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The long‐standing "energy crisis" at the giant planets refers to the anomalous heating of planetary thermospheres compared to the available energy from solar irradiance. The coupling between planetary magnetospheres and their upper atmospheres is thought to address these crises, though the sources and pathways of energy transport have not been fully explored at each system. In particular, the total available energy from the upstream solar wind at each planet has not been comprehensively quantified. Here we apply recently developed models of energy conversion by magnetic reconnection and the Kelvin‐Helmholtz instability to each of the Giant Planets, providing estimates of the average external energy inputs for each system between 1985 and 2020. We find that external energy associated with solar‐wind‐magnetospheric coupling significantly exceeds that from solar extreme ultraviolet photons. While internal energy sources are known to dominate at Jupiter and Saturn, external sources may be significant at Uranus and Neptune. Plain Language Summary: The upper atmospheres of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are all hotter than would be predicted by their exposure to sunlight alone. The space plasma environment around each planet provides an additional reservoir of energy that can be used to provide this heating. Here we quantify the average energy input to each planetary system due to variation of the photons and plasmas emitted from the Sun. We find that the interaction between a planetary magnetic field and the solar interplanetary magnetic field provides a strong source of external energy at each of the planets, on average significantly more than that of light from the Sun. Key Points: Solar wind‐magnetospheric‐coupling provides higher energy input than solar extreme ultraviolet at the giant planetsSolar activity drives solar‐wind‐magnetospheric coupling much more strongly than planetary seasonThe solar wind may drive the energy input to the upper atmospheres at Uranus and Neptune [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a rare regime of Earth's magnetosphere interaction with sub‐Alfvénic solar wind in which the windsock‐like magnetosphere transforms into one with Alfvén wings. In the magnetic cloud of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) on 24 April 2023, NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale mission distinguishes the following features: (a) unshocked and accelerated low‐beta CME plasma coming directly against Earth's dayside magnetosphere; (b) dynamical wing filaments representing new channels of magnetic connection between the magnetosphere and foot points of the Sun's erupted flux rope; (c) cold CME ions observed with energized counter‐streaming electrons, evidence of CME plasma captured due to by reconnection between magnetic‐cloud and Alfvén‐wing field lines. The reported measurements advance our knowledge of CME interaction with planetary magnetospheres, and open new opportunities to understand how sub‐Alfvénic plasma flows impact astrophysical bodies such as Mercury, moons of Jupiter, and exoplanets close to their host stars. Plain Language Summary: Like supersonically fast fighter jets creating sonic shocks in the air, planet Earth typically moves in the magnetized solar wind at super‐Alfvénic speeds and generates a bow shock. Here we report unprecedented observations of Earth's magnetosphere interacting with a sub‐Alfvénic solar wind brought by an erupted magnetic flux rope from the Sun, called a coronal mass ejection (CME). The terrestrial bow shock disappears, leaving the magnetosphere exposed directly to the cold CME plasma and the strong magnetic field from the Sun's corona. Our results show that the magnetosphere transforms from its typical windsock‐like configuration to having wings that magnetically connect our planet to the Sun. The wings are highways for Earth's plasma to be lost to the Sun, and for the plasma from the foot points of the Sun's erupted flux rope to access Earth's ionosphere. Our work indicates highly dynamic generation and interaction of the wing filaments, shedding new light on how sub‐Alfvénic plasma wind may impact astrophysical bodies in our solar and other stellar systems. Key Points: MMS observed a rare regime of magnetosphere interaction with unshocked low‐beta CME plasmaWing filaments represent dynamical channels of magnetic connection between the magnetosphere and foot points of the Sun's erupted flux ropeCold CME ions observed on closed field lines, likely generated by dual‐wing reconnection [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The magnetospheric systems of ice giants, as the ideal and the unique template of a typical class of exoplanets, have not been sufficiently studied in the past decade. The complexity of these asymmetric and extremely dynamic magnetospheres provides us a great chance to systematically investigate the general mechanism of driving the magnetospheres of such common exoplanets in the Universe, and the key factors of influencing the global and local magnetospheric structures of this type of planets. In this paper, we discuss the science return of probing magnetospheric systems of ice giants for the future missions, throughout different magnetospheric regions, across from the interaction with upstream solar wind to the downstream region of the magnetotail. We emphasize the importance of detecting the magnetospheric systems of ice giants in the next decades, which enables us to deeply understand the space enviroNMent and habitability of not only the ice giants themselves but also the analogous exoplanets which are widely distributed in the Universe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this comment on the article “Locating the source field lines of Jovian decametric radio emissions” by Wang YM et al., 2020, we discuss the assumptions used by the authors to compute the beaming angle of Jupiter’s decametric emissions induced by the moon Io. Their method, relying on multi-point radio observations, was applied to a single event observed on 14th March 2014 by Wind and both STEREO A/B spacecraft from ~5 to ~16 MHz. They have erroneously identified the emission as a northern (Io-B type) instead of a southern one (Io-D type). We encourage the authors to update their results with the correct hemisphere of origin and to test their method on a larger sample of Jupiter-Io emissions.

