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External supply of oxygen to the atmospheres of the giant planets

Nature volume 389, pages 159–162 (1997)Cite this article

Abstract

The atmospheres of the giant planets are reducing, being mainly composed of hydrogen, helium and methane. But the rings and icy satellites that surround these planets, together with the flux of interplanetary dust, could act as important sources of oxygen, which would be delivered to the atmospheres mainly in the form of water ice or silicate dust1,2,3,4,5,6,7. Here we report the detection, by infrared spectroscopy, of gaseous H2O in the upper atmospheres of Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The implied H2O column densities are 1.5 × 1015, 9× 1013 and 3× 1014 molecules cm−2 respectively. CO2 in comparable amounts was also detected in the atmospheres of Saturn and Neptune. These observations can be accounted for by external fluxes of 105–107 H2O molecules cm−2 s−1 and subsequent chemical processing in the atmospheres. The presence of gaseous water and infalling dust will affect the photochemistry, energy budget and ionospheric properties of these atmospheres. Moreover, our findings may help to constrain the injection rate and possible activity of distant icy objects in the Solar System.

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Figure 1: a, Thermal profiles used for the analysis of the H2O and CO2 lines.
Figure 2: a, b, The 14.98-μm ν2 band of CO2 observed at Saturn and Neptune (stepped lines) compared with fits (dashed lines) obtained with the ‘transport’ model (see text and Table 1).

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Enzian, A. C. Levasseur-Regourd and B. Sicardy for discussion. This work was based on observations with ISO, an ESA project with instruments funded by ESA Member States (especially the PI countries: France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) and with the participation of ISAS and NASA. The SWS is a joint cooperation of the SRON and the MPE.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, 85748, Garching, Germany

    H. Feuchtgruber

  2. ISO Science Operation Center, ESA, 28080, Villafranca, Spain

    H. Feuchtgruber

  3. DESPA, Observatoire de Paris, 92195, Meudon, France

    E. Lellouch, B. Bézard & T. Encrenaz

  4. SRON, 9700, AV Groningen, The Netherlands

    T. de Graauw

  5. QMW College, E1 4NS, London, UK

    M. Griffin

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Correspondence to E. Lellouch.

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Feuchtgruber, H., Lellouch, E., de Graauw, T. et al. External supply of oxygen to the atmospheres of the giant planets. Nature 389, 159–162 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/38236

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