HR: 0800h
AN: P51A-1419    [Abstracts]
TI: Planetary Auroral Storms Trace a CME-driven Interplanetary Shock Throughout the Solar System, from the Sun to Saturn at 9 AU
AU: * Prange, R
EM: renee.prange@obspm.fr
AF: LESIA, Observatoire de Paris 5 place Jules Janssen, Meudon, 91370 France
AU: Pallier, L
EM: laurent.pallier@obspm.fr
AF: LESIA, Observatoire de Paris 5 place Jules Janssen, Meudon, 91370 France
AU: Hansen, K C
EM: kenhan@umich.edu
AF: AOSS, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 United States
AU: Howard, R
EM: russ.howard@nrl.navy.mil
AF: NRL, 4555 Overlook Ave, S.W, Washington, DDC 20375 United States
AU: Vourlidas, A
EM: vourlidas@nrl.navy.mil
AF: NRL, 4555 Overlook Ave, S.W, Washington, DDC 20375 United States
AU: Courtin, R
EM: regis.courtin@obspm.fr
AF: LESIA, Observatoire de Paris 5 place Jules Janssen, Meudon, 91370 France
AU: Parkinson, C
EM: cdp@gps.caltech.edu
AF: CalTech/JPL and the NASA Astrobiology Institute, MS150-21 E. California Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91125 United States
AB: Hubble Space Telescope FUV images taken in December 2000 revealed for the first time au auroral storm on Saturn. The Sun, the Earth, Jupiter and Saturn were practically aligned at that time, allowing the solar wind plasma to flow by all three planets successively within ~1 month. Observations of Jupiter coordinated with Cassini measurements in the nearby solar wind were also executed during this period. Using a recently developped MHD code and solar wind measurements in the Earth vicinity, we establish that (1) the strong auroral event on Saturn was related to the interaction of an interplanetary shock with its magnetosphere, (2) this shock was initiated by a series of CMEs on the Sun observed by SOHO. We follow the propagation of the shock throughout the solar system, from the Earth where auroral storms are recorded, to Jupiter where the auroral activity is strongly enhanced, and to Saturn where it ultimately activates the observed unusual polar source. This is the first report of consecutive auroral responses to a propagating interplanetary shock. It indicates that shocks retain their properties and their ability to trigger planetary auroral activity thoughout the solar system, thereby unifying our understanding of solar-planetary interactions. We discuss also the similarities and differences observed between the planetary auroral responses.
DE: 6275 Saturn
DE: 2139 Interplanetary shocks
DE: 2704 Auroral phenomena (2407)
DE: 2784 Solar wind/magnetosphere interactions
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting