Jovian upper clouds and hazes from visible and near infrared spectroscopy using CARMENES

Journal article

The aerosol scheme for Jupiter’s upper hazes and clouds is still debated to this day, for the Crème Brûlée aerosol scheme has trouble in fitting some specific Jovian atmospheric features (Braude et al., 2020; Dahl et al., 2021). We analyse observations of Jupiter acquired with CARMENES in 2019, from visible to near infrared (0.52–1.71μm), to test three competing aerosols schemes. These observations are unique due to their spectral coverage with both high spatial and spectral resolutions, paving the way for future observations of Solar System objects. We used a model with two blue wavelength attenuating hazes (chromophores) by Anguiano-Arteaga et al., (2021); Anguiano-Arteaga et al., (2023), a model that has a single blue attenuating haze by Braude et al., (2020) and a model where the blue attenuating haze is physically constrained in a thin layer (“Crème Brûlée model”) with a more up to date parameter values from Pérez-Hoyos et al., (2020). We grouped the observations into 5 regions of the atmosphere of Jupiter and performed a Minnaert limb-darkening approximation, producing synthetic spectra at 0° and 61.45° zenith angles for each. We found that the properties of the highest aerosol layer dominate the fit to the observations, with particle size (Models A and B) and cloud base abundance (Models A and C) being the most influential parameters. We found that the extended chromophore model from Braude et al., (2020) fits the observations better than the other two models. However, none of the tested schemes fully reproduce the data, as all yield X²/N_free values greater than unity, indicating limitations in the current aerosol parametrisations. These results suggest that a consistent characterisation of Jovian aerosols requires models constrained by a broader spectral range, including ultraviolet observations sensitive to chromophore absorption and thermal infrared data probing deeper cloud layers.

Authors: Ribeiro, J; Machado, P; Pérez-Hoyos, S; Anguiano-Arteaga, A; Irwin, P

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Journal: Icarus
• Volume: 450
• Article number: 116978
• Publication date: 2026-01-29
• Acceptance date: 2026-01-27
• DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2026.116978
• EISSN: 1090-2643
• ISSN: 0019-1035
• Language: English
• Keywords: Jupiter; atmosphere; atmospheres; structure; radiative transfer