local changes. An anti-/sub-jovian asymmetry in the SO2 distribution is present in all 5 years of the observations. The average daytime atmosphere is densest on the anti-jovian hemisphere in the equatorial regions, with a maximum equatorial column density of 5.0×1016 cm−2 at 140° longitude. The SO2 atmosphere also has greater latitudinal extent on the anti-jovian hemisphere as compared to the sub-jovian. The atmospheric distribution appears to be best correlated with the location of hot spots and known volcanic plumes, although small number statistics for the plumes limits the correlation.  相似文献   

9.
10.
William H. Smyth  M.C. Wong 《Icarus》2004,171(1):171-182
Two-dimensional model calculations (altitude and solar zenith angle) are performed to investigate the impact of electron chemistry on the composition and structure of Io's atmosphere. The calculations are based upon the model of Wong and Smyth (2000, Icarus 146, 60-74) for Io's SO2 sublimation atmosphere with the addition of new electron chemistry, where the interactions of the electrons and neutrals are treated in a simple fashion. The model calculations are presented for Io's atmosphere at western elongation (dusk ansa) for both a low-density case (subsolar temperature of 113 K) and a high-density case (subsolar temperature of 120 K). The impact of electron-neutral chemistry on the composition and structure of Io's atmosphere is confined primarily to an interaction layer. The penetration depth of the interaction layer is limited to high altitudes in the thicker dayside atmosphere but reaches the surface in the thinner dayside and/or nightside atmosphere at larger solar zenith angles. Within most of the thicker dayside atmosphere, the column density of SO2 is not significantly altered by electrons, but in the interaction layer all number densities are significantly altered: SO2 is reduced, O, SO, S, and O2 are greatly enhanced, and O, SO, and S become comparable to SO2 at high altitudes. For the thinner nightside atmosphere, the species number densities are dramatically altered: SO2 is drastically reduced to the least abundant species of the SO2 family, SO and O2 are significantly reduced at all altitudes, and O and S are dramatically enhanced and become the dominant species at all altitudes except near the surface. The interaction layer also defines the location of the emission layer for neutrals excited by electron impact and hence determines the fraction of the total neutral column density that is visible in remote observation. Electron chemistry may also impact the ratio of the equatorial to polar SO2 column density deduced from Lyman-α images and the north-south alternating and System III longitude-dependent asymmetry observed in polar O and S emissions.  相似文献   

11.
Conflicting observations regarding the dominance of either sublimation or volcanism as the source of the atmosphere on Io and disparate reports on the extent of its spatial distribution and the absolute column abundance invite the development of detailed computational models capable of improving our understanding of Io’s unique atmospheric structure and origin. Improving upon previous models, Walker et al. (Walker, A.C., Gratiy, S.L., Levin, D.A., Goldstein, D.B., Varghese, P.L., Trafton, L.M., Moore, C.H., Stewart, B. [2009]. Icarus) developed a fully 3-D global rarefied gas dynamics model of Io’s atmosphere including both sublimation and volcanic sources of SO2 gas. The fidelity of the model is tested by simulating remote observations at selected wavelength bands and comparing them to the corresponding astronomical observations of Io’s atmosphere. The simulations are performed with a new 3-D spherical-shell radiative transfer code utilizing a backward Monte Carlo method. We present: (1) simulations of the mid-infrared disk-integrated spectra of Io’s sunlit hemisphere at 19 μm, obtained with TEXES during 2001-2004; (2) simulations of disk-resolved images at Lyman-α obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) during 1997-2001; and (3) disk-integrated simulations of emission line profiles in the millimeter wavelength range obtained with the IRAM-30 m telescope in October-November 1999. We found that the atmospheric model generally reproduces the longitudinal variation in band depth from the mid-infrared data; however, the best match is obtained when our simulation results are shifted ∼30° toward lower orbital longitudes. The simulations of Lyman-α images do not reproduce the mid-to-high latitude bright patches seen in the observations, suggesting that the model atmosphere sustains columns that are too high at those latitudes. The simulations of emission line profiles in the millimeter spectral region support the hypothesis that the atmospheric dynamics favorably explains the observed line widths, which are too wide to be formed by thermal Doppler broadening alone.  相似文献   

