Abstract
Abstract We obtained the first maps of Jupiter at 1–3 mm wavelength with the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) on 2017 January 3–5, just days after an energetic eruption at 16.°5S jovigraphic latitude had been reported by the amateur community, and about two to three months after the detection of similarly energetic eruptions in the northern hemisphere, at 22.°2–23.°0N. Our observations, probing below the ammonia cloud deck, show that the erupting plumes in the South Equatorial Belt bring up ammonia gas from the deep atmosphere. While models of plume eruptions that are triggered at the water condensation level explain data taken at uv–visible and mid-infrared wavelengths, our ALMA observations provide a crucial, hitherto missing, link in the moist convection theory by showing that ammonia gas from the deep atmosphere is indeed brought up in these plumes. Contemporaneous Hubble Space Telescope data show that the plumes reach altitudes as high as the tropopause. We suggest that the plumes at 22.°2–23.°0N also rise up well above the ammonia cloud deck and that descending air may dry the neighboring belts even more than in quiescent times, which would explain our observations in the north.
Highlights
Numerous ground-based and space-borne telescopes have monitored Jupiter closely during the past few years, being motivated to provide support to NASA’s Juno mission, in particular during close encounters of the spacecraft with Jupiter, referred to as Perijoves (PJs)
We reprojected each 2 GHz wide spectral window map on a longitude/latitude grid, and constructed north–south scans through each of the maps, which are shown in panel A of Figure 2, together with a Very Large Array (VLA) scan from 2013 at 2.6 cm, which probes similar depths to the Atacama Large Millimeter/ Submillimeter Array (ALMA) scans
The background level curves upwards at higher latitudes, because the poles are less limb-darkened than east– west scans along the planet, as shown before from VLA maps and Cassini radiometer data (Moeckel et al 2019)
Summary
Numerous ground-based and space-borne telescopes have monitored Jupiter closely during the past few years, being motivated to provide support to NASA’s Juno mission, in particular during close encounters of the spacecraft with Jupiter, referred to as Perijoves (PJs). Juno data are not included in this paper, the observations discussed were motivated They were carried out in early 2017 January, near Junos originally planned PJ8 (which was 2017 January 11). Contributing uniquely to this campaign, observations were obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/ Submillimeter Array (ALMA). This is the first time that ALMA observed Jupiter’s atmosphere at 1.3 and 3 mm (233 and 97 GHz), probing 40–50 km below the visible ammonia-ice cloud (down to 3–4 bar). Data at these wavelengths complement the Very Large Array (VLA) Jupiter maps of 2013–2014 in the centimeter wavelength range (de Pater et al 2016, 2019; dP16 and dP19, respectively)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
