Publication Date:
2007-10-13
Description:
Jupiter's magnetotail is the largest cohesive structure in the solar system and marks the loss of vast numbers of heavy ions from the Jupiter system. The New Horizons spacecraft traversed the magnetotail to distances exceeding 2500 jovian radii (R(J)) and revealed a remarkable diversity of plasma populations and structures throughout its length. Ions evolve from a hot plasma disk distribution at approximately 100 R(J) to slower, persistent flows down the tail that become increasingly variable in flux and mean energy. The plasma is highly structured-exhibiting sharp breaks, smooth variations, and apparent plasmoids-and contains ions from both Io and Jupiter's ionosphere with intense bursts of H(+) and H(+)(3). Quasi-periodic changes were seen in flux at approximately 450 and approximately 1500 R(J) with a 10-hour period. Other variations in flow speed at approximately 600 to 1000 R(J) with a 3- to 4-day period may be attributable to plasmoids moving down the tail.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉McComas, D J -- Allegrini, F -- Bagenal, F -- Crary, F -- Ebert, R W -- Elliott, H -- Stern, A -- Valek, P -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2007 Oct 12;318(5848):217-20.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Southwest Research Institute, 6220 Culebra Road, San Antonio, TX 78238, USA. dmccomas@swri.edu〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17932282" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Extraterrestrial Environment
;
Hydrogen
;
Ions
;
*Jupiter
;
Magnetics
;
Protons
;
Spacecraft
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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