Calibrating the Submillimetre Sky

For astronomers, one of the most important things in order to be able to confirm and compare the huge amount of data received during the observations is to have accurate calibration references. In astronomy, millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths are important to study relatively cold objects in the Universe, such as the interstellar medium, star forming regions, circumstellar matter, planetary atmospheres and highly red-shifted objects.  Reference calibration standards are, however, very scarce specially at submillimetre wavelengths (Bands 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the Atacama Large Millimetre Array, ALMA, in Northern Chile).

Fortunately, some years ago a team of astronomers suggested the use of the planets of our Solar System as possible calibration references at submillimetre wavelengths. First works developed on that subject revealed the submillimetre lines of Phosphine (PH3) in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn, although the overall shape of these extremely wide features could not be measured due to technical limitations.

Now, for the first time, a team has measured the emission of the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn across the 0.3 to 1.3 mm wavelength range using a Fourier Transform Spectrometer mounted on the 10.4-meter dish of the CSO, Caltech Submillimetre Observatory (now retired) at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, 4100 meters above sea level. The calibrated data allowed the team to verify the predictions of standard radiative transfer models for both planets in this spectral region, and to confirm the absolute radiometry in the case of Jupiter.

This careful calibration included the evaluation of the antenna performance over such a wide wavelength range and the removal of the Earth’s atmosphere effects, allowing the detection of broad absorption features on those planets’ atmospheres.

As mentioned by Juan Ramón Pardo (lead author of the study, ICMM-CSIC, Spain), “Besides their physical interest, the results are also important as both planets are calibration references in the current era of operating ground-based and space-borne submillimetre instruments”.

Jupiter and Saturn are gaseous giants much larger but less dense than the inner rocky planets of our Solar System. Their atmospheres are extremely thick. Very wide collision-broadened lines of Ammonia (NH3) and Phosphine (PH3) dominate the overall shape of their submillimetre spectrum. Most of the several thousand exoplanets discovered to date are gaseous giants thought to be similar to Jupiter and Saturn. Therefore, the now measured submillimetre spectrum of our giant neighbours could also help as a reference in future spectroscopic studies of other planetary systems.

More information:

This research was presented in a paper entitled “Ground-based measurements of the 1.3 to 0.3 mm spectrum of Jupiter and Saturn, and their detailed calibration” by Juan R. Pardo et al., to appear in the journal Icarus on July 1st 2017, but already available on-line: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019103516303827

 The team is composed of Juan R. Pardo (Molecular Astrophysics Group, ICMM, CSIC, Spain); Eugene Serabyn (NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, USA); Martina C. Wiedner (LERMA, Paris Observatory, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC, France); Raphäel Moreno (LESIA, Paris-Meudon Observatory, France); Glenn Orton (NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, USA).

Source of Jupiter Raw Image: technotifier.com