Dynamic Particle Injections in the Magnetospheres of the Solar System

Abstract:

The occurrence of dynamic, planetward injections of plasma and energetic particles on the nightside magnetosphere is one of the defining characteristics of magnetospheric substorms at Earth. And yet, with the exploration of the solar system with planetary probes, it has become clear that dynamic planetward injections are if fact a ubiquitous characteristic of most strongly magnetized planets; only Neptune did not reveal the signatures of such processes when visited. But, within this diversity of magnetospheric environments, it is clear that the driving forces associated with injections can be very different from those at Earth. Jupiter, for example, is known to be powered by planetary rotation rather than the solar wind. Saturn has injections that are clearly powered by rotations, but it also has nightside injections that are, at minimum, triggered by solar wind events if not powered by the solar wind. Even for those magnetospheres clearly powered by rotation, there appears to be substantial similarity between the physical processes involved with the extraterrestrial planetary injections and recent formulations of injections within Earth’s near-Earth magnetotail. With a focus on comparisons between Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, I here review the state of understanding generally of injections within extraterrestrial planets and what the comparisons might tell us about our understanding of substorm phenomena at Earth.