FastFind »   Lastname: doi:10.1029/ Year: | Advanced Search  

AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Keywords

  • Io footprint
  • UV aurora
  • Jupiter

Index Terms

  • Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects: Jupiter
  • Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects: Io
  • Planetary Sciences: Fluid Planets: Aurorae
  • Planetary Sciences: Fluid Planets: Interactions with particles and fields
  • Planetary Sciences: Fluid Planets: Magnetic fields and magnetism

Abstract

UV Io footprint leading spot: A key feature for understanding the UV Io footprint multiplicity?

B. Bonfond

Laboratoire de Physique Atmosphérique et Planétaire, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium

D. Grodent

Laboratoire de Physique Atmosphérique et Planétaire, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium

J.-C. Gérard

Laboratoire de Physique Atmosphérique et Planétaire, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium

A. Radioti

Laboratoire de Physique Atmosphérique et Planétaire, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium

J. Saur

Institut für Geophysik und Meteorologie, Universität zu Köln, Cologne, Germany

S. Jacobsen

Institut für Geophysik und Meteorologie, Universität zu Köln, Cologne, Germany

The electromagnetic interaction between Io and the Jovian magnetosphere generates a UV auroral footprint in both Jovian hemispheres. Multiple spots were observed in the northern Jovian hemisphere when Io was in the northern part of the plasma torus and vice-versa for the South. Based on recent Hubble Space Telescope (HST) measurements, we report here the discovery of a UV leading spot, i.e., a faint emission located ahead of the main spot. The leading spot emerges at System III longitudes between 0° and 100° in the northern hemisphere and between 130° and 300° in the southern hemisphere, i.e., in one hemisphere when multiple spots are observed in the other hemisphere. We propose as one potential mechanism that electron beams observed near Io are related to the generation of the leading spot and the secondary spot in the opposite hemisphere.

Received 19 October 2007; accepted 31 January 2008; published 15 March 2008.

Citation: Bonfond, B., D. Grodent, J.-C. Gérard, A. Radioti, J. Saur, and S. Jacobsen (2008), UV Io footprint leading spot: A key feature for understanding the UV Io footprint multiplicity?, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L05107, doi:10.1029/2007GL032418.

Cited By

Please wait one moment ...