The north-south asymmetry of polarization of Jupiter: The causes of seasonal variations

Shalygina, O. S.; Korokhin, V. V.; Starukhina, L. V.; Shalygin, E. V.; Marchenko, G. P.; Velikodsky, Yu. I.; Starodubtseva, O. M.; Akimov, L. A.

doi:10.1134/s0038094608010024

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Interestingly, the polarisation is consistently higher at the south pole than at the north pole. This appears to be a seasonal effect that has been observed and described before (Shalygina et al 2008). Schmid et al (2011) show from observations taken in 2003 that there is a higher polarisation across the south polar region than across the north polar region, which our results are also consistent with.…”

Section: Polarimetric Mapssupporting

confidence: 92%

“…This corresponds to approximately 1/30th of Jupiter's rotation period (9.9 h) or 12 deg of rotation, ultimately meaning that a different region of the planet was sampled, which could be the cause of some of the differences in flux and polarisation between filters. The results compare favourably with previous studies, such as Shalygina et al (2008), who also found that from the average of 15 datasets taken over 23 yr, the southern polar region of Jupiter was more strongly polarised at blue wavelengths than the northern polar region. Schmid et al (2011) also observed this from spectropolarimetric observations with the slit positioned at the polar regions.…”

Section: Polarimetric Mapssupporting

confidence: 88%

“…The value of polarisation and the variation across latitude in the V filter data are similar to those from other recent studies (Gorosabel et al 2015). The difference in polarisation between the belts and zones is more prominent in the data presented here than in the work by Shalygina et al (2008). This is especially made evident by the different wavelength bands used in this work and also the better viewing conditions in dataset IP5.…”

Section: Polarimetric Mapsmentioning

confidence: 59%

“…The polarisation in the equatorial region was observed to change direction with distance from the centre of the planetary disk, while the absolute value of polarisation remained small. Other observational studies over the last 50 yr or so have confirmed the measurement by Lyot of the stronger polarisation in the polar regions, reaching around 7-8% in blue light (Dollfus 1957;Gehrels et al 1969;Morozhenko & Yanovitskii 1973;Hall & Riley 1976;Carlson & Lutz 1989;Starodubtseva et al 2002;Shalygina et al 2008). The most recent study is by Schmid et al (2011), who carried out imaging polarimetry and spectropolarimetry of Jupiter, showing a relatively high polarisation at the poles, with a maximum of around 11.5% in the south and 10% in the north, where spring had just started, for a phase angle near 10.4 • .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 59%

“…Also, the position angle seems to vary with wavelength and time; the latter is possibly indicative of seasonal variations in the Jovian atmosphere. Previous studies (Lyot 1929;Dollfus 1957;Gehrels et al 1969;Morozhenko & Yanovitskii 1973;Hall & Riley 1976;Carlson & Lutz 1989;Starodubtseva et al 2002;Shalygina et al 2008;Schmid et al 2011) have mostly shown a polarisation around the equator that is parallel to the scattering plane, and the polarisation in the polar regions usually perpendicular to the scattering plane. Some of our data is consistent with this, and mostly shows a polarisation that is perpendicular to the scattering plane in the polar regions.…”

Section: Polarimetric Mapsmentioning

confidence: 96%

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A polarimetric investigation of Jupiter: Disk-resolved imaging polarimetry and spectropolarimetry

McLean

Stam

Bagnulo

et al. 2017

A&A

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Context. Polarimetry is a powerful remote sensing tool to characterise solar system planets and, potentially, to detect and characterise exoplanets. The linear polarisation of a planet as a function of wavelength and phase angle is sensitive to the cloud and haze particle properties in planetary atmospheres, as well as to their altitudes and optical thicknesses. Aims. We present for the first time polarimetric signals of Jupiter mapped over the entire disk, showing features such as contrasts between the belts and zones, the polar regions, and the Great Red Spot. We investigate the use of these maps for atmospheric characterisation and discuss the potential application of polarimetry to the study of the atmospheres of exoplanets. Methods. We have obtained polarimetric images of Jupiter, in the B, V, and R filters, over a phase angle range of α = 4 •-10.5 •. In addition, we have obtained two spectropolarimetric datasets, over the wavelength range 500-850 nm. An atmospheric model was sought for all of the datasets, which was consistent with the observed behaviour over the wavelength and phase angle range. Results. The polarimetric maps show clear latitudinal structure, with increasing polarisation towards the polar regions, in all filters. The spectropolarimetric datasets show a decrease in polarisation as a function of wavelength along with changes in the polarisation in methane absorption bands. A model fit was achieved by varying the cloud height and haze optical thickness; this can roughly produce the variation across latitude for the V and R filters, but not for the B filter data. The same model particles are also able to produce a close fit to the spectropolarimetric data. The atmosphere of Jupiter is known to be complex in structure, and data taken at intermediate phase angles (unreachable for Earth-based telescopes) seems essential for a complete characterisation of the atmospheric constituents. Because exoplanets orbit other stars, they are observable at intermediate phase angles and thus promise to be better targets for Earthbased polarimetry.

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Section: Polarimetric Mapssupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Polarimetric Mapssupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Polarimetric Mapsmentioning

confidence: 59%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 59%

Section: Polarimetric Mapsmentioning

confidence: 96%

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A polarimetric investigation of Jupiter: Disk-resolved imaging polarimetry and spectropolarimetry

McLean

Stam

Bagnulo

et al. 2017

A&A

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Polarimetry of Solar System minor bodies and planets

Bagnulo,

Belskaya,

Cellino

et al. 2024

Astron Astrophys Rev

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Spectropolarimetry as a tool for understanding the diversity of planetary atmospheres

et al. 2021

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The polarization state of starlight reflected by a planetary atmosphere uniquely reveals coverage, particle size, and composition of aerosols as well as changing cloud patterns. It is not possible to obtain a comparable level of detail from flux-only observations. It is therefore a powerful tool to better understand the crucial role played by clouds and aerosols in the chemistry, dynamics, and radiative balance of a planet. Furthermore, polarization observations can probe the atmosphere of planets independently of the orbital geometry (hence it applies to both transiting and non-transiting exoplanets). A high-resolution spectropolarimeter with a broad wavelength coverage, particularly if attached to a large space telescope, would enable simultaneous study of the polarimetric planetary properties of the continuum and to look for and characterize the polarimetric signal due to scattering from single molecules, providing detailed information about the composition and vertical structure of the atmosphere.

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The north-south asymmetry of polarization of Jupiter: The causes of seasonal variations

Cited by 7 publications

References 21 publications

A polarimetric investigation of Jupiter: Disk-resolved imaging polarimetry and spectropolarimetry

A polarimetric investigation of Jupiter: Disk-resolved imaging polarimetry and spectropolarimetry

Polarimetry of Solar System minor bodies and planets

Spectropolarimetry as a tool for understanding the diversity of planetary atmospheres

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