Freiburg 2008 – wissenschaftliches Programm
Bereiche | Tage | Auswahl | Suche | Downloads | Hilfe
EP: Fachverband Extraterrestrische Physik
EP 5: Astrophysics - Poster Session
EP 5.5: Poster
Montag, 3. März 2008, 17:30–19:00, Vorraum KGI-Aula
Motions of Energetic Electrons and Ions in the Vicinity of Europa — •Andreas Kopp1, Wing-Huen Ip2,3, Chien-Min Lee2, and Wei-Ling Tseng3 — 1Institut für Experimentelle und Angewandte Physik, Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel, 24118 Kiel — 2Institute of Space Science, National Central University, Taiwan — 3Institute of Astronomy, National Central University, Taiwan
Because of the increasing interest in a new mission to Europa in the form of an Europa Orbiter, the issue of the radiation environment near the satellite has attracted renewed attention. This is because a better description of the motions of energetic charged particles will be important for the understanding of chemical compositions in different regions of Europa's surface and the production of the oxygen atmosphere. In addition, such a study should be of use to mission design concerning the radiation dosage to be endured by the spacecraft. The motions of energetic electrons and ions are significantly influenced by the magnetic and electric fields near Europa, which are modified by its interaction with the Jovian magnetosphere. For this reason, resistive MHD model simulations of Europa's environment have been carried out taking into account the induced dipole field generated by the time-variation of the Jovian magnetic field due to the flapping of the current sheet. The visibility of this set of model calculations will be examined by comparison to the magnetic field measurements by Galileo during several Europa encounters. Results of some test runs of particle trajectory calculations for MeV electrons and ions will be reported.