We investigate solitary magnetic structures in the foreshock of Mars and Earth. The structures exhibit pulse‐like magnetic field and density enhancements along with plasma heating and local solar wind (SW) ion reflection. The structures at Mars resemble the foreshock structures developed from ultra‐low‐frequency electromagnetic waves gyro‐resonant with SW ions at Earth, and propagate toward the magnetosphere. We perform fully kinetic simulations to reproduce the solitary structures and the nonlinear evolution of ion distribution functions, illustrating their resonance with SW ions. The structures present self‐induced foreshock turbulence that can have space weather effects. Our results advance the fundamental understanding of how SW interacts with planetary magnetospheres, and have potential impact on the current picture of planet‐origin ion escape. Plain Language Summary: The permanent magnetic field at Mars, even though much weaker than that of the Earth, works together with the ionosphere to stand off the solar wind and produce a bow shock. We study planet‐sized magnetic field pulses locally generated and amplified in the region just upstream of the shocked solar wind (SW). These pulses locally heat the plasma and reflect the incoming SW, behaving like mini‐shocks moving toward the planets. We discuss how the pulses are generated and their potential to lead to dayside escape of planetary ions. Key Points: Solitary magnetic structures with density enhancements, plasma heating, and ion reflection are observed in the Martian foreshockThe structures resemble those developed from foreshock waves gyro‐resonant with solar wind ions at EarthThe structures and ion distributions are reproduced by simulations, and shown to be self‐induced turbulence [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the outer heliosphere, higher upstream Alfvénic Mach number (MA) values have been theorized to limit the solar wind forcing at all giant planet magnetospheres. To determine the true impact of MA on the ability for magnetopause reconnection to occur, we perform a comprehensive analysis using data collected throughout the heliosphere. We find that solar cycle variations in solar wind magnetic pressure lead to wide ranges of upstream MA in the outer heliosphere, where MA at solar maximum appears Earth‐like. These considerable MA variations combined with the significant magnetic dipole tilts at Uranus and Neptune suggest that magnetopause reconnection may yet play an important role at the ice giants, in particular at solar maximum. Plain Language Summary: As the Sun's magnetic field strength increases during solar maximum, so does the possibility for coupling between the solar wind and a planetary magnetic field. Through analysis of data from several spacecraft that have traversed the outer reaches of the solar system, we find that increased solar activity results in a stronger interplanetary magnetic field at all of the planets. We find that the highly tilted magnetic fields of the ice giants, that is, Uranus and Neptune, are most sensitive to these variations in solar activity such that their space environments may appear drastically different depending on when they are observed. Key Points: Spacecraft measurements from 0.3 to 75 AU are analyzed to investigate upstream Alfvénic Mach number variation throughout the solar systemIncreased solar activity reduces upstream Alfvénic Mach numbers and increases the probability of magnetopause reconnectionHighly tilted dipole axes at the ice giants can result in significant solar wind‐magnetospheric coupling during solar maximum [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The time scales of reconnection outflow, substorm expansion, and development of instabilities in the terrestrial magnetosphere are comparable, i.e., from several to tens of minutes, and their existence is related. In this paper, we investigate the physical relations among those phenomena with measurements during a substorm event on January 29, 2008. We present conjugate measurements from ground-based high-temporal resolution all-sky imagers and in situ THEMIS measurements. An auroral streamer (north–south aligned thin auroral layer) was formed and propagated equatorward, which usually implies an earthward propagating plasma flow in the magnetotail. At the most equatorward part of the auroral streamer, a wave-like auroral band was formed aligning in the east–west direction. The wave-like auroral structure is usually explained as a consequence of instability development. Using AM03 model, we trace the auroral structure to magnetotail and estimate a wavelength of ~0.5 R E. The scale is comparable to the drift mode wavelength determined by the in situ measurements from THEMIS-A, whose footpoint is on the wave-like auroral arc. We also present similar wave-like aurora observations from Cassini ultraviolet imaging spectrograph at Saturn and from Hubble space telescope at Jupiter, suggesting that the wave-like aurora structure is likely a result of fundamental plasma dynamics in the solar system planetary magnetospheres.

