Hubble Space Telescope observations of sulfur ions in the Io plasma torus: New constraints on the plasma distribution

Details Hubble Space Telescope observations of sulfur ions in the Io plasma torus: New constraints on the plasma distribution Hubble Space Telescope observations of sulfur ions in the Io plasma torus: New constraints on the plasma distribution

May 2003

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003jgra..108.1167h&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (Space Physics), Volume 108, Issue A5, pp. SMP 2-1, CiteID 1167, DOI 10.1029/2002JA009510

Physics

Space Physics

3

Planetology: Fluid Planets: Tori And Exospheres, Planetology: Fluid Planets: Magnetospheres (2756), Planetology: Fluid Planets: Remote Sensing, Planetology: Fluid Planets: Interactions With Particles And Fields

Scientific paper

During the Io plasma torus crossings by the Galileo spacecraft in late 1999 and early 2000 we observed the dawn ansa of the torus using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Here we analyze 74 FUV HST/Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph observations (1150 <= λ <= 1720 Å) of the dawn ansa of the Io plasma torus made during Galileo's C23, I24, and I27 torus passages. These data include spectral scans at various System III longitudes plus two undispersed images of S++ 1720 Å emission. Because of simultaneous observations by other instruments, the full value of these data will be developed by joint analysis, but here we present our results for their independent value. The S++ images show that the ``ribbon'' feature seen at visible wavelengths in ground-based observations is also clearly present in the FUV. The spectral scans were fitted using a simple plasma emission model integrated along the line of sight in order to invert the line-of-sight density superposition under the assumption of local azimuthal symmetry. Fits to the S+ 1256 Å, S++ 1199 Å, and S+++ 1410 Å emissions reveal that the S++ and S+++ densities peak ~0.2 RJ farther from Jupiter than does the S+ density. Moreover, the S++ vertical distribution is 25% more extended than that of S+, indicating that the field-aligned S++ kinetic temperature T∥ is ~50% higher. It also appears that the S+ abundance dropped by at least a factor of 2 between the September-October 1999 and February 2000 epochs, while the other two sulfur ion abundances remained unchanged.

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