Magnetotail Reconnection at Jupiter: A Survey of Juno Magnetic Field Observations

Marissa F Vogt; John E P Connerney; Gina A DiBraccio; Rob J Wilson; Michelle F Thomsen; Robert W Ebert; George B Clark; Christopher Paranicas; William S Kurth; Frédéric Allegrini; Phil W Valek; Scott J Bolton

doi:10.1029/2019JA027486

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Magnetotail Reconnection at Jupiter: A Survey of Juno Magnetic Field Observations

Journal article

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Magnetotail Reconnection at Jupiter: A Survey of Juno Magnetic Field Observations

Marissa F Vogt, John E P Connerney, Gina A DiBraccio, Rob J Wilson, Michelle F Thomsen, Robert W Ebert, George B Clark, Christopher Paranicas, William S Kurth, Frédéric Allegrini, …

Journal of geophysical research. Space physics, Vol.125(3), e2019JA027486

03/01/2020

DOI: 10.1029/2019JA027486

PMCID: 7458104

PMID: 32874821

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/7458104View

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Abstract

At Jupiter, tail reconnection is thought to be driven by an internal mass loading and release process called the Vasyliunas cycle. Galileo data have shown hundreds of reconnection events occurring in Jupiter's magnetotail. Here we present a survey of reconnection events observed by Juno during its first 16 orbits of Jupiter (July 2016-October 2018). The events are identified using Juno magnetic field data, which facilitates comparison to the Vogt et al. (2010, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JA015098) survey of reconnection events from Galileo magnetometer data, but we present data from Juno's other particle and fields instruments for context. We searched for field dipolarizations or reversals and found 232 reconnection events in the Juno data, most of which featured an increase in | |, the magnetic field meridional component, by a factor of 3 over background values. We found that most properties of the Juno reconnection events, like their spatial distribution and duration, are comparable to Galileo, including the presence of a ~3-day quasi-periodicity in the recurrence of Juno tail reconnection events and in Juno JEDI, JADE, and Waves data. However, unlike with Galileo we were unable to clearly define a statistical x-line separating planetward and tailward Juno events. A preliminary analysis of plasma velocities during five magnetic field reconnection events showed that the events were accompanied by fast radial flows, confirming our interpretation of these magnetic signatures as reconnection events. We anticipate that a future survey covering other Juno datasets will provide additional insight into the nature of tail reconnection at Jupiter.

Details

Title: Subtitle: Magnetotail Reconnection at Jupiter: A Survey of Juno Magnetic Field Observations
Creators: Marissa F Vogt - Boston University
John E P Connerney - Goddard Space Flight Center
Gina A DiBraccio - Goddard Space Flight Center
Rob J Wilson - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Michelle F Thomsen - Planetary Science Institute
Robert W Ebert - Southwest Research Institute
George B Clark - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Christopher Paranicas - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
William S Kurth - University of Iowa
Frédéric Allegrini - Southwest Research Institute
Phil W Valek - Southwest Research Institute
Scott J Bolton - Southwest Research Institute
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of geophysical research. Space physics, Vol.125(3), e2019JA027486
DOI: 10.1029/2019JA027486
PMID: 32874821
PMCID: 7458104
NLM abbreviation: J Geophys Res Space Phys
ISSN: 2169-9380
eISSN: 2169-9402
Grant note: 80NSSC19K1263 / Intramural NASA
Language: English
Date published: 03/01/2020
Academic Unit: Physics and Astronomy
Record Identifier: 9984455366502771

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