Hajime Kita

Characteristics of solar wind control on Jovian UV auroral activity deciphered by long‐term Hisaki EXCEED observations: Evidence of preconditioning of the magnetosphere?

While the Jovian magnetosphere is known to have the internal source for its activity, it is reported to be under the influence of the solar wind as well. Here we report the statistical relationship between the total power of the Jovian ultraviolet aurora and the solar wind properties found from long-term monitoring by the spectrometer EXCEED (Extreme Ultraviolet Spectroscope for Exospheric Dynamics) on board the Hisaki satellite. Superposed epoch analysis indicates that auroral total power increases when an enhanced solar wind dynamic pressure hits the magnetosphere. Furthermore, the auroral total power shows a positive correlation with the duration of a quiescent interval of the solar wind that is present before a rise in the dynamic pressure, more than with the amplitude of dynamic pressure increase. These statistical characteristics define the next step to unveil the physical mechanism of the solar wind control on the Jovian magnetospheric dynamics.

Response of Jupiter's inner magnetosphere to the solar wind derived from extreme ultraviolet monitoring of the Io plasma torus

Because Jupiters magnetosphere is huge and is rotationally dominated, solar wind influence on its inner part has been thought to be negligible. Meanwhile, dawn-dusk asymmetric features of this region have been reported. Presence of dawn-to-dusk electric field is one of the leading explanations of the asymmetry; however, the physical process of generating such an intense electric field still remains unclear. Here we present long and continuous monitoring of the extreme ultraviolet emissions from the Io plasma torus in Jupiters inner magnetosphere made by the Hisaki satellite between December 2013 and March 2014. We found five occasions where the dusk/dawn brightness ratio was enhanced above 2.5 in response to rapid increase of the solar wind dynamic pressure. The enhancement is achieved as the dusk region brightens and the dawn region dims. The observation indicates that dawn-to-dusk electric field in the inner magnetosphere is enhanced under compressed conditions.

Transient brightening of Jupiter's aurora observed by the Hisaki satellite and Hubble Space Telescope during approach phase of the Juno spacecraft

In early 2014, continuous monitoring with the Hisaki satellite discovered transient auroral emission at Jupiter during a period when the solar wind was relatively quiet for a few days. Simultaneous imaging made by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) suggested that the transient aurora is associated with a global magnetospheric disturbance that spans from the inner to outer magnetosphere. However, the temporal and spatial evolutions of the magnetospheric disturbance were not resolved because of the lack of continuous monitoring of the transient aurora simultaneously with the imaging. Here we report the coordinated observation of the aurora and plasma torus made by Hisaki and HST during the approach phase of the Juno spacecraft in mid-2016. On day 142, Hisaki detected a transient aurora with a maximum total H2 emission power of ~8.5 TW. The simultaneous HST imaging was indicative of a large “dawn storm,” which is associated with tail reconnection, at the onset of the transient aurora. The outer emission, which is associated with hot plasma injection in the inner magnetosphere, followed the dawn storm within less than two Jupiter rotations. The monitoring of the torus with Hisaki indicated that the hot plasma population increased in the torus during the transient aurora. These results imply that the magnetospheric disturbance is initiated via the tail reconnection and rapidly expands toward the inner magnetosphere, followed by the hot plasma injection reaching the plasma torus. This corresponds to the radially inward transport of the plasma and/or energy from the outer to the inner magnetosphere.

Vertical emissivity profiles of Jupiter's northern H3+ and H2 infrared auroras observed by Subaru/IRCS

We resolved the vertical emissivity profiles of H-3(+) overtone, H-3(+) hot overtone, and H-2 emission lines of the Jovian northern auroras in K band obtained in December 2011 observed by the IR Camera and Spectrograph of the Subaru 8.2m telescope with the adaptive optics system (AO188). The spatial resolution achieved was similar to 0.2 arcsec, corresponding to similar to 600 km at Jupiter. We derived the vertical emissivity profiles at three polar regions close to the Jovian limb. The H-3(+) overtone and H-3(+) hot overtone lines had similar peak altitudes of 700-900 km and 680-950 km above the 1 bar level, which were 100-300 km and 150-420 km lower, respectively, than the model values. On the contrary, the H-2 peak emission altitude was high, 590-720 km above the 1 bar level. It was consistent with the value expected for precipitation of similar to 1 keV electron, which favors a higher-altitude emissivity profile. We concluded that the lower peak altitudes of H-3(+) overtone and hot overtone lines were caused by the nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium effect stronger than the model assumption. We could reproduce the observational emissivity profiles from the model by including this effect. It has been proposed that neutral H-2 and ionized H-3(+) emissions can have different source altitudes because of their different morphologies and velocities; however, our observed results with a general circulation model show that the peak emission altitudes of H-3(+) and H-2 can be similar even with different velocities.

Response of the Jovian thermosphere to variations in solar EUV flux

Examining the response to solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation is an established diagnostic method used to understand the physics of planetary environments. In this study, we focus on the response of the Jovian thermosphere to variations in the solar EUV flux and discuss the consequences for the coupled thermosphere-ionosphere-magnetosphere system. We use a model that simulates both the thermospheric dynamics and the magnetospheric plasma velocity distribution under conditions of angular momentum transport between these regions. The simulations show that when the EUV flux increases by ~100% and 200%, the thermospheric neutral wind velocity at ~45° latitude increases by 16% and 22%, respectively. The short-term variation over a few Earth days causes an increased velocity at middle latitudes which are magnetically conjugate to the Jovian radiation belt. Increased heating due to solar EUV contributes to this velocity change. The other contribution arises ~30 planetary rotations after the initial solar EUV flux increase. This second (“delayed”) effect is due to propagation of momentum from high latitudes (the auroral region), where Joule heating is dominant, and is related to the behavior of the ionospheric conductance and magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling currents. The modeled velocity enhancement is smaller than that required to explain the observed enhancement of the synchrotron emission by radial diffusion of the trapped energetic electrons. In this context, we discuss the sensitivity of the underlying thermosphere-ionosphere response to short-wavelength solar radiation and the ensuing three-dimensional wind fields.

