The H3+ ionosphere of Uranus: decades-long cooling and local-time morphology

Henrik Melin; L. N. Fletcher; T. S. Stallard; S. Miller; L. M. Trafton; L. Moore; J. O'Donoghue; Jr R. J. Vervack; N. Dello Russo; L. Lamy; C. Tao; M. N. Chowdhury

doi:10.1098/rsta.2018.0408

The H3+ ionosphere of Uranus: decades-long cooling and local-time morphology

Henrik Melin^*, L. N. Fletcher, T. S. Stallard, S. Miller, L. M. Trafton, L. Moore, J. O'Donoghue, Jr R. J. Vervack, N. Dello Russo, L. Lamy, C. Tao, M. N. Chowdhury

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The upper atmosphere of Uranus has been observed to be slowly cooling between 1993 and 2011. New analysis of near-infrared observations of emission from H3+ obtained between 2012 and 2018 reveals that this cooling trend has continued, showing that the upper atmosphere has cooled for 27 years, longer than the length of a nominal season of 21 years. The new observations have offered greater spatial resolution and higher sensitivity than previous ones, enabling the characterization of the H3+ intensity as a function of local time. These profiles peak between 13 and 15 h local time, later than models suggest. The NASA Infrared Telescope Facility iSHELL instrument also provides the detection of a bright H3+ signal on 16 October 2016, rotating into view from the dawn sector. This feature is consistent with an auroral signal, but is the only of its kind present in this comprehensive dataset.

This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Advances in hydrogen molecular ions: H3+, H5+ and beyond’.

Original language	English
Article number	20180408
Pages (from-to)	1-18
Number of pages	18
Journal	Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
Volume	377
Issue number	2154
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2018.0408
Publication status	Published - 23 Sept 2019
Externally published	Yes

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Cite this

Melin, H., Fletcher, L. N., Stallard, T. S., Miller, S., Trafton, L. M., Moore, L., O'Donoghue, J., R. J. Vervack, J., Russo, N. D., Lamy, L., Tao, C., & Chowdhury, M. N. (2019). The H3+ ionosphere of Uranus: decades-long cooling and local-time morphology. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 377(2154), 1-18. Article 20180408. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2018.0408

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title = "The H3+ ionosphere of Uranus: decades-long cooling and local-time morphology",

abstract = "The upper atmosphere of Uranus has been observed to be slowly cooling between 1993 and 2011. New analysis of near-infrared observations of emission from H3+ obtained between 2012 and 2018 reveals that this cooling trend has continued, showing that the upper atmosphere has cooled for 27 years, longer than the length of a nominal season of 21 years. The new observations have offered greater spatial resolution and higher sensitivity than previous ones, enabling the characterization of the H3+ intensity as a function of local time. These profiles peak between 13 and 15 h local time, later than models suggest. The NASA Infrared Telescope Facility iSHELL instrument also provides the detection of a bright H3+ signal on 16 October 2016, rotating into view from the dawn sector. This feature is consistent with an auroral signal, but is the only of its kind present in this comprehensive dataset.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue {\textquoteleft}Advances in hydrogen molecular ions: H3+, H5+ and beyond{\textquoteright}.",

author = "Henrik Melin and Fletcher, {L. N.} and Stallard, {T. S.} and S. Miller and Trafton, {L. M.} and L. Moore and J. O'Donoghue and {R. J. Vervack}, Jr and Russo, {N. Dello} and L. Lamy and C. Tao and Chowdhury, {M. N.}",

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Melin, H, Fletcher, LN, Stallard, TS, Miller, S, Trafton, LM, Moore, L, O'Donoghue, J, R. J. Vervack, J, Russo, ND, Lamy, L, Tao, C & Chowdhury, MN 2019, 'The H3+ ionosphere of Uranus: decades-long cooling and local-time morphology', Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, vol. 377, no. 2154, 20180408, pp. 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2018.0408

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AU - Melin, Henrik

AU - Fletcher, L. N.

AU - Stallard, T. S.

AU - Miller, S.

AU - Trafton, L. M.

AU - Moore, L.

AU - O'Donoghue, J.

AU - R. J. Vervack, Jr

AU - Russo, N. Dello

AU - Lamy, L.

AU - Tao, C.

AU - Chowdhury, M. N.

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AB - The upper atmosphere of Uranus has been observed to be slowly cooling between 1993 and 2011. New analysis of near-infrared observations of emission from H3+ obtained between 2012 and 2018 reveals that this cooling trend has continued, showing that the upper atmosphere has cooled for 27 years, longer than the length of a nominal season of 21 years. The new observations have offered greater spatial resolution and higher sensitivity than previous ones, enabling the characterization of the H3+ intensity as a function of local time. These profiles peak between 13 and 15 h local time, later than models suggest. The NASA Infrared Telescope Facility iSHELL instrument also provides the detection of a bright H3+ signal on 16 October 2016, rotating into view from the dawn sector. This feature is consistent with an auroral signal, but is the only of its kind present in this comprehensive dataset.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Advances in hydrogen molecular ions: H3+, H5+ and beyond’.

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