F. Allegrini, J. Saur, J. R. Szalay, R. W. Ebert, W. S. Kurth, S. Cervantes, H. T. Smith, F. Bagenal, S. J. Bolton, G. Clark, J. E. P. Connerney, P. Louarn, B. Mauk, D. J. McComas, A. Pontoni, Y. Sarkango, P. Valek, R. J. Wilson
{"title":"Electron Beams at Europa","authors":"F. Allegrini, J. Saur, J. R. Szalay, R. W. Ebert, W. S. Kurth, S. Cervantes, H. T. Smith, F. Bagenal, S. J. Bolton, G. Clark, J. E. P. Connerney, P. Louarn, B. Mauk, D. J. McComas, A. Pontoni, Y. Sarkango, P. Valek, R. J. Wilson","doi":"10.1029/2024GL108422","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Jupiter's moon Europa contains a subsurface ocean whose presence is inferred from magnetic field measurements, the interpretation of which depends on knowledge of Europa's local plasma environment. A recent Juno spacecraft flyby returned new observations of plasma electrons with unprecedented resolution. Specifically, powerful magnetic field-aligned electron beams were discovered near Europa. These beams, with energies from ∼30 to ∼300 eV, locally enhance electron-impact-excited emissions and ionization in Europa's atmosphere by more than a factor three over the local space environment, and are associated with large jumps of the magnetic fields. The beams therefore play an essential role in shaping Europa's plasma and magnetic field environment and thus need to be accounted for electromagnetic sounding of Europa's ocean and plume detection by future missions such as JUICE and Europa Clipper.</p>","PeriodicalId":12523,"journal":{"name":"Geophysical Research Letters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1029/2024GL108422","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Geophysical Research Letters","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024GL108422","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"GEOSCIENCES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Jupiter's moon Europa contains a subsurface ocean whose presence is inferred from magnetic field measurements, the interpretation of which depends on knowledge of Europa's local plasma environment. A recent Juno spacecraft flyby returned new observations of plasma electrons with unprecedented resolution. Specifically, powerful magnetic field-aligned electron beams were discovered near Europa. These beams, with energies from ∼30 to ∼300 eV, locally enhance electron-impact-excited emissions and ionization in Europa's atmosphere by more than a factor three over the local space environment, and are associated with large jumps of the magnetic fields. The beams therefore play an essential role in shaping Europa's plasma and magnetic field environment and thus need to be accounted for electromagnetic sounding of Europa's ocean and plume detection by future missions such as JUICE and Europa Clipper.
期刊介绍:
Geophysical Research Letters (GRL) publishes high-impact, innovative, and timely research on major scientific advances in all the major geoscience disciplines. Papers are communications-length articles and should have broad and immediate implications in their discipline or across the geosciences. GRLmaintains the fastest turn-around of all high-impact publications in the geosciences and works closely with authors to ensure broad visibility of top papers.