An HST Study of Jovian Chromophores

Abstract

A principal components analysis was performed on Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 images of Jupiter from October 1995 and October 1996. Global maps in the F410M, F555W, F673N, and F953N filters were analyzed. These are continuum wavelengths in Jupiter's spectrum, sensitive to reflection from the visible cloud deck. The primary principal components correspond approximately to gray spectral brightness variations, accounting for ∼91% of the variance in the images, and a component with a red spectral slope, which accounts for ∼8% of the variance. This color component probably corresponds to a constituent in the ammonia cloud deck. Another color component, which is blue/green, may correspond to upper tropospheric clouds or haze and accounts for ∼1% of the image variance. Although small, this component may explain differences seen in the color of the Great Red Spot and other features.