Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufm.p12a..08l&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #P12A-08
Physics
6281 Titan
Scientific paper
Titan is immersed in the sub-corotating plasma environment in Saturn's outer magnetosphere. As it orbits Saturn, its sunlit face changes from a location on the upstream side (at Saturn dusk) to the downstream side (at Saturn dawn) of the plasma flow, thus the plasma interaction depends on Saturn Local Time. Earlier measurements at Saturn and Titan by Voyager provided initial information suggesting a Venus-like interaction with Titan's massive ionosphere. This was not surprising considering our early conceptions. It was also expected that Titan would occasionally leave the magnetosphere and be immersed in the magnetosheath and solar wind. Measurements with the Cassini MAPS instruments together with numerical simulations have taught us much more about the nature of the interaction, the properties of the ionosphere, and a little about Titan's interior. The particles and fields investigations found a dynamic and structured plasma environment at 20 Rs dominated by a time-varying radial component of the Kronian magnetic field. The composition of the incident plasma was not that of a Titan-derived nitrogen and hydrogen pickup ion torus, but rather a highly variable magnetospheric hydrogen ion population with contributions from water-derived heavy ions, including an important energetic component. During one low altitude flyby, Titan had recently moved into Saturn's magnetosheath, carrying with it the memory of Saturn's magnetic field embedded in its ionosphere. In general, the new measurements of the plasma interaction and the ionosphere reflect the great variability of the external conditions, together with that introduced by the changing relative incident plasma flow and Sun angles. We provide an overview of some of these observational results, together with modeling efforts that are sorting out aspects of the complicated Titan-plasma interaction that Cassini has revealed.
Arridge Christopher S.
Cravens Thomas E.
Hartle Richard E.
Johnson Robert E.
Ledvina Stephen A.
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