Plasma densities in the vicinity of Callisto from Galileo plasma wave observations

Abstract

The Galileo spacecraft has made seven close flybys of Jupiter's moon Callisto. During the closest of these (C22), which approached to within 535 km of the surface, the plasma wave instrument detected a very clear upper hybrid emission as the spacecraft passed near the moon. The peak electron density indicated by the upper hybrid resonance emission was 400 cm−3, almost one‐thousand times the electron density in the magnetosphere of Jupiter at the orbit of Callisto. These observations indicate that Callisto is probably surrounded by a dense ionospheric‐like plasma.