Tropospheric Composition and Circulation of Uranus with ALMA and the VLA

被引:17
|
作者
Molter, Edward M. [1 ]
de Pater, Imke [1 ,2 ]
Luszcz-Cook, Statia [3 ,4 ]
Tollefson, Joshua [1 ]
Sault, Robert J. [5 ]
Butler, Bryan [6 ]
de Boer, David [1 ]
机构
[1] Univ Calif Berkeley, Astron Dept, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
[2] Delft Univ Technol, Fac Aerosp Engn, NL-2629 HS Delft, Netherlands
[3] Columbia Univ, Dept Astron, Pupin Hall,538 West 120th St, New York, NY 10027 USA
[4] Amer Museum Nat Hist, Astrophys Dept, Cent Pk West 79th St, New York, NY 10024 USA
[5] Univ Melbourne, Sch Phys, Parkville, Vic, Australia
[6] Natl Radio Astron Observ, Socorro, NM USA
来源
PLANETARY SCIENCE JOURNAL | 2021年 / 2卷 / 01期
关键词
DEEP ATMOSPHERE; THERMAL STRUCTURE; BRIGHTNESS TEMPERATURE; VERTICAL STRUCTURE; ENERGY-BALANCE; AMMONIA; METHANE; DYNAMICS; SPECTRA; WATER;
D O I
10.3847/PSJ/abc48a
中图分类号
P1 [天文学];
学科分类号
0704 ;
摘要
We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and Very Large Array (VLA) spatial maps of the Uranian atmosphere taken between 2015 and 2018 at wavelengths from 1.3 mm to 10 cm, probing pressures from similar to 1 to similar to 50 bar at spatial resolutions from 0 ''. 1 to 0 ''.8. Radiative transfer modeling was performed to determine the physical origin of the brightness variations across Uranus's disk. The radio-dark equator and midlatitudes of the planet (south of similar to 50 degrees N) are well fit by a deep H2S mixing ratio of 8.7 (+ 3.1) (-1.5)x 10 (-4) ( 37 (+ 13)(-6 ) xsolar) and a deep NH3 mixing ratio of 1.7(-0.4)( + 0.7) x 10 (-4) ( 1.4( 0.3) (+0.5) solar), in good agreement with models of Uranus's disk-averaged spectrum from the literature. The north polar region is very bright at all frequencies northward of X50 degrees N, which we attribute to strong depletions extending down to the NH4SH layer in both NH3 and H2S relative to the equatorial region; the model is consistent with an NH3 abundance of 4.7 (+2.1)(-1.8) x10 (-7 )and an H2S abundance of < 1.9 x 10(-7) between similar to 20 and similar to 50 bar. Combining this observed depletion in condensible molecules with methane-sensitive near-infrared observations from the literature suggests large-scale downwelling in the north polar vortex region from similar to 0.1 to similar to 50 bar. The highest-resolution maps reveal zonal radio-dark and radio-bright bands at 20 degrees S, 0 degrees, and 20 degrees N, as well as zonal banding within the north polar region. The difference in brightness is a factor of similar to 10 less pronounced in these bands than the difference between the north pole and equator, and additional observations are required to determine the temperature, composition, and vertical extent of these features.
引用
收藏
页数:16
相关论文
共 50 条
  • [1] CLEARER CIRCULATION ON URANUS
    READ, PL
    NATURE, 1987, 325 (6101) : 197 - 198
  • [2] Evidence of a Polar Cyclone on Uranus From VLA Observations
    Akins, Alex
    Hofstadter, Mark
    Butler, Bryan
    Friedson, A. James
    Molter, Edward
    Parisi, Marzia
    de Pater, Imke
    GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, 2023, 50 (10)
  • [3] VLA OBSERVATIONS OF URANUS AT 1.3-20 CM
    DEPATER, I
    GULKIS, S
    ICARUS, 1988, 75 (02) : 306 - 323
  • [4] ALMA and VLA observations of the HD 141569 system
    White, Jacob Aaron
    Boley, A. C.
    MacGregor, M. A.
    Hughes, A. M.
    Wilner, D. J.
    MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, 2018, 474 (04) : 4500 - 4506
  • [5] ALMA and VLA observations of emission from the environment of Sgr A*
    Yusef-Zadeh, F.
    Schodel, R.
    Wardle, M.
    Bushouse, H.
    Cotton, W.
    Royster, M. J.
    Kunneriath, D.
    Roberts, D. A.
    Gallego-Cano, E.
    MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, 2017, 470 (04) : 4209 - 4221
  • [6] GEOMAGNETISM AND TROPOSPHERIC CIRCULATION
    SAWYER, JS
    NATURE, 1974, 252 (5482) : 368 - 370
  • [7] ALMA and VLA Observations of EX Lupi in Its Quiescent State
    White, Jacob Aaron
    Kospal, A.
    Hughes, A. G.
    Abraham, P.
    Akimkin, V.
    Banzatti, A.
    Chen, L.
    de Miera, F. Cruz-Saenz
    Dutrey, A.
    Flock, M.
    Guilloteau, S.
    Hales, A. S.
    Henning, T.
    Kadam, K.
    Semenov, D.
    Sicilia-Aguilar, A.
    Teague, R.
    Vorobyov, E. I.
    ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, 2020, 904 (01):
  • [8] URANUS SATELLITES - DENSITIES AND COMPOSITION
    JOHNSON, TV
    BROWN, RH
    POLLACK, JB
    JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS, 1987, 92 (A13): : 14884 - 14894
  • [9] ALMA and VLA observations of the outflows in IRAS 16293-2422
    Loinard, Laurent
    Zapata, Luis A.
    Rodriguez, Luis F.
    Pech, Gerardo
    Chandler, Claire J.
    Brogan, Crystal L.
    Wilner, David J.
    Ho, Paul T. P.
    Parise, Berengere
    Hartmann, Lee W.
    Zhu, Zhaohuan
    Takahashi, Satoko
    Trejo, Alfonso
    MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, 2013, 430 (01) : L10 - L14
  • [10] ON THE STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION OF URANUS AND NEPTUNE
    PODOLAK, M
    REYNOLDS, RT
    ICARUS, 1981, 46 (01) : 40 - 50