Planetary magnetospheres and aurorae

Duration

20h Th, 10h Pr

Number of credits

Lecturer

Denis Grodent

Language(s) of instruction

English language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the second semester

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

Planetary magnetospheres and Aurorae
Polar aurorae do not only exist on Earth. They also appear on other planets and other objects in our Solar System and even in other planetary systems. These phantom-like displays are the most impressive evidence of permanent interaction between the planets and their spatial environment. In most cases, this interaction results from the combination of the Sun-Magnetosphere-Ionosphere. Other combinations exist and are just as effective at producing aurorae. We will explore the Solar System looking for such combinations.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

List of subjects discussed in the course


1) Introduction The Planeterrella Why studying magnetospheres and aurorae? Definitions and Classification
2) The solar wind The Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) Parker Spiral
3) Characteristic Parameters of plasmas Debye shield and sheath plasma beta Magnetic Reynolds number Magnetic diffusion
4) Propagation of elm waves in ionospheric plasma
5) Frozen-in condition
6) The heliosphere Termination shock Voyager 1 & 2 IBEX and ENA
7) Motion of charged particles in a planetary magnetic field. Gyro motion Non-uniform Magnetic Fields Drift motions Magnetic mirroring Invariants
8) Magnetospheric convection Earth aurora
9) Magnetic Fields Faraday dynamo Planetary magnetic fields Magnetopause currents
10) Reconnection
11) Plasma waves
12) Aurorae on giant planets Corotation enforcement Auroral heating and the "energy crisis"

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Corequisite: SPAT0055 (or SPAT0048)
(It might be useful to follow courses SPAT0001, SPAT0029)

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Problems and practical work A personal or team work will be requested. It will be presented individually during the final examination. Several activities are possible. They may rest on the Planeterrella experiment and the observation of Jupiter's radio auroral emissions.
http://lpap.ulg.ac.be/cms/c_3478754/en/lpap-planeterrella
 

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)

Face-to-face, powerpoint presentations.

Recommended or required readings

Copies of the (updated) power point lectures and reference book chapters may be downloaded from the eCampus web site.

Assessment methods and criteria

Oral examination including individual (or team) work presentation as well as general questions about the course.

Work placement(s)

Organizational remarks

It is highly recommended to attend the classes.

Contacts

Prof Denis Grodent d.grodent@uliege.be
Laboratory for Planeatary and Atmospheric Physics
Space sciences, Technologies and Astrophysics Research (STAR) Institute
Université de Liège Institut d'Astrophysique et de Géophysique Quartier AGORA (B5c) Allée du Six Août, 19C  B-4000 Liège, Belgium
phone: +32 4 366 9773 http://www.lpap.uliege.be

Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the May-June 2020 session

Teaching methods implemented : distance-learning

Lessons that could not be given in the classroom were converted into videos (mp4). These videos are available for download on the ULiège DOX cloud (links are systematically communicated to students). The documents (pdf, ppt) presented are also available via eCampus. Students are expected to view these videos and have the possibility to send questions about the lessons by e-mail.
Two of these lessons have been prepared and presented by specialists from the Laboratory for Planetary and Atmospheric Physics.
 
As it was not possible to organize practical work sessions based on the use of planeterrella, this group work was replaced by the individual analysis of an article to be selected from a list made available to the students. These articles are available on eCampus in pdf format. 

Assessment subjects

The material corresponds to the content of the documents available on eCampus and the associated videos on DOX.

Assessment methods

The oral exam consists of the presentation of the article analysed in French or in English.
Students have about 15 minutes to present the content of the article, what they have learned from it, and to try to relate it to the material presented in the course.
A few questions will be asked about the article and the material seen in the course.
The evaluation will be based on the mastery of the material presented, the highlighting of links with the course, the quality and care of the presentation and the relevance of the answers to the questions.

Contacts

Prof. Denis Grodent d.grodent@uliege.be
Dr Bertrand Bonfond b.bonfond@uliege.be
Dr Benjamin Palmaerts b.palmaerts@uliege.be
 

Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the Aug-Sept 2020 session

Assessment subjects

No change from the June session

Assessment methods

Remote oral examination. Use of Lifesize or Skype platforms (backup solution). The assessment method is similar to that of the June session.  

Contacts

d.grodent@uliege.be

Items online