My current research uses infrared spectra (which probe Jupiter’s upper atmosphere) from an instrument named NIRSPEC at Keck Observatory. I use h3ppy, a Python package which models and fits H₃⁺ emission lines, to compare bright emission lines in the same wavelength ranges as our data. H₃⁺ is an especially nice molecule to observe thanks to its prevalence in the upper atmospheres of the giant planets and its tendency to emit in regions of methane absorption.
h3ppy derives temperatures and densities from the magnitude ratios of H₃⁺ emission line peaks, and with it, I map these temperatures and ion densities all over Jupiter. This will help determine how the environment in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere varies in local time over varying time spans and location (latitude and magnetic longitude)!
Above figure: Example of the results of calculating temperatures from a single spectrum. Each pixel in the slit (the green line cutting through the planet on the left) has a corresponding spectrum (such as the 2D spectrum in the upper right where each row is an individual spectrum), and thus its temperature and density can be derived using an H₃⁺ model. The fit from h3ppy is shown on the bottom right; specific emissions have been cropped from the wider spectrum (marked with a red X in the top spectrum) for input into the model. These individual fits map to specific longitudes and latitudes on Jupiter – the two examples on the bottom right are single positions at 1N, 132W and 73S, 132W.
Below Figure: preliminary temperatures mapped for 3 nights in 2022 and 2023. These nights overlap significantly in longitude and provide helpful comparisons for how temperature can vary on short (~1 month) and long (~1 year) timespans. They are the focus of my first paper!
Further detail about these plots is available in my first paper, published in Planetary Science Journal. My second paper, currently submitted, will expand from the presented ~30,000 temperature measurements to over 175,000 temperatures and ion densities, present unprecedented global coverage, and provide an explanation for Jupiter’s long-assumed variable ionosphere (because we find it to be stable)!
(Here’s a short article my undergrad did about me and my research!)