Response of Jupiter's inner magnetosphere to the solar wind derived from extreme ultraviolet monitoring of the Io plasma torus

Abstract

AbstractBecause Jupiter's magnetosphere is huge and is rotationally dominated, solar wind influence on its inner part has been thought to be negligible. Meanwhile, dawn‐dusk asymmetric features of this region have been reported. Presence of dawn‐to‐dusk electric field is one of the leading explanations of the asymmetry; however, the physical process of generating such an intense electric field still remains unclear. Here we present long and continuous monitoring of the extreme ultraviolet emissions from the Io plasma torus in Jupiter's inner magnetosphere made by the Hisaki satellite between December 2013 and March 2014. We found five occasions where the dusk/dawn brightness ratio was enhanced above 2.5 in response to rapid increase of the solar wind dynamic pressure. The enhancement is achieved as the dusk region brightens and the dawn region dims. The observation indicates that dawn‐to‐dusk electric field in the inner magnetosphere is enhanced under compressed conditions.