New hybrid plasma wave mode observed over Jupiter’s north pole
NASA’s Juno spacecraft has detected a new plasma wave mode in Jupiter’s auroral magnetosphere, where electron plasma frequency is lower than the ion gyrofrequency, an unprecedented condition in space plasma physics. The discovery was made during recent polar passes by Juno and is described in a study published last month by a team led by R. L. Lysak. Researchers propose this wave type, now called the Alfvén0-Langmuir mode emerges in extremely low-density, highly magnetized plasma.
