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Published October 10, 1997 | public
Journal Article

The Response of Jupiter's Magnetosphere to an Outburst on Io

Abstract

A 6-month-long monitoring campaign of the Io plasma torus and neutral cloud was conducted to determine the characteristics of their interaction. During the observations, a large outburst of material from Io—inferred to be caused by the eruption of a volcanic plume on Io—caused a transient increase in the neutral cloud and plasma torus masses. The response of the plasma torus to this outburst shows that the interaction between Io and Jupiter's magnetosphere is stabilized by a feedback mechanism in which increases in the plasma torus mass cause a nonlinear increase in loss from the plasma torus, limiting plasma buildup.

Additional Information

© 1997 American Association for the Advancement of Science. Received 6 May 1997; accepted 12 August 1997. We benefited greatly from conversations with A. J. Dessler, T. W. Hill, M. A. McGrath, E. J. Moyer, and D. H. Pontius. This research would not have been begun without a generous seed grant from the California Space Institute and would not have proceeded without the reliable help of A. Misch and the other staff at Lick Observatory.

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 19, 2023