Universität zu Köln

Kotsiaros, Stavros ORCID: 0000-0003-2636-5545, Connerney, John E. P., Clark, George, Allegrini, Frederic ORCID: 0000-0003-0696-4380, Gladstone, G. Randall, Kurth, William S., Mauk, Barry H., Saur, Joachim ORCID: 0000-0003-1413-1231, Bunce, Emma J., Gershmanl, Daniel J., Martos, Yasmina M., Greathouse, Thomas K., Bolton, Scott J. and Levin, Steven M. (2019). Birkeland currents in Jupiter's magnetosphere observed by the polar-orbiting Juno spacecraft. Nat. Astron., 3 (10). S. 904 - 910. LONDON: NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. ISSN 2397-3366

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Abstract

The exchange of energy and momentum between the Earth's upper atmosphere and ionosphere, and its space environment (magnetosphere) is regulated by electric currents (called Birkeland currents) flowing along magnetic field lines that connect these two regions of space(1). The associated electric currents flow towards and away from each pole primarily in two concentric conical sheets(2) . It has been expected that powerful sheets of magnetic-field-aligned electric currents would be found in association with the bright Jovian auroras(3). The Juno spacecraft is well positioned to explore Jupiter's polar magnetosphere and sample Birkeland or field-aligned currents and particle distributions. Since July 2016, Juno has maintained a near-polar orbit, passing over both polar regions every 53 days. From this vantage point, Juno's complement of science instruments gathers in situ observations of magnetospheric particles and fields while its remote-sensing infrared and ultraviolet spectrographs and imagers map auroral emissions(4). Here we present an extensive analysis of magnetic field perturbations measured during Juno's transits of Jupiter's polar regions, and thereby demonstrate Birkeland currents associated with Jupiter's auroral emissions. We characterize the magnitude and spatial extent of the currents and we find that they are weaker than anticipated and filamentary in nature. A significant asymmetry is observed between the field perturbations and the current associated with the northern and the southern auroras.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Kotsiaros, Stavros UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0003-2636-5545 UNSPECIFIED Connerney, John E. P. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Clark, George UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Allegrini, Frederic UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0003-0696-4380 UNSPECIFIED Gladstone, G. Randall UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Kurth, William S. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Mauk, Barry H. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Saur, Joachim UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0003-1413-1231 UNSPECIFIED Bunce, Emma J. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Gershmanl, Daniel J. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Martos, Yasmina M. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Greathouse, Thomas K. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Bolton, Scott J. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Levin, Steven M. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-132763
DOI:	10.1038/s41550-019-0819-7
Journal or Publication Title:	Nat. Astron.
Volume:	3
Number:	10
Page Range:	S. 904 - 910
Date:	2019
Publisher:	NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
Place of Publication:	LONDON
ISSN:	2397-3366
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language AZIMUTHAL MAGNETIC-FIELD; ALIGNED CURRENTS; ACCELERATION; ELECTRON Multiple languages Astronomy & Astrophysics Multiple languages
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/13276