We review both observational and theoretical aspects of the generation of auroral radio emissions at the outer planets, trying to organize the former in a coherent frame set by the latter. Important results have been obtained in the past few years on these radio emissions at the five magnetized planets, from the observations of Ulysses at Jupiter and of Wind and other Global Geospace Science spacecraft in Earth orbit, from the reanalysis of Voyager data about Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, from ground-based high frequency-time resolution and full polarization measurements, and from pioneering multispectral observations of the Jovian and Saturnian aurorae (radio/UV/IR). In parallel, considerable progress has been made in their generation theory (Cyclotron-Maser operating in small-scale, laminar, hot-plasma-dominated radio source structures), mostly on the basis of in situ observations of terrestrial radio sources. Particle acceleration and precipitation is also better documented, thanks to in situ measurements in the Earth auroral zones and to multispectral studies of Jupiter and Saturn. Finally, the modeling of the planetary magnetic field and magnetospheric plasma at these two planets has also been considerably improved. To organize the wealth of observational results within a coherent theoretical frame, we emphasize unresolved questions (e.g., planetary radio bursts generation) and contradictions and propose ways to answer them. Our ability, already significant, to perform remote sensing of magnetoplasmas at the giant planets and, hopefully, at other distant radio sources (solar, stellar) in the near future, depends on the good understanding of the physical processes underlying the generation of auroral electromagnetic emissions. The question of the existence of exoplanetary radio emissions and the possibility to detect and study them is briefly discussed.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/98JE01323

Auroral radio emissions at the outer planets: Observations and theories

The Cassini Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) investigation will determine the mass composition and number densities of neutral species and low-energy ions in key regions of the Saturn system. The primary focus of the INMS investigation is on the composition and structure of Titan’s upper atmosphere and its interaction with Saturn’s magnetospheric plasma. Of particular interest is the high-altitude region, between 900 and 1000 km, where the methane and nitrogen photochemistry is initiated that leads to the creation of complex hydrocarbons and nitriles that may eventually precipitate onto the moon’s surface to form hydrocarbon—nitrile lakes or oceans. The investigation is also focused on the neutral and plasma environments of Saturn’s ring system and icy moons and on the identification of positive ions and neutral species in Saturn’s inner magnetosphere. Measurement of material sputtered from the satellites and the rings by magnetospheric charged particle and micrometeorite bombardment is expected to provide information about the formation of the giant neutral cloud of water molecules and water products that surrounds Saturn out to a distance of ~12 planetary radii and about the genesis and evolution of the rings.

/pdf/the-cassini-ion-and-neutral-mass-spectrometer-inms-y5ijztpd8g.pdf

The Cassini Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) Investigation

The low energy plasma electron environment within Saturn's magnetosphere was surveyed by the Plasma Science Experiment (PLS) during the Voyager encounters with Saturn. Over the full energy range of the PLS instrument (10 eV to 6 keV) the electron distribution functions are clearly non-Maxwellian in character; they are composed of a cold (thermal) component with Maxwellian shape and a hot (suprathermal) non-Maxwellian component. A large scale positive radial gradient in electron temperature is observed, increasing from less than 1 eV in the inner magnetosphere to as high as 800 eV in the outer magnetosphere. Three fundamentally different plasma regimes were identified from the measurements: (1) the hot outer magnetosphere, (2) the extended plasma sheet, and (3) the inner plasma torus.

/pdf/survey-of-low-energy-plasma-electrons-in-saturn-s-3wud7c76b6.pdf

Survey of low‐energy plasma electrons in Saturn's magnetosphere: Voyagers 1 and 2

Auroras are (generally) high-latitude atmospheric emissions that result from the precipitation of energetic charged particles from a planet's magnetosphere. Auroral emissions from the giant planets have been observed from ground-based observatories, Earth-orbiting satellites (e.g., International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE), Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and Roentgensatellit (ROSAT)), flyby spacecraft (e.g., Voyager 1 and 2), and orbiting spacecraft platforms (e.g., Galileo) at X-ray, ultraviolet (UV), visible, infrared (IR), and radio wavelengths. UV, visible, and IR auroras are atmospheric emissions, produced or initiated when ambient atmospheric species are excited through collisions with the precipitating particles, while radio and X-ray auroras are beam emissions, produced by the precipitating species themselves. The emissions at different wavelengths provide unique and complementary information, accessible to remote sensing, about the key physical processes operating in the atmospheric and magnetospheric regions where they originate. This paper reviews the development of our current understanding of auroral emissions from Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, as revealed through multispectral observations and supplemented by plasma measurements.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/1998RG000046

Auroral emissions of the giant planets

A hexagonal feature around Saturn's north pole

Combined analysis of helium (584 A) airglow and the atmospheric occultations of the star delta Scorpii imply a vertical mixing parameter in Saturn's upper atmosphere of K (eddy diffusion coefficient) of approximately 8 x 10 to the 7th sq cm per second, an order of magnitude more vigorous than mixing in Jupiter's upper atmosphere. Atmospheric H2 band absorption of starlight yields a preliminary temperature of 400 K in the exosphere and a temperature near the homopause of 200 K. Certain auroral emissions can be fully explained in terms of electron impact on H2, and auroral morphology suggests a link between the aurora and the Saturn kilometric radiation. Absolute optical depths have been determined for the entire C ring and parts of the A and B rings. A new eccentric ringlet has been detected in the C ring. The extreme ultraviolet reflectance of the rings is fairly uniform at 3.5 to 5 percent. Collisions may control the distribution of H in Titan's H torus, which has a total vertical extent of about 14 Saturn radii normal to the orbit plane.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/215/4532/548.full.pdf

Extreme ultraviolet observations from the Voyager 2 encounter with Saturn

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Extreme ultraviolet observations from the Voyager 2 encounter with Saturn