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At least 487 records · Page 27

Absence of magnetic trapping on closed field lines at Neptune

The large offset of Neptune's magnetic field in an offset tilted dipole (OTD) approximation allows some fraction of magnetospheric field lines to have monotonically increasing field magnitude over their entire length in the magnetosphere. The usual magnetic trapping is impossible on such field lines, meaning that all charged particles on these field lines will precipitate after mirroring at most once. These field lines can be thought of as the part of the global magnetic anomaly where no particles on the corresponding drift shells remain trapped for an entire rotation of the planet. In this paper we examine both the morphology and size of the affected surface area in the OTD2 and O8 magnetic field models. For regions where there are indications that part of the aurora could be due to monotonic field line precipitation we analyze whether these field lines could be sufficiently populated to produce auroral signatures by considering photoelectron production rates and radial diffusion. We conclude that monotonic field line precipitation may contribute to the observed Neptune aurora but does not explain the global phenomenon.

Paranicas, C.↗

An evaluation of recent quantitative magnetospheric magnetic field models

Magnetospheric field models involving dipole tilt effects are discussed, with particular reference to defined magnetopause models and boundary surface models. The models are compared with observations and with each other whenever possible. It is shown that models containing only contributions from magnetopause and tail current systems are capable of reproducing the observed quiet time field just in a qualitative way. The best quantitative agreement between models and observations take place when currents distributed in the inner magnetosphere are added to the magnetopause and tail current systems. One region in which all the models fall short is the region around the polar cusp. Obtaining physically reasonable gradients should have high priority in the development of future models.

Walker, R. J.↗

The magnetic and thermodynamical structure of a coronal hole

A nonpolytropic model of a polar coronal hole of 2-5 solar radii constructed. The main assumptions are: (1) the magnetic structure of the sun can be described by a combination of dipole-like and radial fields; (2) in the magnetically dominated region rho(nu sq/2) much less than B sq/8 pi the influence of the outflow on the magnetic structure is negligible. The magnetic and thermodynamic structures are obtained by solving the force balance equation for plasma with the observationally derived electron density. Profiles of velocities in the acceleration regime are presented and the influence of the outflow on the thermodynamic structure of the solar corona above the polar region is discussed.

Osherovich, V. A.↗

Jupiter revisited - First results from the University of Chicago charged particle experiment on Pioneer 11

The data obtained by Pioneer 11 confirmed results from Pioneer 10 and provided new information for an understanding of the physics of the Jovian magnetosphere. Attention is given to the significance of Pioneer 11 data in relation to two fundamentally different models which have been proposed to account for the variations in the electron flux observed in Jupiter's outer magnetosphere. Proton flux characteristics are considered, taking into account the intensity profiles of energetic particles trapped in the dipole region of Jupiter's magnetic field.

Simpson, J. A.↗

Magnetospheric whistler ducts observed by ISIS satellites

The latitudinal width of the magnetospheric whistler duct has been estimated by the first and final invariant latitudes of whistler echoes and the conservation of the magnetic flux for the centered dipole field, using 105 whistler echoes in ISIS VLF data received at Kashima, Japan for 1972-1973. The latitudinal distribution of whistler duct occurrence shows a maximum at invariant latitudes of 40-45 degrees near the maximum occurrence latitude of ground whistlers. The radial width of magnetospheric whistler duct in the geomagnetically equatorial plane increases with invariant latitude of the geomagnetic flux tube in which whistlers propagate.

Ondoh, T.↗

High resolution spectral analyses of the Jovian decametric radiation. I - Burst morphology and drift rates

Morphological analyses of high-resolution spectral recordings of Jovian decametric radiation show a regime of phenomena not seen at lower resolutions. Observed emissions range from narrow-band (50 kHz) simple quasi-periodic bursts to wide-band emissions (extending over a 500-kHz passband) exhibiting complex structural detail. Assuming gyroemission from electrons in a dipole field for which the magnetic moment is 10 Gauss Jupiter-radius-cubed, drift-rate measurements of the bursts indicate that the source size is of the order of 600 km and its location is near 1.3 Jupiter radii at a colatitude of 27.3 deg. The measurements suggest that the emitting electrons belong to a population having a very specific equatorial pitch angle near 3.5 deg. This study concludes that it may be possible to verify gyroemission as the mechanism responsible for the decametric radiation.

Krausche, D. S.↗

Model magnetosphere of Mercury

A three-dimensional quantitative model of Mercury's magnetosphere based on Mariner 10 data is presented. The model assumes that the Mercury surface magnetic field consists of a dipole, a quadrupole, and an octupole. The dipole moment is determined, noting that the intensity of the quadrupole moment is 45% of the dipole, and that of the octupole moment is 29% of the dipole. The model meets four critical tests: (1) it produces the smallest residuals, (2) it can reproduce the crossing of a tail current sheet by Mariner 10, (3) all planetary field lines are confined inside the model magnetosphere, and (4) the size of the model agrees with the magnetopause crossings observed from Mariner 10. In addition, the plasma characteristics and regions of quiet and disturbed signatures observed from Mariner 10 are discussed.

