Publication Date:
2019-06-28
Description:
The Voyager 1 EUV spectrum of the hot Io plasma torus obtained before encounter in 1979 at a range of 4,800,000 km is analyzed in terms of a collisional model with improved collision strengths. Model calculations are based entirely on steady-state equilibrium between electron excitation-deactivation and radiative decay in the subspecies structure, and plasma temperature and species number densities are derived by fitting model spectra to the observations. Lines of S II, S III, S IV, O II, and O III are found to be dominant in the plasma torus, at torus half width densities of 44, 160, 220, 50, and 340/cu cm, respectively, and lines of S V and K III may also be present. An effective electron temperature of 80,000 K is estimated for the central dense region near 6 Jupiter radii. Model calculations are in substantial agreement with other spectroscopic observations of the hot torus; however, the observations exhibit strong morphological differences with recent ground-based observations of S II emission, and calculated ion densities differ from in situ Voyager 1 plasma science measurements.
Keywords:
LUNAR AND PLANETARY EXPLORATION
Type:
Journal of Geophysical Research; 86; Oct. 1
Format:
text
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