Relation between the short‐term variation of the Jovian radiation belt and thermosphere derived from radio and infrared observations

We report the first comprehensive observations of Jovian synchrotron radiation (JSR) and H3+ emission from the Jovian thermosphere to investigate the generation process of short-term (days to weeks) variations in the Jovian radiation belt. The observations were made by the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope and NASA Infrared Telescope Facility during November 2011. The total flux density of JSR increased by approximately 5% between 6–9 November and 12–17 November, associated with the increased solar UV/EUV flux. From 7 to 14 November, a possible rise in the infrared H3+ emission was observed in the middle-latitude region, corresponding to a temperature variation of approximately 10 K. These results are consistent with the scenario that the solar UV/EUV heating causes variations in the thermospheric temperature and JSR. Radio images along the equatorial region showed that the JSR intensity decreased inside 1.5 Jovian radii (RJ) and the peak position shifted outward. This implies that energetic electrons are attenuated by some internal loss process, despite the simultaneous increase in radial diffusion. A physical model for the radiation belt shows that such an internal loss process can explain the observed variation of brightness distribution. Typical loss time scale is longer than strong diffusion limit, which suggests the existence of some pitch angle diffusion process such as wave-particle interaction. Thus, variations of the total JSR flux density and thermospheric temperature seem consistent with the scenario, and the brightness distribution of JSR can be explained by the increase in radial diffusion accompanied by internal loss processes.

Very Long Baseline Interferometry Experiment on Giant Radio Pulses of Crab Pulsar toward Fast Radio Burst Detection

We report on a very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) experiment on giant radio pulses (GPs) from the Crab pulsar in the radio 1.4 to 1.7 GHz range to demonstrate a VLBI technique for searching for fast radio bursts (FRBs). We carried out the experiment on 26 July 2014 using the Kashima 34 m and Usuda 64 m radio telescopes of the Japanese VLBI Network (JVN) with a baseline of about 200 km. During the approximately 1 h observation, we could detect 35 GPs by high-time-resolution VLBI. Moreover, we determined the dispersion measure (DM) to be 56.7585 +/- 0.0025 on the basis of the mean DM of the 35 GPs detected by VLBI. We confirmed that the sensitivity of a detection of GPs using our technique is superior to that of a single-dish mode detection using the same telescope.

Response of Jupiter's Aurora to Plasma Mass Loading Rate Monitored by the Hisaki Satellite During Volcanic Eruptions at Io

The production and transport of plasma mass are essential processes in the dynamics of planetary magnetospheres. At Jupiter, it is hypothesized that Ios volcanic plasma carried out of the plasma torus is transported radially outward in the rotating magnetosphere and is recurrently ejected as plasmoid via tail reconnection. The plasmoid ejection is likely associated with particle energization, radial plasma flow, and transient auroral emissions. However, it has not been demonstrated that plasmoid ejection is sensitive to mass loading because of the lack of simultaneous observations of both processes. We report the response of plasmoid ejection to mass loading during large volcanic eruptions at Io in 2015. Response of the transient aurora to the mass loading rate was investigated based on a combination of Hisaki satellite monitoring and a newly developed analytic model. We found that the transient aurora frequently recurred at a 2-6day period in response to a mass loading increase from 0.3 to 0.5t/s. In general, the recurrence of the transient aurora was not significantly correlated with the solar wind, although there was an exceptional event with a maximum emission power of similar to 10TW after the solar wind shock arrival. The recurrence of plasmoid ejection requires the precondition that an amount comparable to the total mass of magnetosphere, similar to 1.5Mt, is accumulated in the magnetosphere. A plasmoid mass of more than 0.1Mt is necessary in case that the plasmoid ejection is the only process for mass release.

Variation of Jupiter's Aurora Observed by Hisaki/EXCEED: 3. Volcanic Control of Jupiter's Aurora:Io's Volcanic Effect on Jovian Aurora

Temporal variation of Jupiters northern aurora during enhanced Io volcanic activity was detected using the EXCEED spectrometer on board the Hisaki Earth-orbiting planetary space telescope. It was found that in association with reported Io volcanic events in early 2015, auroral power and estimated field-aligned currents were enhanced during day of year 40–120. Furthermore, the far ultraviolet color ratio decreased during the event, indicating a decrease of auroral electron mean energy and total acceleration by <30%. During the episode of enhanced Io volcanic activity, Jupiters magnetosphere contains more source current via increased suprathermal plasma density by up to 42%; therefore, it would have required correspondingly less electron acceleration to maintain the enhanced field-aligned current and corotation enforcement current. Sporadic large enhancements in auroral emission detected more frequently during the active period could have been contributed by nonadiabatic magnetospheric energization.

Three-year of observations of Jupiter’s aurora and Io plasma torus variabilities by earth orbiting extreme-ultraviolet spectroscope HISAKI

Extreme Ultraviolet spectrograph, EXCEED, on-board the HISAKI satellite is designed for observing tenuous gas and plasma around planets in the solar system. It enables us to obtain continuous and long-term data set and find time variability in the planetary magnetosphere and ionosphere with time scales of several hours to months. Here, we introduce new findings of Jupiters UV aurora and plasma emissions from the Io plasma torus obtained from the HISAKI observation.