Planetary space weather: scientific aspects and future perspectives | Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate

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Table 3.

Characteristic parameters of Solar System magnetospheres determining planetary space weather. Adapted from Bagenal (2013) and Krupp (2015).

Solar System body	Magnetopause nose distance	Surface magnetic field at the equator (T)	Dipole tilt¹	Obliquity²	Plasma sources³	Plasma composition (main species)	Plasma motion	Plasma β ⁴	Lifetime
Neptune	24 R_N	0.14 × 10⁻⁴	−47°	29.6°	Triton (solar wind?)	N⁺, H⁺	Rotation (and solar wind driven?)	0.2	days
Uranus	25 R_U	0.23 × 10⁻⁴	−59°	97.9°	Ionosphere (solar wind)	H⁺	Solar wind driven and rotation	0.1	1–30 days
Saturn	19 R_S	0.22 × 10⁻⁴	−0°	26.7°	Enceladus (Rings, Tethys, Dione, Titan, solar wind)⁶	H₂O⁺, O⁺, H⁺	Rotation	1–5	30–50 days
Jupiter	42 R_J	4.28 × 10⁻⁴	−9.6°	3.1°	Io, Europa (ionosphere)⁷	Oⁿ⁺, Sⁿ⁺, H⁺	Rotation	10–100	20–80 days
Mercury	1.4–1.6 R_M	2 × 10⁻⁷	+14°	0°	Solar wind	H⁺	Solar wind driven	~2⁸	Minutes
Ganymede	~2 R_G	7.19 × 10⁻⁷ ⁵	176°	0.2°	Jupiter’s magnetosphere (Ganymede’s exosphere)	Oⁿ⁺, Sⁿ⁺, H⁺	Corotation (Jupiter’s magnetosphere driven)	0.4⁹	Min to hours⁹

Angle between the magnetic and rotation axes.

Inclination of the planet’s equator to the orbit.

The dominant plasma sources are indicated. In parenthesis we indicate the believed secondary plasma sources.

⁴

The plasma β parameter is defined as the ratio of plasma pressure to magnetic pressure, β = nkT/(B²/2μ₀).

⁵

From Kivelson et al. (1996).

⁶

Blanc et al. (2015).

⁷

Bolton et al. (2015).

⁸

Raines et al. (2014).

⁹

Temporal analysis of the auroral power of Ganymede’s footprint reveals variations of different timescales: (a) a 5-h timescale, associated with the periodic flapping of Jupiter’s plasma sheet over Ganymede; (b) a 10–40 min timescale, possibly associated with energetic magnetospheric events, such as plasma injections; (c) a 100-s timescale corresponding to quasi periodic fluctuations, which might relate to bursty reconnections on Ganymede’s magnetopause and/or to the recurrent presence of acceleration structures above Jupiter’s atmosphere. From Grodent et al. (2009).

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