12.
We present a Monte Carlo (MC) model of [OI] 6300 Å and [SII] 6716 Å emission from Io entering eclipse. The simulation accounts for the 3-D distribution of SO2, O, SO, S, and O2 in Io’s atmosphere, several volcanic plumes, and the magnetic field around Io. Thermal electrons from the jovian plasma torus are input along the simulation domain boundaries and move along the magnetic field lines distorted by Io, occasionally participating in collisions with neutrals. We find that the atmospheric asymmetry resulting from varying degrees of atmospheric collapse across Io (due to eclipse ingress) and the presence of volcanoes contributes significantly to the unique morphology of the [OI] 6300 Å emission. The [OI] radiation lifetime of ∼134 s limits the emission to regions that have a sufficiently low neutral density so that intermolecular collisions are rare. We find that at low altitudes (typically <40 km) and in volcanic plumes (Pele, Prometheus, etc.) the number density is large enough (>4 × 109 cm−3) to collisionally quench nearly all (>95%) of the excited oxygen for reasonable quenching efficiencies. Upstream (relative to the plasma flow), Io’s perturbation of the jovian magnetic field mirrors electrons with high pitch angles, while downstream collisions can trap the electrons. This magnetic field perturbation is one of the main physical mechanisms that results in the upstream/downstream brightness asymmetry in [OI] emission seen in the observation by Trauger et al. (Trauger, J.T., Stapelfeldt, K.R., Ballester, G.E., Clarke, J.I., 1997. HST observations of [OI] emissions from Io in eclipse. AAS-DPS Abstract (1997DPS29.1802T)). There are two other main causes for the observed brightness asymmetry. First, the observation’s viewing geometry of the wake spot crosses the dayside atmosphere and therefore the wake’s observational field of view includes higher oxygen column density than the upstream side. Second, the phased entry into eclipse results in less atmospheric collapse and thus higher collisional quenching on the upstream side relative to the wake. We compute a location (both in altitude and latitude) for the intense wake emission feature that agrees reasonably well with this observation. Furthermore, the peak intensity of the simulated wake feature is less than that observed by a factor of ∼3, most likely because our model does not include direct dissociation-excitation of SO2 and SO. We find that the latitudinal location of the emission feature depends not so much on the tilt of the magnetic field as on the relative north/south flux tube depletion that occurs due to Io’s changing magnetic latitude in the plasma torus. From 1-D simulations, we also find that the intensity of [SII] 6716 and 6731 Å emission is much weaker than that of [OI] even if the [SII] excitation cross section is 103 times larger than excitation to [OI]. This is because the density of S+ is much less than that of O and because the Einstein-A coefficient of the [SII] emission is a factor of ∼10 smaller than that of [OI].  相似文献   

13.
Jeremy Bailey  Linda Ahlsved 《Icarus》2011,213(1):218-232
We have obtained spatially resolved spectra of Titan in the near-infrared J, H and K bands at a resolving power of ∼5000 using the near-infrared integral field spectrometer (NIFS) on the Gemini North 8 m telescope. Using recent data from the Cassini/Huygens mission on the atmospheric composition and surface and aerosol properties, we develop a multiple-scattering radiative transfer model for the Titan atmosphere. The Titan spectrum at these wavelengths is dominated by absorption due to methane with a series of strong absorption band systems separated by window regions where the surface of Titan can be seen. We use a line-by-line approach to derive the methane absorption coefficients. The methane spectrum is only accurately represented in standard line lists down to ∼2.1 μm. However, by making use of recent laboratory data and modeling of the methane spectrum we are able to construct a new line list that can be used down to 1.3 μm. The new line list allows us to generate spectra that are a good match to the observations at all wavelengths longer than 1.3 μm and allow us to model regions, such as the 1.55 μm window that could not be studied usefully with previous line lists such as HITRAN 2008. We point out the importance of the far-wing line shape of strong methane lines in determining the shape of the methane windows. Line shapes with Lorentzian, and sub-Lorentzian regions are needed to match the shape of the windows, but different shape parameters are needed for the 1.55 μm and 2 μm windows. After the methane lines are modeled our observations are sensitive to additional absorptions, and we use the data in the 1.55 μm region to determine a D/H ratio of 1.77 ± 0.20 × 10−4, and a CO mixing ratio of 50 ± 11 ppmv. In the 2 μm window we detect absorption features that can be identified with the ν5 + 3ν6 and 2ν3 + 2ν6 bands of CH3D.  相似文献   

