Searching for Global oscillations of Jupiter
Abstract
The detection of global oscillations of Jupiter would lead to significant advances in our understanding of giant planet internal structure, analogous to the enormous increase in knowledge of the sun's interior facilitated by helioseismology. In particular, the frequencies of p-mode oscillations will be strongly affected by the presence of density discontinuities and the planet's core size and structure. While it is clear from previous observations that such oscillations probably only exist with very small amplitudes, current instrumentation may still be able to detect them. We will describe a proposed experiment to detect (or place a firm upper amplitude limit on) global p-mode oscillations of Jupiter, using a magneto-optical filter on the Mt Wilson 100" telescope. We will describe the operation of the instrument, present preliminary data and describe models of instrument response which show that with 7 nights of data we can expect to detect signals with amplitudes less than 20 cm/s.
- Publication:
-
AAS/Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting Abstracts #32
- Pub Date:
- December 2000
- Bibcode:
- 2000DPS....32.6516M