Article (Scientific journals)
A brightening of Jupiter’s auroral 7.8-μm CH 4 emission during a solar-wind compression
Sinclair, J. A.; Orton, G. S.; Fernandes, J. et al.
2019In Nature Astronomy
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Keywords :
Jupiter; Atmosphere; infrared
Abstract :
[en] Enhanced mid-infrared emission from CH4 and other stratospheric hydrocarbons has been observed coincident with Jupiter’s ultraviolet auroral emission 1–3 . This suggests that auroral processes and the neutral stratosphere of Jupiter are coupled; however, the exact nature of this coupling is unknown. Here we present a time series of Subaru-COMICS images of Jupiter measured at a wavelength of 7.80 μm on 11–14 January, 4–5 February and 17–20 May 2017. These data show that both the morphology and magnitude of the auroral CH 4 emission vary on daily timescales in relation to external solar-wind conditions. The southern auroral CH 4 emission increased in brightness temperature by about 3.8 K between 15:50 ut, 11 January and 12:57 ut, 12 January, during a predicted solar-wind compression. During the same compression, the northern auroral emission exhibited a duskside brightening, which mimics the morphology observed in the ultraviolet auroral emission during periods of enhanced solar-wind pressure 4,5 . These results suggest that changes in external solar-wind conditions perturb the Jovian magnetosphere in such a way that energetic particles are accelerated into the planet’s atmosphere, deposit their energy as deep as the neutral stratosphere, and modify the thermal structure, the abundance of CH 4 or the population of energy states of CH 4 . We also find that the northern and southern auroral CH 4 emission evolved independently between the January, February and May images, as has been observed at X-ray wavelengths over shorter timescales 6 and at mid-infrared wavelengths over longer timescales 7 . © 2019, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
Research center :
STAR - Space sciences, Technologies and Astrophysics Research - ULiège
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Sinclair, J. A.;  Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
Orton, G. S.;  Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
Fernandes, J.;  Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, Department of Physics and Astronomy, California State University, Long Beach, CA, United States
Kasaba, Y.;  Planetary Plasma and Atmospheric Research Center, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
Sato, T. M.;  Space Information Center, Hokkaido Information University, Ebetsu, Japan
Fujiyoshi, T.;  Subaru Telescope, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Hilo, HI, United States
Tao, C.;  National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Tokyo, Japan
Vogt, M. F.;  Center for Space Physics, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
Grodent, Denis  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Labo de physique atmosphérique et planétaire (LPAP)
Bonfond, Bertrand  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Labo de physique atmosphérique et planétaire (LPAP)
Moses, J. I.;  Space Science Institute, Boulder, CO, United States
Greathouse, T. K.;  Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, United States
Dunn, W.;  Department of Space and Climate Physics, University College London, London, United Kingdom
Giles, R. S.;  Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
Tabataba-Vakili, F.;  Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
Fletcher, L. N.;  Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom
Irwin, P. G. J.;  Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
More authors (7 more) Less
Language :
English
Title :
A brightening of Jupiter’s auroral 7.8-μm CH 4 emission during a solar-wind compression
Publication date :
08 April 2019
Journal title :
Nature Astronomy
eISSN :
2397-3366
Publisher :
Nature Publishing Group
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Available on ORBi :
since 16 August 2019

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