The Galilean satellites as a source of CO in the Jovian upper atmosphere

Abstract

Material from the Galilean satellites of Jupiter ejected by energetic particles in the Jovian magnetosphere may provide large sources of oxygen to the parent planet. Formation of a CO molecule is the ultimate fate of an oxygen atom in the upper Jovian atmosphere. This high altitude source of CO supports Beer and Taylor's (1978, Astrophys. J. 221) observations and analysis, provided that the globally averaged O atom input flux is ∼10 7 cm −2 sec −1 and the eddy diffusion coefficient at the tropopause is ∼10 3 cm 2 sec −1. Implications for the possible presence of other atoms and molecules derived from the satellites are discussed.