Published December 16, 2022 | Version Published
Journal Article Open

Updated Spherical Harmonic Magnetic Field Moments of Ganymede From the Juno Flyby

  • 1. ROR icon Goddard Space Flight Center
  • 2. ROR icon Howard University
  • 3. ROR icon California Institute of Technology
  • 4. ROR icon University of Maryland, College Park

Abstract

In this study, we use data from the Juno and Galileo spacecraft to analyze the internal magnetic dynamo of Ganymede. As the only known moon with a strong internal magnetic field, Ganymede is a uniquely interesting object in the context of understanding the formation and structure of planetary magnetospheres. Using a spherical harmonic model centered on the moon, we report a dipole approximation for Ganymede of (g_0)^1 = 716.4 nT, (g_1)^1 = 56.0 nT, and (h_1)^1 = 27.0 nT. We find that using a quadrupole fit rather than a dipole fit provides only a marginal increase in accuracy and instead favor the use of a dipole approximation until more data can be obtained. The magnetic moment estimates provided here can be used as a baseline for interpreting data from future spacecraft flybys of the moon, and can serve as inputs into numerical models studying Ganymede's magnetosphere.

Additional Information

© 2022. American Geophysical Union. This article also appears in: Results From Juno's Flyby of Ganymede. This material is based upon the work supported by NASA under award number 80GSFC21M0002. KMM is supported by the 51 Pegasi b Fellowship through the Heising-Simons Foundation.

Attached Files

Published - Geophysical_Research_Letters_-_2022_-_Weber_-_Updated_Spherical_Harmonic_Magnetic_Field_Moments_of_Ganymede_From_the_Juno.pdf

Files

Geophysical_Research_Letters_-_2022_-_Weber_-_Updated_Spherical_Harmonic_Magnetic_Field_Moments_of_Ganymede_From_the_Juno.pdf

Additional details

Identifiers

Eprint ID
119541
Resolver ID
CaltechAUTHORS:20230227-87934600.19

Funding

NASA
80GSFC21M0002
Heising-Simons Foundation
51 Pegasi b Fellowship

Dates

Created
2023-04-28
Created from EPrint's datestamp field
Updated
2023-04-28
Created from EPrint's last_modified field