14.
A one-dimensional Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) model is used to examine the effects of a non-condensable species on Io's sulfur dioxide sublimation atmosphere during eclipse and just after egress. Since the vapor pressure of SO2 is extremely sensitive to temperature, the frost-supported dayside sublimation atmosphere had generally been expected to collapse during eclipse as the surface temperature dropped. For a pure SO2 atmosphere, however, it was found that during the first 10 min of eclipse, essentially no change in the atmospheric properties occurs at altitudes above ∼100 km due to the finite ballistic/acoustic time. Hence immediately after ingress the auroral emission morphology above 100 km should resemble that of the immediate pre-eclipse state. Furthermore, the collapse dynamics are found to be greatly altered by the presence of even a small amount of a non-condensable species which forms a diffusion layer near the surface that prevents rapid collapse. It is found that after 10 min essentially no collapse has occurred at altitudes above ∼20 km when a nominal mole fraction of non-condensable gas is present. Collapse near the surface occurs relatively quickly until a static diffusion layer many mean free paths thick of the non-condensable gas builds up which then retards further collapse of the SO2 atmosphere. For example, for an initial surface temperature of 110 K and 35% non-condensable mole-fraction, the ratio of the SO2 column density to the initial column density was found to be 0.73 after 10 min, 0.50 after 30 min, and 0.18 at the end of eclipse. However, real gas species (SO, O2) may not be perfectly non-condensable at Io's surface temperatures. If the gas species was even weakly condensable (non-zero sticking/reaction coefficient) then the effect of the diffusion layer on the dynamics was dramatically reduced. In fact, if the sticking coefficient of the non-condensable exceeds ∼0.25, the collapse dynamics are effectively the same as if there were no non-condensable present. This sensitivity results because the loss of non-condensable to the surface reduces the effective diffusion layer size, and the formation of an effective diffusion layer requires that the layer be stationary; this does not occur if the surface is a sink. Upon egress, vertical stratification of the condensable and non-condensable species occurs, with the non-condensable species being lifted (or pushed) to higher altitudes by the sublimating SO2 after the sublimating atmosphere becomes collisional. Stratification should affect the morphology and intensity of auroral glows shortly after egress.  相似文献   

15.
Sputtering and decomposition of Europa's surface by energetic ions and electrons produce an atmosphere. Here we use a 3D Monte Carlo simulation, including collisions with the background O2 atmosphere, to describe recent measurements of the sodium component of the atmosphere. By constraining the model with the observational data, we attempt to reconstruct the source processes, the energy distribution, and the flux of the ejected sodium. We confirm that electronic sputtering from ice-rich regions dominates the ejecta and that Europa loses between 5 and 10×106 Na cm−2 s−1. This is about one order of magnitude more sodium than that implanted from the jovian magnetosphere.  相似文献   

