Jupiter’s infrared aurora

With the arrival of NASA’s Juno mission at Jupiter, with magnetic measurements and ionospheric soundings by the spacecraft, our understanding of these aurora is changing dramatically. Instrumentation on the spacecraft itself is ihghly limited, and in the past, our understanding of how these aurora are formed and what magnetospheric processes drive them have both been greatly enhanced by our ground-based observations of the planet. We have recently observed Jupiter’s aurora in the infrared using a range of different world-class telescopes, including Keck, VLT and IRTF, in many cases at the same time as the spacecraft flew over the auroral region taking in-situ measurements. Our observations have also measured the equatorial regions, revealing for the first time a wide range of ionospheric features that can be directly compared with Juno magnetometer measurements.

This PhD will use astronomical observations Jupiter’s upper atmosphere, using a combination of imaging and spectroscopy of Jupiter to better understand the auroral and equatoral regions. In part, the project will utilise data already taken from a number of telescopes including Keck, VLT and IRTF. As the Juno mission continues, we may also use data from teh spacecraft to compare with our measurements, either measuring magnetic fields with the MAG instrument, or by directly measuring the ionosphere with the JIRAM instrument as it becomes available. However, a core component of the PhD will be to use new data. This may involve travel to Mauna Kea, Hawaii, to take new observations at one of the observatories there.