Planetary Magnetospheres Research Articles

Pitch Angle Distribution of MeV Electrons in the Magnetosphere of Jupiter

AbstractThe magnetosphere of Jupiter harbors the most extreme fluxes of MeV electrons in the solar system and therefore provides a testbed of choice to understand the origin, transport, acceleration, and loss of energetic electrons in planetary magnetospheres. Along this objective, the Pitch Angle Distribution (PAD) of energetic electrons may reveal signatures of the dominant physical processes. Here, we analyze for the first time the PAD of MeV electrons observed by the Galileo‐Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) experiment in orbit around Jupiter from 1995 to 2003. We find that the MeV electron PADs observed by the integral channels of EPD appear relatively isotropic with a flux anisotropy lower than a factor of 3. Due to the relatively large angular apertures of the EPD telescopes, the actual anisotropy may be larger than the observed one. The fine anisotropy observed by Galileo‐EPD reveals persistent pancake distributions at the M‐shell of M = 9. Outward of this distance, at M = 15 and M = 20–60, MeV electron distributions have pancake, isotropic, and scattered beam field‐aligned distributions. The scattered beam distributions can either be evidence of outward adiabatic transport or may suggest that high‐latitude auroral acceleration can transiently supply as much trapped MeV electrons to the middle magnetosphere as the inward adiabatic transport of electrons from an outer equatorial reservoir.

Plasmoids in the Jovian Magnetotail: Statistical Survey of Ion Acceleration Using Juno Observations

AbstractTransient magnetic reconnection plays an important role in energetic particle acceleration in planetary magnetospheres. Jupiter's magnetosphere provides a unique natural laboratory to study processes of energy transport and transformation. Strong electric fields in spatially confined structures such as plasmoids can be responsible for ion acceleration to high energies. In this study we focus on the effectiveness of ion energization and acceleration in plasmoids. Therefore, we present a statistical study of plasmoid structures in the predawn magnetotail, which were identified in the magnetometer data of the Juno spacecraft from 2016 to 2018. We additionally use the energetic particle observations from the Jupiter Energetic Particle Detector Instrument which discriminates between different ion species. We are particularly interested in the analysis of the acceleration and energization of oxygen, sulfur, helium, and hydrogen ions. We investigate how the event properties, such as the radial distance and the local time of the observed plasmoids in the magnetotail, affect the ion intensities close to the current sheet center. Furthermore, we analyze if ion acceleration is influenced by magnetic field turbulence inside the plasmoids. We find significant heavy ion acceleration in plasmoids close to the current sheet center which is in line with the previous statistical results based on Galileo observations conducted by Kronberg et al. (2019, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JA026553). The observed effectiveness of the acceleration is dependent on the position of Juno in the magnetotail during the plasmoid event observation. Our results show no correlation between magnetic field turbulence and nonadiabatic acceleration for heavy ions during plasmoids.

Combined Scattering of Suprathermal Electrons by Whistler‐Mode Chorus and Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron Waves in the Low‐Density Plasmatrough

AbstractBased on the observation from Van Allen Probes, we report an event of intense and simultaneous electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) and chorus waves inside the low‐density plasmatrough. By calculating the scattering rates and performing the diffusion simulations, we for the first time evaluate the combined scattering of suprathermal electrons by EMIC and chorus waves in the low‐density plasmatrough. Landau acceleration of suprathermal electrons by EMIC waves is mainly restricted at large pitch angles while their scattering loss by chorus waves occurs at small pitch angles well below 90°. When EMIC and chorus waves are simultaneously present, the scattering of suprathermal electrons by the two waves is very different from that by each type of waves alone. EMIC waves play a complementary role in the scattering of suprathermal electrons by chorus waves, which facilitate the scattering of suprathermal electrons over all pitch angles. The near‐equatorially minoring suprathermal electrons are firstly scattered toward intermediate pitch angles by EMIC waves and further toward the loss cone by chorus waves. Our results highlight the complementary role of different types of magnetospheric waves in the suprathermal electron scattering, which potentially have vital implications for the dynamics of suprathermal electrons in the planetary magnetosphere.

