Rotational Light Curves of Jupiter from Ultraviolet to Mid-infrared and Implications for Brown Dwarfs and Exoplanets
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH (United Kingdom)
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States)
- Planetary Plasma and Atmospheric Research Center, Tohoku University, Aramaki-aza-Aoba 6-3, Aoba, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8578 (Japan)
- Institute of Space and Astronomical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 3-1-1, Yoshinodai, Chuo-ko, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5210 (Japan)
- Subaru Telescope, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, 650 North A’ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720 (United States)
Rotational modulations are observed on brown dwarfs and directly imaged exoplanets, but the underlying mechanism is not well understood. Here we analyze Jupiter’s rotational light curves at 12 wavelengths from the ultraviolet (UV) to the mid-infrared (mid-IR). The peak-to-peak amplitudes of Jupiter’s light curves range from subpercent to 4% at most wavelengths, but the amplitude exceeds 20% at 5 μm, a wavelength sensing Jupiter’s deep troposphere. Jupiter’s rotational modulations are primarily caused by discrete patterns in the cloudless belts instead of the cloudy zones. The light-curve amplitude is controlled by the sizes and brightness contrasts of the Great Red Spot (GRS), expansions of the North Equatorial Belt (NEB), patchy clouds in the North Temperate Belt (NTB), and a train of hot spots in the NEB. In reflection, the contrast is controlled by upper tropospheric and stratospheric hazes, clouds, and chromophores in the clouds. In thermal emission, the small rotational variability is caused by the spatial distribution of temperature and opacities of gas and aerosols; the large variation is caused by the NH{sub 3} cloud holes and thin-thick clouds. The methane-band light curves exhibit opposite-shape behavior compared with the UV and visible wavelengths, caused by a wavelength-dependent brightness change of the GRS. Light-curve evolution is induced by periodic events in the belts and longitudinal drifting of the GRS and patchy clouds in the NTB. This study suggests several interesting mechanisms related to distributions of temperature, gas, hazes, and clouds for understanding the observed rotational modulations on brown dwarfs and exoplanets.
- OSTI ID:
- 22897278
- Journal Information:
- Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online), Vol. 157, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1538-3881
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
HST SPECTRAL MAPPING OF L/T TRANSITION BROWN DWARFS REVEALS CLOUD THICKNESS VARIATIONS
A monitoring campaign for Luhman 16AB. I. Detection of resolved near-infrared spectroscopic variability