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Detection of H3+ on Jupiter

Nature volume 340, pages 539–541 (1989)Cite this article

Abstract

SINCE their detection in the high latitudes of Jupiter, first by the Voyager Ultraviolet Spectrometer (UVS) experiment1,2, then by the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IDE) satellite3, the auroral particle precipitations have been associated with various phenomena in the jovian environment. In the magnetosphere, the H+3 ion, probably of ionospheric origin, was detected in situ by the Voyagers4. Infrared emissions were observed in spectral bands characteristic of CH4 (ref. 5) and of other hydrocarbons6,7, localized in two auroral spots5,8. Here we present high-resolution spectra at a wavelength of 2 μm, in the southern auroral region of Jupiter, recorded at the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), which we believe to be the first astronomical spectroscopic detection of H3+. The derived rotational temperature of H3+ is in the range 1,000–1,200 K. Such strong H3+ lines could be used in future ground-based monitoring of the jovian auroral activity and to search for this molecular ion in the interstellar medium.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Spatial (CNRS-URA264), Observatoire de Paris-Meudon, 92190, Meudon, France

    P. Drossart

  2. Institut d'Astrophysique, 98 Boulevard Arago, 75014, Paris, France

    J.-P. Maillard

  3. Physics Department, York University, 4700 Keele Street, North York, Ontario, M3J IPS, Canada

    J. Caldwell

  4. Astronomy Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20741, USA

    S. J. Kim

  5. Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A OR6, Canada

    J. K. G. Watson & W. A. Majewski

  6. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    J. Tennyson & S. Miller

  7. Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, Space Research Building, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109-2143, USA

    S. K. Atreya & J. T. Clarke

  8. Department of Space Science, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, 78284, USA

    J. H. Waite Jr

  9. Department of Earth and Space Science, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York, 11794-2100, USA

    R. Wagener

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  1. P. Drossart
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  10. J. T. Clarke
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  11. J. H. Waite Jr
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  12. R. Wagener
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Drossart, P., Maillard, JP., Caldwell, J. et al. Detection of H3+ on Jupiter. Nature 340, 539–541 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/340539a0

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