Airglow from Jupiter's nightside and crescent: Ultraviolet spectrometer observations from Voyager 2

Abstract

The Voyager Ultraviolet Spectrometer has made extensive observations of airglow from Jupiter's dark-side equatorial latitudes. The brightness of H Lyman α (Lyα), the only emission detected, varies between 700 and 1000 rayleighs (R) as a function of lungitude. The dark side of Jupiter is illuminated by sky background Lyα arising from resonance scattering of the solar Lyα line by the neutral hydrogen of the interstellar medium. Calculations show that resonance scattering of this sky background by hydrogen in Jupiter's thermosphere will produce about 300 R of Lyα emission. The additional Lyα observed is probably excited by electrons and protons precipitating at equatorial latitudes. Based on the 500-R upper limit set here on the dark-side H 2 Lyman and Werner bands, and the Lyα measurements, the exciting particles are thought to have a soft energy spectrum and deposit about 0.04 erg cm −2 sec −1 in the atmosphere. There is evidence for an asymmetrical precipitation pattern associated with the longitudinal variation in Ly α emission, and a suggestion of a strong day-night difference in precipitation as well.