Abstract
Several planetary missions have reported1,2,3,4 the presence of substantial numbers of energetic ions and electrons surrounding Jupiter; relativistic electrons are observable up to several astronomical units (au) from the planet. A population of energetic (>30 keV) neutral particles also has been reported5, but the instrumentation was not able to determine the mass or charge state of the particles, which were subsequently labelled6 energetic neutral atoms. Although images showing the presence of the trace element sodium were obtained7, the source and identity of the neutral atoms—and their overall significance relative to the loss of charged particles from Jupiter's magnetosphere—were unknown. Here we report the discovery by the Cassini spacecraft of a fast (>103 km s-1) and hot magnetospheric neutral wind extending more than 0.5 au from Jupiter, and the presence of energetic neutral atoms (both hot and cold) that have been accelerated by the electric field in the solar wind. We suggest that these atoms originate in volcanic gases from Io, undergo significant evolution through various electromagnetic interactions, escape Jupiter's magnetosphere and then populate the environment around the planet. Thus a ‘nebula’ is created that extends outwards over hundreds of jovian radii.
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Acknowledgements
We thank many colleagues who contributed to the hardware effort for MIMI at the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins, the Department of Physics at the University of Maryland, the Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie (MPAe) and the Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements (CESR) in Toulouse. We also thank S. J. Jaskulek, J. Hayes, M. Kusterer and B. Tossman for their contributions throughout the programme. This work was supported by NASA under contract with the Johns Hopkins University; by subcontracts at the University of Maryland, Kansas, and Arizona; and by Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt (DLR) at MPAe and Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) at CESR.
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Krimigis, S., Mitchell, D., Hamilton, D. et al. A nebula of gases from Io surrounding Jupiter. Nature 415, 994–996 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/415994a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/415994a
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