The Herschel -SPIRE submillimetre spectrum of Mars

Abstract

We have obtained the first continuous disk averaged spectrum of Mars from 450 to 1550 Ghz using the Herschel-SPIRE Fourier-transform spectrometer. The spectrum was obtained at a constant resolution of 1.4 GHz across the whole band. The flux from the planet is such that the instrument was operated in "bright source" mode to prevent saturation of the detectors. This was the first successful use of this mode and in this work we describe the method used for observing Mars together with a detailed discussion of the data reduction techniques required to calibrate the spectrum. We discuss the calibration accuracy obtained and describe the first comparison with surface and atmospheric models. In addition to a direct photometric measurement of the planet the spectrum contains the characteristic transitions of 12 CO from J 5-4 to J 13-12 as well as numerous H 2 O transitions. Together these allow the comparison to global atmospheric models allowing the mean mixing ratios of water and 12 CO to be investigated. We find that it is possible to match the observed depth of the absorption features in the spectrum with a fixed water mixing ratio of 1×10 -4 and a 12 CO mixing ratio of 9×10 -4 . © 2010 ESO.