Southern Auroral Oval Research Articles

Temperature and Composition Disturbances in the Southern Auroral Region of Jupiter Revealed by JWST/MIRI

AbstractJupiter's South Polar Region (SPR) was observed by James Webb Space Telescope/Mid‐Infrared Instrument in December 2022. We used the Medium Resolution Spectrometer mode to provide new information about Jupiter's South Polar stratosphere. The southern auroral region was visible and influenced the atmosphere in several ways: (a) In the interior of the southern auroral oval, we retrieved peak temperatures at two distinct pressure levels near 0.01 and 1 mbar, with warmer temperatures with respect to non‐auroral regions of 12 ± 2 K and 37 ± 4 K respectively. A cold polar vortex is centered at 65°S at 10 mbar. (b) We found that the homopause is elevated to km above the 1‐bar pressure level inside the auroral oval compared to km at neighboring latitudes and with an upper altitude of 350 km in regions not affected by auroral precipitation. (c) The retrieved abundance of C2H2 shows an increase within the auroral oval, and it exhibits high abundances throughout the polar region. The retrieved abundance of C2H6 increases toward the pole, without being localized in the auroral oval, in contrast with previous analysis (Sinclair et al., 2018, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2017.09.016). We determined that the warming at 0.01 mbar and the elevated homopause might be caused by the flux of charged particles depositing their energy in the SPR. The 1‐mbar hotspot may arise from adiabatic heating resulting from auroral‐driven downwelling. The cold region at 10 mbar may be caused by radiative cooling by stratospheric aerosols. The differences in spatial distribution seem to indicate that the hydrocarbons analyzed are affected differently by auroral precipitation.

AuroraMag: Twin explorer of asymmetry in aurora and solar wind-magnetosphere coupling

In the present-day context, small satellites and their constellations consisting of varying sizes (nano, micro, pico satellites) are being favored for remote sensing and in situ probing of the heliosphere and terrestrial magnetosphere-ionosphere system. We introduce a mission concept aimed at concurrently observing Earth’s northern and southern auroral ovals while conducting in situ measurements of particles, fields, and electron temperature. The mission concept consists of two small satellites, each having an identical auroral X-ray imager, an in situ particle detector, a magnetometer pair, and an electron temperature analyzer onboard in an elliptical polar orbit (400 km × 10000 km). This mission would assist the space weather community in primarily answering important questions about the formation, morphology, and hemispherical asymmetries that we observe in the X-ray aurora, the fluxes of precipitating particles, Solar Energetic Particles, currents, and cusp dynamics. Once realized, this would be the first dedicated twin spacecraft mission of such kind to simultaneously study hemispheric asymmetries of solar-wind magnetosphere coupling. This study reveals the intricacies of the mission concept, encompassing orbital details, potential payloads, and its underlying scientific objectives. By leveraging the capabilities of small satellites, this mission concept is poised to make significant contributions to space weather monitoring and research.

Enhanced C2H2 Absorption Within Jupiter's Southern Auroral Oval From Juno UVS Observations

AbstractReflected sunlight observations from the Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) on the Juno spacecraft were used to study the distribution of acetylene (C2H2) at Jupiter's south pole. We find that the shape of the C2H2 absorption feature varies significantly across the polar region, and this can be used to infer spatial variability in the C2H2 abundance. There is a localized region of enhanced C2H2 absorption which coincides with the location of Jupiter's southern polar aurora; the C2H2 abundance poleward of the auroral oval is a factor of 3 higher than adjacent quiescent, non‐auroral longitudes. This builds on previous infrared studies, which found enhanced C2H2 abundances within the northern auroral oval. This suggests that Jupiter's upper‐atmosphere chemistry is being strongly influenced by the influx of charged auroral particles and demonstrates the necessity of developing ion‐neutral photochemical models of Jupiter's polar regions.

