Jupiter's magnetosphere: Plasma description from the Ulysses flyby

Journal Article · Fri Sep 11 00:00:00 EDT 1992 · Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.257.5076.1539· OSTI ID:6991727

Bame, S J; Barraclough, B L; Feldman, W C; Gisler, G R; Gosling, J T; McComas, D J; Phillips, J L; Thomsen, M F ^[1]; Goldstein, B E; Neugebauer, M ^[2]

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1. Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
2. California Inst. of Tech., Pasadena (United States)

Plasma observations at Jupiter show that the outer regions of the Jovian magnetosphere are remarkably similar to those of Earth. Bow-shock precursor electrons and ions were detected in the upstream solar wind, as at Earth. Plasma changes across the bow shock and properties of the magnetosheath electrons were much like those at Earth, indicating that similar processes are operating. A boundary layer populated by a varying mixture of solar wind and magnetospheric plasmas was found inside the magnetopause, again as at Earth. In the middle magnetosphere, large electron density excursions were detected with a 10-hour periodicity as planetary rotation carried the tilted plasma sheet past Ulysses. Deep in the magnetosphere, Ulysses crossed a region, tentatively described as magnetically connected to the Jovian polar cap on one end and to the interplanetary magnetic field on the other. In the inner magnetosphere and Io torus, where corotation plays a dominant role, measurements could not be made because of extreme background rates from penetrating radiation belt particles.

• OSTI ID: 6991727
• Journal Information: Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States), Vol. 257:5076; ISSN 0036-8075
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
JUPITER PLANET
PLANETARY MAGNETOSPHERES
BOUNDARY LAYERS
DATA
ELECTRONS
INTERACTIONS
INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELDS
POLAR REGIONS
SATELLITES
SHOCK WAVES
SOLAR WIND
SPACE VEHICLES
ATMOSPHERES
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
INFORMATION
LAYERS
LEPTONS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES
PLANETS
SOLAR ACTIVITY
VEHICLES
661300* - Other Aspects of Physical Science- (1992-)