16.
We present an updated model for the photochemistry of Io's atmosphere and ionosphere and use this model to investigate the sensitivity of the chemical structure to vertical transport rates. SO2is assumed to be the dominant atmospheric gas, with minor molecular sodium species such as Na2S or Na2O released by sputtering or venting from the surface. Photochemical products include SO, O2, S, O, Na, NaO, NaS, and Na2. We consider both “thick” and “thin” SO2atmospheres that encompass the range allowed by recent HST and millimeter-wave observations, and evaluate the possibility that O2and/or SO may be significant minor dayside constituents and therefore likely dominant nightside gases. The fast reaction between S and O2limits the column abundance of O2to ∼104less than that calculated by Kumar (J. Geophys. Res.87, 1677–1684, 1982; 89(A9), 7399–7406, 1984) for a pure sulfur/oxygen atmosphere. If a significant source of NaO2or Na2O were supplied by the surface and mixed rapidly upward, then oxygen liberated in the chemical reactions which also liberate free Na would provide an additional source of O2. Fast eddy mixing will enhance the transport of molecular sodium species to the exobase, in addition to increasing the vertical transport rate of ions. Ions produced in the atmosphere will be accelerated by the reduced corotation electric field penetrating the atmosphere. These ions experience collisions with the neutral gas, leading to enhanced vertical ion diffusion. The dominant ion, Na+, is lost primarily by charge exchange with Na2O and/or Na2S in the lower atmosphere and by diffusion through the ionopause in the upper atmosphere. The atmospheric column abundance of SO, O2, and the upper atmosphere escape rates of Na, S, O, and molecular sodium species are all strong functions of the eddy mixing rate. Most atmospheric escape, including that of molecular sodium species, probably occurs from the low density “background” SO2atmosphere, while a localized high density “volcanic” SO2atmosphere can yield an ionosphere consistent with that detected by the Pioneer 10 spacecraft.  相似文献   

17.
Io’s sublimation-driven atmosphere is modeled using the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. These rarefied gas dynamics simulations improve upon earlier models by using a three-dimensional domain encompassing the entire planet computed in parallel. The effects of plasma heating, planetary rotation, inhomogeneous surface frost, molecular residence time of SO2 on the exposed (non-volatile) rocky surface, and surface temperature distribution are investigated. Circumplanetary flow is predicted to develop from the warm dayside toward the cooler nightside. Io’s rotation leads to a highly asymmetric frost surface temperature distribution (due to the frost’s high thermal inertia) which results in circumplanetary flow that is not axi-symmetric about the subsolar point. The non-equilibrium thermal structure of the atmosphere, specifically vibrational and rotational temperatures, is also examined. Plasma heating is found to significantly inflate the atmosphere on both the dayside and nightside. The plasma energy flux causes high temperatures at high altitudes but plasma energy depletion through the dense gas column above the warmest frost permits gas temperatures cooler than the surface at low altitudes. A frost map (Douté, S., Schmitt, B., Lopes-Gautier, R., Carlson, R., Soderblom, L., Shirley, J., and the Galileo NIMS Team [2001]. Icarus 149, 107-132) is used to control the sublimated flux of SO2 which can result in inhomogeneous column densities that vary by nearly a factor of four for the same surface temperature. A short residence time for SO2 molecules on the “rock” component is found to smooth lateral atmospheric inhomogeneities caused by variations in the surface frost distribution, creating an atmosphere that looks nearly identical to one with uniform frost coverage. A longer residence time is found to agree better with mid-infrared observations (Spencer, J.R., Lellouch, E., Richter, M.J., López-Valverde, M.A., Jessup, K.L, Greathouse, T.K., Flaud, J. [2005]. Icarus 176, 283-304) and reproduce the observed anti-jovian/sub-jovian column density asymmetry. The computed peak dayside column density for Io assuming a surface frost temperature of 115 K agrees with those suggested by Lyman-α observations (Feaga, L.M., McGrath, M., Feldman, P.D. [2009]. Icarus 201, 570-584). On the other hand, the peak dayside column density at 120 K is a factor of five larger and is higher than the upper range of observations (Jessup, K.L., Spencer, J.R., Ballester, G.E., Howell, R.R., Roesler, F., Vigel, M., Yelle, R. [2004]. Icarus 169, 197-215; Spencer et al., 2005).  相似文献   

