Jupiter: His Limb Darkening and the Magnitude of His Internal Energy Source

Abstract

The most accurate infrared photometric observations (8 to 14 microns) to date of the average limb darkening of Jupiter have been combined with the most refined deduction of jovian model atmospheres in which flux constancy has been closely maintained in the upper regime of radiative equilibrium and a much more accurate approximation of the 10-and 16-micron vibration-rotation bands of ammonia has been incorporated. The theoretically predicted emergent specific intensity has been multiplied by the spectral response function and folded (mathematically convolved—intersmeared) with the spatial response function of the atmosphere-telescope-photometer combination. The resulting comparison indicates that Jupiter is radiating from three to four times as much power as the planet is receiving from the sun.