Enhancement of the Jovian Magnetospheric Plasma Circulation Caused by the Change in Plasma Supply From the Satellite Io

Abstract

AbstractThe innermost Galilean satellite, Io, supplies a large amount of volcanic gasses to the Jovian magnetosphere. The fast rotation of Jupiter and the outward transport of ionized gasses are responsible for forming a huge and rotationally dominant magnetosphere. The plasma supply from the satellite has a key role in the characterization of the Jovian magnetosphere. In fact, significant variations of the plasma population in the inner magnetosphere caused by the volcanic eruptions in Io were found in early 2015, using a continuous data set of the Io plasma torus obtained from an extreme ultraviolet spectroscope onboard the Hisaki satellite. The time evolution of the Io plasma torus radial distribution showed that the outward transport of plasma through 8 RJ from Jupiter was enhanced for approximately 2 months (from the end of January to the beginning of April 2015). Intense short‐lived auroral brightenings––which represent transient energy releases in the outer part of the magnetosphere—occurred frequently during this period. The short‐lived auroral brightenings accompanied well‐defined sporadic enhancements of the ion brightness in the plasma torus, indicating a rapid inward transport of energy from the outer part of the magnetosphere and the resultant enhancement of hot electron population in the inner magnetosphere. This evidently shows that the change in a plasma source in the inner magnetosphere affects a large‐scale radial circulation of mass and energy in a rotationally dominant magnetosphere.