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Obviously, this is a totally hypothetical, alternate version of Ganymede, since it would also need to have more mass and a stronger intrinsic magnetic field to hold onto a substantial atmosphere. But I'm wondering if the surface of this alternate Ganymede could be protected against the charged particles coming from Jupiter's radiation belts by an atmosphere? I'm curious because I'm working on a sci fi project about a habitable exomoon, and I'm using Jupiter and its moons for reference. Basically, I want to know in general if a moon in Ganymede's position relative to a gas giant like Jupiter could have a surface hospitable to life, or if the radiation belt's charged particles would make their way to the surface and/or erode the moon's atmosphere? Would radiation belts like Jupiter's be too strong to permit the protection of an atmosphere?

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  • $\begingroup$ This has less to do with the radiation belts, and more by comparing the gas temperature with the surface escape velocity - the parameter $GM \mu/(kT r_p)$. See what this is for Titan, which is a near-copy of Ganymede. $\endgroup$ Commented Aug 26, 2022 at 10:32

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