Issue |
A&A
Volume 618, October 2018
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | A84 | |
Number of page(s) | 9 | |
Section | Planets and planetary systems | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201833586 | |
Published online | 16 October 2018 |
Jupiter radio emission induced by Ganymede and consequences for the radio detection of exoplanets
1
LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, PSL, SU/UPD, Meudon, France
2
USN, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, PSL, UO, Nançay, France
3
DGEF, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
4
Complex and Intelligent Systems Department, Future University Hakodate, Japan
5
INPE, Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil
Received:
7
June
2018
Accepted:
2
August
2018
By analysing a database of 26 yr of observations of Jupiter with the Nançay Decameter Array, we unambiguously identify the radio emissions caused by the Ganymede–Jupiter interaction. We study the energetics of these emissions via the distributions of their intensities, duration, and power, and compare them to the energetics of the Io–Jupiter radio emissions. This allows us to demonstrate that the average emitted radio power is proportional to the Poynting flux from the rotating Jupiter’s magnetosphere intercepted by the obstacle. We then generalize this result to the radio-magnetic scaling law that appears to apply to all plasma interactions between a magnetized flow and an obstacle, magnetized or not. Extrapolating this scaling law to the parameter range corresponding to hot Jupiters, we predict large radio powers emitted by these objects, that should result in detectable radio flux with new-generation radiotelescopes. Comparing the distributions of the durations of Ganymede–Jupiter and Io–Jupiter emission events also suggests that while the latter results from quasi-permanent Alfvén wave excitation by Io, the former likely results from sporadic reconnection between magnetic fields Ganymede and Jupiter, controlled by Jupiter’s magnetic field geometry and modulated by its rotation.
Key words: radio continuum: planetary systems / plasmas / magnetic fields / planet-star interactions / planets and satellites: individuals: Jupiter, Ganymede, Io / catalogs
© ESO 2018
Open Access article, published by EDP Sciences, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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