Ion Sources over Saturn's Rings, Within the Neutral Cloud, and Close to Enceladus

Details Ion Sources over Saturn's Rings, Within the Neutral Cloud, and Close to Enceladus Ion Sources over Saturn's Rings, Within the Neutral Cloud, and Close to Enceladus

May 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agusmsm14a..02t&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2009, abstract #SM14A-02

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5737 Magnetospheres (2756), 6265 Planetary Rings, 6275 Saturn, 6280 Saturnian Satellites

Scientific paper

Since Cassini arrived at Saturn in July, 2004, the Cassini plasma spectrometer (CAPS) has detected a thermal water-group ion population throughout the inner magnetosphere including O+, OH+, H2O+, and H3O+. In addition, CAPS has also detected H+, H2+, and smaller concentrations of N+ and O2+. These data extend Voyager observations that established the presence of two primary ion populations, a light ion group and water-group. Some of the most striking CAPS data have been obtained when CAPS observed locally-produced ions within their source regions: near the main rings during orbit insertion (O+ and O2+ source), during transit through dense regions of the neutral cloud (W+ pick-up ion source), and close to Enceladus during flybys. In this talk, we review these measurements including ion composition, density, temperature and flow. Particular attention is given to the new measurements obtained during the close flybys of Enceladus in March and October of 2008, directly within the south polar plume where CAPS detected freshly-produced water-group ions together with heavier water dimer (HxO2)+ (x: 1-4) ions and a nearly-stagnant plasma. Data from other Cassini instrumentation for these encounters are also reviewed (RPWS/INMS), confirming the CAPS observations of ion species detected and the spatial scale of enhanced ion production.

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