Ionospheric irregularities at Jupiter observed by JWST
Henrik Melin, James O’Donoghue, Luke Moore, Tom Stallard, Leigh N. Fletcher, Michael T. Roman, Jake Harkett, Oliver King, Emma Thomas, Ruoyan Wang, Paola Tiranti, Katie Knowles, Imke de Pater, Thierry Fouchet, P. H. Fry, Michael H. Wong, Bryan J. Holler, R. Hueso, M. K. James, Glenn S. Orton, A. Mura, A. Sánchez‐Lavega, E. Lellouch, Katherine de Kleer, M. R. Showalter
Abstract
Abstract Jupiter’s upper atmosphere is composed of a neutral thermosphere and charged ionosphere. In the latter, the dominant molecular ion H 3 + emits in the near-infrared, allowing for the remote exploration of the physical properties of the upper atmosphere. However, the Jovian low-latitude ionosphere remains largely unexplored because H 3 + emissions from this region are faint and spectrally entangled with bright neutral species, such as CH 4 . Here, we present James Webb Space Telescope H 3 + observations of Jupiter’s low-latitude ionosphere in the region of the Great Red Spot, showing unexpected small-scale intensity features such as arcs, bands and spots. Our observations may imply that the low-latitude ionosphere of Jupiter is strongly coupled to the lower atmosphere via gravity waves that superimpose to produce this complex and intricate morphology.