Jena 2013 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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EP: Fachverband Extraterrestrische Physik
EP 5: Erdnaher Weltraum und Planeten
EP 5.4: Hauptvortrag
Mittwoch, 27. Februar 2013, 17:30–18:00, HS 9
Progress and challenges in understanding magnetosphere-atmosphere coupling on Giant Planets — •Ingo Müller-Wodarg1,2, Luke Moore2, Marina Galand1,2, Steve Miller3, and Michael Mendillo2 — 1Imperial College London, UK — 2Boston University, USA — 3University College London, UK
The giant planets in our solar system such as Saturn and Jupiter represent fascinating worlds which exhibit a range of electro-magnetic, collisional and chemical processes coupling the upper atmospheres with the magnetospheres and some of their moons. Over the past decades, missions such as Voyager, Galileo and most recently Cassini/Huygens, as well as Earth based observations have explored the giant planets, measuring atmospheric properties, magnetic and electric fields as well as plasma characteristics. In tandem, increasingly sophisticated numerical tools have been developed, characterizing the upper atmospheres (thermospheres/ionospheres) on one hand and the magnetospheres on the other. The art of calculating the coupling between these regimes - is still under-developed. Yet, key currently unresolved science questions, including the giant planet 'energy crisis', the origin of highly variable and structured ionospheres of Jupiter and Saturn as well as the variation of Saturn's apparent rotation rate all rely on understanding magnetosphere-atmosphere coupling. Using our Saturn Thermosphere-Ionosphere model, we calculate the magnetosphere influence on Saturn's upper atmosphere in unprecedented detail. We will highlight key results from recent studies which form important puzzle pieces to help resolve the above science questions.