Fluorescent Hydroxyl Emissions from Saturn's Ring Atmosphere
Fluorescent Hydroxyl Emissions from Saturn's Ring Atmosphere
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DOI：
10.1126/science.272.5261.516
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发表时间：
1996-04
期刊：
影响因子：
56.9
通讯作者：
D. Hall;P. Feldman;J. Holberg;M. McGrath
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
D. Hall;P. Feldman;J. Holberg;M. McGrath
就在1995年8月10日地球穿过土星环平面之前，哈勃太空望远镜微弱天体摄谱仪探测到了包裹着土星环的OH分子稀薄大气层发出的紫外荧光。土星环的高度随着距离的增加而降低，这意味着土星环的高度大约为0.45土星半径（RS）。A环和B环上方0.28 RS的空间扫描表明OH柱密度约为1013 cm−2，数密度高达700 cm−3。土星环必须每秒产生大约1025至1029个OH分子，以维持观测到的OH分布。
Just before Earth passed through Saturn's ring plane on 10 August 1995, the Hubble Space Telescope Faint Object Spectrograph detected ultraviolet fluorescent emissions from a tenuous atmosphere of OH molecules enveloping the rings. Brightnesses decrease with increasing distance above the rings, implying a scale height of about 0.45 Saturn radii (RS). A spatial scan 0.28RS above the A and B rings indicates OH column densities of about 1013 cm−2 and number densities of up to 700 cm−3. Saturn's rings must produce roughly 1025 to 1029 OH molecules per second to maintain the observed OH distribution.