Io's Magnetic Field
Abstract
Galileo has now made six successful passes by Io. These passes have taken Galileo through the upstream, downstream, polar and Alfvén wing regions of Io. The two polar passes (Io 31 and Io 32) have yielded extremely valuable information on the internal field of Io. From these passes, it is clear that Io does not possess an appreciable internal magnetic field. By simultaneously modeling all of the magnetic data collected by Galileo in the vicinity of Io, we will provide an upper limit on the strength of the internal field.
The polar passes took Galileo through the Alfvén wings of Io. The Alfvén wings show considerable complexity in their magnetic structure. It appears that some of the promi- nent changes observed in the magnetic field in the Alfvén wings occur near locations of some well-known volcanoes. It is likely that the ionospheric conductivity is en- hanced near the volcanoes causing some of the observed magnetic field signatures. We will also present our first modeling results of the Alfvén wings.- Publication:
-
EGS General Assembly Conference Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- 2002
- Bibcode:
- 2002EGSGA..27.5119K