Bimolecular reactions of S2+ with Ar, H2 and N2: reactivity and dynamics

The reactivity, energetics and dynamics of bimolecular reactions between S²⁺ and three neutral species (Ar, H₂ and N₂) have been studied using a position-sensitive coincidence methodology at centre-of-mass collision energies below 6 eV. This is the first study of bimolecular reactions involving S²⁺, a species detected in planetary ionospheres, the interstellar medium, and in anthropogenic manufacturing processes. The reactant dication beam employed consists predominantly of S²⁺ in the ground ³P state, but some excited states are also present. Most of the observed reactions involve the ground state of S²⁺, but the dissociative electron transfer reactions appear to exclusively involve excited states of this atomic dication. We observe exclusively single electron-transfer between S²⁺ and Ar, a process which exhibits strong forward scatting typical of the Landau-Zener style dynamics observed for other dicationic electron transfer reactions. Following collisions between S²⁺ + H₂, non-dissociative and dissociative single electron-transfer reactions were detected. The dynamics here show evidence for the formation of a long-lived collision complex, [SH₂]²⁺, in the dissociative single electron-transfer channel. The formation of SH⁺ was not observed. In contrast, the collisions of S²⁺ + N₂ result in the formation of SN⁺ + N⁺ in addition to the products of single electron-transfer reactions.

Magnetotail Reconnection at Jupiter: A Survey of Juno Magnetic Field Observations

At Jupiter, tail reconnection is thought to be driven by an internal mass loading and release process called the Vasyliunas cycle. Galileo data have shown hundreds of reconnection events occurring in Jupiter's magnetotail. Here we present a survey of reconnection events observed by Juno during its first 16 orbits of Jupiter (July 2016-October 2018). The events are identified using Juno magnetic field data, which facilitates comparison to the Vogt et al. (2010, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JA015098) survey of reconnection events from Galileo magnetometer data, but we present data from Juno's other particle and fields instruments for context. We searched for field dipolarizations or reversals and found 232 reconnection events in the Juno data, most of which featured an increase in |B _θ |, the magnetic field meridional component, by a factor of 3 over background values. We found that most properties of the Juno reconnection events, like their spatial distribution and duration, are comparable to Galileo, including the presence of a ~3-day quasi-periodicity in the recurrence of Juno tail reconnection events and in Juno JEDI, JADE, and Waves data. However, unlike with Galileo we were unable to clearly define a statistical x-line separating planetward and tailward Juno events. A preliminary analysis of plasma velocities during five magnetic field reconnection events showed that the events were accompanied by fast radial flows, confirming our interpretation of these magnetic signatures as reconnection events. We anticipate that a future survey covering other Juno datasets will provide additional insight into the nature of tail reconnection at Jupiter.

Energetic Oxygen and Sulfur Charge States in the Outer Jovian Magnetosphere: Insights From the Cassini Jupiter Flyby

On 10 January 2001, Cassini briefly entered into the magnetosphere of Jupiter, en route to Saturn. During this excursion into the Jovian magnetosphere, the Cassini Magnetosphere Imaging Instrument/Charge-Energy-Mass Spectrometer detected oxygen and sulfur ions. While Charge-Energy-Mass Spectrometer can distinguish between oxygen and sulfur charge states directly, only 95.9 ± 2.9 keV/e ions were sampled during this interval, allowing for a long time integration of the tenuous outer magnetospheric (~200 RJ) plasma at one energy. For this brief interval for the 95.9 keV/e ions, 96% of oxygen ions were O+, with the other 4% as O2+, while 25% of the energetic sulfur ions were S+, 42% S2+, and 33% S3+. The S2+/O+ flux ratio was observed to be 0.35 (±0.06 Poisson error).

Ulysses at jupiter: an overview of the encounter

In February 1992, the Ulysses spacecraft flew through the giant magnetosphere of Jupiter. The primary objective of the encounter was to use the gravity field of Jupiter to redirect the spacecraft to the sun's polar regions, which will now be traversed in 1994 and 1995. However, the Ulysses scientific investigations were well suited to observations of the Jovian magnetosphere, and the encounter has resulted in a major contribution to our understanding of this complex and dynamic plasma environment. Among the more exciting results are (i) possible entry into the polar cap, (ii) the identification of magnetospheric ions originating from Jupiter's ionosphere, lo, and the solar wind, (iii) observation of longitudinal asymmetries in density and discrete wave-emitting regions of the lo plasma torus, (iv) the presence of counter-streaming ions and electrons, field-aligned currents, and energetic electron and radio bursts in the dusk sector on high-latitude magnetic field lines, and (v) the identification of the direction of the magnetic field in the dusk sector, which is indicative of tailward convection. This overview serves as an introduction to the accompanying reports that present the preliminary scientific findings. Aspects of the encounter that are common to all of the investigations, such as spacecraft capabilities, the flight path past Jupiter, and unique aspects of the encounter, are presented herein.

Volcanically emitted sodium chloride as a source for Io's neutral clouds and plasma torus

The atmosphere of Jupiter's satellite Io is extremely tenuous, time variable and spatially heterogeneous. Only a few molecules--SO2, SO and S2--have previously been identified as constituents of this atmosphere, and possible sources include frost sublimation, surface sputtering and active volcanism. Io has been known for almost 30 years to be surrounded by a cloud of Na, which requires an as yet unidentified atmospheric source of sodium. Sodium chloride has been recently proposed as an important atmospheric constituent, based on the detection of chlorine in Io's plasma torus and models of Io's volcanic gases. Here we report the detection of NaCl in Io's atmosphere; it constitutes only approximately 0.3% when averaged over the entire disk, but is probably restricted to smaller regions than SO2 because of its rapid photolysis and surface condensation. Although the inferred abundance of NaCl in volcanic gases is lower than predicted, those volcanic emissions provide an important source of Na and Cl in Io's neutral clouds and plasma torus.

Ulysses Radio Occultation Observations of the Io Plasma Torus During the Jupiter Encounter

Radio signals from Ulysses were used to probe the lo plasma torus (IPT) shortly after the spacecraft's closest approach to Jupiter. The frequencies of the two downlinks at S-band (2.3 gigahertz) and X-band (8.4 gigahertz) were recorded, differenced, and integrated in order to derive the columnar electron density of the IPT. The measurements agree qualitatively with contemporary models of the IPT based on Voyager data, but significant differences are apparent as well. The overall level of the IPT electron density is approximately the same as the prediction, implying that the amount of gas (or plasma) injected from lo is similar to that observed during the Voyager era. On the other hand, the IPT seems to be less extended out of the centrifugal equator, implying a smaller plasma temperature than predicted.