HR: 16:54h
AN: SM44A-05    [Abstracts]
TI: Properties of Ions in Jupiter's Middle Magnetosphere
AU: * Paterson, W r
EM: bill.paterson@hamptonu.edu
AF: Hampton University, Department of Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Center for Atmospheric Sciences, Hampton, VA 23668, United States
AB: A survey of plasmas in Jupiter's middle magnetosphere and plasma torus reveals many properties of the thermal ions near the orbits of the Galilean moons. A surprising increase in the temperature of the ions is noted at a distance from the planet just slightly larger than the radius of Ganymede's orbit. This happens also to be at a location that may be conjugate to the main ring of auroral emissions. Thus, there are several plausible mechanisms for heating ions in that region, including various auroral phenomena, but also pickup from Ganymede. The heating is predicted to have important consequences for the electrodynamics in the auroral region. Observationally, this is known to be a region threaded by beams of keV electrons, and a causal connection is possible, though the beams are not an expected feature of most models of the aurora. The observations are considered, in part, in the context of their effects on the moons, and also of possible effects of the moons on plasma populations. These plasma parameters are derived from the low-rate survey data during Galileo's prime and extended missions, and they are now being readied for inclusion in NASA's Planetary Data System.
DE: 2704 Auroral phenomena (2407)
DE: 2736 Magnetosphere/ionosphere interactions (2431)
DE: 2756 Planetary magnetospheres (5443, 5737, 6033)
DE: 5706 Aurorae
DE: 6218 Jovian satellites
SC: SPA-Magnetospheric Physics [SM]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting