On the colors of Jupiter's satellite Io: Irradiation of solid sulfur at 77 K

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Abstract
The colors of seven sulfur allotropes at 77 K have been investigated both before and after irradiation by a high‐pressure mercury lamp. S8 is white at 77 K but turns intense yellow within a few minutes on irradiation through quartz or DURAN. On warming, the yellow species (presumably chain‐like sulfur diradicals characterized by an absorption at 430 nm) decomposes near 260 K and polymeric sulfur (S∞) is formed; the sample color changes gradually to the very similar color of an S8–S∞ mixture, resulting in no visually detectable color change with temperature from 77 K to 260 K. This is consistent with the lack of posteclipse brightening on Io. Other sulfur forms also turn intense yellow (S7, S10), grayish yellow (S12, S20, S∞), or brownish yellow (S6) on irradiation at 77 K, and these colors also change to the normal colors of the starting materials on warming to 298 K. We suggest that the yellowish features on Io are caused by the effect of solar radiation on elemental sulfur. The yellow color thus produced may subsequently be modified by deposits of SO2 frosts and volcanic ash.