Stochastic models of hot planetary and satellite coronas: Atomic oxygen in Europa’s corona

Abstract

This paper analyzes the formation, kinetics, and transport of hot oxygen atoms in the atmosphere of the Jovian satellite Europa. Atmospheric sources of suprathermal oxygen atoms are assumed to be represented by the processes of dissociation of molecular oxygen, which is the main component of the atmosphere, by solar UV radiation and electron fluxes from the inner magnetosphere of Jupiter, as well as by the reaction of dissociative recombination of the main ionospheric ion O2+ which thermal electrons. It is shown that dissociation in Europa’s near-surface atmosphere is balanced by the processes of the loss of atomic oxygen due to the effective escape of suprathermal oxygen atoms into the inner magnetosphere of Jupiter along the orbit of Europa and due to ionization by magnetospheric electrons and catalytic recombination of oxygen atoms on the icy surface of the satellite. It thus follows that atomic oxygen is only a small admixture to the main atmospheric component—molecular oxygen—in the near-surface part of the atmosphere. However, the outer exospheric layers of Europa’s atmosphere are populated mostly by suprathermal oxygen atoms. The near-surface molecular envelope of Europa is therefore surrounded by a tenuous extended corona of hot atomic oxygen.