Auroral and Non‐Auroral H 3 + Ion Winds at Uranus With Keck‐NIRSPEC and IRTF‐iSHELL

Thomas, Emma M.; Stallard, Tom S.; Melin, Henrik; Chowdhury, Mohammad N.; Moore, Luke; O’Donoghue, James; Johnson, Rosie E.; Wang, Ruoyan; Knowles, Katie L.; Tiranti, Paola I.; Dello Russo, Neil; Vervack, Jr., Ron J.; Kawakita, Hideyo

doi:10.1029/2024GL112001

Title: Auroral and Non‐Auroral H ₃ ⁺ Ion Winds at Uranus With Keck‐NIRSPEC and IRTF‐iSHELL

Journal Article · 15 April 2025 · Geophysical Research Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL112001 · OSTI ID:2545930

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^[6]; Kawakita, Hideyo ^[7]

Department of Mathematics Physics &, Electrical Engineering Northumbria University Newcastle Upon Tyne UK
School of Physics and Astronomy University of Leicester Leicester UK
Center for Space Physics Boston University Boston MA USA
Department of Meteorology University of Reading Reading UK
Department of Physics Prifysgol Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth UK
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory Laurel MD USA
Koyama Astronomical Observatory Kyoto Sangyo University Kyoto Japan

Abstract To date, no investigation has documented ionospheric flows at Uranus. Previous investigations of Jupiter and Saturn have demonstrated that mapping ion winds can be used to understand ionospheric currents and how these connect to magnetosphere‐ionosphere coupling. We present a study of Uranus's near infrared emissions (NIR) using data from the Keck II Telescope's Near InfraRed SPECtrograph (NIRSPEC) and the InfraRed Telescope Facility's iSHELL spectrograph. H ₃ ⁺ emission lines were used to derive dawn‐to‐dusk intensity, ionospheric temperatures and ion densities to identify auroral emissions, with their Doppler shifts used to measure ion velocities. We confirm the presence of the southern NIR aurora in 2016, driven by elevated H ₃ ⁺ column densities up to 6.0 × 10 ¹⁶ m ⁻² . While no auroral emissions were detected in 2014, we find a 14%–20% super rotation across the planet's disk in 2014 and a 7%–18% super rotation in 2016.

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Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

OSTI ID:: 2545930

Journal Information:: Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 52; ISSN 0094-8276

Publisher:: American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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