Observations of Whistler-mode Waves and Large-amplitude Electrostatic Waves Associated with a Dipolarization Front in the Bursty Bulk Flow

Plasma jets and jet fronts are common phenomena in planetary magnetospheres. They are usually associated with many plasma waves and can play a key role in the energy conversion, the excitation of wave emissions, particle acceleration, and the evolution of many astrophysical phenomena, which are major issues in the study of helio-terrestrial space physics. In this paper, we carefully investigated the properties of the whistler-mode wave and large-amplitude electrostatic wave in a plasma jet (bursty bulk flow (BBF)) using the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission data on the Earth's magnetosphere. At the leading part of the BBF, intense whistler-mode waves were observed inside the ion mirror-mode structures, which should be excited by the perpendicular temperature anisotropy of trapping electrons. A small-scale dipolarization front (DF) was then observed at the center of this BBF as a boundary between the leading and trailing parts of the BBF. Behind the DF, both an ion mirror-mode structure and whistler-mode waves disappear, while a large-amplitude electrostatic wave was detected and was associated with the cold ions at the trailing part of the BBF. The electrostatic wave is supposed to be generated by ion beam instability. These results will significantly improve the understanding of the kinetic process associated with the important boundary layer DF within plasma jets. The corresponding wave–particle interaction in space and the plasma environment can be further understood.

The Role of O+ and He+ in the Propagation of Kinetic Alfvén Waves in the Earth’s Inner Magnetosphere

Interactions between plasma particles and electromagnetic waves play a crucial role in the dynamics and regulation of the state of space environments. From plasma physics theory, the characteristics of the waves and their interactions with the plasma strongly depend on the composition of the plasma, among other factors. In the case of the Earth’s magnetosphere, the plasma is usually composed of electrons, protons, O+ ions, and He+ ions, all with their particular properties and characteristics. Here, using plasma parameters relevant for the inner magnetosphere, we study the dispersion properties of kinetic Alfvén waves (KAWs) in a plasma composed of electrons, protons, He+ ions, and O+ ions. We show that heavy ions induce significant changes to the dispersion properties of KAWs, such as polarization, compressibility, and the electric-to-magnetic amplitude ratio, and therefore the propagation of KAWs is highly determined by the relative abundance of He+ and O+ in the plasma. These results, when discussed in the context of observations in the Earth’s magnetosphere, suggest that for many types of studies based on theory and numerical simulations, the inclusion of heavy ions should be customary for the realistic modeling of plasma phenomena in the inner magnetosphere or other space environments in which heavy ions can contribute a substantial portion of the plasma, such as planetary magnetospheres and comet plasma tails.

Observational Evidence for the Origin of Repetitive Chorus Emissions

AbstractChorus waves, discovered as a series of repetitive coherent emissions, are well known for producing hazard radiation environments in Earth's magnetosphere. Its repetitive nature directly causes the rapid modulation of pulsating aurora in the upper atmosphere and microburst in the ionosphere, but its origin remains a decades‐old puzzle. Recent simulation suggested the energetic electrons, injected from the magnetotail and drifting eastward around the Earth, are critical to form the repetitive pattern. Based on a survey of 1.5 year data from Van Allen Probes, we provide the first observational evidence for the origin of repetitive chorus emissions. We find there exists universally an inverse correlation between the repetitive period and drift velocity of energetic electrons, uncovering how the drifting energetic electrons tune the repetitive period of chorus emissions, which is also supported by kinetic simulations. Our finding may apply to understand the generation of repetitive emissions in planetary magnetospheres and laboratory plasmas.

