Cooling by H3+ Emission

Steve Miller*, Tom Stallard, Jonathan Tennyson, Henrik Melin

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

41 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Emission by the H3+ molecular ion may be important in determining the energy balance in astrophysical situations, such as in (exo)planetary atmospheres. Here we report the calculation of a new cooling function, based on refitted partition functions and a recalculation of the total energy emitted by the molecule. This new function gives significantly increased cooling at higher temperatures, typical of those found in the atmospheres of gas giants. It is shown that nonthermal effects also need to be considered. A link to a web-based code to calculate radiative cooling in H2/H3+ gas mixtures, including the effects of departures from equilibrium, is provided.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)9770-9777
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Physical Chemistry A
Volume117
Issue number39
Early online date26 Jul 2013
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Oct 2013
Externally publishedYes

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