Articles | Volume 44, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-44-1143-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-44-1143-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Regular paper
| 
21 Oct 2026
Regular paper |
| 21 Oct 2026
| 21 Oct 2026
Ion composition of the Earth plasmasphere observed by the PEP JEI and RPWI instruments on the JUICE spacecraft
Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Göttingen, Germany
Henning Fischer
Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Göttingen, Germany
Norbert Krupp
Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Göttingen, Germany
Elias Roussos
Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Göttingen, Germany
Philipp Wittmann
Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Göttingen, Germany
Patrick Bambach
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Cologne, Germany
Jan-Erik Wahlund
Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF), Uppsala, Sweden
Gabriella Stenberg Wieser
Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF), Kiruna, Sweden
Stas Barabash
Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF), Kiruna, Sweden
Mika Holmberg
Astronomy Astrophysics Section, School of Cosmic Physics, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, DIAS Dunsink Observatory, Dublin, Ireland
Maryam Zeroual
Astronomy Astrophysics Section, School of Cosmic Physics, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, DIAS Dunsink Observatory, Dublin, Ireland
Pontus C. Brandt
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
Peter Wurz
Space Research & Planetary Sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland
Martin Wieser
Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF), Kiruna, Sweden
Yoshifumi Futaana
Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF), Kiruna, Sweden
Manabu Shimoyama
Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF), Kiruna, Sweden
Angèle Pontoni
Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF), Kiruna, Sweden
Audrey Vorburger
Space Research & Planetary Sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland
André Galli
Space Research & Planetary Sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland
Andreas Riedo
Space Research & Planetary Sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland
George Ho
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
Donald G. Mitchell
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
George Clark
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
Peter Kollmann
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
Malamati Gkioulidou
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
Leonardo Regoli
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
Robert Wimmer-Schweingruber
Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany
Kazushi Asamura
Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Sagamihara, Japan
Esa Kallio
Department of Electronics and Nanoengineering, School of Electrical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
Andrea Opitz
Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics, Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Budapest, Hungary
Manuel Grande
Institute of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Wales Aberystwyth, Wales, UK
Andrew Coates
Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College, London, UK
Geraint Jones
Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College, London, UK
Theodoros Sarris
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Xanthi, Greece
Andrey Fedorov
Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP), CNES-CNRS-Université Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
Nicolas André
Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP), CNES-CNRS-Université Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO), Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
Ján Baláž
Institute of Experimental Physics SAS, Košice, Slovak Republic
Data sets
ESA-JUICE_LEGA-Special-Issue_v1.0 European Space Agency https://doi.org/10.57780/esa-2bb387d
Short summary
During the first Earth gravity assist maneuver of the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer spacecraft in August 2024 the spacecraft passed through the Earth plasmasphere for about 2 hours. The Jovian Ion and Electron spectrometer was able to make a very rare observation of the molecular ion fraction of the cold and dense plasma in the Earth plasmasphere. The analysis also shows that the spectrometer can resolve ion masses by using the negative potential of the spacecraft.
During the first Earth gravity assist maneuver of the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer spacecraft in...
