The electrodynamic coupling between Io and Jupiter gives rise to wave-particle interactions across multiple spatial scales. Here we report observations during Juno's 12th perijove (PJ) high-latitude northern crossing of the flux tube connected to Io's auroral footprint. We focus on plasma wave measurements, clearly differentiating between magnetohydrodynamic (MHD), ion, and electron scales. We find (i) evidence of Alfvén waves undergoing a turbulent cascade, suggesting Alfvénic acceleration processes together with observations of bi-directional, broadband electrons; (ii) intense ion cyclotron waves with an estimated heating rate that is consistent with the generation of ion conics reported by Clark et al. (2020,
We analyze precipitating electron fluxes connected to 18 crossings of Io's footprint tail aurora, over altitudes of 0.15 to 1.1 Jovian radii (R J). The strength of precipitating electron fluxes is dominantly organized by "Io-Alfvén tail distance," the angle along Io's orbit between Io and an Alfvén wave trajectory connected to the tail aurora. These fluxes best fit an exponential as a function of down-tail extent with an e-folding distance of 21°. The acceleration region altitude likely increases down-tail, and the majority of parallel electron acceleration sustaining the tail aurora occurs above 1 R J in altitude. We do not find a correlation between the tail fluxes and the power of the initial Alfvén wave launched from Io. Finally, Juno has likely transited Io's Main Alfvén Wing fluxtube, observing a characteristically distinct signature with precipitating electron fluxes~600 mW/m 2 and an acceleration region extending as low as 0.4 R J in altitude. Plain Language Summary The Juno spacecraft crossed magnetic field lines connected to Io's auroral signature in Jupiter's atmosphere. By measuring the electrons sustaining this auroral feature, we find that the region these electrons are accelerated is typically more than one Jovian radius away from Jupiter's atmosphere. For one of the 18 transits, we find Juno has most likely directly transited above the main auroral spot in Io's auroral signature.
Between 26 April and 15 September 2017, Cassini executed 23 highly inclined Grand Finale orbits through a new frontier for space exploration, the narrow region between Saturn and the D Ring, providing the first opportunity for obtaining in situ ionospheric measurements. During the Grand Finale orbits, the Radio and Plasma Wave Science instrument observed broadband whistler mode emissions and narrowband upper hybrid frequency emissions. Using known wave propagation characteristics of these two plasma wave modes, the electron density is derived over a broad range of ionospheric latitudes and altitudes. A two‐part exponential scale height model is fitted to the electron density measurements. The model yields a double‐layered ionosphere with plasma scale heights of 545/575 km for the northern/southern hemispheres below 4,500 km and plasma scale heights of 4,780/2,360 km for the northern/southern hemispheres above 4,500 km. The interpretation of these layers involves the interaction between the rings and the ionosphere.
Shock waves exist throughout the Universe and are fundamental to understanding the nature of collisionless plasmas. Reformation is a process, driven by microphysics, which typically occurs at high Mach number supercritical shocks. While ongoing studies have investigated this process extensively both theoretically and via simulations, their observations remain few and far between. In this Letter we present a study of very high Mach number shocks in a parameter space that has been poorly explored and we identify reformation using in situ magnetic field observations from the Cassini spacecraft at 10 AU. This has given us an insight into quasiperpendicular shocks across 2 orders of magnitude in Alfvén Mach number (M_{A}) which could potentially bridge the gap between modest terrestrial shocks and more exotic astrophysical shocks. For the first time, we show evidence for cyclic reformation controlled by specular ion reflection occurring at the predicted time scale of ~0.3τ_{c}, where τ_{c} is the ion gyroperiod. In addition, we experimentally reveal the relationship between reformation and M_{A} and focus on the magnetic structure of such shocks to further show that for the same M_{A}, a reforming shock exhibits stronger magnetic field amplification than a shock that is not reforming.
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