The global morphology of the Europa neutral torus from Cassini Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) observations and implications for JUICE

From about December 2000 to January 2001 the Ion Neutral Camera (INCA) on board the Cassini spacecraft imaged Jupiter in Energetic Neutral Atoms (ENA) that are created when singly charged ions charge exchange with neutral gas atoms or molecules. The INCA observations were obtained from a distance of about 137-250 Jovian planetary radii (RJ) over an energy range from about 10 to 300 keV. We present underlying neutral torus gas morphologies by simulating INCA images using an empirical ion distribution model and a range of theoretical gas model distributions. Just like Mauk et al. (2003), who used a different analysis technique, we find that the INCA images are consistent with a neutral torus at the orbital distance of Europa (9.5 RJ). However, within the limitations of instrument resolution, we present also possible solutions of a longitudinally asymmetric torus distribution and its implication for neutral gas release and loss rates from Europa. The Jovian Energetic Neutral and Ions (JENI) camera is the second generation ENA camera based on INCA and was selected for the science payload of the Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE) mission, planned for launch around 2022 and orbit insertion around Jupiter in 2030. Using the same forward simulation technique as above, we use the INCA observations to demonstrate what we expect the JENI camera to observe in orbit around Jupiter and Ganymede.