[en] Planetary magnetic fields control energetic particles in their space environments and guide particles to polar atmospheres, where they produce stunning auroral forms. As revealed by spacecraft measurements of the Earth, Saturn and Jupiter, the pathways of energetic particles to these planetary polar atmospheres are diverse, suggesting that there are different coupling processes between their ionospheres and magnetospheres. These planets all have dipole-dominated magnetic fields, rotate in the same direction and are blown by the solar wind, but what controls the global-scale patterns of energy dissipation remains unknown. Based on three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics calculations, we reveal that the competition between planet-driven plasma rotation and solar-wind-driven flow convection determines the structure of global auroral morphologies. This unified theoretical framework can reproduce polar aurora from the Earth-type to the Jupiter-type based on transition states that are strikingly consistent with the highly variable aurora patterns of Saturn. This generalized description of fundamental magnetospheric physics, proposed here and validated by decades-long observations, is applicable to exoplanetary systems.
Research Center/Unit :
STAR - Space sciences, Technologies and Astrophysics Research - ULiège
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Zhang, B.; NWU-HKU Joint Centre of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Yao, Zhonghua ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophysique, géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Labo de physique atmosphérique et planétaire (LPAP) ; NWU-HKU Joint Centre of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong ; Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Brambles, O.J.; Brambles Consulting, Preston, United Kingdom
Delamere, P.A.; Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, United States
Lotko, W. ; Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, United States ; National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, United States
Grodent, Denis ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophysique, géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Labo de physique atmosphérique et planétaire (LPAP)
Bonfond, Bertrand ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophysique, géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Labo de physique atmosphérique et planétaire (LPAP)
Chen, J. ; NWU-HKU Joint Centre of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Sorathia, K.A.; Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, United States
Merkin, V.G. ; Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, United States
Lyon, J.G. ; Gamera Consulting, Hanover, United States
Language :
English
Title :
A unified framework for global auroral morphologies of different planets
NSCF - National Natural Science Foundation of China F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique
Funding text :
This work is supported by the Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Hong Kong and Macau) of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41922060, 42074211 and 42374212) and Research Grants Council (RGC) General Research Fund (Grant Nos. 17308221, 17308520, 17315222 and 17308723).
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