title: Jupiter's nightside airglow and aurora.
abstract: Observations of Jupiter's nightside airglow (nightglow) and aurora obtained during the flyby of the New Horizons spacecraft show an unexpected lack of ultraviolet nightglow emissions, in contrast to the case during the Voyager flybys in 1979. The flux and average energy of precipitating electrons generally decrease with increasing local time across the nightside, consistent with a possible source region along the dusk flank of Jupiter's magnetosphere. Visible emissions associated with the interaction of Jupiter and its satellite Io extend to a surprisingly high altitude, indicating localized low-energy electron precipitation. These results indicate that the interaction between Jupiter's upper atmosphere and near-space environment is variable and poorly understood; extensive observations of the day side are no guide to what goes on at night.
authors.affiliation: Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78238, USA. rgladstone@swri.edu
authors.forename: G Randall
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Gladstone
authors.forename: S Alan
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Slater
authors.forename: Maarten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Versteeg
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Kurt D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Retherford
authors.forename: Leslie A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Steffl
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Throop
authors.forename: Joel Wm
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.forename: Harold A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Weaver
authors.forename: Andrew F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Glenn S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Orton
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: Jonathan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Nichols
mesh_terms: D005118:Extraterrestrial Environment; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D006859:Hydrogen; D018538:Jupiter; D008280:Magnetics; D018531:Spacecraft
chemical_list: D006838:Hydrocarbons; D006859:Hydrogen