The Hisaki satellite is the first-ever space telescope mission dedicated to planetary sciences. Atmospheres and magnetospheres of our solar system planets are continuously monitored by the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectrometer onboard Hisaki. This paper describes a data pipeline system developed for processing high-level scientific and ancillary data products from the Hisaki mission. The telemetry data downlinked from the satellite are stored in a ground telemetry database, processed in the pipeline to imaging spectral data with a 1-min temporal resolution and ancillary data products, and then archived in a public database. The imaging spectra can be further reduced to higher-level data products for practical scientific use. For example, light curves of the power emitted from Jupiter’s aurora and plasma torus with a temporal resolution of 10-min can be reduced from the imaging spectral data; the reduced light curves reveal the transport processes of energy and mass in Jupiter’s magnetosphere and associated interplanetary solar wind conditions. Continuous monitoring with Hisaki will contribute considerably to our understanding of space weather relating to planets in our solar system.

This study addresses the issue of the electromagnetic interactions between a stellar wind and planetary magnetospheres with various dipole field strengths by means of hybrid simulations. Focus is placed on the configuration where the upstream plasma magnetic field is parallel to the planetary magnetic moment (also called “Southward-IMF” configuration), leading to anti-parallel magnetic fields in the dayside interaction region. Each type of plasma interaction is characterized by means of currents flowing in the interaction region. Reconnection triggered in the tail in such configuration is shown to affect significantly the structure of the magnetotail at early stages. On the dayside, only the magnetopause current is observable for moderate planetary dipole field amplitude, while both bow-shock and magnetotail currents are identifiable downtail from the terminator. Strong differences in term of temperature for ions are particularly noticeable in the magnetosheath and in the magnetotail, when the present results are compared with our previous study, which focused on “Northward-IMF” configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to provide a review of general processes related to plasma sources, their transport, energization, and losses in the planetary magnetospheres. We provide background information as well as the most up-to-date knowledge of the comparative studies of planetary magnetospheres, with a focus on the plasma supply to each region of the magnetospheres. This review also includes the basic equations and modeling methods commonly used to simulate the plasma sources of the planetary magnetospheres. In this paper, we will describe basic and common processes related to plasma supply to each region of the planetary magnetospheres in our solar system. First, we will describe source processes in Sect. 1. Then the transport and energization processes to supply those source plasmas to various regions of the magnetosphere are described in Sect. 2. Loss processes are also important to understand the plasma population in the magnetosphere and Sect. 3 is dedicated to the explanation of the loss processes. In Sect. 4, we also briefly summarize the basic equations and modeling methods with a focus on plasma supply processes for planetary magnetospheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We present two case studies of cluster encounters with foreshock cavities. For one event, we are able, for the first time, to accurately relate the observation of a foreshock cavity to the measured position of the bow shock. This allows us to compute the shock angle, a vital parameter in models of foreshock cavity formation, with greater confidence than any previous study. This cavity appears to be elongated along the magnetic field and we use the multispacecraft nature of the Cluster mission to constrain its field-parallel and -perpendicular extent. We show that this event is embedded within a region of field-aligned ion beams. This is the first time a foreshock cavity has been shown to be surrounded by foreshock ion beams. A second foreshock cavity is associated with a small rotation in the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). We show that this event appears on the boundary between an interval when the spacecraft were inside the ion foreshock, and an excursion upstream. This is the first report of a foreshock cavity observed during the traversal of the global foreshock. This second event has some features expected from the new model of cavities as brief encounters with a spatial boundary in the global foreshock. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We present a THEMIS study of a dipolarization front associated with a bursty bulk flow (BBF) that was observed in the central plasma sheet sequentially at X=−20.1, −16.7, and −11.0R E . Simultaneously, the THEMIS ground network observed the formation of a north–south auroral form and intensification of westward auroral zone currents. Timing of the signatures in space suggests earthward propagation of the front at a velocity of 300km/s. Spatial profiles of current and electron density on the front reveal a spatial scale of 500km, comparable to an ion inertial length and an ion thermal gyroradius. This kinetic-scale structure traveled a macroscale distance of 10R E in about 4min without loss of coherence. The dipolarization front, therefore, is an example of space plasma cross-scale coupling. THEMIS observations at different geocentric distances are similar to recent particle-in-cell simulations demonstrating the appearance of dipolarization fronts on the leading edge of plasma fast flows in the vicinity of a reconnection site. Dipolarization fronts, therefore, may be interpreted as remote signatures of transient reconnection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The study of the properties and variations of planetary boundaries such as magnetosheaths and bow shocks is an important subject for magnetospheric dynamics and interaction with solar wind. The identification of these boundaries is important for those studies. Thus, the Haar wavelet decomposition technique is used to detect the planetary magnetosphere boundaries and discontinuities. We use the magnetometer data from the CASSINI and MESSENGER spacecraft to identify the abrupt changes in the magnetic field when the spacecraft crossed the magnetospheric bow shocks and magnetopauses of Saturn and Mercury, respectively. The methodology based on variance obtained by scale and edge identifications was shown to be a simple tool to perform this task. The results confirm that the Haar transform can efficiently identify the planetary magnetosphere boundaries characterized by the abrupt magnetic field changes. Due to this wavelet function to be a discrete function it promotes the abrupt and sharp identification of the boundaries. It is suggested that this technique can be applied to detect the planetary boundaries as well as the discontinuities such as the shock waves in the interplanetary space. • Planetaries magnetospheres' detection by Wavelet Transform. • MESSENGER and CASSINI spacecrafts flyby. • Bow shock and magnetopause detections. • Saturn and Mercury planets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A model is presented to describe the energization of charged particles in planetary magnetospheres. The model is based on the stochastic acceleration produced by a random electric field that is induced by the magnetic field fluctuations measured within the magnetospheres. The stochastic behavior of the electric field is simulated through a Monte Carlo method. We solve the equation of motion for a single charged particle—which comprises the stochastic acceleration due to the stochastic electric field, the Lorentz acceleration (containing the local magnetic field and the corotational electric field) and the gravitational planetary acceleration of the particle—under several initial conditions. The initial conditions include the ion species and the velocity distribution of the particles which depends on the sources they come from (solar wind, ionospheres, rings and satellites). We applied this model to Saturn’s inner magnetosphere using a sample of particles (H+, H2O+, N+, O+ and OH+) initially located on Saturn’s north pole, above the C-Ring, on the south pole of Enceladus, in the north pole of Dione and above the E-Ring. The results show that the particles tend to increase the value of their energy with time reaching several eV in a few seconds and the large energization is observed far from the planet. We can distinguish three main energization regions within Saturn’s inner magnetosphere: minimum (Saturn’s ionosphere), intermediate (Dione) and high-energy (Enceladus and the E-ring). The resulting energy spectrum follows a power-law distribution (>1 keV), a logistic, an exponential decay or an asymmetric sigmoidal (<1 keV). