Published January 1980
| Version v1
Journal article
Model of SO2 atmosphere and ionosphere of Io
Creators
- 1. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91103
Description
The calculations of thermal structure for an SO2 atmosphere of Io lead to exospheric temperatures in 800--1200K range. The Pioneer 10 electron density profiles can be fit with an SO2 surface density of 1.2 x 1011 cm-3 at 5:30 pm local time and exosphere temperature of 1030 0K. Low energy electrons provide the major ionization source but the solar UV absorption dominates the heating of the atmosphere due to the long wavelength absorption threshold of SO2 and large absorption cross-section
Additional details
Publishing Information
- Journal Title
- Geophys. Res. Lett.
- Journal Volume
- 7
- Journal Issue
- 1
- Series
- Geophys. Res. Lett.
- Journal Page Range
- 9-12
INIS
- Country of Publication
- United States
- Country of Input or Organization
- United States
- INIS RN
- 11550609
- Subject category
- S79: ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY;
- Descriptors DEI
- ELECTRON DENSITY; IONIZATION; JUPITER PLANET; PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES; PLASMA HEATING; SATELLITES; SOLAR RADIATION; SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION; SULFUR OXIDES
- Descriptors DEC
- ATMOSPHERES; CHALCOGENIDES; DISTRIBUTION; HEATING; OXIDES; OXYGEN COMPOUNDS; PLANETS; RADIATIONS; STELLAR RADIATION; SULFUR COMPOUNDS