Structure of the Jovian Disk in the ν_{2}-BAND of Ammonia at 100000 Å

Abstract

view Abstract Citations (11) References (54) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS Structure of the Jovian Disk in the ν2-BAND of Ammonia at 100000 Å Wildey, Robert L. Abstract New brightness-temperature maps have been obtained for the thermal radiation of Jupiter admitted through the 8-l4-Jh window of the Earth's atmosphere. Maps obtained throughout an apparition ex- hibit real structure other than simple limb darkening and show a variable degree of correlation with the structure of the visible image. Most notable features of the maps are the following: On March 14/15, 1965, there is a very high-albedo south-preceding sector of the disk, not banded entirely across the disk but wide in latitude, which is minimally 5° colder than other regions of comparable limb proximity; the Great Red Spot is 2° colder; a large, dark northern cap is 1°-2° colder. On March 4/5 a dark north- ern cap appears anomalously cool only near sunrise and sunset. The visible- and photographic-infrared cloud layer lies at great optical depth in the ~2 rotational band of NH3 for all wavelengths of photometer response. If, as seems very likely, the emergent specific in- tensity is largely determined by upper atmospheric layers, where the ammonia frost point closely follows the local temperature, then the sharp dependence of the vapor pressure of solid ammonia on temperature confines the emitting molecules to a fairly narrow range in temperature. This militates against the presence of significant contrast, even very noticeable limb darkening, and suggests vertical activity of such a magnitude that quasi-static plane-parallel model atmospheres may be inadequate for providing theoretical consistency among all the observations Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: November 1968 DOI: 10.1086/149795 Bibcode: 1968ApJ...154..761W full text sources ADS | Related Materials (1) Erratum: 1971ApJ...164..395W