Variation in the H3+ Emission of Uranus

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©1997. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
, , Citation Hoanh An Lam et al 1997 ApJ 474 L73 DOI 10.1086/310424

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Author affiliations

1 Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, England

2 Visiting Astronomer at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, which is managed and operated for NASA by the University of Hawaii Institute of Astronomy

3 Institute for Astronomy, 2860 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822

4 Joint Astronomy Centre, 660 N. A'ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720

5 McDonald Observatory and Department of Astronomy, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712

6 Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, University of Michigan, 2455 Hayward, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Dates

  1. Received 1996 August 22
  2. Accepted 1996 October 21
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1538-4357/474/1/L73

Abstract

Infrared images of Uranus, obtained in 1993 April, at wavelengths sensitive to the H+3 molecular ion, are presented. These show that spatial variation in the emission from the planet is discernible. Comparison with magnetic field modeling of Uranus indicates that sources of this variation may include auroral activity and other features, but the images show that the spatial variation is more limited than in the case of Jupiter. This conclusion is born out by spectra obtained on four consecutive nights during 1995 June, which show that the overall temporal variability of the H+3 emission is ~20%. Comparison of the 1995 June spectra with data obtained in 1992, and the 1993 images, shows that the overall brightness of H+3 emission of Uranus can vary by a factor of 2 on a timescale of years.

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10.1086/310424