Physics – Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufmsm11c1768f&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #SM11C-1768
Physics
Plasma Physics
[2753] Magnetospheric Physics / Numerical Modeling, [6033] Planetary Sciences: Comets And Small Bodies / Magnetospheres, [6280] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Saturnian Satellites, [7837] Space Plasma Physics / Neutral Particles
Scientific paper
The Enceladus plumes are largely responsible for the water and its by-products found throughout Saturn's Enceladus plasma-neutral torus. Flybys of Enceladus by the Cassini spacecraft from 2005 to present have revealed a dynamic system, from which varying estimates have been made of the release rate of neutral H2O from Enceladus at 75-1600 kg/s. The rate of fresh ion pick-up near Enceladus has also been observed to vary between flybys. In Fleshman et al. (2010a), we showed that the magnitude of fresh ion pick-up on respective flybys requires a source (possibly in beams) of `hot' electrons at Enceladus. In this work, we build on our understanding of the local interaction by quantifying the degree to which neutrals produced as a by-product of charge exchange contribute to the Saturn's neutral cloud extending from 3 to 10 RS (see also Johnson et al., (2006)). We follow individual ion and neutral trajectories, while accounting for velocity-dependent cross sections. Our aim is to compare the neutral cloud resulting from charge exchange at Enceladus to that resulting from both (1) photodissociation and (2) electron impact dissociation throughout the Enceladus torus. The goal of the study, when compared with neutral cloud observations, is to shed light on which of these mechanisms dominates the neutral cloud morphology at Saturn.
Bagenal Fran
Delamere Peter A.
Fleshman Bobby L.
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