UVS Observations of Ganymede's Aurora During Juno Orbits 34 and 35

AbstractOn 7 June 2021, Juno‐UVS mapped Ganymede's auroral emissions near a closest approach altitude of 1,046 km. The high spatial resolution map exhibits bright, 200–1,000 R, oxygen emissions organized into northern and southern auroral ovals. Though the map has incomplete global coverage, UVS observed longitudinal structure similar to that described by McGrath et al. (2013), https://doi.org/10.1002/jgra.50122 and latitudinal and vertical structure never before resolved. The mapped auroral emissions (a) display an intense narrow auroral curtain with a sharp poleward boundary, (b) have a more slowly decreasing equatorial edge on the leading hemisphere, (c) appear to originate near the surface with a vertical extent of 25–50 km, and (d) are slightly brighter in the north than the south. Additionally, we present UVS observations from the more distant Juno Ganymede flyby on 20 July 2021. We describe the observations, compare them to previous Hubble Space Telescope observations and current model predictions of the open‐closed‐field line‐boundary.

Alternating North‐South Brightness Ratio of Ganymede's Auroral Ovals: Hubble Space Telescope Observations Around the Juno PJ34 Flyby

AbstractWe report results of Hubble Space Telescope observations from Ganymede's orbitally trailing side which were taken around the flyby of the Juno spacecraft on 7 June 2021. We find that Ganymede's northern and southern auroral ovals alternate in brightness such that the oval facing Jupiter's magnetospheric plasma sheet is brighter than the other one. This suggests that the generator that powers Ganymede's aurora is the momentum of the Jovian plasma sheet north and south of Ganymede's magnetosphere. Magnetic coupling of Ganymede to the plasma sheet above and below the moon causes asymmetric magnetic stresses and electromagnetic energy fluxes ultimately powering the auroral acceleration process. No clear statistically significant timevariability of the auroral emission on short time scales of 100s could be resolved. We show that electron energy fluxes of several tens of mW m−2 are required for its OI 1,356 Å emission making Ganymede a very poor auroral emitter.

Mapping the Brightness of Ganymede's Ultraviolet Aurora Using Hubble Space Telescope Observations

AbstractWe analyze Hubble Space Telescope observations of Ganymede made with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph between 1998 and 2017 to generate a brightness map of Ganymede's oxygen emission at 1,356 Å. Our Mercator projected map demonstrates that the brightness along Ganymede's northern and southern auroral ovals strongly varies with longitude. To quantify this variation around Ganymede, we investigate the brightness averaged over 36°‐wide longitude corridors centered around the sub‐Jovian (0° W), leading (90° W), anti‐Jovian (180° W), and trailing (270° W) central longitudes. In the northern hemisphere, the brightness of the auroral oval is 3.7 ± 0.4 times lower in the sub‐Jovian and anti‐Jovian corridors compared to the trailing and leading corridors. The southern oval is overall brighter than the northern oval, and only 2.5 ± 0.2 times fainter on the sub‐ and anti‐Jovian corridors compared to the trailing and leading corridors. This demonstrates that Ganymede's auroral ovals are strongly structured in auroral crescents on the leading side (plasma downstream side) and on the trailing side (plasma upstream side). We also find that the brightness is not symmetric with respect to the 270° meridian, but shifted by ∼20° towards the Jovian‐facing hemisphere. Our map will be useful for subsequent studies to understand the processes that generate the aurora in Ganymede's non‐rotationally driven, sub‐Alfvénic magnetosphere.

Proton Outflow Associated With Jupiter's Auroral Processes

AbstractField‐aligned proton beams are a systematic and identifiable feature associated with Jupiter's auroral emissions, transporting 3 ± 2 kg s−1 away from Jupiter's ionosphere. This mass loss occurs at all longitudes sampled by Juno around the southern auroral oval, while the northern hemisphere exhibits upward proton beams predominantly on one portion in System III, near the auroral kink region. These beams are associated with upward inverted‐V structures indicative of quasi‐static magnetic field‐aligned parallel potentials. A lack of bidirectionality indicates these proton populations are pitch‐angle and/or energy scattered and incorporated into the magnetospheric charged particle environment. This mechanism is a significant, and potentially dominant, source of protons in Jupiter's middle and outer magnetosphere. If Jupiter's ionosphere is the primary source for protons in the inner magnetosphere, they are likely sourced equatorward of the main emissions and at energies <100 eV.

