Juice and Smile: Unravelling magnetospheric processes on Ganymede and Earth
06 December 2024
In the last Juice webinar of 2024, organised in collaboration with Europlanet, we will hear two talks from Philippa Molyneux and Colin Forsyth. They will tell us about what we expect to learn studying magnetospheric processes at Ganymede with Juice and at the Earth with the upcoming Smile mission. These processes also cause the beautiful aurora that we have been treated with in many places on the planet in the past few years … a truly end-of-the-year feeling for you!
Ganymede’s aurora: studying a unique moon-magnetosphere interaction with JUICE – Philippa Molyneux
Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede, is the only moon known to possess an intrinsic magnetic field, carving out its own magnetosphere inside the larger Jovian magnetosphere. This unique magnetosphere-within-a-magnetosphere configuration produces auroral ovals that circle Ganymede’s poles. Pippa Molyneux (SwRI) will discuss how JUICE observations of these auroral emissions can help us to characterize different aspects of the system, from the local magnetic environment to Ganymede’s atmosphere and interior.
Seeing Earth’s unseen magnetosphere with SMILE – Colin Forsyth
The Sun-Earth interaction has been long studied and has provide the benchmark from which we start understanding the complex variety of planetary body magnetosphere’s with their surroundings. It is this interaction that ultimately drives the processes behind Earth’s aurora but has currently only been felt by spacecraft in the vicinity. Colin Forsyth (UCL-MSSL) will discuss how the upcoming ESA-CAS SMILE mission will enable this interaction to be seen from afar, providing an unprecedented view of the Sun-Earth system.