Solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling at Earth, Jupiter and Saturn

Details Solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling at Earth, Jupiter and Saturn Solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling at Earth, Jupiter and Saturn

May 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004agusmsm11a..01b&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2004, abstract #SM11A-01

Physics

2704 Auroral Phenomena (2407), 2736 Magnetosphere/Ionosphere Interactions, 2756 Planetary Magnetospheres (5443, 5737, 6030), 2784 Solar Wind/Magnetosphere Interactions

Scientific paper

While the fundamental physical processes governing magnetospheric dynamics, that is the coupling of momentum from the solar wind and planetary rotation to the plasma circulation, are not expected to vary from planet to planet, the relative importance of each will. At the Earth it is the former which plays a dominant role, and as such auroral displays which are regularly viewed at high latitudes are mainly governed by interactions with the solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field. Magnetospheres of the outer planets are much larger than that of the Earth, and generally planetary rotation is much quicker. Hence, at Jupiter we have a contrasting situation to the Earth, a system which is dominated by the effects of rotation. The main auroral emissions at Jupiter, which corotate with the planet, are thought to be formed by the breakdown of corotation of the equatorial plasma, and the large-scale magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling current system which is subsequently generated. Conversely, the `polar emissions' appear to be ordered with respect to local time, indicating solar wind control. Recent work at Saturn indicates that this magnetosphere, however, represents an intermediate case between the Earth and Jupiter. Saturn's magnetosphere is also dominated by the effects of corotation, like Jupiter, but the currents produced by magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling are too small a magnitude, and flow at too low a latitude to account for Saturn's main aurora. Instead, it is proposed that the main aurora at Saturn is driven by the interaction between the solar wind and IMF. These ideas are now testable as Cassini recently approached Saturn and HST monitored the aurora. This review talk will discuss the relative roles of the solar wind and planetary rotation and the parts each play in Earth's, Jupiter's, and Saturn's environments.

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