Plasma environment at the dawn flank of Jupiter's magnetosphere: Juno arrives at Jupiter

摘要

This study examines the first observations from the Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) as the Juno spacecraft arrived at Jupiter. JADE observations show that Juno crossed the bow shock at 08:16 UT on 2016 day of year (DOY) 176 and magnetopause at 21:20 on DOY 177, with additional magnetopause encounters until 23:39 on DOY 181. JADE made the first detailed observations of the plasma environment just inside the dawn flank of the magnetopause. We find subcorotational ions and variable electron beaming, with multiple flux tubes of varying plasma properties. Ion composition shows a dearth of heavy ions; protons dominate the plasma, with only intermittent, low fluxes of O+/S++, along with traces of O++ and S+++. We also find very little H-3(+) or He+, which are expected for an ionospheric plasma source. A few heavy ion bursts occur when the radial field nears reversal, but many other such reversals are not accompanied by heavy ions.