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The “Ice Giants” Uranus and Neptune are a different class of planet compared to Jupiter and Saturn. Studying these objects is important for furthering our understanding of the formation and evolution of the planets, and unravelling the fundamental physical and chemical processes in the Solar System. The importance of filling these gaps in our knowledge of the Solar System is particularly acute when...
The intensity of Saturn’s infrared H3+ aurora is investigated using Cassini VIMS images acquired during October 2006–February 2009. Polar and main oval auroral regions were defined in both hemispheres, which extend between 0–10° and 10–25° co-latitude, respectively. Average intensities were computed for these regions and compared. While the northern and southern main oval regions covered a similar...
We present a detailed analysis of the H +3 intensity and velocity profiles crossing Saturn's auroral/polar region, as described by Stallard et al. [Stallard, T., Miller, S., Melin, H., Lystrup, M., Dougherty, M., Achilleos, N., 2007. Icarus 189, 1–13], with a view to understanding the magnetospheric processes with which they are connected. The data are not consistent with the theory that...
We present an analysis of an extensive dataset of observations of the auroral/polar regions of Saturn, carried out in 2004 and 2005 using the high-resolution facility spectrometer CSHELL on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The paper outlines the morphology of emission in the H +3 ν2 Q(1,0−) line at 3.953 μm across the planet's southern auroral/polar region,...
We present results from the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope observations of the impact of Deep Impact with Comet 9P/Tempel 1, on July 4, 2005 UT. These observations were carried out in conjunction with the worldwide observing campaign co-ordinated by K.J. Meech [Meech, K.J., and 208 colleagues, 2005. Science 310, 265–269]. The UKIRT team was the first to observe and announce the successful impact...
We present results from the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope observations of the impact of Deep Impact with Comet 9P/Tempel 1, on July 4, 2005 UT. These observations were carried out in conjunction with the worldwide observing campaign co-ordinated by K.J. Meech [Meech, K.J., and 208 colleagues, 2005. Science 310, 265–269]. The UKIRT team was the first to observe and announce the successful impact...
We present an analysis of observations of the auroral/polar regions of Saturn, carried out in 1999, 2004 and 2005, making use of the facility spectrometer, CGS4, on the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT), Mauna Kea, Hawaii. We obtain temperatures of 380(±70) K in 1999 and 420(±70) K in 2004. (The 2005 data has insufficient spectral resolution for a temperature determination to be made.) Our...
We present an analysis of a series of observations of the auroral/polar regions of Jupiter, carried out between September 8 and 11, 1998, making use of the high-resolution spectrometer, CSHELL, on the NASA InfraRed Telescope Facility (IRTF), Mauna Kea, Hawaii; these observations spanned an “auroral heating event.” This analysis combines the measured line intensities and ion velocities with a one-dimensional...
Calculations of column intensities are performed for a number of infrared transitions of the H3+ molecular ion, using a model atmosphere recently produced by Grodent et al. [2001. A self-consistent model of the jovian auroral thermal structure. J. Geophys. Res. 106, 12933–12952]. The line intensities integrated along the line of sight through the model atmosphere are first computed assuming that all...
We use the fully coupled, three-dimensional, global circulation Jovian Ionospheric Model (JIM) to calculate the coupling between ions in the jovian auroral ovals and the co-existing neutral atmosphere. The model shows that ions subject to drift motion around the auroral oval, as a result of the E×B coupling between a meridional, equatorward electric field and the jovian magnetic field, generate neutral...
Recent work has been concerned with calculating the three-dimensional ion concentrations and Pedersen and Hall conductivities within the auroral region of Jupiter for varying conditions of incident electron precipitation. Using the jovian ionospheric model, we present results that show the auroral ionospheric response to changing the incoming flux of precipitating electrons (for constant initial energy)...
We present the first reported measurements of the intensity of a ''hotband'' transition for the H 3+ molecular ion in the northern auroral/polar region of Jupiter. This transition is identified as the R(3, 4 + ) line of the (2v 2 (l=0)->v 2 ) hotband, with a wavelength of 3.94895 μm. This is the first time such a transition has been measured outside the laboratory,...
We present profiles of the line-of-sight ionospheric wind velocities in the northern auroral/polar region of Jupiter. Our velocities are derived from the measurement of Doppler shifting of the H 3+ ν 2 Q(1,0 - ) line at 3.953 μm. The data for this study were obtained using the facility high-resolution spectrometer CSHELL on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on...
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