Jupiter's auroral X-rays have been observed for 40 years with an unknown driver producing quasiperiodic emission, concentrated into auroral hot spots. In this study we analyze an ∼ 10-hr Chandra observation from 18:56 on 18 June 2017. We use a new Python pipeline to analyze the auroral morphology, perform timing analysis by incorporating Rayleigh testing, and use in situ Juno observations to infer the magnetosphere that was compressed during the Chandra interval. During this time Juno was near its apojove position of ∼112 R J , on the dawn flank of the magnetosphere near the nominal magnetopause position. We present new dynamical polar plots showing an extended X-ray hot spot in the northern auroral region traversing across the Jovian disk. From this morphology, we propose setting a numerical threshold of >7 photons per 5 • System III longitude × 5 • latitude to define a photon concentration of the northern hot spot region. Our timing analysis finds two significant quasiperiodic oscillations (QPOs) of ∼37 and ∼26 min within the extended northern hot spot. No statistically significant QPOs were found in the southern X-ray auroral emission. The Rayleigh test is combined with Monte Carlo simulation to find the statistical significance of any QPOs found. We use a flux equivalence mapping model to trace the possible origin of the QPOs, and thus the driver, to the dayside magnetopause boundary.
We compare Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray observations of Jupiter during 2007 with a rich multi-instrument data set including upstream in situ solar wind measurements from the New Horizons spacecraft, radio emissions from the Nançay Decametric Array and Wind/Waves, and ultraviolet (UV) observations from the Hubble Space Telescope. New Horizons data revealed two corotating interaction regions (CIRs) impacted Jupiter during these observations. Non-Io decametric bursts and UV emissions brightened together and varied in phase with the CIRs. We characterize three types of X-ray aurorae: hard X-ray bremsstrahlung main emission, pulsed/flared soft X-ray emissions, and a newly identified dim flickering (varying on short time scales, but quasi-continuously present) aurora. For most observations, the X-ray aurorae were dominated by pulsed/flaring emissions, with ion spectral lines that were best fit by iogenic plasma. However, the brightest X-ray aurora was coincident with a magnetosphere expansion. For this observation, the aurorae were produced by both flickering emission and erratic pulses/flares. Auroral spectral models for this observation required the addition of solar wind ions to attain good fits, suggesting solar wind entry into the outer magnetosphere or directly into the pole for this particularly bright observation. X-ray bremsstrahlung from high energy electrons was only bright for one observation, which was during a forward shock. This bremsstrahlung was spatially coincident with bright UV main emission (power > 1 TW) and X-ray ion spectral line dusk emission, suggesting closening of upward and downward current systems during the shock. Otherwise, the bremsstrahlung was dim, and UV main emission power was also lower (<700 GW), suggesting their power scaled together.
The buoyancy of lithospheric slabs in subduction zones is widely thought to dominate the torques driving plate tectonics. In late Cretaceous and early Paleogene times, the Indian plate moved more rapidly over the mantle than freely subducting slabs sink within it. This signal event has been attributed to arrival of the Deccan-Réunion mantle plume beneath the plate, but it is unknown in which proportions the plume acted to alter the balance of existing plate driving torques and to introduce torques of its own. Our plate kinematic analysis of the Mascarene Basin yields a detailed Indian plate motion history for the period 89-60 Ma. Plate speed initially increases steadily until a pronounced acceleration in the period 68-64 Ma, after which it abruptly returns to values much like those beforehand. This pattern is unlike that suggested to result from the direct introduction of driving forces by the arrival of a thermal plume at the base of the plate. A simple analysis of the gravitational force related to the Indian plate's thickening away from its boundary with the African plate suggests instead that the sudden acceleration and deceleration may be related to uplift of part of that boundary during a period when it was located over the plume head. In this instance, torques related to plate accretion and subduction may have contributed in similar proportions to drive plate motion.
We report the temporal and spectral results of the first XMM-Newton observation of Jupiter's X-ray auroras during a clear magnetospheric compression event on June 2017 as confirmed by data from the Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) instrument onboard Juno. The northern and southern auroras were visible twice and thrice respectively as they rotated in and out of view during the ∼23-hr (almost 2.5 Jupiter rotations) long XMM-Newton Jovian-observing campaign. Previous auroral observations by Chandra and XMM-Newton have shown that the X-ray auroras sometimes pulse with a regular period. We applied wavelet and fast Fourier transforms (FFTs) on the auroral light curves to show that, following the compression event, the X-ray auroras exhibited a recurring 23-to 27-min periodicity that lasted over 12.5 hr (longer than a Jupiter rotation). This periodicity was observed from both the northern and southern auroras, suggesting that the emission from both poles was caused by a shared driver. The soft X-ray component of the auroras is due to charge exchange processes between precipitating ions and neutrals in Jupiter's atmosphere. We utilized the Atomic Charge Exchange (ACX) spectral package to produce solar wind and iogenic plasma models to fit the auroral spectra in order to identify the origins of these ions. For this observation, the iogenic model gave the best fit, which suggests that the precipitating ions are from iogenic plasma in Jupiter's magnetosphere. Plain Language SummaryThe solar wind is a continuous stream of charged particles released by the Sun that flows out toward the edge of the Solar System. It meets obstacles along the way, such as the magnetic fields of planets like the Earth to create a magnetic bubble around them called a magnetosphere. The magnetosphere prevents most of these charged particles from reaching the Earth's atmosphere. Those that make their way through interact with the gas molecules in the atmosphere above the polar regions and cause them to glow to produce the auroras or the northern and southern lights. Jupiter's auroras are much more powerful than the Earth's, and they emit different types of radiation, including X-rays. It is currently unclear as to what causes Jupiter's X-ray auroras. Its moon, Io, spews volcanic material into the magnetosphere that can be accelerated into the planet's atmosphere. We created models that consisted of the particles found in the solar wind and in the material from Io's volcanoes to see which one was responsible for Jupiter's X-ray auroras. In this case, it was Io's volcanoes. We also found that the auroras pulsate every ∼23-27 min in the north and ∼23-33 min in the south.
Jupiter’s rapidly rotating, strong magnetic field provides a natural laboratory that is key to understanding the dynamics of high-energy plasmas. Spectacular auroral x-ray flares are diagnostic of the most energetic processes governing magnetospheres but seemingly unique to Jupiter. Since their discovery 40 years ago, the processes that produce Jupiter’s x-ray flares have remained unknown. Here, we report simultaneous in situ satellite and space-based telescope observations that reveal the processes that produce Jupiter’s x-ray flares, showing surprising similarities to terrestrial ion aurora. Planetary-scale electromagnetic waves are observed to modulate electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves, periodically causing heavy ions to precipitate and produce Jupiter’s x-ray pulses. Our findings show that ion aurorae share common mechanisms across planetary systems, despite temporal, spatial, and energetic scales varying by orders of magnitude.
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