Survey of Jovian Irregular Moons with IVO (Io Volcano Observer)

Abstract

This conference abstract combines three different topics: (1) A quick introduction into the IVO mission, a spacecraft proposed to orbit Jupiter in the 2030's decade; (2) Jupiter is host of at least 71, and likely many hundred outer, so-called irregular moons with a size >1km which are poorly explored so far; (3) the Cassini spacecraft performed an observation campaign of Saturn's irregular moons in the 2010 decade. Cassini has proven the feasibility and strong potentials of irregular-moon observations by spacecraft orbiting the center planet of irregular moons. Such a campaign is thus proposed as part of the Science Enhancement Option (SEO) "Jupiter system science" of the IVO mission.