Bonn 2020 – scientific programme

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EP: Fachverband Extraterrestrische Physik

EP 7: Planets and small Objects I

EP 7.1: Invited Talk

Thursday, April 2, 2020, 11:00–11:30, H-HS VIII

Juno observations of Jupiter's aurora: Wave-particle Interaction in Jupiter's stressed magnetosphere — •Joachim Saur — University of Cologne, Germany

Observations by NASA's Juno spacecraft which is in a polar orbit around Jupiter have revolutionized our understanding of Jupiter's aurora. In our talk we will review particle and field measurements taken by the Juno spacecraft above Jupiter's main auroral oval and within the auroral tails of Jupiter's Galilean moons. We will show that wave-particle interactions of Alfvén waves plasma plays a crucial role in particle energization within Jupiter's magnetosphere. The radial transport of plasma outward from Io's orbit causes the magnetospheric plasma to sub-corotate, which generates large scale magnetic stresses that couple the magnetosphere to the ionosphere. These stresses are the root cause for the reacceleration of the magnetospheric plasma towards corotation. The magnetic stresses also include small scale, non-force balanced magnetic field fluctuations, which partly travel as Alfvén waves along Jupiter's magnetospheric field lines. We show that wave-particle interaction of these Alfvén waves occurs within distances of approximately L= 30 dominantly at high latitudes leading to auroral electron acceleration.