HR: 11:38h
AN: SM52A-07    [Abstracts]
TI: Magnetotail Dynamics in Rapidly Rotating Planets
AU: * Fukazawa, K
EM: fukazawa@nict.go.jp
AF: National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, 4-2-1 Nukui-Kitamachi, Koganei, 184-8795, Japan
AU: Ogino, T
EM: ogino@stelab.nagoya-u.ac.jp
AF: Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan
AU: Walker, R J
EM: rwalker@igpp.ucla.edu
AF: Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, and Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, 951567, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1567,
AB: Observations from Cassini and New Horizons as well as magnetohydrodynamic simulations indicate that the two rapidly rotating outer planet magnetospheres at Jupiter and Saturn may be very different. We have used global magnetohydrodynamic simulations to model the interaction between the solar wind and both magnetospheres. At Jupiter we found for northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) that a series of magnetic X and O lines were launched tailward with periods between 20 and 56 hours depending on the IMF and solar wind dynamic pressure [Fukazawa et al., J. Geophys. Res., 2006]. Motivated by recent observations of tailward moving structures in Jupiter's distant tail by the New Horizons spacecraft [McComas et al., Magnetospheres of the Outer Planets meeting, 2007] we have developed a new version of the MHD model with a 1500RJ (Jovian radii) long tail to investigate the propagation of these structures and will present results from these simulations. At Saturn we found a magnetotail which frequently is characterized by vortices not found in our Jupiter simulations [Fukazawa et al., Geophys. Res. Lett., 2007]. We also found magnetic X and O regions moving tailward in our Saturn simulations for northward IMF. However, unlike Jupiter they repeated with a period of about 1 hour.
DE: 2700 MAGNETOSPHERIC PHYSICS (6939)
DE: 2744 Magnetotail
DE: 6220 Jupiter
DE: 6275 Saturn
SC: SPA-Magnetospheric Physics [SM]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting