| 1. |
- Alday, Juan, et al.
(författare)
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New constraints on Ganymede's hydrogen corona : Analysis of Lyman-alpha emissions observed by HST/STIS between 1998 and 2014
- 2017
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Ingår i: Planetary and Space Science. - : Elsevier. - 0032-0633 .- 1873-5088. ; 148, s. 35-44
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Far-ultraviolet observations of Ganymede's atmospheric emissions were obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) onboard of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) on several occasions between 1998 and 2014. We analyze the Lyman-alpha emission from four HST campaigns in order to constrain the abundance and variation of atomic hydrogen in Ganymede's atmosphere. We apply a forward model that estimates surface reflection and resonant scattering in an escaping corona of the solar Lyman-alpha flux, taking into account the effects of the hydrogen in the interplanetary medium. The atmospheric emissions around Ganymede's disk derived for the observations taken between 1998 and 2011 are consistent with a hydrogen corona in the density range of (5-8) x 10(3) cm(-3) at the surface. The hydrogen density appears to be generally stable in that period. In 2014, Ganymede's corona brightness is approximately 3 times lower during two observations of Ganymede's trailing hemisphere and hardly detectable at all during two observations of the leading hemisphere. We also investigate extinction of Ganymede's coronal emissions in the Earth's upper atmosphere or geocorona. For small Doppler shifts, resonant scattering in the geocorona of the moon corona emissions can effectively reduce the brightness observed by HST. In the case of the 2014 leading hemisphere observations, an estimated extinction of 80% might explain the non-detection of Ganymede's hydrogen corona. Geocoronal extinction might also explain a previously detected hemispheric difference from Callisto's hydrogen corona.
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| 2. |
- Arridge, Christopher S., et al.
(författare)
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Uranus Pathfinder : exploring the origins and evolution of Ice Giant planets
- 2012
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Ingår i: Experimental astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 33:2-3, s. 753-791
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The "Ice Giants" Uranus and Neptune are a different class of planet compared to Jupiter and Saturn. Studying these objects is important for furthering our understanding of the formation and evolution of the planets, and unravelling the fundamental physical and chemical processes in the Solar System. The importance of filling these gaps in our knowledge of the Solar System is particularly acute when trying to apply our understanding to the numerous planetary systems that have been discovered around other stars. The Uranus Pathfinder (UP) mission thus represents the quintessential aspects of the objectives of the European planetary community as expressed in ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025. UP was proposed to the European Space Agency's M3 call for medium-class missions in 2010 and proposed to be the first orbiter of an Ice Giant planet. As the most accessible Ice Giant within the M-class mission envelope Uranus was identified as the mission target. Although not selected for this call the UP mission concept provides a baseline framework for the exploration of Uranus with existing low-cost platforms and underlines the need to develop power sources suitable for the outer Solar System. The UP science case is based around exploring the origins, evolution, and processes at work in Ice Giant planetary systems. Three broad themes were identified: (1) Uranus as an Ice Giant, (2) An Ice Giant planetary system, and (3) An asymmetric magnetosphere. Due to the long interplanetary transfer from Earth to Uranus a significant cruise-phase science theme was also developed. The UP mission concept calls for the use of a Mars Express/Rosetta-type platform to launch on a Soyuz-Fregat in 2021 and entering into an eccentric polar orbit around Uranus in the 2036-2037 timeframe. The science payload has a strong heritage in Europe and beyond and requires no significant technology developments.
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| 3. |
- Blöcker, Aljona, et al.
(författare)
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MHD Modeling of the Plasma Interaction With Io's Asymmetric Atmosphere
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research - Space Physics. - : Blackwell Publishing. - 2169-9380 .- 2169-9402. ; 123:11, s. 9286-9311
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Io's atmosphere, with an average equatorial column density of >= 10(20) m(-2), exhibits significant density variations with latitude and longitude. We apply a 3-D magnetohydrodynamic model to investigate the effects of atmospheric asymmetries, both locally from volcanic plumes and globally, on the plasma and magnetic field environment of Io. The model takes into account collisions between ions and neutrals, plasma production and loss due to electron impact ionization and dissociative recombination, and the ionospheric Hall effect. Our simulation results show that volcanic plumes influence the plasma interaction locally, generating Alfven winglets within Io's global Alfven wing. Signals from individual plumes can however barely be probed by magnetic field measurements during spacecraft flybys at Io. In contrast, the surface number density, scale height, the longitudinal and latitudinal variations of the global atmosphere are crucial factors for modeling and understanding magnetic field and plasma perturbations. Comparing our model results with the magnetic field data from the 124 and 127 flybys of the Galileo spacecraft, we find that the measured perturbations can be primarily caused by the plasma interaction with the longitudinally asymmetric atmosphere. This implies that a significant magnetic induction signal from a partially molten magma ocean is not necessarily required to explain the Galileo magnetometer data.
