Jupiter's X-Ray and UV Dark Polar Region

• Main Authors: Bonfond, B. (Author), Branduardi-Raymont, G. (Author), Dunn, W.R (Author), Feigelman, K. (Author), Fleming, D. (Author), Gladstone, G.R (Author), Grodent, D. (Author), Guo, R.L (Author), Jackman, C.M (Author), Johnson, R.E (Author), Kraft, R.P (Author), May, D. (Author), McEntee, S. (Author), Nichols, J.D (Author), Ray, L.C (Author), Sipos, B. (Author), Weigt, D.M (Author), Wibisono, A.D (Author), Yao, Z.H (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: John Wiley and Sons Inc 2022
• Subjects: aurora; Aurorae; Auroral structures; Chandra X-ray Observatory; dark polar region; Dark polar region; Hubble Space Telescope; Hubble space telescopes; Jupiter; Jupiters; magnetosphere; Magnetosphere; Observatories; Optical transfer function; Photons; Polar Regions; Space telescopes; Ultraviolet emission; X-ray emission; X-rays photons
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 We present 14 simultaneous Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO)-Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of Jupiter's Northern X-ray and ultraviolet (UV) aurorae from 2016 to 2019. Despite the variety of dynamic UV and X-ray auroral structures, one region is conspicuous by its persistent absence of emission: the dark polar region (DPR). Previous HST observations have shown that very little UV emission is produced by the DPR. We find that the DPR also produces very few X-ray photons. For all 14 observations, the low level of X-ray emission from the DPR is consistent (within 2-standard deviations) with scattered solar emission and/or photons spread by Chandra's Point Spread Function from known X-ray-bright regions. We therefore conclude that for these 14 observations the DPR produced no statistically significant detectable X-ray signature. © 2022. The Authors.