Characteristics of Hazes in the Atmosphere of Jupiter from JunoCam Observations

A complex series of high-altitude clouds and hazes have been unveiled by images from the Juno mission’s JunoCam instrument. They appear to be ubiquitous at higher latitudes in both of Jupiter’s hemispheres but are particularly pronounced in the north. Juno’s polar orbit and JunoCam’s filter centered on the 889-nm absorption band of methane make JunoCam uniquely suited to observing high-altitude polar features. Among these are the North and South Polar Hoods, which JunoCam’s methane-band filter reveals in greater detail than from the Earth, together with bright and dark haze bands. These bright and dark bands commonly appear together in bundles, indicating vertical structure in widespread haze layers. Some bright hazes near the terminator exhibit an apparent color dispersion, appearing bluish on the side generally in the direction of illumination and reddish on the other, an effect that is consistent with more efficient scattering by shorter-wavelength light. The morphology of the observed haze bands appears to be quite different from the well-known zonal wind profile affecting the main cloud deck. On the other hand, some, including a semi-persistent long band of haze near the South Pole, are related to the locations of underlying cyclones and chaotic cyclonic features known as folded filamentary regions. Our high-resolution observations of Jupiter’s limb have revealed hazes, some continuous with the lower atmosphere and others that are singly and doubly detached.  Toward high northern latitudes, these limb hazes become completely opaque.