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Discovery of Soft X-Ray Emission From Io, Europa and the Io Plasma TorusWe report the discovery of soft (0.25 - 2 keV) x-ray emission from the moons Io and Europa, probably Ganymede, and from the Io Plasma Torus (IPT). Bombardment by energetic (greater than 10 keV) H, O, and S ions from the region of the IPT seems the likely source of the x-ray emission from the Galilean moons. According to our estimates, fluorescent x-ray emission excited by solar x-rays, even during flares from the active Sun, charge-exchange processes, previously invoked to explain Jupiter's x-ray aurora and cometary x-ray emission, and ion stripping by dust grains fall to account for the observed emission. On the other hand, bremsstrahlung emission of soft X-rays from non-thermal electrons in the few hundred to few thousand eV range may account for a substantial fraction of the observed x-ray flux from the IPT.
Document ID
20020023972
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Elsner, R. F.
Gladstone, G. R.
Waite, J. H.
Crary, F. J.
Howell, R. R.
Johnson, R. E.
Ford, P. G.
Metzger, A. E.
Hurley, K. C.
Feigelson, E. D.
Six, N. Frank
Date Acquired
August 20, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2001
Subject Category
Space Radiation
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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