A slot region in the magnetosphere of Jupiter

Minyi Long, Elias Roussos (), Binbin Ni (), Qianli Ma (), Peter Kollmann, Ruoxian Zhou, George Clark, Norbert Krupp, Xing Cao, Peng Lu, Yixin Hao and Shaobei Wang
Additional contact information
Minyi Long: Wuhan University
Elias Roussos: Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
Binbin Ni: Wuhan University
Qianli Ma: Boston University
Peter Kollmann: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Ruoxian Zhou: University of Texas at Dallas
George Clark: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Norbert Krupp: Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
Xing Cao: Wuhan University
Peng Lu: Wuhan University
Yixin Hao: Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
Shaobei Wang: Wuhan University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: 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.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-63186-8 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-63186-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-63186-8

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().