Field Line Resonances and Cavity Modes at Earth and Jupiter

Ultra-Low-Frequency (ULF) waves provide a means for the rapid propagation of energy and field-aligned current in planetary magnetospheres. At Earth, the ULF frequency range is usually defined as including waves with periods of 0.2–600 s; however, at Jupiter these waves can extend to periods of tens of minutes. In both magnetospheres, shear mode Alfvén waves can form field line resonances that exist between the ionospheres, with periods of a few minutes at Earth and a few tens of minutes at Jupiter. A major distinction between these two magnetospheres is in the density distribution. Earth has a dense ionosphere full of heavy ions, an extended, cold plasmasphere and a relatively low-density plasma sheet. In contrast, at Jupiter, the ionosphere is largely hydrogen (both in atomic form and in the H3+molecular ion), there is no appreciable plasmasphere and the plasma disk is dense and populated with heavy ions (largely sulfur and oxygen) originating at the moon Io and to some extent from other moons. As at Earth, the sharp Alfvén speed gradient above the ionosphere forms an ionospheric Alfvén resonator at Jupiter with periods of seconds. Furthermore, the high-latitude lobes at Jupiter have very low density and a resonant structure can be formed by waves bouncing between the ionosphere and the dense plasma disk. This structure leads to periods of tens of seconds. Finally, the dense Io plasma torus and plasma sheet provide conditions for compressional cavity modes to form in this region. Thus, the structure of the field line resonance modes is quite different at the two planets. Implications of these resonances on auroral particle acceleration will be discussed.

Interaction of Ion Cyclotron Electromagnetic Wave with Energetic Particles in the Existence of Alternating Electric Field Using Ring Distribution

The elements that impact the dynamics and collaborations of waves and particles in the magnetosphere of planets have been considered here. Saturn’s internal magnetosphere is determined by substantiated instabilities and discovered to be an exceptional zone of wave activity. Interchanged instability is found to be one of the responsible events in view of temperature anisotropy and energization processes of magnetospheric species. The generated active ions alongside electrons that constitute the populations of highly magnetized planets like Saturn’s ring electron current are taken into consideration in the current framework. The previous and similar method of characteristics and the perturbed distribution function have been used to derive dispersion relation. In incorporating this investigation, the characteristics of electromagnetic ion cyclotron wave (EMIC) waves are determined by the composition of ions in plasmas through which the waves propagate. The effect of ring distribution illustrates non-monotonous description on growth rate (GR) depending upon plasma parameters picked out. Observations made by Cassini found appropriate for modern study, have been applied to the Kronian magnetosphere. Using Maxwellian ring distribution function of ions and detailed mathematical formulation, an expression for dispersion relation as well as GR and real frequency (RF) are evaluated. Analysis of plasma parameters shows that, proliferating EMIC waves are not developed much when propagation is parallelly aligned with magnetosphere as compared to waves propagating in oblique direction. GR for the oblique case, is influenced by temperature anisotropy as well as by alternating current (AC) frequency, whereas it is much affected only by AC frequency for parallel propagating waves.

Multiscale magnetic field structures in an expanding elongated plasma cloud with hot electrons subject to an external magnetic field

We carry out three-dimensional and two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of the expansion of a magnetized plasma that initially uniformly fills a half-space and contains a semicylindrical region of heated electrons elongated along the surface of the plasma boundary. This geometry is related, for instance, to ablation of a plane target by a femtosecond laser beam under quasi-cylindrical focusing. We find that a decay of the inhomogeneous plasma–vacuum discontinuity is strongly affected by an external magnetic field parallel to its boundary. We observe various transient phenomena, including an anisotropic scattering of electrons and an accompanying Weibel instability, and reveal various spatial structures of the arising magnetic field and current, including multiple flying-apart filaments of a Z-pinch type and slowly evolving current sheets with different orientations. The magnitude of the self-generated magnetic field can be of the order of, or significantly exceed that of, the external one. Such phenomena are expected in the laser and cosmic plasmas, including the explosive processes in the planetary magnetospheres and stellar coronal arches.

Marginal stability of whistler-mode waves in plasma with multiple electron populations

Whistler-mode waves are one of the most intense electromagnetic waves in the planetary magnetospheres. These waves are responsible for energetic electron losses into the atmosphere and for electron acceleration up to relativistic energies. Generation of whistler-mode waves is typically attributed to the thermal electron anisotropy. The anisotropy corresponding to the marginal stability for whistler-mode waves has been derived for a single-component Maxwellian plasma, but this criterion does not always work in the Earth's magnetosphere where whistler-mode waves are generated by an energy-confined, strongly anisotropic electron population. This study aims to generalize the marginal stability equation for multi-component plasma with a small, but strongly anisotropic, electron population. New analytical equations for the marginal stability have been derived from the linear analysis. We have also discussed applicability of the derived equations for different electron populations in the Earth's magnetosphere.

