Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2004
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004agufm.p53a1458w&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2004, abstract #P53A-1458
Physics
5717 Impact Phenomena, 5759 Rings And Dust, 6265 Planetary Rings, 6275 Saturn
Scientific paper
During the Cassini Saturn encounter on July 1, 2004, the radio and plasma wave instrument on Cassini detected a region of intense impulsive noise at the inbound and outbound ring plane crossings. The noise has been attributed to small micron-sized particles hitting the spacecraft. When a small particle strikes the spacecraft at a high velocity, the particle is instantaneously vaporized and heated to a high temperature, producing a cloud of ionized gas that expands away from the impact site. As the ionized gas cloud sweeps over the antenna, it causes a voltage pulse, thereby producing the impulsive noise. The maximum impact rate detected was about 680 per second and the north-south thickness of the impact region was about 2000 km centered on the ring plane. The dust particles are thought to have radii of about 1 to 10 micrometer. The impact rate distribution as a function of height above Saturn's equator will be discussed and compared with previous Voyager measurements.
Averkamp T. F.
Gurnett Donald A.
Kurth Willaim S.
Wang Ziqiang
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