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  • Open Access

Ganymede’s subsurface ocean as a dark matter detector

William DeRocco*

  • Maryland Center for Fundamental Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, 4296 Stadium Drive, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA and Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA

  • *Contact author: derocco@umd.edu
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Phys. Rev. D 112, 115023 – Published 10 December, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/d92d-9jwz

Abstract

Dark matter in the form of macroscopic composites is largely unconstrained at masses of ∼1011–1017  g. In this mass range, dark matter may collide with planetary bodies, depositing an immense amount of energy and leaving dramatic surface features that remain detectable on geological timescales. In this paper, we show that Ganymede, the largest Jovian moon, provides a prime target to search for dark matter impacts due to its differentiated composition and Gyr-old surface. We study the effects of dark matter collisions with Ganymede first with analytic estimates, finding that in a large region of parameter space, dark matter punches through Ganymede’s conductive ice sheet, liberating subsurface material. This subsurface material may be compositionally different from the surface ice, providing a key observable with which to discriminate asteroid impacts from those caused by dark matter. We confirm our analytic estimates with dedicated simulations of dark matter impacts using isale, a multimaterial impact code. We then discuss potential detection prospects with two missions currently en route to the Jovian system, Europa Clipper, and JUICE, finding that these missions may have the ability not only to identify signs of life on the Galilean moons, but signs of dark matter as well.

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Phys. Rev. D 112, 115023– Published 10 December, 2025
  • Received 12 August 2025
  • Accepted 17 October 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

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