Saturn’s auroral morphology and field-aligned currents during a solar wind compression

On 21–22 April 2013, during a coordinated auroral observing campaign, instruments onboard Cassini and the Hubble Space Telescope observed Saturn’s aurora while Cassini traversed Saturn’s high latitude auroral field lines. Signatures of upward and downward field-aligned currents were detected in the nightside magnetosphere in the magnetic field and plasma measurements. The location of the upward current corresponded to the bright ultraviolet auroral arc seen in the auroral images, and the downward current region was located poleward of the upward current in an aurorally dark region. Within the polar cap magnetic field and plasma fluctuations were identified with periods of ∼20 and ∼60min. The northern and southern auroral ovals were observed to rock in latitude in phase with the respective northern and southern planetary period oscillations. A solar wind compression impacted Saturn’s magnetosphere at the start of 22 April 2013, identified by an intensification and extension to lower frequencies of the Saturn kilometric radiation, with the following sequence of effects: (1) intensification of the auroral field-aligned currents; (2) appearance of a localised, intense bulge in the dawnside (04–06 LT) aurora while the midnight sector aurora remained fainter and narrow; and (3) latitudinal broadening and poleward contraction of the nightside aurora, where the poleward motion in this sector is opposite to that expected from a model of the auroral oval’s usual oscillation. These observations are interpreted as the response to tail reconnection events, initially involving Vasyliunas-type reconnection of closed mass-loaded magnetotail field lines, and then proceeding onto open lobe field lines, causing the contraction of the polar cap region on the night side.

The rotation of the plasmapause-like boundary at high latitudes in Saturn's magnetosphere and its relation to the eccentric rotation of the northern and southern auroral ovals

[1] Here we present a study of the rotation of the plasmapause-like density boundary discovered by the Cassini spacecraft at high latitudes in the Saturnian magnetosphere, and compare the results with previously published studies of high-latitude magnetic field perturbations and the eccentric rotation of the auroral ovals. Near the planet the density boundary is located at dipole L values ranging from about 8 to 15, and separates a region of very low densities at high latitudes from a region of higher densities at lower latitudes. We show that the density boundary rotates at different rates in the northern and southern hemispheres, and that the periods are the same as the modulation periods of Saturn kilometric radiation in those hemispheres. We also show that the phase of rotation in a given hemisphere is closely correlated with the phase of the high-latitude magnetic field perturbations observed by Cassini in that hemisphere, and also with the phase of the eccentric rotation of the auroral oval observed by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Ultraviolet and infrared observations of Saturn's auroral oval

New observations of Saturn's southern auroral oval made simultaneously in ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) wavelengths show how complex and dynamic the auroral oval is. Melin et al. present high‐spatial‐resolution observations from the Cassini spacecraft's UV and IR instruments. The auroral oval varies over short time scales and has many small‐scale structures. The researchers observed three different arcs within the auroral oval, which they suggest are probably caused by precipitation of particles with different energies. In addition, the researchers found that the main auroral oval is morphologically similar in UV and IR, but in the auroral emissions equatorward and poleward of the main oval, there are noticeable differences in UV and IR, highlighting the need for observations at a range of wavelengths. (Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2011GL048457, 2011)

Research Spotlight: Oscillation of the locations of Saturn's auroral ovals

Using images from the Hubble Space Telescope, Nichols et al. observed oscillations in the locations of Saturn's northern and southern auroral ovals. Both auroral ovals' positions oscillate 1°–2° between dawn and dusk. While the southern auroral oval oscillation had been previously observed, the present observation, made during Saturn's 2009 equinox, is the first one that indicates that the location of the northern auroral oval oscillates with similar amplitude. The researchers also found that the locations of the auroral ovals oscillate with periods close to the rotation periods of radio emissions known as Saturn kilometric radiation (SKR). In a related paper, Gurnett et al. (Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L24101, doi:10.1029/2010GL045796, 2010) observed changes in the rotational modulation rate of the SKR that could be controlled by changes in the planet's magnetosphere. Magnetosphere effects could cause shifting of the auroral ovals as well. (Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2010GL045818, 2010)

