The H-3(+) latitudinal profile of saturn

We present an H-3(+) latitudinal profile of Saturn, obtained in 1998 Octobe r using the CSHELL spectrometer on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. Th e profile, measured at 3.953 mu m, shows that the majority of the emission is concentrated in the auroral ovals, making Saturn similar to Jupiter and different from Uranus. The spatial resolution is sufficient to resolve the southern auroral oval, currently fully displayed around the south pole, int o two peaks separated by 1." 2. At the time of the observations reported he re, the emission flux in the H-3(+) line is 8.3 (+/-1.7) x 10(-18) W m(-2) for the intensity integrated over a 1." 0 swath along the southern aurora a nd 5.8 (+/-1.3) x 10(-18) W m(-2) for the northern aurora. There may also b e some mid- to low-latitude emission, similar to that on Jupiter. We sugges t that planetwide H-3(+) emission from Saturn is between 1.2 and 3.6 x 10(1 1) W.