Jovian Magnetospheric Injections Observed by the Hubble Space Telescope and Juno

Abstract

Abstract We compare Hubble Space Telescope observations of Jupiter's FUV auroras with contemporaneous conjugate Juno in situ observations in the equatorial middle magnetosphere of Jupiter. We show that bright patches on and equatorward of the main emission are associated with hot plasma injections driven by ongoing active magnetospheric convection. During the interval that Juno crossed the magnetic field lines threading the complex of auroral patches, a series of energetic particle injection signatures were observed, and immediately prior, the plasma data exhibited flux tube interchange events indicating ongoing convection. This presents the first direct evidence that auroral morphology previously termed “strong injections” is indeed a manifestation of magnetospheric injections, and that this morphology indicates that Jupiter's magnetosphere is undergoing an interval of active iogenic plasma outflow.

Keywords

• Jupiter
• aurora
• magnetosphere
• injections
• plasma
• dynamics