Galileo Radio-Occultation Measurements of the Ionospheres of Jupiter and Its Satellites

Details Galileo Radio-Occultation Measurements of the Ionospheres of Jupiter and Its Satellites Galileo Radio-Occultation Measurements of the Ionospheres of Jupiter and Its Satellites

Jul 1997

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997dps....29.2412f&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #29, #24.12; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 29, p.1018

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

2

Scientific paper

Measurements obtained during the first five occultations of Galileo by Jupiter indicate an ionosphere that is very heterogeneous. The topmost, main electron density peaks are situated at altitudes (above the 1-bar level) that range from {900} km to ~ 2000 km, with widths ranging from ~ 10(2) to 10(3) km, and peak intensities from ~ 10(4) to 10(5) cm(-3) . At several locations, thin layers lie beneath the main peak, and cause multipath propagation of the received radio signal. Of particular interest are the well-defined thin layers sometimes seen at altitudes 600-750 km with vertical spacing ~ 60-75 km, which may be forced by upwardly propagating gravity waves. The first occultation of Io indicates an ionosphere that is qualitatively identical to that observed by Pioneer 10. On the side of Io downstream from the corotating jovian magnetosphere, the maximum electron density, ~ 60000 cm(-3) , is situated about 100 km above the surface; the width of the peak is ~ 300 km. The electron densities on the upstream side are much smaller, <=10000 cm(-3) . The first three occultations of Europa have indicated a tenuous ionosphere with a maximum density of 10(4) cm(-3) near the surface and vertical plasma scale height of 200- 400 km. Simple photochemical considerations suggest a neutral atmosphere (of, {\ it e.g.}, O_2 or H_2O) with surface density ~ 10(8) cm(-3) .

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