Magnetic Topology of the Deep Jovian Magnetotail Probed with Measurements and Modeling of Energetic Particles (Invited)

Details Magnetic Topology of the Deep Jovian Magnetotail Probed with Measurements and Modeling of Energetic Particles (Invited) Magnetic Topology of the Deep Jovian Magnetotail Probed with Measurements and Modeling of Energetic Particles (Invited)

Dec 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufmsm34b..07h&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #SM34B-07

Physics

Plasma Physics

[2740] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetospheric Configuration And Dynamics, [2744] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetotail, [6220] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Jupiter, [7807] Space Plasma Physics / Charged Particle Motion And Acceleration

Scientific paper

We have strong observational evidence that the magnetic field lines of Jupiter are oriented nearly radially along the Sun-Jupiter line, contrary to many expectations. But some contemporaneous observations have led to a plasmoid interpretation, and these two views are not simple to reconcile. In 2007 a gravitational assist sent the Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft almost directly down the Jovian magnetotail, fortuitously permitting the half-year campaign to ~2500 Jovian radii. The PEPSSI (Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science Investigation) instrument on New Horizons detects ions above ~2 keV/nucleon and below about 1 MeV, and observed sulfur rich energetic particle bursts with a quasi-periodicity of 3-4 days. In an event studied in detail the pattern of wavy magnetic field filaments, while actively filling with particles from a burst, passed over New Horizons, allowing estimates of the field curvature and limits on the sharpness of the filament boundaries. Taken together with several other events, the direct magnetic connection and common source region led to the radial field interpretation; and the rich PEPSSI dataset has heretofore only partially been employed. We have expanded the investigation further by first setting up a numerical model of a time-varying, self-consistent magnetic field and plasma flow to simulate a pattern of wavy filaments. We then injected a spectrum of particles that transport down the tail and are observed by a virtual spacecraft. Comparison between model and observational data provides a more rigorous tool to understand the enigmatic magnetotail of Jupiter.

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