Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 9 October 1987:
Vol. 238. no. 4824, pp. 170 - 176
DOI: 10.1126/science.238.4824.170
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

The Jupiter-Io Connection: An Alfvén Engine in Space

JOHN W. BELCHER 1

1 Professor of physics and a member of the Center for Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139.

Much has been learned about the electromagnetic interaction between Jupiter and its satellite Io from in situ observations. Io, in its motion through the Io plasma torus at Jupiter, continuously generates an Alfvén wing that carries two billion kilowatts of power into the jovian ionosphere. Concurrently, Io is acted upon by a J x B force tending to propel it out of the jovian system. The energy source for these processes is the rotation of Jupiter. This unusual planet-satellite coupling serves as an archetype for the interaction of a large moving conductor with a magnetized plasma, a problem of general space and astrophysical interest.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Identification of a dynamic atmosphere at Enceladus with the Cassini magnetometer..
M. K. Dougherty, K. K. Khurana, F. M. Neubauer, C. T. Russell, J. Saur, J. S. Leisner, and M. E. Burton (2006)
Science 311, 1406-1409
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Magnetic Fields at Neptune.
N. F. Ness, M. H. Acuna, L. F. Burlaga, J. E. P. Connerney, R. P. Lepping, and F. M. Neubauer (1989)
Science 246, 1473-1478
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)