HST/STIS Observations of a Dawn Auroral Storm on Jupiter

The HST/STIS recorded a detailed time series of images and spectra of the UV emissions from a dawn auroral storm on Jupiter on 21 Sept. 1999. The images show complex and evolving fine structure in the storm, while the emission center remained along the main oval and near dawn in magnetic local time. We serendipitously recorded low resolution UV spectra of the north-south spatial distribution of the auroral emissions. These spectra show far stronger hydrocarbon absorptions than observed in any previous auroral spectra. This indicates an unusually deep penetration of the incident primary particles with respect to the neutral atmosphere, and correspondingly high energy of the primary particles. We can thus use these spectra to identify many complex hydrocarbons in Jupiter's auroral atmosphere which are not normally measured in auroral spectra. These results will be presented along with model fits to the spectra derived both from fitting the observed hydrocarbon absorption features and from comparison with a photochemical model for the expected composition of the auroral atmosphere. This research has been supported by grant GO-8171.01-97A from the Space Telescope Science Institute to the University of Michigan.