Photochemistry of hydrocarbons in the Jovian upper atmosphere

The recent remarkable success of Pioneer 10 has greatly expanded the arena of planetary aeronomy. New and invigorating incentives and justifications now exist for more thorough studies in Jovian upper atmospheric physics and chemistry. One important problem in this area is the problem of the photochemistry of the hydrocarbons. Apart from being interesting in its own right, knowledge of the distributions of the various hydrocarbons is needed in many other studies, too (e.g., the thermal structure). A study of the hydrocarbon photochemistry in the Jovian atmosphere is reported here. (Auth.)