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| 4. |
- Bohm, Marvin, et al.
(författare)
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An entropy stable nodal discontinuous Galerkin method for the resistive MHD equations. Part I : Theory and numerical verification
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Computational Physics. - : Elsevier. - 0021-9991 .- 1090-2716.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The first paper of this series presents a discretely entropy stable discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method for the resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equations on three-dimensional curvilinear unstructured hexahedral meshes. Compared to other fluid dynamics systems such as the shallow water equations or the compressible Navier-Stokes equations, the resistive MHD equations need special considerations because of the divergence-free constraint on the magnetic field. For instance, it is well known that for the symmetrization of the ideal MHD system as well as the continuous entropy analysis a non-conservative term proportional to the divergence of the magnetic field, typically referred to as the Powell term, must be included. As a consequence, the mimicry of the continuous entropy analysis in the discrete sense demands a suitable DG approximation of the non-conservative terms in addition to the ideal MHD terms.This paper focuses on the resistive MHD equations: Our first contribution is a proof that the resistive terms are symmetric and positive-definite when formulated in entropy space as gradients of the entropy variables, which enables us to show that the entropy inequality holds for the resistive MHD equations. This continuous analysis is the key for our DG discretization and guides the path for the construction of an approximation that discretely mimics the entropy inequality, typically termed entropy stability. Our second contribution is a detailed derivation and analysis of the discretization on three-dimensional curvilinear meshes. The discrete analysis relies on the summation-by-parts property, which is satisfied by the DG spectral element method (DGSEM) with Legendre-Gauss-Lobatto (LGL) nodes. Although the divergence-free constraint is included in the non-conservative terms, the resulting method has no particular treatment of the magnetic field divergence errors, which might pollute the solution quality. Our final contribution is the extension of the standard resistive MHD equations and our DG approximation with a divergence cleaning mechanism that is based on a generalized Lagrange multiplier (GLM).As a conclusion to the first part of this series, we provide detailed numerical validations of our DGSEM method that underline our theoretical derivations. In addition, we show a numerical example where the entropy stable DGSEM demonstrates increased robustness compared to the standard DGSEM.
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| 5. |
- de Pater, Imke, et al.
(författare)
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An Energetic Eruption With Associated SO 1.707 Micron Emissions at Io's Kanehekili Fluctus and a Brightening Event at Loki Patera Observed by JWST
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets. - : American Geophysical Union (AGU). - 2169-9097 .- 2169-9100. ; 128:8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We observed Io with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) while the satellite was in eclipse, and detected thermal emission from several volcanoes. The data were taken as part of our JWST-ERS program #1373 on 15 November 2022. Kanehekili Fluctus was exceptionally bright, and Loki Patera had most likely entered a new brightening phase. Spectra were taken with NIRSpec/IFU at a resolving power R ≈ 2,700 between 1.65 and 5.3 µm. The spectra were matched by a combination of blackbody curves that showed that the highest temperature, ∼1,200 K, for Kanehekili Fluctus originated from an area ∼0.25 km2 in size, and for Loki Patera this high temperature was confined to an area of ∼0.06 km2. Lower temperatures, down to 300 K, cover areas of ∼2,000 km2 for Kanehekili Fluctus, and ∼5,000 km2 for Loki Patera. We further detected the a1Δ ⇒ X3Σ− 1.707 µm rovibronic forbidden SO emission band complex over the southern hemisphere, which peaked at the location of Kanehekili Fluctus. This is the first time this emission has been seen above an active volcano, and suggests that the origin of such emissions is ejection of SO molecules directly from the vent in an excited state, after having been equilibrated at temperatures of ∼1,500 K below the surface, as was previously hypothesized.
