EGU25-14285, updated on 15 Mar 2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-14285
EGU General Assembly 2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Poster | Friday, 02 May, 10:45–12:30 (CEST), Display time Friday, 02 May, 08:30–12:30
 
Hall X4, X4.184
Variations in Jupiter's extended sodium nebula over two decades
Mizuki Yoneda1,2, Fuminori Tsuchiya1, Carl Schmidt3, Jeff Morgenthaler4, Masato Kagitani1, and Takeshi Sakanoi1
Mizuki Yoneda et al.
  • 1Tohoku University, Planetary Plasma and Atmospheric Research Center, Graduate School of Science, Sendai, Japan (yoneda@tohoku.ac.jp)
  • 2Sanyo Gakuen University, Faculty of Regional Management, Okayama, Japan (yoneda_mizuki@sguc.ac.jp)
  • 3Boston University, Dept. of Astronomy, Boston, USA
  • 4Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, USA

We have been performing ground-based observations of Jupiter's sodium nebula longer than two decades. The sodium atoms in the nebula originate in Io's volcanic gas. The nebula distributes over 1,000 Jupiter's radii, and its angular size is approximately 10 degrees. Therefore, ground-based observations of D-line emissions in the sodium nebula can be made with small optics. The observation results indicate that the sodium D-line brightness in the nebula varies with various timescales like day-to-day through year-to-year. While it is naturally expected that variations in the brightness of the nebula reflect that of volcanism on Io, it may be influenced by locations of active volcanic plumes on Io. Sometimes, variations of the nebula differ between the eastern and western sides of Jupiter.  Details on the variations of Jupiter's extended sodium nebula will be shown. Especially, a period in which Juno spacecraft has been orbiting Jupiter will be focused. 

How to cite: Yoneda, M., Tsuchiya, F., Schmidt, C., Morgenthaler, J., Kagitani, M., and Sakanoi, T.: Variations in Jupiter's extended sodium nebula over two decades, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-14285, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-14285, 2025.