Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published October 18, 1996 | public
Journal Article

Far-Ultraviolet Imaging of Jupiter's Aurora and the Io "Footprint"

Abstract

Far-ultraviolet images of Jupiter from the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 reveal polar auroral emissions at 300 kilometer resolution and three times higher sensitivity than previously achieved. Persistent features include a main oval containing most of the emission and magnetically connected to the middle magnetosphere, diffuse and variable emissions poleward of the main oval, and discrete emission from Io's magnetic footprint equatorward of the oval. The auroral emissions are variable, exhibit magnetic conjugacy, and are visible above the planet limb. All emissions approximately co-rotate with Jupiter except the Io "footprint," which is fixed along Io's magnetic flux tube.

Additional Information

© 1996 American Association for the Advancement of Science. 3 July 1996; Accepted 26 September 1996. We acknowledge helpful conversations with J. Belcher, M. Kivelson, F. Bagenal, and F. Crary. This work is based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScl), which is operated by the AURA, Inc. for NASA under contract NAS5-26555. The research was supported by contract JPL 959122 from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and grant GO5624.18-93A from the Space Telescope Science Institute to the University of Michigan.

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 19, 2023