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| 6. |
- Giono, Gabriel, et al.
(författare)
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An Analysis of the Statistics and Systematics of Limb Anomaly Detections in HST/STIS Transit Images of Europa
- 2020
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Ingår i: Astronomical Journal. - : IOP PUBLISHING LTD. - 0004-6256 .- 1538-3881. ; 159:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Several recent studies derived the existence of plumes on Jupiter's moon Europa. The only technique that provided multiple detections is the far-ultraviolet imaging observations of Europa in transit of Jupiter taken by the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). In this study, we reanalyze the three HST/STIS transit images in which Sparks et al. identified limb anomalies as evidence for Europa's plume activity. After reproducing the results of Sparks et al., we find that positive outliers are similarly present in the images as the negative outliers that were attributed to plume absorption. A physical explanation for the positive outliers is missing. We then investigate the systematic uncertainties and statistics in the images and identify two factors that are crucial when searching for anomalies around the limb. One factor is the alignment between the actual and assumed locations of Europa on the detector. A misalignment introduces distorted statistics, most strongly affecting the limb above the darker trailing hemisphere where the plumes were detected. The second factor is a discrepancy between the observation and the model used for comparison, adding uncertainty in the statistics. When accounting for these two factors, the limb minima (and maxima) are consistent with random statistical occurrence in a sample size given by the number of pixels in the analyzed limb region. The plume candidate features in the three analyzed images can be explained by purely statistical fluctuations and do not provide evidence for absorption by plumes.
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| 7. |
- Musacchio, Fabrizio, et al.
(författare)
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Morphology of Ganymede's FUV auroral ovals
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research - Space Physics. - : AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION. - 2169-9380 .- 2169-9402. ; 122:3, s. 2855-2876
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We study the morphology of Ganymede's FUV aurora by analyzing spectral images obtained over the past two decades by the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on board the Hubble Space Telescope. The observations cover the eastern and western elongation as well as various magnetic latitudes of Ganymede within the Jovian plasma sheet. We find both asymmetries in the spatial distribution of auroral brightness on the observed moon disk and temporal variation correlated to Ganymede's changing magnetic latitude. The total disk brightness is on average 1.42 +/- 0.07 times brighter on the leading side (95.4 +/- 2.1R) than on the trailing side (67.2 +/- 2.9R). The brightness ratio of the sub-Jovian hemisphere to the anti-Jovian hemisphere is 1.81 +/- 0.06 on the leading side and 1.41 +/- 0.14 on the trailing side, respectively. Inside the Jovian current sheet, the brightness of the auroral ovals increases by a factor of 1.45 +/- 0.02 on the leading side and decreases by a factor of 0.80 +/- 0.02 on the trailing side. At the current sheet center, the auroral ovals shift 4.1 degrees +/- 0.7 degrees latitude toward Ganymede's planetographic equator on the leading side and 2.9 degrees +/- 1.5 degrees toward the poles on the trailing side. Both effects, the variation of brightness and the movement of the ovals are correlated to a stronger interaction of Jupiter's magnetospheric plasma with Ganymede's minimagnetosphere inside the current sheet. Finally, we calculate the latitudinal difference of the northern and southern ovals from Ganymede's magnetic equator. The result suggests a farther westward orientation of Ganymede's dipole magnetic moment at approximately 47 degrees + 58 degrees/-43 degrees west longitude compared to previous estimates.
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| 8. |
- Roth, Lorenz, et al.
