A Critical Core Size for Dynamo Action at the Galilean Satellites

Abstract

Ganymede is the only known moon with an active dynamo. No mission has discovered intrinsic magnetism at the other Galilean satellites: Io, Europa, and Callisto. A dynamo requires a large magnetic Reynolds number, which in turn demands, for these moons, a large metallic core that is cooling fast enough for convection. Here we quantify these requirements to construct a regime diagram for the Galilean satellites. We compute the internal heat fluxes that would sustain a dynamo over the wide ranges of plausible radii for their metallic cores. Below a critical radius, no plausible heat flux will sustain a dynamo. Europa likely sits on the opposite side of this limit than Ganymede and Io. We predict that future missions may confirm a small (or absent) core, meaning that Europa could not sustain a dynamo even if its interior were cooling as quickly as Ganymede's core.