A Survey of Visible S⁺ Emission in Io's Plasma Torus during the Hisaki Epoch

C. Schmidt (1) , N. Schneider (2) , François Leblanc (3) , C. Gray (4) , J. Morgenthaler (5) , J. Turner (6) , C. Grava (7)

1 CSP - Center for Space Physics [Boston]
2 LASP - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics [Boulder]
3 HELIOS - LATMOS
4 Department of Astronomy [Las Cruces]
5 PSI - Planetary Science Institute [Tucson]
6 Department of Astronomy [Charlottesville]
7 SwRI - Southwest Research Institute [San Antonio]

To complement Hisaki's ultraviolet monitoring of the Io plasma torus, a ground‐based campaign assembled a comprehensive dataset at visible wavelengths with the ARC 3.5m telescope at Apache Point Observatory. This work concentrates on the bright S+ emissions in these data. Recurrent traits in the intensity and location are discerned as a function of Jovian longitude (λ_III). The longitudinal brightness structure differs from past datasets in the visible, but is broadly consistent with that of Io's auroral footprint and concurrent Hisaki EUV measurements. Positions of the ribbon feature with λ_III confirm that it exhibits a radial wobbling motion that is lesser than the centrifugal limit along a given L‐shell. We also find that the radial separation between the cold torus and the ribbon is modulated as Jupiter rotates. The torus is displaced 0.13 R_J dawnward, on average, by an electric field with mean strength 3.8 mV/m, consistent with that inferred by analysis of Hisaki's dawn‐dusk brightness asymmetry. The lesser visible brightness asymmetry is uncorrelated to this field strength, however. S⁺ emissions are enhanced downstream of Io, principally at Jovian dawn. Io interacts with the densest region at specific Jovian longitudes and local times; near λ_III ~130° and dawn the ribbon is farthest from Jupiter, but still passes radially interior to the satellite. The electron density sweeping past Io and/or its radial proximity to the passing ribbon may also influence brightness, but S⁺ emissions are not governed by a single predominant driver.

Domains: Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; Space Physics [physics.space-ph]

C. Schmidt, N. Schneider, François Leblanc, C. Gray, J. Morgenthaler, et al.. A Survey of Visible S⁺ Emission in Io's Plasma Torus during the Hisaki Epoch. Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics, 2018, 123 (7), pp.5610-5624. ⟨10.1029/2018JA025296⟩. ⟨insu-01836498⟩