Simulation of Io?s Auroral Emission: Constraints on the Atmosphere in Eclipse
Abstract We study the morphology of Io?s aurora by comparing simulation results of a three-dimensional (3D) two-fluid plasma model to observations by the high-resolution Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on-board the New Horizons spacecraft and by the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera fo...
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fttrinitycoll:oai:tara.tcd.ie:2262/66047 2023-05-15T17:40:02+02:00 Simulation of Io?s Auroral Emission: Constraints on the Atmosphere in Eclipse 2013-02-11T02:53:13Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/66047 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2011.05.014 en eng Elsevier 00191035 (ISSN) S0019-1035(11)00179-5 (PII) S0019-1035(11)00179-5 (publisherID) http://hdl.handle.net/2262/66047 Icarus 214 2 495 doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2011.05.014 2011 18 months Io Jupiter satellites Atmospheres structure 2013 fttrinitycoll https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2011.05.014 2020-02-16T13:54:12Z Abstract We study the morphology of Io?s aurora by comparing simulation results of a three-dimensional (3D) two-fluid plasma model to observations by the high-resolution Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on-board the New Horizons spacecraft and by the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys (HST/ACS). In 2007, Io?s auroral emission in eclipse has been observed simultaneously by LORRI and ACS and the observations revealed detailed features of the aurora, such as a huge glowing plume at the Tvashtar paterae close to the North pole. The auroral radiation is generated in Io?s atmosphere by collisions between impinging magnetospheric electrons and various neutral gas components. We calculate the interaction of the magnetospheric plasma with Io?s atmosphere-ionosphere and simulate the auroral emission. Our aurora model takes into account not only the direct influence of the atmospheric distribution on the morphology and intensity of the emission, but also the indirect influence of the atmosphere on the plasma environment and thus on the exciting electrons. We find that the observed morphology in eclipse can be explained by a smooth (non-patchy) equatorial atmosphere with a vertical column density that corresponds to ~10% of the column density of the sunlit atmosphere. The atmosphere is asymmetric with two times higher density and extension on the downstream hemisphere. The auroral emission from the Tvashtar volcano enables us to constrain the plume gas content for the first time. According to our model, the observed intensity of the Tvashtar plume implies a mean column density of ~5 ?1015 cm-2 for the plume region. correspondence: Corresponding author. (Roth, Lorenz) roth@geo.uni-koeln.de (Roth, Lorenz) Institute of Geophysics and Meteorology, University of Cologne - GERMANY (Roth, Lorenz) GERMANY (Roth, Lorenz) Institute of Geophysics and Meteorology, University of Cologne - GERMANY (Saur, Joachim) Southwest Research Institute - San Antonio--> , Texas--> - UNITED STATES (Retherford, Kurt D.) Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Johns Hopkins University - Baltimore--> , Maryland--> - UNITED STATES (Strobel, Darrell F.) Southwest Research Institute - Boulder--> , Colorado--> - UNITED STATES (Spencer, John R.) GERMANY UNITED STATES Received: 2011-01-18 Revised: 2011-05-10 Accepted: 2011-05-12 Other/Unknown Material North Pole The University of Dublin, Trinity College: TARA (Trinity's Access to Research Archive) Hubble ENVELOPE(158.317,158.317,-80.867,-80.867) Jupiter ENVELOPE(101.133,101.133,-66.117,-66.117) North Pole Icarus 214 2 495 509 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
The University of Dublin, Trinity College: TARA (Trinity's Access to Research Archive) |
op_collection_id |
fttrinitycoll |
language |
English |
topic |
Io Jupiter satellites Atmospheres structure |
spellingShingle |
Io Jupiter satellites Atmospheres structure Simulation of Io?s Auroral Emission: Constraints on the Atmosphere in Eclipse |
topic_facet |
Io Jupiter satellites Atmospheres structure |
description |
Abstract We study the morphology of Io?s aurora by comparing simulation results of a three-dimensional (3D) two-fluid plasma model to observations by the high-resolution Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on-board the New Horizons spacecraft and by the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys (HST/ACS). In 2007, Io?s auroral emission in eclipse has been observed simultaneously by LORRI and ACS and the observations revealed detailed features of the aurora, such as a huge glowing plume at the Tvashtar paterae close to the North pole. The auroral radiation is generated in Io?s atmosphere by collisions between impinging magnetospheric electrons and various neutral gas components. We calculate the interaction of the magnetospheric plasma with Io?s atmosphere-ionosphere and simulate the auroral emission. Our aurora model takes into account not only the direct influence of the atmospheric distribution on the morphology and intensity of the emission, but also the indirect influence of the atmosphere on the plasma environment and thus on the exciting electrons. We find that the observed morphology in eclipse can be explained by a smooth (non-patchy) equatorial atmosphere with a vertical column density that corresponds to ~10% of the column density of the sunlit atmosphere. The atmosphere is asymmetric with two times higher density and extension on the downstream hemisphere. The auroral emission from the Tvashtar volcano enables us to constrain the plume gas content for the first time. According to our model, the observed intensity of the Tvashtar plume implies a mean column density of ~5 ?1015 cm-2 for the plume region. correspondence: Corresponding author. (Roth, Lorenz) roth@geo.uni-koeln.de (Roth, Lorenz) Institute of Geophysics and Meteorology, University of Cologne - GERMANY (Roth, Lorenz) GERMANY (Roth, Lorenz) Institute of Geophysics and Meteorology, University of Cologne - GERMANY (Saur, Joachim) Southwest Research Institute - San Antonio--> , Texas--> - UNITED STATES (Retherford, Kurt D.) Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Johns Hopkins University - Baltimore--> , Maryland--> - UNITED STATES (Strobel, Darrell F.) Southwest Research Institute - Boulder--> , Colorado--> - UNITED STATES (Spencer, John R.) GERMANY UNITED STATES Received: 2011-01-18 Revised: 2011-05-10 Accepted: 2011-05-12 |
title |
Simulation of Io?s Auroral Emission: Constraints on the Atmosphere in Eclipse |
title_short |
Simulation of Io?s Auroral Emission: Constraints on the Atmosphere in Eclipse |
title_full |
Simulation of Io?s Auroral Emission: Constraints on the Atmosphere in Eclipse |
title_fullStr |
Simulation of Io?s Auroral Emission: Constraints on the Atmosphere in Eclipse |
title_full_unstemmed |
Simulation of Io?s Auroral Emission: Constraints on the Atmosphere in Eclipse |
title_sort |
simulation of io?s auroral emission: constraints on the atmosphere in eclipse |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2262/66047 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2011.05.014 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(158.317,158.317,-80.867,-80.867) ENVELOPE(101.133,101.133,-66.117,-66.117) |
geographic |
Hubble Jupiter North Pole |
geographic_facet |
Hubble Jupiter North Pole |
genre |
North Pole |
genre_facet |
North Pole |
op_relation |
00191035 (ISSN) S0019-1035(11)00179-5 (PII) S0019-1035(11)00179-5 (publisherID) http://hdl.handle.net/2262/66047 Icarus 214 2 495 doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2011.05.014 |
op_rights |
2011 18 months |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2011.05.014 |
container_title |
Icarus |
container_volume |
214 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
495 |
op_container_end_page |
509 |
_version_ |
1766140810561060864 |