Jupiter's Magnetosphere: Plasma Sources and Transport

Jupiter's plasma environment is one of the most interesting plasma laboratories in our solar System. The giant magnetosphere of Jupiter is fuelled primarily by the ionization of volcanic gases from volcanic moon Io, with additional minor sources from the other, icy, Galilean moons. Embedded in the inner Jovian magnetosphere, the icy moons experience a strong interaction with their surrounding plasma. There is likely a source of light ions from the atmosphere and ionosphere of Jupiter but it has neither been accurately measured nor modelled. Two major mysteries at Jupiter are the mechanism that heats the plasma as it moves outwards from the Io plasma torus, and the mechanism by which plasma is lost from the system.