First-principles theory of the rate of magnetic reconnection in magnetospheric and solar plasmas

The rate of magnetic reconnection is of the utmost importance in a variety of processes because it controls, for example, the rate energy is released in solar flares, the speed of the Dungey convection cycle in Earth’s magnetosphere, and the energy release rate in harmful geomagnetic substorms. It is known from numerical simulations and satellite observations that the rate is approximately 0.1 in normalized units, but despite years of effort, a full theoretical prediction has not been obtained. Here, we present a first-principles theory for the reconnection rate in non-relativistic electron-ion collisionless plasmas, and show that the same prediction explains why Sweet-Parker reconnection is considerably slower. The key consideration of this analysis is the pressure at the reconnection site (i.e., the x-line). We show that the Hall electromagnetic fields in antiparallel reconnection cause an energy void, equivalently a pressure depletion, at the x-line, so the reconnection exhaust opens out, enabling the fast rate of 0.1. If the energy can reach the x-line to replenish the pressure, the exhaust does not open out. In addition to heliospheric applications, these results are expected to impact reconnection studies in planetary magnetospheres, magnetically confined fusion devices, and astrophysical plasmas.

Neptune’s Pole-on Magnetosphere: Dayside Reconnection Observations by Voyager 2

Abstract The “pole-on” configuration occurs when the polar magnetosphere of a planet is directed into the solar wind velocity vector. Such magnetospheric configurations are unique to the ice giant planets. This means that magnetic reconnection, a process that couples a magnetosphere to the solar wind, will be different at the ice giants when they are pole-on compared to other planets. The only available in situ measurements of a pole-on magnetosphere are from the Neptune flyby by Voyager 2, which we analyze in this paper. We show that dayside magnetopause conditions were conducive to magnetic reconnection. A plasma depletion layer in the magnetosheath adjacent to the magnetopause was observed. Plasma measurements inside the magnetospheric cusp show evidence of multiple reconnection taking place at the magnetopause before the spacecraft crossed the open–closed field line boundary. A possible traveling compression region from a nearby passing flux rope was also observed, providing further supporting evidence that multiple X-line reconnection occurred during the flyby. During a perfectly pole-on configuration, reconnection will not depend on the orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field, as is the case at other planetary magnetospheres. The rate of reconnection will not vary because the area of the dayside magnetopause where antiparallel shears occur will be approximately equal for all interplanetary magnetic field orientations. Therefore, we suggest that rotating into and out of the pole-on configuration will likely drive the “on–off”/“switch-like” dynamics observed in simulations. Consequently, the pole-on configuration is most likely an important rotational phase for driving ice giant magnetospheric dynamics.

High-precision Calibration of the Fluxgate Magnetometer Offset Vector in the Terrestrial Magnetosheath

High-precision magnetic field measurements are of great significance for the in-depth study of the physical processes in the astrophysical plasma environment. To obtain accurate natural magnetic fields, in-flight calibration is one key step to obtaining zero offset of the spaceborne fluxgate magnetometer (FGM). Mirror mode structures, widely existing in the solar wind and planetary magnetosheaths and magnetospheres, can be used to calculate the zero offset. However, it is difficult to obtain an accurate zero offset by the current methods using mirror mode structures in the planetary magnetosheath. Here, we develop a new method to calculate the zero offset of the spaceborne FGM using magnetic dips, which are a kind of mirror mode structure. This method is based on the assumption that the magnetic field is zero in the cross section of the magnetic dip. Our method is able to calculate the zero offset using only one magnetic dip. We test this method by using the data from the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission, and find that the calculation errors of 78.1% of the estimated zero offsets are <0.5 nT when using 25 magnetic dips in the terrestrial magnetosheath. This suggests that our method is able to achieve a high accuracy of the zero offset in the planetary magnetosheath.

