U.S.-France Cooperative Research: The Composition and Structure of Planetary Atmospheres

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This award will support collaborative research between Prof. Tobias Owen, State University of New York at Stony Brook, and a group of French astronomers, led by Dr. Therese Encrenaz, at the Meudon Observatory, CNRS, in France. The objective of this research is to continue a joint study of planetary atmospheres, with particular emphasis on unresolved questions concerning the atmospheres of Venus and Neptune; the historical presence of water on Mars; and the composition of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. In this project, new infrared spectra of the atmospheres of Venus, Jupiter, and Neptune will be obtained and analyzed. In addition, Voyager spacecraft data from Mars will be analyzed. Astronomers at the Meudon Observatory are world leaders in the field of infrared spectroscopy. Although many of the high-resolution spectroscopic measurements are made at the Canada-France-US Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, the Fourier Transform Spectrometer used there was developed by one of the French collaborators. The collaboration thus contributes greatly to the acquisition of the precise experimental data required for this project. The joint experience is also expected to be useful to both sides in the development of future instruments suitable for infrared spectroscopy, such as the Hubble Space Telescope.