Io’s atmosphere: Constraints on sublimation support from density variations on seasonal timescales using NASA IRTF/TEXES observations from 2001 to 2010

► We have fitted 7 years of Io 19 μm spectra from 2001 to 2010. ► Data shows SO 2 atmospheric temperatures are below 150 K, with a mean of 110 ± 18 K. ► Sub-solar SO 2 grew from 0.61 ± 0.15 (2004) to 1.51 ± 0.22 (×10 −17 cm −2) (2010). ► Good correlation of increasing atm. density with decreasing he...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Icarus (New York, N.Y. 1962) N.Y. 1962), 2012, Vol.217 (1), p.277-296
Main Authors: Tsang, Constantine C.C., Spencer, John R., Lellouch, Emmanuel, López-Valverde, Miguel A., Richter, Matthew J., Greathouse, Thomas K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abundance
Albedo
Astronomy
Astrophysics
Atmospheres
Atmospheres, Composition
Correlation
Density
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Frost
Inertia
Jupiter, Satellites
Physics
Solar system
Spectra
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Summary:► We have fitted 7 years of Io 19 μm spectra from 2001 to 2010. ► Data shows SO 2 atmospheric temperatures are below 150 K, with a mean of 110 ± 18 K. ► Sub-solar SO 2 grew from 0.61 ± 0.15 (2004) to 1.51 ± 0.22 (×10 −17 cm −2) (2010). ► Good correlation of increasing atm. density with decreasing heliocentric distance. ► Constraints on thermal inertia and albedos of SO 2 frost were retrieved. We present an analysis of 19 μm spectra of Io’s SO 2 atmosphere from the TEXES mid-infrared high spectral resolution spectrograph on NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility, incorporating new data taken between January 2005 and June 2010 and a re-analysis of earlier data taken from November 2001 to January 2004. This is the longest set of contiguous observations of Io’s atmosphere using the same instrument and technique thus far. We have fitted all 16 detected blended absorption lines of the ν 2 SO 2 vibrational band to retrieve the subsolar values of SO 2 column abundance and the gas kinetic temperature. By incorporating an existing model of Io’s surface temperatures and atmosphere, we retrieve sub-solar column densities from the disk-integrated data. Spectra from all years are best fit by atmospheric temperatures
ISSN:0019-1035
1090-2643
DOI:10.1016/j.icarus.2011.11.005