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Jupiter Torus Diagram

Feb. 27, 2003
A cut-away schematic of Jupiter's space environment shows magnetically trapped radiation ions (in red), the neutral gas torus of the volcanic moon Io (green) and the newly discovered neutral gas torus of the moon Europa (blue).

A cut-away schematic of Jupiter's space environment shows magnetically trapped radiation ions (in red), the neutral gas torus of the volcanic moon Io (green) and the newly discovered neutral gas torus of the moon Europa (blue). The white lines represent magnetic field lines.

Energetic neutral atoms (ENA) are emitted from the Europa torus regions because of the interaction between the trapped ions and the neutral gases. The Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument on NASA's Cassini spacecraft imaged those energetic neutral atoms in early 2001 during Cassini's flyby of Jupiter. Energetic neutral atoms also come from Jupiter when radiation ions impinge onto Jupiter's upper atmosphere.

Cassini is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages Cassini for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.

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