The Neutral Gas and Plasma Tori of the Io-Jupiter System
by
Peter Delamere
CAtmospheric and Environmental Research
Cambridge, Massachusettse
ABSTRACT
An orbiting planet/moon possessing an atmosphere continually loses neutral particles as a result of a number of well known processes. The lost atmospheric constituents will typically form a neutral gas cloud in the neighborhood of the satellite's orbit and the extent of the cloud will depend on the ionization lifetime of the species. Neutral gas and plasma tori are likely common in planetary systems and the first detection of extrasolar planetary atmospheres may be from the emission of gas/plasma tori. Jupiter's volcanically active moon, Io, is the source of a particularly interesting plasma torus and partial neutral gas tori. We will explore both Io's neutral gas clouds and the plasma torus. This will include a discussion of the sharply-peaked radial structure of the plasma torus, the plasma interaction with Io, and radial plasma transport..