Universität zu Köln

Cervantes, S. ORCID: 0000-0001-6713-8491, Saur, J. ORCID: 0000-0003-1413-1231, Duling, S. ORCID: 0000-0001-7220-9610, Szalay, J. R. ORCID: 0000-0003-2685-9801, Schlegel, S. ORCID: 0000-0002-4779-2813, Connerney, J. E. P. ORCID: 0000-0001-7478-6462, Allegrini, F. ORCID: 0000-0003-0696-4380 and Bolton, S. ORCID: 0000-0002-9115-0789 (2025). MHD Simulations of Europa's Interaction With Jupiter's Magnetosphere During the Juno Flyby: Electron Beams in the Plasma Wake. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 130 (6). pp. 1-25. Wiley. ISSN 2169-9380

PDF JGR Space Physics - 2025 - Cervantes - MHD Simulations of Europa s Interaction With Jupiter s Magnetosphere During the Juno.pdf Bereitstellung unter der CC-Lizenz: Creative Commons Attribution. Download (3MB)

Abstract

[Artikel-Nr.: e2025JA033825] In September 2022, the Juno mission performed its only close flyby of Europa and traversed the moon's wake at a minimum distance of ∼350 km. Among other findings, the Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) detector onboard the spacecraft discovered intense field‐aligned electron beams (∼30– 300 eV) downstream of the moon. In this study, we apply a three‐dimensional magnetohydrodynamic model to simulate the plasma interaction of Jupiter's magnetosphere with Europa and its atmosphere for the conditions of this flyby, and we specifically focus on the influence of the electron beams on the plasma density and the magnetic field in the moon's space environment. We include these beams in our simulations as sheets of locally enhanced ionization, and we use electron impact ionization rates of O2 derived from JADE electron measurements to characterize the sheets. We compare our results with the magnetic field and the total ion number density measurements from Juno's magnetometer and JADE detector, respectively. Our results show that the beams fill the wake downstream of Europa with newly ionized plasma, and that they generate large variations in the magnetic field which contribute partially to the observed magnetic field. Our study demonstrates that the electron beams are critical factors in shaping Europa's magnetic field and plasma environment, and thus they need to be accounted for in the data analysis of the upcoming JUICE and Europa Clipper missions.

Item Type:	Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Cervantes, S. UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6713-8491 UNSPECIFIED Saur, J. UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1413-1231 UNSPECIFIED Duling, S. UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7220-9610 UNSPECIFIED Szalay, J. R. UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2685-9801 UNSPECIFIED Schlegel, S. UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4779-2813 UNSPECIFIED Connerney, J. E. P. UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7478-6462 UNSPECIFIED Allegrini, F. UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0696-4380 UNSPECIFIED Bolton, S. UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9115-0789 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-806299
Identification Number:	10.1029/2025JA033825
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Volume:	130
Number:	6
Page Range:	pp. 1-25
Number of Pages:	25
Date:	23 June 2025
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	2169-9380
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences > Department of Geosciences > Institute for Geophysics and Meteorology
Subjects:	Earth sciences
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language We include electron beams, an asymmetric atmosphere, and non‐uniform ionization in our magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the Juno flyby at Europa English We investigate the effect of the enhanced ionization due to the electron beams on the plasma density and magnetic field around Europa English We show that the beams fill the wake and generate magnetic field perturbations which contribute to the observed magnetic field English
['eprint_fieldname_oa_funders' not defined]:	Publikationsfonds UzK
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/80629