Interhemispheric observations of emerging polar cap asymmetries

In this paper we use simultaneous global UV images of the aurora in the two hemispheres to study differences in the polar cap boundary location. We show that the northern and southern auroral ovals circumvent the same amount of magnetic flux, providing additional evidence that the poleward boundary of the aurora coincides with the open/closed field line boundary. During a period of significant flux closure, large asymmetries in the polar cap boundaries developed between the hemispheres. The asymmetry was strongest in the regions where the polar caps contracted the most, suggesting that emerging interhemispheric polar cap asymmetries is an intrinsic phenomenon during substorm expansions, when magnetic flux closes rapidly in the tail. Utilizing the prolonged surveillance of the open/closed boundary location, we show that the growing asymmetries can be accounted for by differences in the ionospheric convection in the two hemispheres. The observations suggest that the differences in convection were due to seasonal differences between the hemispheres, and that the summer hemisphere responded more promptly to changes in magnetospheric convection than the winter hemisphere.

The Upper Atmosphere and Plasma Imager/the Telescope of Visible Light (UPI/TVIS) onboard the Kaguya spacecraft

Abstract The Upper Atmosphere and Plasma Imager (UPI) was placed in a lunar orbit in order to study both the Moon and Earth. The UPI consists of two telescopes: a Telescope of Extreme Ultraviolet (TEX) and a Telescope of Visible Light (TVIS), which are both mounted on a two-axis gimbals system. The TVIS is equipped with fast catadioptric optics and a high-sensitivity CCD to image swift aurora and dark airglow in the terrestrial upper atmosphere. TVIS has a field-of-view equivalent to the Earth’s disk as seen from the Moon. The spatial resolution is about 30 km × 70 km on the Earth’s surface at auroral latitudes. The observation wavelengths can be changed by selecting different bandpass filters. Using the images of the northern and southern auroral ovals taken by TVIS, the intensities and shapes of the conjugate auroras will be quantitatively compared. Using the airglow imaging, medium- and large-scale ionospheric disturbances will be studied. In this paper, the instrumental design and performance of TVIS are presented.

Characterization of auroral current systems in Saturn's magnetosphere: High‐latitude Cassini observations

We have identified seven periapsis passes during the first high‐latitude phase of the Cassini mission, from mid‐2006 to mid‐2007, in which the spacecraft traversed at intermediate altitudes the region between open field lines at highest latitudes and the region inside the inner edge of the ring current. Varying azimuthal magnetic fields indicative of the presence of field‐aligned currents were observed in both hemispheres on all these passes, corresponding to the dawn and prenoon sector in the summer southern hemisphere and the dusk to premidnight sector in the winter northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere, strongly “lagging” fields observed on open field lines are observed to decline rapidly across the open‐closed field line boundary, usually then reversing in sense to a “leading” configuration in a narrow layer of closed field lines, before declining to smaller values determined by the phase of the planetary period oscillation in the inner region. These observations suggest that the plasma flow in this sector increases sharply across the boundary from subcorotation on open field lines to a layer of supercorotation on closed field lines, accompanied by a major layer of upward‐directed field‐aligned current that is shown to be colocated with the statistical location of the southern auroral oval. Downward current then flows in the inner region as the leading field declines. In the northern hemisphere, however, only weak azimuthal fields are observed on open field lines, suggesting weak conductivity in the winter ionosphere if the plasma similarly subcorotates, while a layer of stronger lagging field indicative of subcorotation is observed immediately equatorward in the closed field region. The field‐aligned currents in this case are thus directed downward just inside the boundary and upward in the interior region, opposite to the southern hemisphere, but are again modulated by the field of the planetary period oscillations on either side.

