Study of Io's sodium jets with the TRAPPIST telescopes
Alexander de Becker (1, 2), Linus Head (1), Bertrand Bonfond (1),, Emmanu\"el Jehin (1), Jean Manfroid (1), Zhonghua Yao (3), Binzheng Zhang, (2), Denis Grodent (1), Nicholas Schneider (4), Zouhair Benkhaldoun (5) ((1), University of Li\`ege, (2) University of Hong Kong

TL;DR
This study uses long-term observations from TRAPPIST telescopes to analyze Io's sodium jets, revealing their variability and lack of direct correlation with plasma torus brightness, thus informing models of plasma population in Jupiter's magnetosphere.
Contribution
It provides the first extensive, multi-year dataset of Io's sodium jets, highlighting their variability and independence from plasma torus brightening, advancing understanding of Io's atmospheric escape processes.
Findings
Sodium jet properties vary greatly between jets.
No clear link between jets and plasma torus brightening.
Long-term monitoring is crucial for understanding jet variability.
Abstract
Io is the most volcanically active body in the Solar System. This volcanic activity results in the ejection of material into Io's atmosphere, which may then escape from the atmosphere to form various structures in the jovian magnetosphere, including the plasma torus and clouds of neutral particles. The physical processes involved in the escape of particles - for example, how the volcanoes of Io provide material to the plasma torus - are not yet fully understood. In particular, it is not clear to what extent the sodium jet, one of the sodium neutral clouds related to Io, is a proxy of processes that populate the various reservoirs of plasma in Jupiter's magnetosphere. Here, we report on observations carried out over 17 nights in 2014-2015, 30 nights in 2021, and 23 nights in 2022-2023 with the TRAPPIST telescopes, in which particular attention was paid to the sodium jet and the…
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Taxonomy
TopicsAstro and Planetary Science · Isotope Analysis in Ecology · Planetary Science and Exploration
