Jupiter’s magnetosphere and aurorae observed by the Juno spacecraft during its first polar orbits

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 356; no. 6340; pp. 826 - 832
• Main Authors: Connerney, J. E. P., Adriani, A., Allegrini, F., Bagenal, F., Bolton, S. J., Bonfond, B., Cowley, S. W. H., Gerard, J.-C., Gladstone, G. R., Grodent, D., Hospodarsky, G., Jorgensen, J. L., Kurth, W. S., Levin, S. M., Mauk, B., McComas, D. J., Mura, A., Paranicas, C., Smith, E. J., Thorne, R. M., Valek, P., Waite, J.
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 26-05-2017; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Astronomy; aurora; Auroras; Aérospatiale, astronomie & astrophysique; Charged particles; Climatology; Clouds; Coverings; Detectors; Emission measurements; Equator; Gravitation; Gravitational fields; Gravity; Indoor environments; Infrared imaging; Infrared signatures; Juno; Jupiter; Jupiter (planet); Jupiter probes; Jupiter rings; magnetosphere; Magnetospheres; Microwaves; Physical, chemical, mathematical & earth Sciences; Physique, chimie, mathématiques & sciences de la terre; Planetary magnetic fields; Planetary magnetospheres; Planets; Polar orbits; Poles; Radiation; Radiation belts; Solar system; Space science, astronomy & astrophysics; Spacecraft; Spectrographs; Velocity
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.aam5928

The Juno spacecraft acquired direct observations of the jovian magnetosphere and auroral emissions from a vantage point above the poles. Juno’s capture orbit spanned the jovian magnetosphere from bow shock to the planet, providing magnetic field, charged particle, and wave phenomena context for Juno’s passage over the poles and traverse of Jupiter’s hazardous inner radiation belts. Juno’s energetic particle and plasma detectors measured electrons precipitating in the polar regions, exciting intense aurorae, observed simultaneously by the ultraviolet and infrared imaging spectrographs. Juno transited beneath the most intense parts of the radiation belts, passed about 4000 kilometers above the cloud tops at closest approach, well inside the jovian rings, and recorded the electrical signatures of high-velocity impacts with small particles as it traversed the equator.