Europa's Oxygen Exosphere and Its Magnetospheric Interaction

Computer Science

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Scientific paper

The newly detected oxygen atmosphere of Europa is modeled by invoking charged particle sputtering with H_2O and O_2 molecules as the main ejecta. The magnetospheric corotating ions could provide the required source strength (~3 x 10^26 sec^-1) of O_2 molecules if a fraction (~20%) of the exospheric ions were recycled to Europa's surface where they produce additional sputtering product. Two exospheric components are expected to form: an extended corona with a size of a few satellite radii which is composed of sputtered molecules in ballistic motion, and a thermal population with a surface density of 10^8-10^9 cm^-3 and a scale height of about 20 km. The electron impact ionization of this exosphere would lead to an Io-like interaction with the jovian magnetosphere with a field-aligned Birkeland current of about 5 x 10^5 A.

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