Micrometeoroid impact on planetary satellites as a magnetospheric mass source

Abstract

Planetary satellites are an important source of mass for planetary magnetospheres. Meteoroid impact vaporization is a supply mechanism which can potentially compete with charged-particle sputtering. Recent estimates of impact fluxes in the outer solar system vary by several orders of magnitude. For the larger flux values impact vaporization will play a role both at Jupiter and Saturn, although for the most part it will not dominate sputtering. At the small end of the flux range, sputtering dominates magnetospheric mass-loading everywhere.