Magnetosphere–Ionosphere Coupling

The process of magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling involves the transport of vast quantities of energy and momentum between a magnetized planet and its space environment, or magnetosphere. This transport involves extended, global sheets of electrical current, which flows along magnetic field lines. Some of the charged particles, which carry this current rain down onto the planet’s upper atmosphere and excite aurorae–beautiful displays of light close to the magnetic poles, which are an important signature of the physics of the coupling process. The Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn all have magnetospheres, but the detailed physical origin of their auroral emissions differs from planet to planet. The Earth’s aurora is principally driven by the interaction of its magnetosphere with the upstream solar wind—a flow of plasma continually emanating from the Sun. This interaction imposes a particular pattern of flow on the plasma within the magnetosphere, which in turn determines the morphology and intensity of the currents and aurorae. Jupiter, on the other hand, is a giant rapid rotator, whose main auroral oval is thought to arise from the transport of angular momentum between the upper atmosphere and the rotating, disc-like plasma in the magnetosphere. Saturn exhibits auroral behavior consistent with a solar wind–related mechanism, but there is also regular variability in Saturn’s auroral emissions, which is consistent with rotating current systems that transport energy between the magnetospheric plasma and localized vortices of flow in the upper atmosphere/ionosphere.