HR: 1340h
AN: SM33A-1248    [Abstracts]
TI: Thermal Plasmas in Jupiter's Magnetosphere: Considerations for Auroral Processes
AU: * Paterson, W R
EM: bill.paterson@hamptonu.edu
AF: Hampton University, Center for Atmospheric Sciences, 119 Phenix Hall, Hampton, VA 23668 United States
AU: Frank, L A
EM: louis-frank@uiowa.edu
AF: The University of Iowa, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Van Allen Hall, Iowa City, IA 52242 United States
AB: Measurements of thermal plasmas from Jupiter's plasma sheet and plasma torus provide context for consideration of auroral processes. It is now thought by many that the main ring of auroral emission at Jupiter is a response to the breakdown of corotation in the middle magnetosphere and that the emissions are associated with the system of electric currents that communicate stresses between the ionosphere and the magnetosphere. Several mechanisms have been proposed to account for the transfer of energy that drives the IR, visible, and UV emissions. In this report we review observational evidence of the breakdown of corotation, and we report on the occurrence of field-aligned streams of hot electrons that may be a signature of processes in the ionosphere. We consider implications for models of magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling at Jupiter.
DE: 5443 Magnetospheres (2756)
DE: 2732 Magnetosphere interactions with satellites and rings
DE: 2736 Magnetosphere/ionosphere interactions
DE: 2756 Planetary magnetospheres (5443, 5737, 6030)
DE: 2784 Solar wind/magnetosphere interactions
SC: SPA-Magnetospheric Physics [SM]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting