Publication Date:
2017-05-26
Description:
Since August 2016, measurements of Jupiter's microwave emissions at six wavelengths ranging from 1.3 cm to 50 cm have been made with the Juno Microwave Radiometer (MWR). In this paper, we introduce the first systematic set of in-situ observations of synchrotron radiation in a polar plane while describing the modeling approach we use to analyze this data (collected August 27th, 2016). Time series of brightness profiles at all six frequencies present similarities that are explained by the presence of known regions of intense synchrotron radiation. Our model predictions, though limited for now to the total intensity of the radiation, reproduce (qualitatively) the observation of temporal variations and allow to disentangle the synchrotron emission from the atmospheric emission. The discrepancies seen between the data and simulations confirm that physical conditions close to Jupiter affecting synchrotron emission (electron energy spectra, pitch-angle distributions, and the magnetic environment) are different than we anticipated.
Print ISSN:
0094-8276
Electronic ISSN:
1944-8007
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
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