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Science 21 February 1986:
Vol. 231. no. 4740, pp. 836 - 840
DOI: 10.1126/science.231.4740.836
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Articles

Thermal Spectrum of Uranus: Implications for Large Helium Abundance

GLENN S. ORTON 1

1 Earth and Space Sciences Division, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena 91109.

An analysis of the infrared spectrum of Uranus' disk between 7 micrometers and 3 millimeters suggests a volume mixing ratio for helium in the atmosphere of 40 ± 20 percent, more than for the sun, Jupiter, or Saturn. Alternative explanations require even more extreme assumptions regarding gas abundances or aerosol vertical distribution and spectral properties. The most serious difficulty with a model containing large amounts of helium is devising a credible evolutionary or chemical model explaining the absence or segregation of so much hydrogen.

Submitted on November 29, 1985
Accepted on January 23, 1986


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Infrared Observations of the Uranian System.
R. Hanel, R. HANEL, B. CONRATH, F. M. FLASAR, V. KUNDE, W. MAGUIRE, J. PEARL, J. PIRRAGLIA, R. SAMUELSON, D. CRUIKSHANK, et al. (1986)
Science 233, 70-74
   Abstract »    PDF »
Voyager 2 Radio Science Observations of the Uranian System: Atmosphere, Rings, and Satellites.
G. L. Tyler, G. L. TYLER, D. N. SWEETNAM, J. D. ANDERSON, J. K. CAMPBELL, V. R. ESHLEMAN, D. P. HINSON, G. S. LEVY, G. F. LINDAL, E. A. MAROUF, et al. (1986)
Science 233, 79-84
   Abstract »    PDF »


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