14N15N detectability in Pluto’s atmosphere

Abstract

Based on the vapor pressure behavior of Pluto’s surface ices, Pluto’s atmosphere is expected to be predominantly composed of N2 gas. Measurement of the N2 isotopologue 15N/14N ratio within Pluto’s atmosphere would provide important clues to the evolution of Pluto’s atmosphere from the time of formation to its present state. The most straightforward way of determining the N2 isotopologue 15N/14N ratio in Pluto’s atmosphere is via spectroscopic observation of the 14N15N gas species. Recent calculations of the 80–100nm absorption behavior of the 14N2 and 14N15N isotopologues by Heays et al. (Heays, A.N. et al. [2011]. J. Chem. Phys. 135, 244301), Lewis et al. (Lewis, B.R., Heays, A.N., Gibson, S.T., Lefebvre-Brion, H., Lefebvre, R. [2008]. J. Chem. Phys. 129, 164306); Lewis et al. (Lewis, B.R., Gibson, S.T., Zhang, W., Lefebvre-Brion, H., Robbe, J.-M. [2005]. J. Chem. Phys. 122, 144302), and Haverd et al. (Haverd, V.E., Lewis, B.R., Gibson, S.T., Stark, G. [2005]. J. Chem. Phys. 123, 214304) show that the peak magnitudes of the 14N2 and 14N15N absorption bandhead cross-sections are similar, but the locations of the bandhead peaks are offset in wavelength by ∼0.05–0.1nm. These offsets make the segregation of the 14N2 and 14N15N absorption signatures possible. We use the most recent N2 isotopologue absorption cross-section calculations and the atmospheric density profiles resulting from photochemical models developed by Krasnopolsky and Cruickshank (Krasnopolsky, V.A., Cruickshank, D.P. [1999]. J. Geophys. Res. 104, 21979–21996) to predict the level of solar light that will be transmitted through Pluto’s atmosphere as a function of altitude during a Pluto solar occultation. We characterize the detectability of the isotopic absorption signature per altitude assuming 14N15N concentrations ranging from 0.1% to 2% of the 14N2 density and instrumental spectral resolutions ranging from 0.01 to 0.3nm. Our simulations indicate that optical depth of unity is attained in the key 14N15N absorption bands located between 85 and 90nm at altitudes ∼1100–1600km above Pluto’s surface. Additionally, an 14N15N isotope absorption depth ∼4–15% is predicted for observations obtained at these altitudes at a spectral resolution of ∼0.2–0.3nm, if the N2 isotopologue 15N/14N percent ratio is comparable to the 0.37–0.6% ratio observed at Earth, Titan and Mars. If we presume that the predicted absorption depth must be at least 25% greater than the expected observational uncertainty, then it follows that a statistically significant detection of these signatures and constraint of the N2 isotopologue 14N/15N ratio within Pluto’s atmosphere will be possible if the attainable observational signal-to noise (S/N) ratio is ⩾9. The New Horizons (NH) Mission will be able to obtain high S/N, 0.27–0.35nm full-width half-max 80–100nm spectral observations of Pluto using the Alice spectrograph. Based on the NH/Alice specifications we have simulated 0.3nm spectral resolution solar occultation spectra for the 1100–1600km altitude range, assuming 30 s integration times. These simulations indicate that NH/Alice will obtain spectral observations within this altitude range with a S/N ratio ∼25–50, and should be able to reliably detect the 14N15N gas absorption signature between 85 and 90nm if the 14N15N concentration is ∼0.3% or greater. This, additionally, implies that the non-detection of the 14N15N species in the 1100–1600km range by NH/Alice may be used to reliably establish an upper limit to the N2 isotopologue 15N/14N ratio within Pluto’s atmosphere. Similar results may be derived from 0.2 to 0.3nm spectral resolution observations of any other N2-rich Solar System or exoplanet atmosphere, provided the observations are attained with similar S/N levels.