Preliminary model studies of the magnetosphere of Jupiter: Pioneer 10
Abstract
Observations of the Jovian magnetic field and its interaction with the solar wind plasma were made while the Pioneer 10 spacecraft was within about 100 Rj of the planet. The magnetosphere was found to be severely stretched due to the presence of an intense current sheet, which was particularly evident during the outbound passage of Pioneer 10 near the dawn terminator. Plots of the angle between the orientation of the outbound field and the radius vector from the planet to the spacecraft showed a strong tendency for the field to become radial at large distances from the planet. A similar trend has also been seen in both the inbound and outbound Pioneer 11 data. Preliminary work on a mathematical model of the magnetosphere of Jupiter is given, based upon the Pioneer 10 outbound data. Some of the implications of the radial field configuration inferred from the Pioneer 10 and 11 data are also discussed.
- Publication:
-
NASA STI/Recon Technical Report N
- Pub Date:
- March 1975
- Bibcode:
- 1975STIN...7524626J
- Keywords:
-
- Jupiter Atmosphere;
- Pioneer 10 Space Probe;
- Planetary Magnetospheres;
- Current Sheets;
- Mathematical Models;
- Pioneer 11 Space Probe;
- Planetary Magnetic Fields;
- Solar Wind;
- Sunrise;
- Lunar and Planetary Exploration