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Ortho-para-hydrogen equilibration on JupiterVoyager IRIS observations reveal that the Jovian para-hydrogen fraction is not in thermodynamic equilibrium near the NH3 cloud top, implying that a vertical gradient exists between the high-temperature equilibrium value of 0.25 at depth and the cloud top values. The height-dependent para-hydrogen profile is obtained using an anisotropic multiple-scattering radiative transfer model. A vertical correlation is found to exist between the location of the para-hydrogen gradient and the NH3 cloud, strongly suggesting that paramagnetic conversion on NH3 cloud particle surfaces is the dominant equilibration mechanism. Below the NH3 cloud layer, the para fraction is constant with depth and equal to the high-temperature equilibrium value of 0.25. The degree of cloud-top equilibration appears to depend on the optical depth of the NH3 cloud layer. Belt-zone variations in the para-hydrogen profile seem to be due to differences in the strength of the vertical mixing.
Document ID
19920061206
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Carlson, Barbara E.
(NASA Goddard Inst. for Space Studies New York, NY, United States)
Lacis, Andrew A.
(NASA Goddard Inst. for Space Studies New York, NY, United States)
Rossow, William B.
(NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies New York, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
July 1, 1992
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal, Part 1
Volume: 393
Issue: 1, Ju
ISSN: 0004-637X
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Accession Number
92A43830
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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