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Superrotation in the pre‐dawn Jovian magnetosphere: Evidence for corotating convection
Author(s) -
Hairston M. R.,
Hill T. W.
Publication year - 1986
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 - 10.1029/gl013i006p00521
Subject(s) - jovian , magnetosphere , physics , geophysics , longitude , convection , solar wind , jupiter (rocket family) , plasma sheet , astronomy , plasma , geology , saturn , planet , mechanics , latitude , space shuttle , quantum mechanics
We report evidence for superrotation of plasma in the pre‐dawn magnetosphere of Jupiter during the outbound segments of the Voyager 1 and 2 encounters. The evidence consists of a forward spiral of magnetic field lines crossing the equatorial plasma sheet, as distinct from the more typical backward spiral associated with subcorotational flow. (The Voyager plasma instruments were not pointed favorably for measurement of the azimuthal flow component during the outbound trajectories.) The limited available statistics indicate that superrotational flow is restricted in local time to the night side, and also restricted in system III longitude to the hemisphere opposite the active sector of the magnetic‐anomaly model. The results are thus compatible with the planetary‐wind concept in general and with the corotating convection model in particular.