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Variability of Jupiter's IR H 3 + aurorae during Juno approach
Author(s) -
Moore L.,
O'Donoghue J.,
Melin H.,
Stallard T.,
Tao C.,
Zieger B.,
Clarke J.,
Vogt M. F.,
Bhakyapaibul T.,
Opher M.,
Tóth G.,
Connerney J. E. P.,
Levin S.,
Bolton S.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2017gl073156
Subject(s) - solar wind , jupiter (rocket family) , physics , interplanetary spaceflight , interplanetary magnetic field , atmosphere (unit) , interplanetary medium , astrophysics , geophysics , magnetometer , atmospheric sciences , astrobiology , astronomy , environmental science , magnetic field , spacecraft , meteorology , quantum mechanics
We present ground‐based observations of Jupiter's H 3 + aurorae over four nights in April 2016 while the Juno spacecraft was monitoring the upstream interplanetary magnetic field. High‐precision maps of auroral H 3 + densities, temperatures, and radiances reveal significant variabilities in those parameters, with regions of enhanced density and emission accompanied by reduced temperature. Juno magnetometer data, combined with solar wind propagation models, suggest that a shock may have impacted Jupiter in the days preceding the observation interval but that the solar wind was quiescent thereafter. Auroral H 3 + temperatures reveal a downward temporal trend, consistent with a slowly cooling upper atmosphere, such as might follow a period of shock recovery. The brightest H 3 + emissions are from the end of the period, 23 April. A lack of definitive signatures in the upstream interplanetary magnetic field lends supporting evidence to the possibility that this brightening event may have been driven by internal magnetospheric processes.