Near-Infrared Spectra of Jupiter's North Temperate Belt Disturbance (NTBs) of 2007
Abstract
Starting in late 2005, Jupiter has been experiencing an era of atmospheric global upheaval, with various localized and axisymmetric changes occurring all over the planet. We focus on the near-infrared spectra of the North Temperate Belt disturbance (NTBs), at latitude of 24 degrees north. The outbreak was identified late March 2007 as a bright feature high in the atmosphere, which quickly encircled the planet in about two months. Although visible, near- and mid-infrared imaging data was acquired, near-infrared spectra of the feature were acquired with a medium-resolution near-infrared spectrometer, SpeX, at the NASA/Infra Red Telescope Facility (IRTF) on May 1-2, 2007. The feature dissipated within days thereafter. The 15 x 0.8 arc sec slit spectra were spatially resolved into sub apertures along the spectral slit (1.0 x 0.8 arc sec). This allowed us to geometrically register the spectral data for the discrete feature, without losing data integrity. Our first results indicate the presence of ammonia ice, similar to the spectrum of ammonia clouds identified in Galileo/Jupiter data (Baines et al. 2002, Icarus, 159). The strength of the ammonia ice features varies from the localized "head” of the feature along the length of the slit (i.e., longitude). We shall compare these results with (1) spectral analysis of other regions of Jupiter that have not undergone such dramatic changes to determine the differences between them and (2) other spectra obtained from NASA/IRTF and Lick Observatory with The Aerospace Corporation's visible/near-infrared spectrometer VNIRIS to determine the temporal evolution of NTBs disturbance and (3) compare with spectra of other disturbances such as those currently occurring in the South Equatorial Belt (SEB).
- Publication:
-
AAS/Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting Abstracts #39
- Pub Date:
- October 2007
- Bibcode:
- 2007DPS....39.1911Y