Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufmsm33c1924s&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #SM33C-1924
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
[2774] Magnetospheric Physics / Radiation Belts, [6220] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Jupiter, [6939] Radio Science / Magnetospheric Physics, [6954] Radio Science / Radio Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jupiter's strong magnetic field contributes to populate the Jovian magnetosphere with very energetic electrons in its innermost region, resulting in an observed synchrotron radio emission above the galactic noise level. With the little amount of existing in-situ data for the radiation zones, radio measurements provide the only method for currently investigating Jupiter's relativistic electron distribution, constraining theoretical models of processes responsible for particle distributions and the origins of their dynamics. In the present paper, the contribution of a comet-like impact to observed variations of Jupiter’s radiation-belt emission on time-scales of days to weeks with the VLA in 2009 is discussed. During the third week of July, ground-based measurements at different radio bands confirmed that a large projectile had struck Jupiter’s atmosphere. Our VLA data analysis of synchrotron emission shows that a steep enhancement of the brightness distributions was observed during the same period. The increase in the synchrotron emission actually went on for a couple of weeks before gradually fading in August. The intensity variations of the radio emission during the weeks that followed the July 2009 impact are first interpreted by the longitudinal expansion of the impact-related synchrotron hot spot originally located at the Jupiter System III longitude of 305 degrees. We then demonstrate that the combining effect of adiabatic transport with the occurrence of energy resonance near the moon Amalthea is a comprehensive explanation for understanding why the radiation at L_rad ~ 1.4 Rj is responding to the dynamics of ~ 10-MeV energy electrons trapped at L_impact ~ 3.3 Rj. By considering different origins of adiabatic radial transport, we further show that particles transport from L_impact to L_rad can take a few days to a couple of weeks. The travel time depends on which source of fluctuations was the most effective during the middle of 2009. A period of temporal variability associated with a comet-like impact is finally estimated to be three to four weeks long. This result is consistent with the radio measurements.
Bolton James S.
Levin Sergey
Mansergh Thorne Richard
Santos-Costa Daniel
Sault Robert J.
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