Phosphorus Chemistry in the Atmosphere of Jupiter: A Reassessment

✍ Scribed by Sergei Borunov; Vera Dorofeeva; Igor Khodakovsky; Pierre Drossart; Emmanuel Lellouch; Thérèse Encrenaz

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 266 KB
• Volume: 113
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0019-1035
• DOI: 10.1006/icar.1995.1036

✦ Synopsis

A new distribution of phosphorus compounds in the atmosphere of Jupiter is given, using revised values for the chemical constants. In contrast with previous works, it is shown that phosphine (\mathrm{PH}{3}) remains the most abundant equilibrium gaseous compound even at the upper levels of Jupiter's troposphere. The observed (\mathbf{P H}{3}) abundance is equal to the equilibrium value, at all temperatures above (535 \mathrm{~K}) for solar (\mathrm{P}) and (\mathrm{O}) elemental abundances, and above (600 \mathrm{~K}) for a reasonable range of (P) and (O) abundances. (\mathrm{P}{4} \mathrm{O}{6}) does not take part in the phosphorus cycle on Jupiter. O 1995 Academic Press, Inc.