(författare)
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A phenomenological model of Io’s UV aurora based on HST/STIS observations
- 2014
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Ingår i: Icarus. - : Elsevier. - 0019-1035 .- 1090-2643. ; 228, s. 386-406
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have carried out a comprehensive analysis of a large set of spatially resolved observations of Io's OI 1304. Å, OI] 1356. Å, SI 1479. Å and SI] 1900. Å aurora taken by the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) between 1997 and 2001. We find that the variability of the observed morphologies can be solely explained by the changes of the plasma and magnetic field environment of the Io torus and by the viewing perspective. The variations in brightness are strongly correlated with the periodic variations of the ambient electron density. Based on these findings we develop a phenomenological model for the spatial distribution of the oxygen and sulfur emissions in Io's vicinity. Taking into account Io's position with respect to the plasma torus, the orientation of Jupiter's magnetic field and the viewing perspective of the observation, the model calculates the auroral morphology and brightness. By fitting the model parameters to the observations we find that the model is able to reproduce the main features in all images obtained over a period of five years with one parameter set for each emission multiplet. The spatial distribution of the OI] 1356. Å, OI 1304. Å, SI 1479. Å, and SI] 1900. Å multiplets are shown to be very similar. In contrast to previous investigations, the model results reveal that the majority of the radiation from the bound atmosphere is emitted within 100. km above the surface. The equatorial aurora spots extend far into the wake region explaining observed features in the downstream region. The relative brightness of two the equatorial spots is best explained by our model if the emission on the day-side flank of Io is higher by a factor of ~1.5 with respect to the nightside flank. The measured brightness during an observation in eclipse is significantly lower than expected from the fitted model. The day-night asymmetry and the brightness decrease in eclipse support the idea of a wide collapse of Io's atmosphere in shadow. Since our phenomenological aurora model is able to reproduce the main features of the observed morphology by taking into account the variations of the magnetospheric parameters, it can be applied to predict the emission for future UV aurora observations for a given time and position of the observer.
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| 9. |
- Roth, Lorenz, et al.
(författare)
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An attempt to detect transient changes in Io's SO2 and NaCl atmosphere
- 2020
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Ingår i: Icarus. - : Elsevier BV. - 0019-1035 .- 1090-2643. ; 350
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Io's atmosphere is predominately SO2 that is sustained by a combination of volcanic outgassing and sublimation. The loss from the atmosphere is the main mass source for Jupiter's large magnetosphere. Numerous previous studies attributed various transient phenomena in Io's environment and Jupiter's magnetosphere to a sudden change in the mass loss from the atmosphere supposedly triggered by a change in volcanic activity. Since the gas in volcanic plumes does not escape directly, such causal correlation would require a transient volcano-induced change in atmospheric abundance, which has never been observed so far. Here we report four observations of atmospheric SO2 and NaCl from the same hemisphere of Io, obtained with the IRAM NOEMA interferometer on 11 December 2016, 14 March, 6 and 29 April 2017. These observations are compared to measurements of volcanic hot spots and Io's neutral and plasma environment. We find a stable NaCl column density in Io's atmosphere on the four dates. The SO2 column density derived for December 2016 is about 30% lower compared to the SO2 column density found in the period of March to April 2017. This increase in SO2 from December 2016 to March 2017 might be related to increasing volcanic activity observed at several sites in spring 2017, but the stability of the volcanic trace gas NaCl and resulting decrease in NaCl/SO2 ratio do not support this interpretation. Observed dimmings in both the sulfur ion torus and Na neutral cloud suggest rather a decrease in mass loading in the period of increasing SO2 abundance. The dimming Na brightness and stable atmospheric NaCl furthermore dispute an earlier suggested positive correlation of the sodium cloud and the hot spot activity at Loki Patara, which considerably increased in this period. The environment of Io overall appears to be in a rather quiescent state, preventing further conclusions. Only Jupiter's aurora morphology underwent several short-term changes, which are apparently unrelated to Io's quiescent environment or the relatively stable atmosphere.
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| 10. |
- Roth, Lorenz, et al.
(författare)
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Constraints on Europa's Water Group Torus from HST/COS Observations
- 2023
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Ingår i: The Planetary Science Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 2632-3338. ; 4:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In situ plasma measurements as well as remote mapping of energetic neutral atoms around Jupiter provide indirect evidence that an enhancement of neutral gas is present near the orbit of the moon Europa. Simulations suggest that such a neutral gas torus can be sustained by escape from Europa's atmosphere and consists primarily of molecular hydrogen, but the neutral gas torus has not yet been measured directly through emissions or in situ. Here we present observations by the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) from 2020 to 2021, which scanned the equatorial plane between 8 and 10 planetary radii west of Jupiter. No neutral gas emissions are detected. We derive upper limits on the emissions and compare these to modeled emissions from electron impact and resonant scattering using a Europa torus Monte Carlo model for the neutral gases. The comparison supports the previous findings that the torus is dilute and primarily consists of molecular hydrogen. A detection of sulfur ion emissions radially inward of the Europa orbit is consistent with emissions from the extended Io torus and with sulfur ion fractional abundances as previously detected.
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