Whang, Y. C.↗

The coronal and interplanetary current sheet in early 1976

A comparison of Helios 1 and 2 observations of the interplanetary sector pattern in early 1976 with the maximum brightness curves in the K coronameter data at 1.5 solar radii shows that the latter may be identified with the footprints of the sector boundary surface to an accuracy of about 10 deg. The sector boundary surface probably extended to about 15 deg in the Northern Hemisphere and to about 30 deg in the Southern Hemisphere, with little change between 1.5 solar radii and 1 AU. The surface was warped appreciably from a single titled plane (a dipole configuration) suggesting a significant magnetic quadrupole contribution.

Burlaga, L. F.↗

Scaling from Jupiter to pulsar and the acceleration of cosmic ray particles by pulsars

The total energy output per second from the 73 known pulsars is estimated. By following the principle of similitude (Rayleigh, 1915), an expression is derived for the energy generated by a rotating magnetized celestial body, and the dipole moment of the body is related linearly with its angular momentum. The scaling constant of the two equations combined is determined, and then checked by comparing the deduced masses of the 73 pulsars with the theoretical limits for neutron stars. By using the scaling constant and deduced pulsar masses, the rates of acceleration of high-energy particles by pulsars, thence the energy output from pulsars, can be estimated. Results show that the Crab pulsar outshines all the others combined.

Fan, Y. C.↗

Oscillating dynamo magnetic field in the presence of an external nondynamo field - The influence of a solar primordial field

Dynamo magnetic fields are self-excited and, once started, can perpetrate themselves with no outside source of magnetic flux, as long as the necessary fluid motions persist. Such dynamo fields behave completely independently of the field's overall polarity. In the presence of an external field of separate origin this polarity symmetry of the dynamo states is broken; the dynamo states become asymmetric with respect to polarity. In this paper a calculation is performed of the characteristics of a spherical shell dynamo in the presence of a fossil magnetic field penetrating into the dynamo from below. The asymmetric periodic states are found as a function of the strength of underlying fossil field. Applying these results to the sun, there appears to be no evidence of any intense large-scale primordial magnetic flux, having either dipole-like or quadrupole-like symmetry about the sun's equator, penetrating into the convection zone from the sun's radiative core. Indeed, the calculations indicate, even on the basis of the presently crude observations, that any such primordial field must have an intensity smaller than a few gauss.

Boyer, D. W.↗

Neptune's non-thermal radio emissions - Phenomenology and source locations

During the inbound and the outbound leg of Voyager 2's encounter with Neptune, the Planetary Radio Astronomy (PRA) experiment aboard the spacecraft detected short radio bursts at frequencies within the range of about 500-1300 kHz, and broad-banded smoothly varying emission patterns within the frequency range from about 40-800 kHz. Both emissions can be described in terms of a period of 16.1 hours determining Neptune's rotation period. Furthermore, just near closest approach, a narrow-banded smoothly varying radio component was observed occurring between 600 and 800 kHz. After giving a brief overview about some general characteristics of Neptune's nonthermal radio emission, the source locations of Neptune's emission components are determined, using an offset tilted dipole model for Neptune's magnetic field. Assuming that the emission originates near the electron gyrofrequency a geometrical beaming model is developed in order to fit the observed emission episodes.

Rabl, Gerald K. F.↗

On the injection of fine dust from the Jovian magnetosphere

Using a simple aligned dipole model of the Jovian magnetic field, and exploiting integrals of the gravito-electrodynamic equation of motion of charged dust, we obtain an analytic result which characterizes the nature of the orbits of grains of different (fixed) charge-to-mass ratios launched at different velocities from different radial distances from Jupiter. This enables us to consider various possible sources of the dust-streams emanating from Jupiter which have been observed by the Ulysses spacecraft. We conclude that Jupiter's volcanically active satellite Io is the likely source, in agreement with the earlier calculations and simulations of Horanyi et al. using a detailed three-dimensional model of the Jovian magnetosphere. Our estimates of the size range and the velocity range of these dust grains are also in good agreement with those of the above authors and are within the error bars of the observations.

Maravilla, D.↗

Bounce-averaged Hamiltonian for charged particles in an axisymmetric but nondipolar model magnetosphere

In order to facilitate bounce-averaged guiding center simulations of geomagnetically trapped particles, we express the kinetic energy of a particle with magnetic coordinates (L,phi) as an analytic function of the first two adiabatic invariants (M,J) and the L value of the field line. The magnetic field model is axisymmetric, consisting of a dipolar vector-B field plus a uniform southward magnetic field parallel to the dipole moment mu(sub E). This model magnetosphere is surrounded by a circular equatorial neutral line whose radius b is an adjustable parameter. Our formulation provides a computationally efficient method for tracing the bounce-averaged adiabatic motion (conserving all three invariants) and nonadiabatic transport (violating the third invariant while conserving the first two invariants) of geomagnetically trapped particles in the model magnetosphere.

Schulz, Michael↗