Driver of Energetic Electron Precipitation in the Vicinity of Ganymede

Abstract

The driver of energetic electron precipitation into Ganymede's atmosphere has been an outstanding open problem. During the Juno flyby of Ganymede on 7 June 2021, Juno observed significant downward‐going electron fluxes inside the bounce loss cone of Ganymede's polar magnetosphere. Concurrently, Juno detected intense whistler‐mode waves, both in the quasi‐parallel and highly oblique directions with respect to the magnetic field line. We use quasi‐linear model to quantify energetic electron precipitation driven by quasi‐parallel and very oblique whistler‐mode waves, respectively, in the vicinity of Ganymede. The data‐model comparison indicates that in Ganymede's lower‐latitude (higher‐latitude) polar region, quasi‐parallel whistler‐mode waves play a dominant role in precipitating higher‐energy electrons above ∼100s eV (∼1 keV), whereas highly oblique waves are important for precipitating lower‐energy electrons below 100s eV (∼1 keV). Our result provides new evidence of whistler‐mode waves as a potential primary driver of precipitating energetic electrons into Ganymede's atmosphere.

Plain Language Summary

During the Juno flyby of Ganymede on 7 June 2021, the Juno spacecraft detected energetic electrons precipitating into Ganymede's atmosphere. Simultaneously, Juno detected intense electromagnetic whistler‐mode waves in the vicinity of Ganymede. We use a physics‐based model to quantify the role of the observed whistler‐mode waves in energetic electron precipitation. The comparison between the Juno observation and modeling results reveals that whistler‐mode waves potentially play a dominant role in precipitating energetic electrons into Ganymede's atmosphere over a broad energy range from tens of eV to several hundred keV. Our findings are potentially important for understanding the loss process of energetic electrons in Ganymede's magnetosphere, as well as the generation of Ganymede's diffuse aurora.

Key Points

• We provide new evidence of whistler‐mode waves as a potential primary driver of precipitating energetic electrons into Ganymede's atmosphere

• This finding is potentially important for the generation of aurora and the loss of energetic electrons in the vicinity of Ganymede

• Juno observations and quasi‐linear modeling are used to quantify energetic electron precipitation driven by whistler‐mode waves