Auroral structures at Jupiter and Earth

Details Auroral structures at Jupiter and Earth Auroral structures at Jupiter and Earth

Jan 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004adspr..33.2021h&link_type=abstract

Advances in Space Research, Volume 33, Issue 11, p. 2021-2029.

Computer Science

4

Jupiter, Auroral Structures, Earth, Comparative Magnetospheres

Scientific paper

This paper compares global structures of the aurora observed at Jupiter and Earth and our understanding of the mechanisms that produce these structures. Both planets have permanent, magnetically conjugate auroral ovals, although produced by quite different mechanisms. Both are multispectral, having been observed at X-ray, ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and radio wavelengths. The brightest structures are produced by downward accelerated electron fluxes associated with upward Birkeland (magnetic-field-aligned) currents. At both planets, the auroral forms are time variable, especially at highest latitudes. The main power source for auroral emissions is planetary rotation at Jupiter, and the solar wind interaction at Earth. Thus Jupiter's auroral structures tend to be fixed with respect to magnetic (System III) longitude while Earth's are fixed with respect to local time. Earth's auroral structure is strongly dependent on the direction of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). At Jupiter, no IMF dependence is known, but observations have not been sufficient to show such a dependence if it exists. A unique feature of Jupiter's auroral structure, with no counterpart at Earth, is the signature of the large (Galilean) satellites and, in the case of Io, even the corotational wake of the satellite.

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