We present an analysis of IRTF-TEXES spectra of Jupiter’s mid-to-high latitudes in order to test the hypothesis that the CH₄ homopause altitude is higher in Jupiter’s auroral regions compared to elsewhere on the planet. A family of photochemical models, based on Moses & Poppe (2017), were computed with a range of CH₄ homopause altitudes. Adopting each model in turn, the observed TEXES spectra of H₂ S(1), CH₄, and CH₃ emission measured on 2019 April 16 and August 20 were inverted, the vertical temperature profile was allowed to vary, and the quality of the fit to the spectra was used to discriminate between models. At latitudes equatorward of Jupiter’s main auroral ovals (>62S, <54N, planetocentric), the observations were adequately fit assuming a homopause altitude lower than ∼360 km (above 1 bar). At 62N, inside the main auroral oval, we derived a CH₄ homopause altitude of km, whereas outside the main oval at the same latitude, a 1σ upper limit of 370 km was derived. Our interpretation is that a portion of energy from the magnetosphere is deposited as heat within the main oval, which drives vertical winds and/or higher rates of turbulence and transports CH₄ and its photochemical by-products to higher altitudes. Inside the northern main auroral oval, a factor of ∼3 increase in CH₃ abundance was also required to fit the spectra. This could be due to uncertainties in the photochemical modeling or an additional source of CH₃ production in Jupiter’s auroral regions.

我们对木星中高纬度的IRTF-TEXES光谱进行分析，以检验以下假设：木星极光区的CH _4同位暂停高度比地球其他地方更高。基于Moses＆Poppe（2017）的一系列光化学模型是使用CH _4同暂停的高度范围计算的。依次采用每个模型，观察到的H ₂ S（1），CH ₄和CH _3的TEXES光谱反转了2019年4月16日和8月20日测量的发射光谱，允许垂直温度曲线变化，并使用光谱拟合的质量来区分模型。在木星主要极光椭圆的赤道纬度（> 62S，<54N，平面偏心），假设同高暂停高度低于〜360 km（高于1 bar），这些观测值就足够合适。在62N，主极光卵形内，我们得到的CH ₄的homopause海拔千米，而在外面同纬度主椭圆形，1 σ 370公里上限的。我们的解释是，磁层中的一部分能量以热量的形式沉积在主椭圆形中，从而驱动垂直风和/或更高的湍流率并传输CH ₄及其光化学副产品到更高的高度。在北部主要极光椭圆形内部，CH ₃丰度也需要增加约3倍才能适合光谱。这可能是由于光化学模型的不确定性或木星极光区CH ₃产生的额外来源。