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Survey of the plasma electron environment of Jupiter: A view from VoyagerThe plasma environment within Jupiter's bow shock is considered in terms of the in situ, calibrated electron plasma measurements made between 10 eV and 5.95 keV by the Voyager plasma science experiment (PLS). Measurements were analyzed and corrected for spacecraft potential variations; the data were reduced to nearly model independent macroscopic parameters of the local electron density and temperature. It is tentatively concluded that the radial temperature profile within the plasma sheet is caused by the intermixing of two different electron populations that probably have different temporal histories and spatial paths to their local observation. The cool plasma source of the plasma sheet and spikes is probably the Io plasma torus and arrives in the plasma sheet as a result of flux tube interchange motions or other generalized transport which can be accomplished without diverting the plasma from the centrifugal equator. The hot suprathermal populations in the plasma sheet have most recently come from the sparse, hot mid-latitude "bath" of electrons which were directly observed juxtaposed to the plasma sheet.
Document ID
19800024817
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Scudder, J. D. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Sittler, E. C., Jr. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Bridge, H. S. (MIT Cambridge, United States)
Date Acquired
September 4, 2013
Publication Date
August 1, 1980
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Report/Patent Number
NASA-TM-80731
Accession Number
80N33325
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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