Investigating the compressibility of the Jovian magnetosphere

Abstract

The Jovian magnetosphere can undergo significant changes in its size due to varying external (e.g. solar activity) or internal (e.g. hot plasma pressure) conditions. Simulations have shown that the difference in the dayside stand-off distance between a compressed and an expanded state can be around 30 Jovian radii.In this work, we study the compressibility of the Jovian magnetosphere using a large ensemble of axisymmetric models, obtained from the recently updated UCL/AGA magnetodisc code. Each model is defined by its size (via the stand-off distance) and hot plasma content (via the hot plasma index). Using these models as virtual magnetopause crossings we estimate the compressibility index, calculated via changes in the dayside stand-off distance as a function of the external pressure, which characterises the overall response of the magnetosphere.We find that the system size plays an important role in the Jovian case, as we observe a change in the compressibility index as a function of the stand-off distance. This has also been noted in existing studies on Saturn, using a linear relation between changes in the stand-off distance and the external pressure.As a complementary study, we also estimate the compressibility index using magnetopause crossings from recently published catalogues based on JUNO data.