ROSAT OBSERVATIONS OF THE JUPITER AURORA

Rontgen satellite (ROSAT) high-resolution imager (HRI) and position sensitive proportional counter (PSPC) observations of jupiter obtained in April 1991 and May 1992 reveal soft x ray emissions apparently associated with jupiter's aurora and similar to X ray emissions observed earlier by the Einstein Observatory. The HRI images show emission mainly from Jupiter's northern hemisphere at all Jovian longitudes observed, and there is some indication of a longitudinal modulation of the emission in phase with the well-known ultraviolet modulation of the northern aurora. The PSPC data reveal a very soft spectrum. Comparison of the observed spectrum with models for both electron bremsstrahlung radiation and line emission from S and O ions indicates that the line spectrum gives a much better statistical fit to the observed spectrum. The X ray observations presented here therefore support the hypothesis that ion precipitation is the most likely cause of the Jovian X ray emissions, a result first suggested by the Einstein results [Metzger et al., 1983].