A slot region in the magnetosphere of Jupiter

Understanding the balance between charged particle acceleration and loss is central to radiation belt research. Jupiter's Galilean moons orbit within its intense radiation environment and can act both as sources and sinks of energetic particles. Using observations from the Juno spacecraft, we identify large-scale depletions of energetic electrons along Europa's orbit. These depletions are too deep to result from direct absorption by the moon alone. Here we show that rapid electron losses, occurring within a timescale shorter than Jupiter's rotation, are driven by pitch angle scattering via whistler-mode waves co-located with Europa's orbit. This suggests that Europa maintains a plasma environment capable of sustaining a slot-like region, similar to the one seen in Earth's Van Allen belts. However, this Jovian slot only partially extends along Europa's path, implying that additional, unidentified acceleration mechanisms may act to refill the region and maintain high radiation levels close to Jupiter.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2025-08-25
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63186-8
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.31

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article

A slot region in the magnetosphere of Jupiter

Qianli Ma, Peng Lü, P. Kollmann, Binbin Ni et al.
2 citations
Nature Communications
Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
2.31
article

A slot region in the magnetosphere of Jupiter

Qianli Ma, Peng Lü, P. Kollmann, Binbin Ni, N. Krupp, Yixin Hao, Xing Cao, Shaobei Wang, Ruoxian Zhou, Minyi Long, E. Roussos, G. Clark
article en
2 citations

Abstract

Understanding the balance between charged particle acceleration and loss is central to radiation belt research. Jupiter's Galilean moons orbit within its intense radiation environment and can act both as sources and sinks of energetic particles. Using observations from the Juno spacecraft, we identify large-scale depletions of energetic electrons along Europa's orbit. These depletions are too deep to result from direct absorption by the moon alone. Here we show that rapid electron losses, occurring within a timescale shorter than Jupiter's rotation, are driven by pitch angle scattering via whistler-mode waves co-located with Europa's orbit. This suggests that Europa maintains a plasma environment capable of sustaining a slot-like region, similar to the one seen in Earth's Van Allen belts. However, this Jovian slot only partially extends along Europa's path, implying that additional, unidentified acceleration mechanisms may act to refill the region and maintain high radiation levels close to Jupiter.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 16(1)
Boston University (US), University of California, Los Angeles (US), The University of Texas at Dallas (US), Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (US), Wuhan University (CN), Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (DE), Laboratoire d'ethnologie et de sociologie comparative (FR), Wuhan University of Science and Technology (CN)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
2.31
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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