Laser-driven, ion-scale magnetospheres in laboratory plasmas. I. Experimental platform and first results

Magnetospheres are a ubiquitous feature of magnetized bodies embedded in a plasma flow. While large planetary magnetospheres have been studied for decades by spacecraft, ion-scale “mini” magnetospheres can provide a unique environment to study kinetic-scale, collisionless plasma physics in the laboratory to help validate models of larger systems. In this work, we present preliminary experiments of ion-scale magnetospheres performed on a unique high-repetition-rate platform developed for the Large Plasma Device at the University of California, Los Angeles. The experiments utilize a high-repetition-rate laser to drive a fast plasma flow into a pulsed dipole magnetic field embedded in a uniform magnetized background plasma. 2D maps of the magnetic field with high spatial and temporal resolution are measured with magnetic flux probes to examine the evolution of magnetosphere and current density structures for a range of dipole and upstream parameters. The results are further compared to 2D particle-in-cell simulations to identify key observational signatures of the kinetic-scale structures and dynamics of the laser-driven plasma. We find that distinct 2D kinetic-scale magnetopause and diamagnetic current structures are formed at higher dipole moments, and their locations are consistent with predictions based on pressure balances and energy conservation.

Do We Need to Consider Electrons' Kinetic Effects to Properly Model a Planetary Magnetosphere: The Case of Mercury

AbstractThe magnetosphere of Mercury is studied using an implicit full particle‐in‐cell simulation (PIC). We use a hybrid simulation where ions are full particles and electrons are considered as a fluid to start a PIC simulation where electrons are also particles and follow their distribution function. This approach allows us to estimate the changes introduced by the electron kinetic physics. We find that the overall macroscopic state of the magnetosphere of Mercury is little affected, but several physical processes are significantly modified in the full PIC simulation: the foreshock region is more active with more intense shock reformation, the Kelvin‐Helmholtz rippling effects on the nightside magnetopause are sharper, and the magnetotail current sheet becomes thinner than those predicted by the hybrid simulation. The greatest effect of the electron physics comes from the processes of particle energization. Both species, not just the electrons, are found to gain more energy when kinetic electron processes are included. The region with the most energetic plasma is found on the dusk side of the tail where magnetic flux ropes are formed due to reconnection. We find that the ion and electron energization is associated with the regions of reconnection and the development of kinetic instabilities caused by counter‐streaming electron populations. The resulting electron distributions are highly non Maxwellian, a process that neither MHD nor hybrid models can describe.

Study of Electrostatic Ion-Cyclotron Waves in Magnetosphere of Uranus

In this manuscript, the method of characteristics particle trajectories details used and the dispersion relation for the ionosphere of Uranus were being used to investigate electrostatic ion-cyclotron waves with parallel flow velocity shear in the presence of perpendicular inhomogeneous DC electric field and density gradient. The growth rate has been calculated using the dispersion relation. Electric fields parallel to the magnetic field transmit energy, mass, and momentum in the auroral regions of the planetary magnetosphere by accelerating charged particles to extremely high energies. The rate of heating of plasma species along and perpendicular to the magnetic field is also said to be influenced by the occurrence of ion cyclotron waves and a parallel electric field in the acceleration area.

Effect of Meteoric Ions on Ionospheric Conductance at Jupiter

AbstractIonospheric Pedersen and Hall conductances play significant roles in electromagnetic coupling between the planetary ionosphere and magnetosphere. Several observations and models have suggested the existence of meteoric ions with interplanetary origins in the lower part of Jupiter’s ionosphere; however, no models have considered the contributions of meteoric ions to ionospheric conductance. This study is designed to evaluate the contribution of meteoric ions to ionospheric conductance by developing an ionospheric model combining a meteoroid ablation model and a photochemical model. We find that the largest contribution to Pedersen and Hall conductivities occurs in the meteoric ion layer at altitudes of 350–600 km due to the large concentration of meteoric ions resulting from their long lifetimes of more than 100 Jovian days. Pedersen and Hall conductances are enhanced by factors of 3 and 10, respectively, in the middle‐ and low‐latitude and auroral regions when meteoric ions are included. The distribution of Pedersen and Hall conductances becomes axisymmetric in the middle‐ and low‐latitude regions. Enhanced axisymmetric ionospheric conductance should impact magnetospheric plasma convection. The contribution of meteoric ions to the ionospheric conductance is expected to be important only on Jupiter in our solar system because of Jupiter’s intense magnetic and gravitational fields.

