Observations of the Jovian System with the Chandra X-ray Observatory

Sensitive, very high spatial-resolution x-ray observations with the Chandra X-ray Observatory have revealed that Jupiter's northern x-ray aurora originates at a spot fixed in a coordinate system rotating with the planet at latitude (60-70 deg north) and longitude (160-180 deg System III). The northern auroral x-ray emission varies with a period about 45 minute and has an average power of about 1 GW. Jupiter's disk also emits x-rays with a power of about 2 GW, perhaps resulting from reprocessing of solar x-rays in its atmosphere. These observations reveal for the first time x-ray emission from the Io Plasma Torus, with a power of about 0.1 GW. Finally, we report the discovery of very faint (about 1-2 MW) soft x-ray emission from the Galilean satellites Io, Europa, and probably Ganymede.