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System III variations in apparent distance of the Io plasma torus from Jupiter are examined on the basis of data obtained from UVS scans across Jupiter's satellite system. The displacement of the dawn and dusk ansae are found to be unexpectedly complex. The displacements are unequal and both ansae are in motion with the motion of the approaching ansa being the lesser of the two. The radial motions, as measured from either the center of Jupiter or the offset-tilted dipole, are of unequal magnitude and have the System III periodicity. It is concluded that the cross-tail electric field that causes these torus motions is concentrated on the dusk ansa, varied with the System III period, and shows magnetic-anomaly phase control. It is found that the dawn-dust asymmetry in brightness is not explained simply by the cross-tail electric field. It is concluded that there is a heating mechanism that causes the dusk side of the Io plasma torus to be brighter than the dawn side.

The latitude-longitude distribution of emissions detected by the Voyager ultraviolet spectrometer on the dark hemisphere of Neptune have been examined. The emissions have two significant geographic features: (1) a broad peak near longitude 60 deg W that extends rather uniformly over the entire range of observed latitudes (55 deg S to 50 deg N); and (2) a brighter, narrower peak near the south pole and 240 deg W. The first peak is interpreted as due to excitation of the night side atmosphere by photoelectrons from the magnetically conjugate, sunlit atmosphere. The second peak can plausibly be attributed to a southern aurora; the field geometry would then seem to require a conjugate (and probably brighter) northern aurora that escaped detection poleward of the latitude range sampled by the UVS data. The power for such an aurora could be extracted from Neptune's rotation by the injection of plasma at Triton's orbit at a rate dm/dt of about 1 kg/s.

It is argued that, if Neptune has a large magnetic moment, a weak supply of plasma for its magnetosphere, and a magnetic moment that is in near alignment with the planetary spin axis, the Neptunian magnetosphere is almost completely quiescent except for a region near the magnetopause. There are two magnetic power sources: the flowing, magnetized solar wind, and the kinetic energy of planetery spin. It is predicted that Neptune has a magnetic moment of at least 1 G-RN to the 3rd, the sum of ionospheric and Triton injections of plasma into Neptune's magnetosphere is less than 1 kg/sec, and Neptune's dipole is aligned with the spin axis and located close to the center of the planet. The criterion for Neptune to be a quiescent magnetosphere is defined by the expenditure of less than 10 to the 9th Watts from all power sources.

IUE observation of Uranian emissions in hydrogen Lyman alpha (H Ly-alpha) over the past four years have recently been summarized by Clarke et al. (1985). Over this time period they find an average H Ly-alpha brightness of 1260 R which they estimate is composed of 200 R of solar scattered radiation and 1060 R from a collisional source. A third component, not considered by previous authors, is the reflection of H Ly-alpha emissions from the interstellar wind. Hydrogen in the interstellar wind forms an extended source of H Ly-alpha whose importance relative to the solar flux increases with distance from the sun. The present paper demonstrates that scattering of interstellar H Ly-alpha is more important than scattering of solar H Ly-alpha for reasonable values of H column abundance and, in fact, may make up 10-40 percent of the observed signal. Large H column abundances are still required to explain the H Ly-alpha brightness solely on the basis of resonant scattering; therefore it is likely that the emissions are due in part to collisional sources and in part to the scattering of interstellar H Ly-alpha with solar scattering playing a minor role.

Measurements of Saturn's He 584 A dayglow and the CH4 density profile deduced from stellar occultation data near the homopause have been combined to infer an eddy diffusion coefficient of 8 + or - 4 x 10 to the 7th sq cm/s and a temperature of 125 + 40 or - 25 K near the homopause at Voyager 2 encounter. It appears that the eddy diffusion coefficient may have increased between the Voyager encounters. Saturn's H Ly-alpha dayglow is qualitatively compatible with this increase and the interpretation of the He 584 A dayglow and CH4 absorption measurement.

A strong longitude variation in the midlatitude Lyman-alpha brightness of Jupiter has been discovered using data from the Voyager ultraviolet spectrometers. A minimum brightness of 14.4 kR was observed in the System III (1965) west longitude range 200-300 deg. The intensity rises to a broad peak of 19.6 kR near a longitude of 110 deg, a 36% increase over the minimum. This intensity 'bulge' was observed to rotate with the planet and appeared at the same longitude during both Voyager encounters, four months apart. This is a surprising discovery; no other planet studied to date has such a characteristic and the upper levels of the Jovian atmosphere were expected to be uniform in longitude. It is likely that a longitudinal asymmetry in charged particle precipitation leads to selective heating of the upper atmosphere and increased dissociation of H2, increasing the hydrogen column abundance. The resulting increase in resonant scattering could produce the observed intensity bulge.