Morphology of the UV aurorae Jupiter during Juno's first perijove observations

Abstract

On 27 August 2016, the NASA Juno spacecraft performed its first close-up observations of Jupiter during its perijove. Here we present the UV images and color ratio maps from the Juno-UVS UV imaging spectrograph acquired at that time. Data were acquired during four sequences (three in the north, one in the south) from 5:00 UT to 13:00 UT. From these observations, we produced complete maps of the Jovian aurorae, including the nightside. The sequence shows the development of intense outer emission outside the main oval, first in a localized region (255°–295° System III longitude) and then all around the pole, followed by a large nightside protrusion of auroral emissions from the main emission into the polar region. Some localized features show signs of differential drift with energy, typical of plasma injections in the middle magnetosphere. Finally, the color-ratio map in the north shows a well-defined area in the polar region possibly linked to the polar cap.