Simultaneous observation of traveling ionospheric disturbances in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres

Abstract. Measurements of total electron content (TEC) using 263 GPS receivers located in the North and South America continents are presented to demonstrate the simultaneous existence of traveling ionospheric disturbances (TID) at high, mid, and low latitudes, and in both Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The TID observations pertain to the magnetically disturbed period of 29–30 October 2003 also known as the Halloween storm. The excellent quality of the TEC measurements makes it possible to calculate and remove the diurnal variability of TEC and then estimate the amplitude, wavelength, spectral characteristics of the perturbations, and the approximate velocity of the AGW. On 29 October 2003 between 17:00 and 19:00 UT, there existed a sequence of TEC perturbations (TECP), which were associated with the transit of atmospheric gravity waves (AGW) propagating from both auroral regions toward the geographic equator. A marked difference was found between the northern and southern perturbations. In the Northern Hemisphere, the preferred horizontal wavelength varies between 1500 and 1800 km; the propagation velocity is near 700 m/s and the perturbation amplitude about 1 TEC unit (TECu). South of the geographic equator the wavelength of the TECP is as large as 2700 km, the velocity is about 550 m/s, and the TECP amplitude is 3 TECu. Concurrently with our observations, the Jicamarca digisonde observed virtual height traces that exhibited typical features that are associated with TIDs. Here, it is suggested that differences in the local conductivity between northern and southern auroral ovals create a different Joule heating energy term. The quality of these observations illustrates the merits of GPS receivers to probe the ionosphere and thermosphere.

Oscillation of Saturn's southern auroral oval

Near‐planetary‐period oscillations in the Cassini plasma and magnetic field data have been observed throughout Saturn's magnetosphere despite the fact that Saturn's internal magnetic field is apparently highly axisymmetric. In addition, the period of the Saturn kilometric radiation has been shown to vary over time. In this paper we present results from the recent Hubble Space Telescope observations of Saturn's southern ultraviolet auroral emission. We show that the center of the auroral oval oscillates with period 10.76 h ± 0.15 h for both January 2007 and February 2008, i.e., close to the periods determined for oscillations in other magnetospheric phenomena. The motion of the oval center is described for 2007 by an ellipse with semimajor axis ∼1.4° ± 0.3° oriented toward ∼09–21 h LT, eccentricity ∼0.93, and center offset from the spin axis by ∼1.8° toward ∼04 h LT. For 2008 the oscillation is consistent with an ellipse with semimajor axis ∼2.2° ± 0.3° oriented toward ∼09–21 h LT, eccentricity ∼0.99, and a center offset from the spin axis by ∼2.2° toward ∼03 h LT. The motion of the auroral oval is thus highly elliptical in both cases, and the major oscillation axis is oriented toward prenoon/premidnight. This result places an independent constraint on the magnitude of the planet's dipole tilt and may also indicate the presence of an external current system that imposes an asymmetry in the ionospheric field modulated close to the planetary period.

Auroral current systems in Saturn's magnetosphere: comparison of theoretical models with Cassini and HST observations

Abstract. The first simultaneous observations of fields and plasmas in Saturn's high-latitude magnetosphere and UV images of the conjugate auroral oval were obtained by the Cassini spacecraft and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in January 2007. These data have shown that the southern auroral oval near noon maps to the dayside cusp boundary between open and closed field lines, associated with a major layer of upward-directed field-aligned current (Bunce et al., 2008). The results thus support earlier theoretical discussion and quantitative modelling of magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling at Saturn (Cowley et al., 2004), that suggests the oval is produced by electron acceleration in the field-aligned current layer required by rotational flow shear between strongly sub-corotating flow on open field lines and near-corotating flow on closed field lines. Here we quantitatively compare these modelling results (the "CBO" model) with the Cassini-HST data set. The comparison shows good qualitative agreement between model and data, the principal difference being that the model currents are too small by factors of about five, as determined from the magnetic perturbations observed by Cassini. This is suggested to be principally indicative of a more highly conducting summer southern ionosphere than was assumed in the CBO model. A revised model is therefore proposed in which the height-integrated ionospheric Pedersen conductivity is increased by a factor of four from 1 to 4 mho, together with more minor adjustments to the co-latitude of the boundary, the flow shear across it, the width of the current layer, and the properties of the source electrons. It is shown that the revised model agrees well with the combined Cassini-HST data, requiring downward acceleration of outer magnetosphere electrons through a ~10 kV potential in the current layer at the open-closed field line boundary to produce an auroral oval of ~1° width with UV emission intensities of a few tens of kR.

