Europa’s Optical Aurora: Update from Four New Hubble Eclipse Observations

Abstract

Atomic emissions from the tenuous atmosphere of Jupiter's moon Europa provide information on the composition, column density, and variability of gas species, which inform our understanding of the atmosphere's origins. The strength and ratios of the UV and optical oxygen emission lines indicate that Europa's atmosphere is composed primarily of O_2 and has a column density of ~1–15 × 10^(14) cm^(−2) (Hall et al. 1998; Roth et al. 2014, 2016; de Kleer & Brown 2018). The auroral emissions show variability on timescales from minutes to days, some of which can be attributed to Europa's position relative to Jupiter's plasma sheet (Roth et al. 2016; de Kleer & Brown 2018). The atmosphere is sourced from Europa's surface, from which material is liberated via sputtering and/or thermal processes (Johnson 1990; Oza et al. 2018).