Heavy ions from Galilean satellites and the centrifugal distortion of the Jovian magnetosphere

Journal Article · Wed Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1976 · J. Geophys. Res.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/JA081i025p04561· OSTI ID:7147697

Hill, T W; Michel, F C

Heavy ions produced in the atmosphere of the Galilean satellites are a potentially significant source of plasma in the Jovian magnetosphere. Such ions will rapidly be accelerated to the corotation velocity, and the associated centrifugal force far exceeds that of gravity. Satellite ions are thus confined near the equator with a centrifugal scale height that depends linearly on their thermal velocity (unlike the ordinary gravitational scale height, which depends linearly on the temperature). We find that this centrifugal scale height is independent of the distance from Jupiter. The satellite ions, as they diffuse radially through the magnetosphere, will form a current sheet of roughly uniform thickness of the order of 1 R/sub J/ (Jupiter radius). This current sheet produces a sharp cusplike distortion of the magnetic field, in contrast to the large-scale distortion that is produced by ions from Jupiter's atmosphere, which are less equatorially confined. This current sheet may significantly affect the field geometry near the equatorial plane, but the total outward distortion caused by satellite ions would be comparable to that produced by Jovian atmospheric ions only if all the Galilean satellites were to produce heavy ions with a source flux comparable to the photo-ion flux from the Jovian atmosphere. (AIP)

• Research Organization: Space Physics and Astronomy Department, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77001
• OSTI ID: 7147697
• Journal Information: J. Geophys. Res.; (United States), Journal Name: J. Geophys. Res.; (United States) Vol. 81:25; ISSN JGREA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640107* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Planetary Phenomena
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ATMOSPHERES
DIMENSIONS
HEIGHT
ION DRIFT
JUPITER PLANET
PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES
PLANETARY MAGNETOSPHERES
PLANETS
PLASMA SHEET
SATELLITES
SCALE HEIGHT