NEWS & EVENTS

Jupiter possesses the strongest planetary magnetic field in the Solar System, carving out the largest planetary magnetosphere. Inside this system the Galilean moons are embedded and electrodynamically coupled. Ganymede—the largest Galilean moon and the only moon known to possess an intrinsic magnetic field—orbits Jupiter at ~15.0  ( km) close to the Jovian equatorial plane. Because the ambient Jovian plasma flow at Ganymede is typically sub-Alfvénic, the interaction proceeds without a bow shock and can generate Alfvén-wing current systems. Moreover, Ganymede’s intrinsic field introduces additional complexity through magnetic reconnection, magnetosphere–ionosphere coupling, and induction responses potentially linked to a subsurface ocean. 
These intertwined processes imply major challenges for interpreting magnetic field morphology and energy transport channels from intrinsic and
interaction-driven perturbation. These issues are central to the launched JUICE mission, which will perform close flybys of Ganymede and carry J-MAG and in-situ plasma and wave instruments to probe the moon’s electromagnetic environment. In this work, a newly developed 3D high-resolution global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model with high-resolving power numerical algorithms implemented in spherical coordinate is used to investigate the interaction between Ganymede and Jupiter’s magnetospheric plasma. Building on the MHD framework, we will further conduct fully kinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations to resolve ion/electron-scale physics (e.g., reconnection acceleration and wave–particle coupling) that are beyond single-fluid MHD.

For additional information, please contact Mr. Jinshu CAI, caijinshu@connect.hku.hk.