Identification of the planetary magnetosphere boundaries with the wavelet multi-resolution analysis

The study of the properties and variations of planetary boundaries such as magnetosheaths and bow shocks is an important subject for magnetospheric dynamics and interaction with solar wind. The identification of these boundaries is important for those studies. Thus, the Haar wavelet decomposition technique is used to detect the planetary magnetosphere boundaries and discontinuities. We use the magnetometer data from the CASSINI and MESSENGER spacecraft to identify the abrupt changes in the magnetic field when the spacecraft crossed the magnetospheric bow shocks and magnetopauses of Saturn and Mercury, respectively. The methodology based on variance obtained by scale and edge identifications was shown to be a simple tool to perform this task. The results confirm that the Haar transform can efficiently identify the planetary magnetosphere boundaries characterized by the abrupt magnetic field changes. Due to this wavelet function to be a discrete function it promotes the abrupt and sharp identification of the boundaries. It is suggested that this technique can be applied to detect the planetary boundaries as well as the discontinuities such as the shock waves in the interplanetary space.

MHD study of the planetary magnetospheric response during extreme solar wind conditions: Earth and exoplanet magnetospheres applications

Context.The stellar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field modify the topology of planetary magnetospheres. Consequently, the hazardous effect of the direct exposition to the stellar wind, for example, regarding the integrity of satellites orbiting the Earth or the habitability of exoplanets, depends upon the space weather conditions.Aims.The aim of the study is to analyze the response of an Earth-like magnetosphere for various space weather conditions and interplanetary coronal mass ejections. The magnetopause standoff distance, the open-close field line boundary, and plasma flows toward the planet surface are calculated.Methods.We used the magnetohydrodynamics code PLUTO in spherical coordinates to perform a parametric study of the dynamic pressure and temperature of the stellar wind as well as of the interplanetary magnetic field intensity and orientation. The range of the parameters we analyzed extends from regular to extreme space weather conditions, which is consistent with coronal mass ejections at the Earth orbit for the present and early periods of the solar main sequence. In addition, implications of sub-Afvénic solar wind configurations for the Earth and exoplanet magnetospheres were analyzed.Results.The direct precipitation of the solar wind at the Earth dayside in equatorial latitudes is extremely unlikely even during super coronal mass ejections. On the other hand, for early evolution phases during the solar main sequence, when the solar rotation rate was at least five times faster (&lt;440 Myr), the Earth surface was directly exposed to the solar wind during coronal mass ejections. Today, satellites at high, geosynchronous, and medium orbits are directly exposed to the solar wind during coronal mass ejections because part of the orbit at the Earth dayside is beyond the nose of the bow shock.

Solitary Magnetic Structures Developed From Gyro‐Resonance With Solar Wind Ions at Mars and Earth

AbstractWe investigate solitary magnetic structures in the foreshock of Mars and Earth. The structures exhibit pulse‐like magnetic field and density enhancements along with plasma heating and local solar wind (SW) ion reflection. The structures at Mars resemble the foreshock structures developed from ultra‐low‐frequency electromagnetic waves gyro‐resonant with SW ions at Earth, and propagate toward the magnetosphere. We perform fully kinetic simulations to reproduce the solitary structures and the nonlinear evolution of ion distribution functions, illustrating their resonance with SW ions. The structures present self‐induced foreshock turbulence that can have space weather effects. Our results advance the fundamental understanding of how SW interacts with planetary magnetospheres, and have potential impact on the current picture of planet‐origin ion escape.