Gravitational evidence for an undifferentiated Callisto

Abstract

Before the arrival of the Galileo spacecraft at Jupiter, models for the interior structure of the four galilean satellites—Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto—ranged from uniform mixtures of rock and ice (that is, undifferentiated objects) or rocky cores surrounded by a mantle of water ice¹. Now it appears that lo has a large metallic core² and that Ganymede is strongly differentiated, most probably into a three-layer structure consisting of a metallic core, a silicate mantle and a deep outer layer of ice³. Direct information on the interior structure of Callisto determined from previous spacecraft fly-bys^4–6 was essentially limited to an estimate of the mean density being intermediate between pure ice and pure rock. Here we report measurements of Callisto's gravitational field which reveal that, in contrast to Io and Ganymede, this galilean satellite is most probably a homogeneous object consisting of a solar mixture of 40% compressed ice and 60% rock (including iron and iron sulphide). Callisto's undifferentiated state is consistent with the apparent lack of an intrinsic magnetic field⁷, and indicates that the outermost galilean satellite has not experienced a heating phase sufficiently high to separate its rock and metal components from the lighter ices.