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voyager's plasma probe observations suggest that there are at least three fundamentally different plasma regimes in Saturn: the hot outer magnetosphere, the extended plasma sheet, and the inner plasma torus. At the outer regions of the inner torus some ions have been accelerated to reach energies of the order of 43 keV. We develop a model that calculates the acceleration of charged particles in the Saturn's magnetosphere. We propose that the stochastic electric field associated to the observed magnetic field fluctuations is responsible of such acceleration. A random electric field is derived from the fluctuating magnetic field – via a Monte Carlo simulation – which then is applied to the momentum equation of charged particles seeded in the magnetosphere. Taking different initial conditions, like the source of charged particles and the distribution function of their velocities, we find that particles injected with very low energies ranging from 0.129 eV to 5.659 keV can be strongly accelerated to reach much higher energies ranging from 22.220 eV to 9.711 keV as a result of 125,000 hitting events (the latter are used in the numerical code to produce the particle acceleration over a predetermined distance). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The magnetospheric imaging instrument (MIMI) is a neutral and charged particle detection system on the Cassini orbiter spacecraft designed to perform both global imaging and in-situ measurements to study the overall configuration and dynamics of Saturn’s magnetosphere and its interactions with the solar wind, Saturn’s atmosphere, Titan, and the icy satellites. The processes responsible for Saturn’s aurora will be investigated; a search will be performed for substorms at Saturn; and the origins of magnetospheric hot plasmas will be determined. Further, the Jovian magnetosphere and Io torus will be imaged during Jupiter flyby. The investigative approach is twofold. (1) Perform remote sensing of the magnetospheric energetic (E>7 keV) ion plasmas by detecting and imaging charge-exchange neutrals, created when magnetospheric ions capture electrons from ambient neutral gas. Such escaping neutrals were detected by the Voyager l spacecraft outside Saturn’s magnetosphere and can be used like photons to form images of the emitting regions, as has been demonstrated at Earth. (2) Determine through in-situ measurements the 3-D particle distribution functions including ion composition and charge states (E>3 keV/e). The combination of in-situ measurements with global images, together with analysis and interpretation techniques that include direct “forward modeling’’ and deconvolution by tomography, is expected to yield a global assessment of magnetospheric structure and dynamics, including (a) magnetospheric ring currents and hot plasma populations, (b) magnetic field distortions, (c) electric field configuration, (d) particle injection boundaries associated with magnetic storms and substorms, and (e) the connection of the magnetosphere to ionospheric altitudes. Titan and its torus will stand out in energetic neutral images throughout the Cassini orbit, and thus serve as a continuous remote probe of ion flux variations near 20RS (e.g., magnetopause crossings and substorm plasma injections). The Titan exosphere and its cometary interaction with magnetospheric plasmas will be imaged in detail on each flyby. The three principal sensors of MIMI consists of an ion and neutral camera (INCA), a charge-energy-mass-spectrometer (CHEMS) essentially identical to our instrument flown on the ISTP/Geotail spacecraft, and the low energy magnetospheric measurements system (LEMMS), an advanced design of one of our sensors flown on the Galileo spacecraft. The INCA head is a large geometry factor (G~ 2.4 cm2 sr) foil time-of-flight (TOF) camera that separately registers the incident direction of either energetic neutral atoms (ENA) or ion species (=5° full width half maximum) over the range 7 keV/nuc

Planetary magnetospheres are natural laboratories for many interesting plasma physical processes which are difficult to study under normal laboratory conditions. Among the major processes occurring in space plasmas are the reconnection phenomenon and field line resonances. This paper deals with the second of these processes. A field line resonance is the resonant coupling between an isotropic mode and an anisotropic mode in a magnetized plasma. Field line resonances allow us to understand many features of ultra-low frequency oscillations in the terrestrial magnetosphere, that is resonant mode coupling is the current paradigm to explain geomagnetic pulsations. A brief historical introduction as well as a physical description of the field line resonance is given. Resonant mode coupling is discussed for the terrestrial, Hermean (Mercury), and Kronian (Saturn) magnetospheres, which represent natural laboratories with different conditions such as size of the laboratory, the background plasma density and composition, and the strength of the magnetic field. This comparative approach allows a deeper insight into the critical coupling problem than an isolated study of the terrestrial field line resonance phenomenon. Finally, resonant mode coupling between elastic wave modes in the solid Earth is briefly tackled and compared with the magnetospheric situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]