Publication Date:
2019-06-27
Description:
Solutions are given for the diffusion of trapped particles in a planetary magnetic field in which the first and second adiabatic invariants are preserved but the third is not, using as boundary conditions a fixed density at the outer boundary (the magnetopause) and a zero density at an inner boundary (the planetary surface). Losses to an orbiting natural satellite are included and an approximate evaluation is made of the effects of the synchrotron radiation on the energy of relativistic electrons. Choosing parameters appropriate to Jupiter, the electrons required to produce the observed synchrotron radiation are explained. If a speculative mechanism in which the diffusion is driven by ionospheric wind is the true explanation of the electrons producing the synchrotron emission it can be concluded that Jupiter's inner magnetosphere is occupied by an energetic proton flux that would be a serious hazard to spacecraft.
Keywords:
LUNAR AND PLANETARY EXPLORATION
Type:
NASA-CR-141967
Format:
application/pdf
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