18.
Using the Hubble Space Telescope's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph we have obtained for the first time spatially resolved 2000-3000 Å spectra of Io's Prometheus plume and adjoining regions on Io's anti-jovian hemisphere in the latitude range 60° N-60° S, using a 0.1″ slit centered on Prometheus and tilted roughly 45° to the spin axis. The SO2 column density peaked at 1.25×1017 cm−2 near the equator, with an additional 5×1016 cm−2 enhancement over Prometheus corresponding to a model volcanic SO2 output of 105 kg s−1. Apart from the Prometheus peak, the SO2 column density dropped fairly smoothly away from the subsolar point, even over regions that included potential volcanic sources. At latitudes less than ±30°, the dropoff rate was consistent with control by vapor pressure equilibrium with surface frost with subsolar temperature 117.3±0.6 K, though SO2 abundance was higher than predicted by vapor pressure control at mid-latitudes, especially in the northern hemisphere. We conclude that, at least at low latitudes on the anti-jovian hemisphere where there are extensive deposits of optically-thick SO2 frost, the atmosphere is probably primarily supported by sublimation of surface frost. Although the 45° tilt of our slit prevents us from separating the dependence of atmospheric density on solar zenith angle from its dependence on latitude, the pattern is consistent with a sublimation atmosphere regardless of which parameter is the dominant control. The observed drop in gas abundance towards higher latitudes is consistent with the interpretation of previous Lyman alpha images of Io as indicating an atmosphere concentrated at low latitudes. Comparison with previous disk-resolved UV spectroscopy, Lyman-alpha images, and mid-infrared spectroscopy suggests that Io's atmosphere is denser and more widespread on the anti-jovian hemisphere than at other longitudes. SO2 gas temperatures were in the range of 150-250 K over the majority of the anti-jovian hemisphere, consistent with previous observations. SO was not definitively detected in our spectra, with upper limits to the SO/SO2 ratio in the range 1-10%, roughly consistent with previous observations. S2 gas was not seen anywhere, with an upper limit of 7.5×1014 cm−2 for the Prometheus plume, confirming that this plume is significantly poorer in S2 than the Pele plume (S2 /SO2<0.005, compared to 0.08-0.3 at Pele). In addition to the gas absorption signatures, we have observed continuum emission in the near ultraviolet (near 2800 Å) for the first time. The brightness of the observed emission was directly correlated with the SO2 abundance, strongly peaking in the equatorial region over Prometheus. Emission brightness was modestly anti-correlated with the jovian magnetic latitude, decreasing when Io intersected the torus centrifugal equator.  相似文献   

19.
Induced electrical currents within Europa inferred from Galileo spacecraft magnetometer instrument data have been interpreted as due to a salty europan ocean. Published compositional models for Europa's ocean, based on aqueous leaching of carbonaceous chondrites, range over five orders of magnitude in predicted magnesium sulfate concentrations. We combine the Galileo spacecraft magnetometer-derived oceanic conductivities and radio Doppler data-derived interior models with laboratory conductivity vs concentration data for both magnesium sulfate solutions and terrestrial seawater to determine empirically the range of salt concentrations permitted for Europa's ocean. Solutions for both a three-layer spherical model, and a five-layer half-space model, that satisfy current preferred best fits to magnetometer data imply high, near-saturation salt concentrations and require a europan ice shell of less than 15 km thick, with a best fit at 4 km ice thickness. Adding a conductive core and mantle has a negligible effect on the amplitude when ocean conductivities are greater than a few Siemens per meter. Similarly, we find that including a realistic ionosphere has a negligible effect. We examine the implications of these results for the subsurface habitability of Europa.  相似文献   

20.
The mid-infrared spectra of mixed vapor deposited ices of CO2 and H2O were studied as a function of both deposition temperature and warming from 15 to 100 K. The spectra of ices deposited at 15 K show marked changes on warming beginning at 60 K. These changes are consistent with CO2 segregating within the ice matrix into pure CO2 domains. Ices deposited at 60 and 70 K show a greater degree of segregation, as high as 90% for 1:4 CO2:H2O ice mixtures deposited at 70 K. As the ice is warmed above 80 K, preferential sublimation of the segregated CO2 is observed. The kinetics of the segregation process is also examined. The segregation of the CO2 as the ice is warmed corresponds to temperatures at which the structure of the water ice matrix changes from the high density amorphous phase to the low density amorphous phase. We show how these microstructural changes in the ice have a profound effect on the photochemistry induced by ultraviolet irradiation. These experimental results provide a framework in which observations of CO2 on the icy bodies of the outer Solar System can be considered.  相似文献   

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