Energetic Particles in the Jovian Magnetotail

doi:10.1126/science.1148025

Account Information

Guest Alerts | Access Rights | My Account | Sign In

Site Navigation

Article Views

Article Tools

My Science

Science 12 October 2007:
Vol. 318. no. 5848, pp. 220 - 222
DOI: 10.1126/science.1148025

Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Energetic Particles in the Jovian Magnetotail

R. L. McNutt, Jr.,¹^* D. K. Haggerty,¹ M. E. Hill,¹ S. M. Krimigis,¹^,2 S. Livi,³ G. C. Ho,¹ R. S. Gurnee,¹ B. H. Mauk,¹ D. G. Mitchell,¹ E. C. Roelof,¹ D. J. McComas,³ F. Bagenal,⁴ H. A. Elliott,³ L. E. Brown,¹ M. Kusterer,¹ J. Vandegriff,¹ S. A. Stern,⁵ H. A. Weaver,¹ J. R. Spencer,⁶ J. M. Moore⁷

When the solar wind hits Jupiter's magnetic field, it createsa long magnetotail trailing behind the planet that channelsmaterial out of the Jupiter system. The New Horizons spacecrafttraversed the length of the jovian magnetotail to >2500 jovianradii (R_J; 1 R_J ${equiv}$ 71,400 kilometers), observing a high-temperature,multispecies population of energetic particles. Velocity dispersions,anisotropies, and compositional variation seen in the deep-tail( ${gtrsim}$ 500 R_J) with a $~$ 3-day periodicity are similar to variationsseen closer to Jupiter in Galileo data. The signatures suggestplasma streaming away from the planet and injection sites inthe near-tail region ( $~$ 200 to 400 R_J) that could be related tomagnetic reconnection events. The tail structure remains coherentat least until it reaches the magnetosheath at 1655 R_J.

¹ Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, MD 20723, USA.
² Academy of Athens, 28 Panapistimiou, 10679 Athens, Greece.
³ Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78228, USA.
⁴ Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309–0392, USA.
⁵ NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546–0001, USA.
⁶ Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.
⁷ NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ralph.mcnutt{at}jhuapl.edu

Read the Full Text

The editors suggest the following Related Resources on Science sites:

In Science Magazine

INTRODUCTION TO SPECIAL ISSUE Grand Tour: Joanne Baker (12 October 2007)
Science 318 (5848), 215. [DOI: 10.1126/science.318.5848.215]
| Summary » | PDF »

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:

New Surprises in the Largest Magnetosphere of Our Solar System.: N. Krupp (2007)
Science 318, 216-217
| Abstract » | Full Text » | PDF »

Diverse Plasma Populations and Structures in Jupiter's Magnetotail.: D. J. McComas, F. Allegrini, F. Bagenal, F. Crary, R. W. Ebert, H. Elliott, A. Stern, and P. Valek (2007)
Science 318, 217-220
| Abstract » | Full Text » | PDF »