Global column density retrievals of mesospheric and thermospheric Mg I and Mg II from SCIAMACHY limb and nadir radiance data

The Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography instrument (SCIAMACHY) instrument exhibits useful observational abilities to separate meteoric metal total content within different levels of the atmosphere. In this work, we present an algorithm to give the total content and to separate the total column into two partial columns in the thermosphere and the mesosphere, using measurements of resonant radiation by the SCIAMACHY instrument. Limb and nadir measurements are used. The results presented here constitute the first simultaneous measurements of mesospheric and thermospheric column densities including the successful separation of same. We present column density measurements of Mg II and Mg I in the mesosphere and the thermosphere and the total content. The data set considered here covers the latitude range from 80°S to 80°N and covers the time range from 2002 to 2006. Measurements are taken on a global scale to investigate seasonal and spatial variations. Total columns range from 107 to 1010 cm−2, in good agreement with previous satellite measurements and model calculations. The temporal evolution of both Mg I species is investigated over the time range from mid‐2002 until the end of 2006. A pronounced minimum in 2003 and a subsequent increase until 2006 are observed for the ionized species. The global distribution of both Mg I and Mg II is found to be seasonally varying, exhibiting maximum column densities within the summer hemisphere. No significant correlation with the solar activity is found. Increased abundances of Mg II are observed within regions of high geomagnetic activity (i.e., the northern and southern auroral ovals) only if the background abundance of Mg II is low. It is concluded that the increase of Mg II due to particle impact is a minor effect.

Auroral streamers: characteristics of associated precipitation,convection and field-aligned currents

Abstract. During the long-duration steady convection activity on 11 December 1998, the development of a few dozen auroral streamers was monitored by Polar UVI instrument in the dark northern nightside ionosphere. On many occasions the DMSP spacecraft crossed the streamer-conjugate regions over the sunlit southern auroral oval, permitting the investigation of the characteristics of ion and electron precipitation, ionospheric convection and field-aligned currents associated with the streamers. We confirm the conjugacy of streamer-associated precipitation, as well as their association with ionospheric plasma streams having a substantial equatorward convection component. The observations display two basic types of streamer-associated precipitation. In its polewardmost half, the streamer-associated (field-aligned) accelerated electron precipitation coincides with the strong (≥2–7μA/m2) upward field-aligned currents on the westward flank of the convection stream, sometimes accompanied by enhanced proton precipitation in the adjacent region. In the equatorward portion of the streamer, the enhanced precipitation includes both electrons and protons, often without indication of field-aligned acceleration. Most of these characteristics are consistent with the model describing the generation of the streamer by the narrow plasma bubbles (bursty bulk flows) which are contained on dipolarized field lines in the plasma sheet, although the mapping is strongly distorted which makes it difficult to quantitatively interprete the ionospheric image. The convective streams in the ionosphere, when well-resolved, had the maximal convection speeds ∼0.5–1km/s, total field-aligned currents of a few tenths of MA, thicknesses of a few hundreds km and a potential drop of a few kV across the stream. However, this might represent only a small part of the associated flux transport in the equatorial plasma sheet.Key words. Ionosphere (electric fiels and currents). Magnetospheric physics (aurroal phenomena; energetic particles, precipitating)

Calibrating and deriving physical parameters using plasma contactor data from the international space station

The International Space Station (ISS) regularly passes through the southern auroral oval south of Australia. The ISS has two plasma contactors that emit the electron currents needed to balance electron collection by surfaces such as the lattice of bare rods on the solar array masts. These electron currents exceed 0.1 A at times. The largest currents are observed in the auroral oval south of Australia. On the space station, the solar array 40 m long masts each have over 400 m of stainless steel tensioning rods. When subject to orbital v × B· l induced potentials, the rods collect substantial currents from the ionosphere. Maximum v × B· l potentials are generated near the magnetic poles. The plasma contactor emission current can be converted to an estimate of plasma density and calibrated using Floating Potential Probe (FPP) and other data. These measurements show that the plasma density in the nighttime auroral ionosphere is frequently several times that predicted by the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI)-90 and IRI2001 models.