New Horizons Exploration of the Jovian Magnetotail

Details New Horizons Exploration of the Jovian Magnetotail New Horizons Exploration of the Jovian Magnetotail

Dec 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007agufmsm53a1077b&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, abstract #SM53A-1077

Physics

2744 Magnetotail, 2756 Planetary Magnetospheres (5443, 5737, 6033), 5443 Magnetospheres (2756)

Scientific paper

A key issue of the jovian magnetosphere is how plasma is lost from the system down the magnetotail. Are large plasmoids ejected sporadically via explosive reconnection events (e.g. by analogy with Earth) or is there a steady "drizzle" of plasma from small scale disconnections of highly stretched out magnetic flux tubes? Furthermore, is there a significant solar-wind-driven Dungey cycle with a return, Jupiter-ward flow from a distant X-line? Again, by analogy with Earth, how much solar wind plasma enters the high latitude magnetopause mixes with magnetospheric plasma (from Io)? Voyager observations indicated burst of material flowing away from Jupiter between ~100-200 Rj on the dawn flank and showed that the magnetotail of Jupiter extends past the orbit of Saturn. Galileo measurements indicated periodic bursts of material being ejected tailward on the nightside as well as occasional supercorotational bursts on the in the morning plasma sheet. But very little is known about structure and processes on the dusk flank and at the critical distances of a few hundred Rj. Thus, the fortunate traversal down the magnetotail of the New Horizons spacecraft, on its way to Pluto, has provided a fantastic opportunity to address the above scientific questions.

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