The Local Time Variations of Jupiter's Current Sheet Location and Thickness

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2708 Current Systems (2409), 2740 Magnetospheric Configuration And Dynamics, 2756 Planetary Magnetospheres (5443, 5737, 6030)

Scientific paper

The six spacecraft that have traveled through the magnetosphere of Jupiter have encountered Jupiter's current sheet over all local times and varying solar wind ram directions. We use magnetic field data from these spacecraft and new techniques to determine the prime longitude (the system III direction in which the current sheet has its highest elevation), elevation angle and thickness of the current sheet. We show that the prime longitude of the current sheet varies both as a function of radial distance and local time. As previously discovered, the current sheet is delayed (i.e. its RH system III longitude is reduced) proportionally to the radial distance but we now show that the delay is systematically larger in the dawn sector compared to its value in the dusk sector. We relate the delay of the current sheet to the structure of Jupiter's magnetospheric field and to the Alfven wave travel time. Next, we determine the elevation angle of the current sheet and show that the current sheet becomes parallel to the solar wind flow at large distance. Finally we determine the thickness of Jovian current sheet by modeling the magnetic field and show that the current sheet is much thicker on the dusk side compared to its value in other local time sectors. We speculate on physical mechanisms that cause local time variations in the thickness of Jupiter's current sheet.

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