Plasma jet is a kind of important plasma source at atmospheric pressure. In recent years, it becomes an important hot topic in the field of low temperature plasma. In this paper, using a tungsten needle and a tungsten wire mesh, a direct-current excited jet is developed to operate in argon at atmospheric pressure. In the atmospheric pressure argon, the plasma jet can produce a stable plasma plume. By using the method of emission spectroscopy, the parameters of the plasma plume are investigated. The discharge emits dazzling white light from the area between the tungsten needle electrode and the wire mesh electrode. A plasma plume with a flame shape appears outside the tungsten wire mesh electrode. For a constant value of voltage(U=13.5 kV), the length of the plasma plume increases with the gas flow rate. For a constant value of the gas flow rate(10 L·min-1), the length of the plasma plume increases with the voltage. The voltage is inversely proportional to the current under the constant gas flow rate. In other words, the voltage decreases with the discharge current, which indicates that a glow discharge is formed in the plasma jet. Optical emission spectrum in 300 to 800 nm is collected from the direct-current excited plasma jet. By Boltzmann plot method, the excited electron temperature of the plasma plume is investigated as a function of the applied voltage or the gas flow rate. Results show that the excited electron temperature increases with decreasing applied voltage under the constant gas flow. Moreover, it increases with decreasing the gas flow under the constant voltage. Based on the discharge theory, these experimental phenomena are explained qualitatively. These results are of great importance to the development of atmospheric pressure uniform discharge plasma source and its application in industrial field.